<p>Did anyone get his/her final fin aid package yet? How does it look?</p>
<p>Mine looks big.</p>
<p>Mine was good enough, doable in the sense that we can't afford it but it's better than others we can't afford.</p>
<p>reading,</p>
<p>i'm lol. great post:)</p>
<p>Haha...thanks, I guess!</p>
<p>haven't gotten it yet</p>
<p>i got a nice package. i think 25000 ish?</p>
<p>cookiemonkey,</p>
<p>but doesn't that leave about 20,000 more? how will you take care of that?</p>
<p>Uh... 25K is an amazing package. Very few colleges are going to meet 100%.</p>
<p>Considering University of Illinois is no more out of pocket than University of Chicago. momoffive</p>
<p>robertson i dont know yet. loans and maybe work i guess. and my parents are paying a bunch too. the 25k is over a period of 4 years, i think. not per year.</p>
<p>cookiemonkey, i also received 25k in grants. Is it really for four years? (like do you mean its renewable?) I was under the impression you had to re-apply for financial aid every year. (i'll be calling the finaid office tmr to check out what it exactly means.)</p>
<p>you have to reapply every year, though unless your financial situation has changed much, you should get about the same amount.</p>
<p>I'm completely in the dark when it comes to fin aid :(</p>
<p>yea u have to reapply every year (what greygoo said)
uh im not really sure on details of fin aid stuf. i have to read the package and brochures and such.</p>
<p>I got my finaid today...$29,600 in grants! I'm in the middle of a long thank-you letter to the office of finaid! I can't believe their generosity...
Oh, and for anyone that's asked about this previously, the finaid package you get usually covers one year's worth of expenses. Well, at least that's what mine said, and i read it over carefully. Thus, it's essentially renewable, from year to year (you just have to submit all the forms again), just as long as your family situation doesn't change drastically, like your parents getting fired, or a previously unemployed guardian getting a job.</p>
<p>They recalculate every year based on income so its not exactl renewable.</p>
<p>Usually spending money for the year is provided in the way of work study funds. You get aid but you have to work for it (the work study is never required for tuition, only if you want extra money in your pocket).</p>
<p>Anyone that's a freshman going to be living off campus? I have sort of a dilemma and i would appreciate some input. I have the choice of living on campus or with a roommate in an apartment about 8 miles from Hyde Park. This would save me some money, but I'm afraid it would make commuting too complex, and would really interfere with me getting to know the campus and classmates. Would I even be allowed to live off campus freshman year? And do I really want to do this? Another issue is the surrounding neighborhood...I'm not sure how I feel about having to take publc transportation through Hyde Park all the time...especially in the evening.
Help!</p>
<p>ottothecow...are you going to be a first-year?</p>
<p>I'm going to be a second year. (actually I just handed in my fin-aid forms today).</p>
<p>Lets see, as a 1st year you dont have a choice. You either live on campus or with your parents. Thats it. Now, 8 miles is not an easy commute in college and you woudlnt get to know people at all. Public transit is fine (I dont know where this apartment is, but its generally fine even at night).</p>
<p>One thing to take into account is that your financial aid includes 10grand or so worth of housing. If you (after your first year) decide not to live in housing, your financial aid allotment WILL decrease (and then other things will increase). Some people will be better off when they move and some people will be worse off. If you are on financial aid, an apartment doesnt really save you money a lot of the times, it simply affords you a larger living space and more freedom. </p>
<p>Even if you could live with parents, I would not reccomend it, the dorms are a requisite experiance for entering students to meet people, you will have more fun if you are able to meet mass quantities of people at first and find the ones you like.</p>