<p>I have a few questions that I simply cannot wait until the fin.aid office opens tomorrow to ask. For my D's FA, we only wish to accept the subsidized stafford loan and do not want the unsubsidized stafford loans. Is that okay? Also, about claiming the financial aid award, will everything that is not a loan not require any sort of additional paperwork because the staffords do have the additional loan request (basically will they automatically show up w/o the need to "claim" them)?
Also, any parents have opinions about the lenders that USC lists for the loans? (e.g. positive or negative experiences) Any help would be greatly appreciated.
ALSO, this is completely unrelated, but do any of you have laptop recommendations (at a budget of 1000 dollars and below)? Thanks</p>
<p>yes you can accept only the subsidized and not the unsubsidized, just mark it on the request form</p>
<p>all grants and school scholarships are automatic
any other scholarships from other organizations need to be mailed in</p>
<p>though im not a parent, im handling most of my financial aid on my own
i heard that chase or discover are both good, with discover having a 2% graduation reward policy that gives you back some money
im probably going to take my private loans from chase</p>
<p>get a netbook rather than a laptop</p>
<p>What xboredguy said.</p>
<p>I’m a student handling most of the FA stuff on my own. Using Stafford loans through Discover. Still deciding on where to take out the other loans. Probably taking out Parent PLUS loans somewhere.</p>
<p>By the way, does anyone know if we take out other loans (i.e.: Parent PLUS loans or private loans), do we need to indicate how much we need to take out? Or will they go through that with USC and USC will give them an amount? Because I know you need to send in a request form for Parent PLUS loans as well. Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Anyways, back on topic. I bought a netbook rather than a laptop because I find it more convenient and since I’ll be at school, the limited memory allows me to focus on my academic stuff. But I’m probably going to bring my desktop computer (and my printer) so it’s more convenient and there’s more memory space on there anyways.</p>
<p>@ forever09</p>
<p>yeah you need to tell the lenders how much your are going to borrow
so figure that out with your parents on how much you will need to borrow
and make sure you watch out of origination fees if there are any
or else its gonna bite you later on if you borrow the exact amount</p>
<p>@ xboredguy</p>
<p>Thanks! The amount is basically the COA minus the financial aid offered by USC right? And for me, plus work-study. It’s usually what they state on the FA statement, correct?</p>
<p>Sorry! Still learning ):</p>
<p>@ forever09</p>
<p>yeah but when you calculate the COA minus financial aid, make sure you add the work study to the amount you need to loan from private/parent PLUS loans</p>
<p>the work study amount on the FA papers tell you the maximum amount you can work for, and some kids never work the full amount if they are too busy</p>
<p>So just the whole year of work study right? Both semesters?
Sounds good! Thanks again!</p>