<p>I’m trying to estimate how much will be left over to pay for the Fall 2013 semester. I have the NMF package, the Engineering Leadership Scholarship, and the $2500 NMF scholarship. I’ve factored in tuition, room and board, course fees and dining dollars, but I wasn’t sure if there were any other random costs for the fall (minus football tickets and recreation). I’m not taking a car, so I don’t need to worry about a parking permit.</p>
<p>What total did you get for the costs that you factored in for board, fees, DDs, etc?</p>
<p>Tuition: paid for
Room: paid for</p>
<p>Then you have $5,000 from eng’g and NMCorp</p>
<p>Board = ?
Fees for each semester = ?
Dining Dollars = ? (used to be $600, but has that changed?)</p>
<p>were you offered a subsidized loan? If so, you should take it.</p>
<p>For board I have the $1578/sem for a meal plan and my Fall course fees add up to $307. I didn’t apply for any loans, because I wasn’t entirely sure that I needed them. I factored in the $300/sem for Dining Dollars too.</p>
<p>ok</p>
<p>board = @3200
course fees @600</p>
<h2>DD = @600 (if this is still the same)</h2>
<p>$4400</p>
<p>You have $5,000 in scholarship money, but this budget only works for frosh year.</p>
<p>I think you should do this:</p>
<p>Contact the FA office and ask them to add in a sub loan. Then bank it so that you have it to use towards next year when your housing scholarship goes away. That way you can borrow less sub loans. </p>
<p>What was your FAFSA EFC?</p>
<p>A bit of input from someone in a similar situation (NMF engineering major, sophomore): I know you won’t have housing for the next 3 years after this, but you can reduce future costs by going down to a lower meal plan, checking out different housing options, and most importantly, applying for scholarships. Depending on your branch of engineering, there are usually tons of current student scholarships out there. Even if it’s $1000 or $500 at a time, if you go for it I bet you’ll get some significant aid! I’m hoping to avoid loans entirely during my schooling, but it will be a bit harder for you because of housing. (Apologies!!)</p>
<p>As for unexpected expenses, there shouldn’t be terribly many unless you’re planning on joining tons of organizations or being REALLY social. Costs I ran into included one away game (UT - $80), dinner out with friends (when I was getting to the point when I needed a break from Lakeside), and club fees (usually $10-15 per organization, unless it’s an honors society, which is about $50)… Mostly stuff like that. I probably spent $700ish last year on personal expenses.</p>
<p>Don’t forget to budget for textbooks.</p>
<p>Great job! The Parent Ambassador kids at Bama Bound mentioned a few small items. Laundry, weekly bus trips to Target or the mall, and gas for friends’ cars for rides.</p>
<p>In addition to textbooks, don’t forget to budget for laptop, printer, calculator upgrade. You may already have these, but thought I’d mention it.</p>
<p>May want to budget for a Bike.</p>
<p>If OOS and need to fly don’t forget the shuttle to/from airport in addition to flights.</p>
<p>^^TNTIDE5 – Those extra scholarships, have you found them through Bama for individual majors or are you referring to outside scholarships? If outside, aside from the FASTWEB and like sites, are you going to specific sites for STEM majors?</p>
<p>@Longhaul - most of the extra money I have gotten personally has been from applications I submitted while still in high school. I also got a “departmental” one (sort of) this year that was by nomination rather than application. However, in ChemE, Ms. Sues Noble keeps us in the know about scholarships. We frequently get emails about internship and scholarship opportunities; some of the ones she sent along last year were an Air Force scholarship, a link to the GREEN Program (not a scholarship, but a cool opportunity), internship/co-op openings with BASF, a CollegeImprovement.org scholarship, and the Washington Internships for Students of Engineering (WISE) program. While some of those aren’t open to freshmen, there are plenty more, and probably some she doesn’t even send along. I’m sure it’s much like high school in that if you form a good relationship with the people who know where the money comes from, opportunities shouldn’t be hard to come by. You just have to keep your eyes peeled.</p>
<p>Great to know someone in ChemE department passes that info along!</p>
<p>OP one expense you should factor in is taxes on the scholarship money used above tuition costs and books. You will have to pay fed and if applicable for you state also.</p>
<p>You also need to factor in travel costs for dorm closure times. These will include not only plane/train fare but also rides to airport/train station. Don’t know if you’re factoring in parent visit costs as well for move in/ move out, their meals and lodging. Going oos on a strict budget often means your folks will never see the place you went to college.</p>
<p>Sorry hi I never saw these responses. I’m kind of in a good, but weird situation. I’m OOS from FL paying nearly everything alone. I’m coming home for Xmas, Spring Break and potentially summer but southwest deals to Tampa have been factored in. I’ve got laptop from graduation too. Basically I’m trying to see if I’ll have a surplus. I have a decent sized inheritance that I receive on my 18th birthday (Sept. 2013), and I’m reserving in mainly for medical school. My calculations are showing about a $350 surplus per semester this year, which includes books, fees, tuition, meal plan & housing (between NMF scholarship package, ENG, and random funds). I’d like to be able to come out with as little amount of loans as possible, but am unsure of how possible that actually is</p>
<p>Again, if you’re offered a sub loan, you should take it, even if you don’t need the funds this year. In a future year, you may not be offered one because of the inheritance. The subsidized loan won’t accumulate interest as long as you’re in school.</p>
<p>Do you know what your EFC is?</p>
<p>Op I believe you and my D are FB friends, she will be driving to Tampa at Christmas break and may be able to save you $$. I am not sure of other breaks. I will ask her to msg you.
I would agree take out sub and Perkins loans if you are offered, bank the money if you don’t need it later pay them off.</p>