<p>Here's the rundown. USF originally awarded me $20,295 out of $20,390 estimated tuition PLUS I'm eligible for the highest Bright Futures amount ($100 per credit hour) so I would be set and cozy there with extra money for books etc.
HOWEVER, I really want to go to FSU because I feel like it's a better fit for me. Better English program. I would be in honors. Good location. Beautiful. Unfortunately I was only awarded $8,550 in grants & scholarships and even with a ball park bright futures amount it would only come out to like $11,550. This covers tuition but I wouldn't get my first choice dorm (I wouldn't be able to live in the honors dorm like my mom wants) and it would definitely be a tighter budget. Everyone says I'm stupid to not automatically go to USF but I just really want to go to my first choice.
So all I'm asking is what would you do? Also, can anyone explain why I have an EFC of 0 and I was eligible for work study at USF but not FSU? What other requirements do I have to meet?</p>
<p>FSU doesn’t award work-study to freshmen unless they have spots leftover from what they offered upperclassmen first. That pretty much never happens, so the work-study stuff is limited to upperclassmen almost every year.</p>
<p>Also keep in mind that FSU’s financial aid offerings are not necessarily complete; they are still going to change. You are also eligible for $5500 in student loans as a freshman, and FSU will likely offer you this as part of your aid package- keep in mind, this does count towards your total in aid offered, so you would be somewhere around $17k at FSU.</p>
<p>“FSU doesn’t award work-study to freshmen unless they have spots leftover from what they offered upperclassmen first. That pretty much never happens, so the work-study stuff is limited to upperclassmen almost every year.”</p>
<p>Don’t know where you heard that about work study. That is not true at all. Work study is awarded first come first serve until all funds are depleted. they don’t even look at class level. I know of about 10 freshman that got work study for this year.</p>
<p>To addicted2future:</p>
<p>Take a close look at your award letter from USF it more than likely includes loans in that $20K offer you speak of. Bright futures is not usually put on an incoming freshman’s awards package until after they officially graduate high school and their final grades are sent to bright futures (department of education). This usually happens in June or July, depending on how fast DOE can send your final grades ect… to the schools.</p>
<p>To hsyzf62
Oh well yeah, I calculated the bright futures based on my preliminary eligibility so I know that isn’t an exact number. And as unbelievable as it sounds the award is all grants and scholarships besides 2,000 in work study. Seems too good to be true but hey, if they’re offering I don’t mind. </p>
<p>To Pasbal:
I’m trying to avoid loans as much as possible and they did offer some but I don’t really need them as long as I adjust the room & board. </p>
<p>Based on the status of right now, what would be your advice? Go to the school I really want to be at or go to the school that’s given me the most FA thus far.</p>
<p>Wow, if USF is offering $20K in “free money”, then it doesn’t sound like too much of a decision to me. That amount of grants and scholarships ect… is very rare these days with all the state and federal cuts to financial aid. Schools simply can’t offer what they used to.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I do understand going to your “dream” school. You have to look at the full picture of 4 full years (sometimes more than 4 years). Estimated cost of attendance for both schools is roughly $20K a year for 4 years. That is quite a bit of change. Only you and your family can make the decision. Both are great schools, if you haven’t already done so I do recommend touring both schools to get a feel for the “everyday life” on each campus.</p>
<p>Thank you, that’s my thought exactly. It’s too good of a deal to pass up really.</p>
<p>
Umm, from the Financial Aid department? The priority for things like work-study is given to upperclassmen. It’s the same with a number of other sources of financial aid around campus, in that priority is given to upperclassmen.</p>
<p>Read what I wrote. I didn’t say it was impossible for freshmen to get work-study, just that in many years it didn’t happen. </p>
<p>
I know. It’s tough though to avoid student loans anymore, especially for all four years of college, with how frequently funding for the colleges changes. FSU has been hit particularly hard with the cuts, and had to rely on using a significant amount of their reserve fund in the last couple of years. </p>
<p>It’s a tough spot to be in. You could though go to USF for a year or two, save up if you got a job there, and then transferred to FSU or something. Or, you might look at getting your AA at a community college and then transferring to FSU. </p>
<p>As I told a friend a few weeks ago who was worrying about paying for grad school, if there’s a will, there is a way. It might mean making decisions you don’t like to go to your dream school, or it might mean making a decision you don’t like to not attend your dream school. Unfortunately, you need to take some time, work out the pros and cons of each offer, and then decide. Talk it over with your parents. All that cliche stuff. </p>
<p>It’s tough to pass up a sweet offer elsewhere. But you have to decide whether passing up that sweet offer is really worth it.</p>
<p>See that’s the exact problem. It’s such a good offer and I almost feel guilty if I didn’t accept it because there are so many people struggling to pay for school and I would be throwing that money away. I just got so attached to FSU already that I haven’t tried picturing myself elsewhere. Thanks for all of the advice Pasbal.</p>
<p>There’s no way you should pass up that offer from USF. Go for at least freshman year or until you get your AA and that will give you a chance to see if your financial aid at USF is going to hold up in the ensuing years. Many times financial aid after your freshman year tapers off and you wind up with small grants or scholarships and then full Stafford loans. If that’s the case you will be justified in transferring to FSU once you have your AA degree. Just a thought…</p>
<p>It’s a tough position to be in. You just have to either take a leap of faith that everything will work out at FSU financially- and I hate to be a downer, but given how things have gone the last couple of years at FSU, that isn’t something I would count on- or go with the much better (at this point anyway) financial aid package. </p>
<p>Personally, I would probably pick USF over FSU at that point. But that’s just me.</p>
<p>“Umm, from the Financial Aid department?”</p>
<p>Are you asking me a question here? Because the answer is no. I’m not trying to start an argument over the internet because that is just ridiculous. I simply don’t want people to have incorrect information floating around in their heads. I know for a FACT that work study (as well as most grants) are given strictly on a first come first serve bases. Why do you think that the financial aid office is constantly telling you to get your FAFSA done on Jan. 1? They simply award until they run out of money. The awarding is done automatically by a computer system, and that system is only looing at EFC (weather or not one is eligible for a certain award). The only award where class level comes in to play is on loan offers since those change along with class level.</p>
<p>This is a board where people come looking for information and answers to their questions. I just want them to have the correct answers.</p>