<p>I am planning on going to Cal Poly Pomona as an incoming freshman in 2009 fall. ImageShack</a> - Image Hosting :: 123fmj.jpg
This is the financial aid they offered me. My EFC is 0 and my family income is $15000 with just my mom, little sister and myself. Do you guys think that I should be offered more compared to other schools? If so, should I call the office and ask if I can get more? </p>
<p>Also I have a question about Cal Grant.
2009-10 Tuition Amounts.
CSU's: $3,354.
U/C's: $7,788.</p>
<p>I am qualifed for both Cal Grant A and B, which one should I go with? I heard B covers all your tuition fee starting in sophomore year, I am not sure about that. If Cal Grant A gives $3354 per year, that's $13416 after 4 years. And how does Cal Grant B work? Let's say my CSU tuition is $4000, does Cal Grant B cover all $4000?</p>
<p>I have no clue about Cal Grant A or B. I did a search on Collegeconfidential and it looks like people aren’t sure either. Perhaps you should call up the FA office.</p>
<p>Well I have a cousin that goes to UCSC and her family’s financial is just like mines and she got a full ride at UCSC without LOANS. Is it even possible for people to get full grants without any LOANS because my mom and I thought that our income would be able to get at least a full ride grant without loans… And also do you think UC Davis will offer me more than this CSU in terms of financial aid? Thanks.</p>
<p>It is highly unlikely you’ll go to these colleges without loans. Nearly every student on aid has them. Your package is as good as it gets, they met your full need.</p>
<p>Your cost of education has been subsidized, so it’s expected that you shoulder some of the costs yourself. $5k a year is not a lot, you can take a job during the summer or the school term to pay part of it off.</p>
<p>Each university financial aid office makes its own decisions. Even within a given state public university system there will be some variation. You need to take your questions directly to the financial aid office at each school.</p>
<p>If you can’t afford the university, you should check out your options within the California community college and junior college system. The first two years would be very cheap, and if you plan your courses well, you will be guaranteed admission to one of the 4 year universities afterwards.</p>
<p>They don’t guaranteed how they will meet the need. They are meeting it. You can work some hours during the year to significantly reduce that 5K. My 16 year old high school junior could make 2K in his little summer job, alot more if he had a small job during the school year. That’s what I would do rather than take the full loan amount. That’s what alot of students do. As for your cousin, each package is different.</p>
<p>Your cousin at UCSC most likely was offered the Regents Scholarship. The Regents Scholarship will meet your need in full without any loans or work study.</p>
<p>Unless you get the Regents at UCD, most likely you will have at least $5K in loans and $3K - $4K in work study.</p>
<p>If you don’t want any loans, you can easily make $5K per year. My son made $10K last year while going to school fulltime at UCB. It can be done.</p>
<p>Not WS but an outside job. You have no WS in your award. You could ask about WS but as you have not been offered it, it may mean they are out of WS funds.</p>
<p>They gave you additional grants in lieu of work study - this is common practice for EOP students. Not having federal work study job doesn’t mean you can’t work on campus - there are many non-WS jobs available at most schools and your hours aren’t terminated when your award runs out.</p>
<p>This is a great package - what in the world are you complaining about?! If you select a cheaper room/meal plan and work a little you’ll have hardly anything left in loans! The taxpayers are doing the rest for you…I’d be very thankful!</p>
<p>I do understand that $5000 is a lot of money to come up with. Some here will consider that easy, but at your family income level it is not. You need to look at the direct costs. What will you have to pay in tuition & fees? These costs are set … you cannot do anything to reduce them. How much are housing costs? Can you reduce these somehow (live off campus/at home, take a smaller meal plan, etc)? Add the tuition/fees/housing costs. The rest you have control over. You can order books online for a lot less than you’d pay new - or maybe you can buy them used for a low price from someone at school. You can live frugally, scrimping on your miscellaneous personal expenses. </p>
<p>I will tell you that this package is very good. I work at a state U & we are not able to help much with the housing costs - we try to cover tuition, but even that is in combination with EFC.</p>
<p>Thank you sk8rmom and kelsmom for your advices. I never knew how much grants do schools give, that’s why my mom and I thought that we would been given full grants considering our family income level. Sk8rmom, I made my room plan into a triple room plan instead of a two which saves around $800 but my meal plan will have to be the most expensive one because that’s the one that I will need. I live around 6 hours away from the campus by car, so I cannot live off campus.</p>
<p>You’ll see that books, transportation, and personal expenses account for over $3700 of their COA. You can save alot by being careful with your spending there. As far as meal plans go, none of the kids I know take the 3 meal/day one because it’s much cheaper/easier to eat breakfast in their rooms…if you’re not a big hot breakfast person, this could also save you some money.</p>
<p>Oh I see. What do you mean cheaper/easier to eat breakfast in their rooms? Don’t you still need the 3 meal/day plan in order to get the breakfast? Yeah I am not exactly a big hot breakfast but I would love to have breakfast to give me energy for my morning classes.</p>
<p>Breakfast bars, cereal, juice, milk, coffee, etc. can all be bought cheaply at the local grocery and kept in your dorm room…most colleges allow small refrigerators/microwaves in the room and coffeemakers with an auto shutoff feature. Some have more complete kitchens on every floor.Many schools have shuttle buses for trips to Walmart/Target so it’s fairly easy to stay supplied.</p>
