<p>Hello! I was just wondering if anyone knows of programs to help students with college related fees. I'm a gap year student struggling to find a job. I also need assistance in paying to retake my ACT (and subject tests but that's not as pressing). Being a gap year kid makes me ineligible for pretty much every fee waiver I can think of. :/ Any suggestions? I'm applying to quite a few schools because of the financial aid they offer, but sending my ACT scores and retaking it is going to cost me a fortune! I've contacted a few local churches, but they're not likely to help. I'm very low income. Also, cutting my school list down really isn't an option. </p>
<p>If you can’t afford $1,000 to apply to schools this year while you are working (or at least trying), how will you be able to pay tens of thousands for tuition next year when a work schedule will be far more challenging?</p>
<p>If you are planning to apply to the colleges that meet full need, their application deadlines have already passed. Almost all other schools will not meet full need.</p>
<p>I would suggest you find a job and save as much money as possible. Attend a community college for a couple years to continue saving and then transfer to a state university.</p>
<p>I already applied, lol. I just need help with sending the ACT score when it’s ready!
The amount is about $200… :\ (includes retake of ACT).
I’m able to afford 18/19 of the schools I applied to (based on aid calc)!</p>
<p>Sell something on Craigslist or collect a thousand cans for recycling. $200 is pretty minor. I have no idea why you are looking for “programs” to pay your expenses when what you need is a job so you can pay them yourself.</p>
<p>Perhaps you don’t realize how offensive it sounds to ask churches for money to pay for a ridiculous number of app fees. Charity is there for people who cannot put a roof over their heads or food on the table.</p>
<p>It appears that you have simply picked 18 schools that will meet full need without putting any real thought into it. I assume that you are using app fee waivers to apply to this huge number. If so, you need to realize that you have already received a huge advantage that few applicants have.</p>
<p>My recommendation is to simply do what 99% of other applicants do - cut down your list. There is no way that all of them are good matches for your interests. Brown, Emory and Stanford, to pick three, are vastly different in innumerable ways.</p>
<p>I really don’t have anything to sell. I have my 5 yr old laptop, Momo, but I need her. And collecting cans? I live in a kinda country area outside ATL. I don’t have a car and the nearest bustop is two miles away. Lack of transportation even interferes with job search! </p>
<p>I’m looking for a job right now! I have been for the past three months.
I didn’t know it was offensive to ask! T_T The churches I asked routinely help with these things, but most likely won’t help me because I’m not a member. </p>
<p>I applied to so many schools to have options. I have spent MONTHS researching their currics and the pros and cons of attending each. I can’t really expand my list too much because financial aid is a HUGE restriction. I requested all the fee waivers (save for Brown and Columbia which my gc has to email) myself so as not to need much help from my gc (I don’t want to bother). I’m also doing the financial aid process on my own. </p>
<p>rmldad, while I agree that the OP should be able to come up with the money to send the ACT scores in some way, please understand it is not unusual for low income students to apply to all full need met schools, a list that is not unusual from the OP’s. My D was one of those students. While she ended up at her #1 school, she would have been greatful for an education at ANY school. When you are poor, the so called “fit” isn’t so much of a big deal. The acceptance and the education is.</p>
<p>@GAMom, thanks for the perspective. It is always challenging to fully understand the obstacles that others face. Our family income is above the national median so my kids didn’t qualify for any waivers. They would have loved having the chance to apply to twenty schools to maximize chances at both acceptance and financial aid but we had to limit them to half a dozen because of app fees and test fees and every other kind of fee. Now we are dealing with the constant tuition challenges.</p>
<p>I recognize that my family has advantages that OP does not. I hope s/he realizes there are advantages that work for her as well. I apologize if I offended you through my lack of perspective in the same way that the original post offended me.</p>
<p>I am glad the system worked out for your D. Congratulations. I hope she is thriving at college.</p>
<p>^ I don’t qualify for CB, NACAC, or ACT fee waivers, btw. I’m a gap year student. I paid for the tests myself. Mom and I have a place to live now, thank heavens, but job search is still dismal. Mom had a job but she lost it a while ago! We can barely afford rent and food as it stands. I’m not excusing anything, just giving background.
Also, I emailed requests to each school and practically begged for them to waive my fees. I explained my situation and some were very generous (extremely grateful). Some schools, and rightfully so, still needed an email from my gc. For another school, I’ll just have to pay the app fee. I applied to so much bc of low stats, which is my fault obv. Had I not been granted fee waivers, I just would not have applied! So yeah. I really wish I didn’t need help because I hate asking for it. Folks will always assume you’re lazy or entitled when you ask for help, which is why I don’t, lol. xD</p>