<p>I'm hoping someone can enlighten me, on the second my mom and I filled out my FAFSA and I got an EFC of 0 (no surprises I qualified for automatic zero). I know that I won't get aid to pay for everything, but I was wondering how good FSU is at giving aid? I should qualify for the full pell grant ($5645) and I will get bright futures at around $103 per credit hour, so that takes care of tuition with a little bit left over. I also have to pay for a dorm, but I do not plan on getting a meal plan, though obviously I still have to eat. I plan on getting a job for the rest of the school year, and over the summer (I start at FSU this fall), so I'll have that money. Are there any other things that FSU would offer me? If they give me work study I plan to use it. I am also looking for outside scholarships as well. Thanks!</p>
<p>Florida State will try their best to match your needs.</p>
<p>Yep, that’s really the best that anyone can say, unfortunately. FSU will try their best, but there’s really no guarantee.</p>
<p>The bright side is that FSU’s Cost of Attendance is wildly inflated. When I was an undergrad the COA was often $20-21k or so, and I had it basically calculated up that my real COA was more like $15k.</p>
<p>If Bright Futures again pays $103/credit, and you take 15 credits per semester, you’ll get about $3090, or $3708 if you take 18 credits per semester. That leaves you a little short for tuition. I hope FSU makes that up for you.</p>
<p>Have you checked to see if the department has any scholarships specifically for your major?</p>
<p>@Pasbal how did your cost of attendance come out so low?</p>
<p>A lot of it is luck. Cutting back where possible on expenses. For one, I never took 15 credit hours or more; Bright Futures only covers about 40-45% of tuition (I forget the exact number) per credit hour, so the more credits you take, the more tuition you will have to have covered from other sources. Once you get above 12 credits (and are full-time as an undergrad), you’re essentially losing money on Bright Futures.</p>
<p>Then there’s things like housing. Living on campus, you don’t have to live in the most expensive dorms (especially once you’re a sophomore or higher). I lived in the cheaper apartments on campus (McCollum/Rogers) my last couple years, instead of Ragans/Traditions. Granted, my freshman year I lived in Wildwood, which was the most expensive freshman dorm at the time (it was, however, only $2500/semester then). Living off campus can be trickier because of things like electricity that can vary widely, but there’s still a similar concept… you can live off campus for relatively cheap and in a decent area. </p>
<p>Then I didn’t get a meal plan. They were overpriced my freshman year and now 5 years later they still are beyond overpriced. If you don’t have to get one, don’t get one, and just pay per meal when you eat. If you live in an apartment, you have a kitchen that you can cook in within the apartment. </p>
<p>Next was health insurance. FSU’s health insurance plan is expensive. It’s about $200 a month. For me, I have a plan that was identical to (if not better than) FSU’s plan. My cost was less than 1/2 what FSU’s plan cost (granted, with recent increases, they are pretty close now- my plan is $100/month now). </p>
<p>Then there’s other cost-cutting measures.
How often does a kid really need to go home? At $50-75 (or more) per trip home, going home once a month vs. once a semester- especially with breaks and such- can save hundreds.
With textbooks, sometimes you’re just going to get screwed anyway and have to pay a couple hundred bucks for a book, but in many cases you can get textbooks cheap, especially when compared to the bookstore (which is insane on price in many cases).
Entertainment and personal expenses can be cut as well. There’s no reason why you need to spend out the wazoo on enjoying your time in college: on any given night there’s more than likely something interesting going on that’s free. You don’t have to spend $50 or more to have a good night in college.
With other expenses, such as cell phone and such, I wasn’t lucky enough to have mommy and daddy paying everything, so I didn’t get the most expensive plan out there. I pay less than $30/month for my cell phone and it does just fine for my needs (and I have an Android smartphone). Compared to some of my friends that can pay $100+/month for AT&T or Verizon, I feel like I win in that department. </p>
<p>Granted, a lot of these things are things that I was more or less “forced” to do. I knew my parents were going to contribute what they could to help me pay for undergrad, but that for the most part, I was on my own. Sure, I splurge every once in a while on some stuff but I can readily say that if you need to cut costs to attend FSU, there’s lots of ways of doing it.</p>