<p>DISCLAIMER: I am definitely going to attend the University of Alabama next no matter what I have to do to overcome this financial issue.</p>
<p>Okay, so I have recently received my financial aid package from UA and even with all the aid and scholarships I have, I have a 6,000 remainder of what I am supposed to pay to attend. My parents don’t have 6,000. What do I do?! I know I will need a private loan, but I don’t know where to start. Any help or advice concerning this issue would be much appreciated :)</p>
<p>Thanks in Advance!</p>
<p>I have a 6,000 remainder of what I am supposed to pay to attend</p>
<p>is that $6k for "direct costs’ or for COA?</p>
<p>How much can you earn over the summer?</p>
<p>If your parents won’t cosign or qualify to cosign, you can’t get a private loan.</p>
<p>The 6000 is COA.
My direct cost are all covered by scholarships.
I can probably earn about 2000 over the summer.
My parents are willing to cosign and I’m pretty sure that my dad will qualify to cosign for me.</p>
<p>I see you are female, correct? Start with some scholarships through Women In Engineering (WIE) and also IEEE group: [Scholarships</a> | The Society of Women Engineers | <a href=“http://www.swe.org%5B/url%5D”>www.swe.org](<a href=“Scholarships - Society of Women Engineers”>Scholarships - Society of Women Engineers)</a>
You may have missed the deadline for 2013-14 school year…but if you can get through the 1st year w/ loans, and start early enough applying for outside scholarships, you sound like with your stats + major + gender, you may have a reasonable shot at these. Also, check out industry scholarships within your major, like through AIChe:
[Student</a> Awards & Competitions | AIChE](<a href=“http://www.aiche.org/community/awards/student-awards-competitions]Student”>Student Awards & Competitions | AIChE)
You have to be hungry to get these, and willing to wade through the dozens if not 100s of scholarships available to you. Pick ones with high yield + low application rate + a reasonable compatibility with your ECs, to maximise your potential of receiving them.</p>
<p>Also, for perspective, $6000 for 1st year (and it can/will be less in subsequent years with careful planning), is not unreasonable to pay for a college education. Taking on $24k in debt is less than a new car. Your first year out of university as a Chemical Eng, you will earn at least double that, and probably more. With discipline, you will be able to pay back any loans in 1-2 years, which is a relatively short amount of time. Good luck. Keep us posted on your progress.</p>
<p>Ok…so your basic costs are covered by the National Merit scholarship and the engineering scholarship? Do you have any other scholarships or grants, because I think you’re still short for your basic costs. </p>
<p>What is in your aid pkg beyond the NM and eng’g scholarships? Were you given any grants, loans, work-study? IF so, how much? </p>
<p>If you weren’t given a student loan, you need to ask for one. Get one of those first, before going for a private loan.</p>
<p>Some the COA is personal expenses and travel. If you work over the summer and maybe work a part-time during the school year, you can cover those with earnings.</p>
<p>^“because I think you’re still short for your basic costs.”</p>
<p>This student might choose to live in traditional shared dorm room, so the residual cost estimate might be ok?</p>
<p>So, if she’s NM, then the housing costs are covered, so suite v traditional dorm won’t matter (at least for year 1), so the only costs should be:</p>
<p>Fees - ours were just under $300/semester for eng
Dining dollars - $300/semester
Meal plan - just over $1500/semester
books - ours were about $500 1st semster, maybe $400 2nd semester</p>
<p>which is about $2600/semester, which is just under the $6000</p>
<p>but if you’re in eng you should get $1250/semester from the school of engr, so that only leaves about $3500 for the year</p>
<p>so your estimate didn’t include gov’t loans? As a fresman you can get $5500? in govt loans which would cover those costs (look into renting books or buying used online or directly from another student to avoid the bookstore markups)</p>
<p>Are there other costs I’m forgetting??? except for travel and ‘personal expenses’ which are VERY subjective and can be made via a part time job of 10-15 hours per week</p>
<p>This student might choose to live in traditional shared dorm room, so the residual cost estimate might be ok?</p>
<p>The student has the NM scholarship.</p>
<p>My concern is that the student may not have calculated in things like course fees and dining dollars and books…unless she’s also been given a grant and loans.</p>
<p>I’m looking at it this way…tuition and housing is covered. I’m not sure how much eng’g is giving her. In another post she said 1500, but she may be getting 2500. Plus, she gets 1000 from NM. Those amounts cover the meal plan, but not things like course fees and books. Plus she’ll have personal expenses and travel.</p>
<p>However, if she wasn’t given Stafford Direct loans, she can ask for those. And, with summer earnings, she could cover personal expenses.</p>
<p>I believe that the “dining dollars” amount is going up to $350 a semester. Let me see if I can find where I read that…</p>
<p>NMF will give her $ 500 a semester.</p>
<p>I believe that the “dining dollars” amount is going up to $350 a semester. Let me see if I can find where I read that…</p>
<p>I think that’s right. So, the student should “save” these dollars and then get the year-end refund and use them again for the next year.</p>
<p>This student is going to face a bigger challenge for years 2, 3, and 4 when housing money goes away. So, she should try to build up some savings each summer/year to use towards those shortfalls.</p>
<p>how about a job in the summer and a part time job during school?</p>
<p>$6000 /7.50 (min wage) = 800 hours of work</p>
<p>12 weeks(summer) x 30 = 360 hours - this may take getting two part time jobs</p>
<p>that leaves 440 hours to take care of during the school year (40 weeks) which is only 11 hours per week.</p>
<p>adjust these numbers a bit to create a balance that works for you.</p>
<p>dean karr says that you need to commit 40 hours per week to get an engineering degree. even with spending 40 hours on studies per week, you easily have time for 11 hours of work.</p>
<p>if you can find a job that pays better than 7.5, obviously, you would have to work less.</p>
<p>You Can Get $10,000 Per Child In College Tax Credits, Thanks To The Fiscal Cliff Deal</p>
<p>There are three college-related tax credits, the American Opportunity Tax Credit, Lifetime Learning Credit and the Hope Scholarship Tax Credit, as well as one deduction, the tuition and fees deduction. You may only claim one credit or deduction per child in any given year. The American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) is the logical choice for full-time undergraduates because it is by far the richest at up to $2,500 per eligible child, versus $2,000 and $1,800 for the Lifetime and Hope credits. Think of the AOTC as a super Hope Credit</p>
<p>Part of an article in Forbes 1/16/13…I wasn’t sure with CC rules if I could post this any other way…</p>
<p>Point is the OP may have some money coming back this way as well :)</p>
<p>I think between all of us on CC, we could probably solve the USA’s own debt crisis… ;)</p>
<p>A friend with a DD said she found a safe and flexible-hours job on campus working the school phone-banks (I have no idea what the name of the job is, a CC pro will hopefully jump in). I wish I could provide more details.</p>
<p>I think he said students call families in the school contact list for a variety of reasons, to see if they can nudge them to choosing Bama, or sign them up for this and that. This young lady was honors, tough major, the whole nine yards. She found that once she was trained, she could work around her first priority – grades. </p>
<p>BTW, last year she graduated with honors, 2 degrees and a job with a Big 6 accounting firm in Nashville. </p>
<p>She also worked the secondary scholarship market relentlessly: writing essays and coaxing letters of recommendation out of nice people, me included. After a few months, small checks started trickling in, and as you know a $250 check from a hometown rotary club is $250 more than you had before you walked to the mailbox. All totaled, they added up to thousands. </p>
<p>The message I’m sending is there are grade-safe ways to earn a few dollars. </p>
<p>Good luck this spring, summer and especially next fall. </p>
<p>And if you see DS on campus, tell him these things. He won’t listen to me when I say them.</p>
<p>What about engineering co-op program? I would think the pay would be more than minimum wage and it could start as early summer after freshman year.</p>
<p>yep, that would work too. or just summer internships. a decent engineering internship could bring in 1000 or more per week.</p>
<p>I thought UA’s nmf scholarship only covered 1 year of housing now. What about cost of housing for last 3 years?? If 6000 short this year need to figure out cost go housing could make that 12k or more</p>
<p>Thank you guys soooooo much for all of your help and insight! After discussing this with my parents further and working out the numbers with the financial aid department, we have determined that all of my Direct Cost to the University. My parents have also assured me that my other expenses will be taken care of by them throughout the year (Books, Dining Dollars, transportation, etc). I’m no longer stressing out thankfully 
In response to the housing thing, my roommates and I have already decided we are NOT staying on campus past the first year anyway, so the housing was not of much concern to me in the long run. Thanks again everybody :)</p>