<p>Im a freshman at a UC.</p>
<p>Im not doing good at the moment and I'm on track to fail a few of my classes this semester. I hate the college I attend and I don't want to be here. I've had too much trouble making the transition and I need to move back home. I really want to attend a CSU next year (if that's possible). I don't want the F's on my transcript and would rather just take W's. For those reasons I am planning on withdrawing. There are more reasons behind the withdrawal as well, but I just need some answers about financial aid.</p>
<p>I am POOR. Very poor. I am getting the max financial aid possible.</p>
<p>How will withdrawing affect my financial aid? I've talked to the people at my school and they said I'll owe nothing (if i withdraw during a certain time period) but I just have to pay back the loan. I want to continue my education, but elsewhere. I do plan on living at home. </p>
<p>Will i still qualify for pell grants and cal grants? Is there anything I need to fill out differently? FAFSA? How to I apply for other schools? Do i apply as a Freshman? I just don't know how it works. What do I need to do after I withdraw? Will I still get the same amount of aid i would normally get?</p>
<p>Can someone clear things up? I'd really appreciate it.</p>
<p>You’re wise to ask these questions before you withdraw. Hopefully kelsmom will see this as she’s the expert in these matters…or you could send her a PM. Did you ask a financial aid advisor at your school how withdrawing from all of your classes would affect FUTURE aid? I am pretty sure that it would count against you in any SAP calculations and that could make you ineligible until you take enough classes (probably at full pay) to meet SAP standards. Those standards are usually along the lines of successful completion of 67% of the credits attempted with a minimum gpa of 2.0. But they vary by school, so be very careful and make sure you understand and meet the standards at any school you attend.</p>
<p>How many credits are you taking? Do you have room to drop 1-2 classes and still be considered a full-time student? Have you contacted Student Support Services at your current school? They may be able to provide you with tutor(s) that can help you get back on track and pull at least a C average. Freshman year is tough on a lot of students but usually gets much better with time. If you’re attending class, doing your homework, studying for every class (review your notes before the next class and make sure you’re doing the readings - unlike HS, college profs don’t tell you that these are important as they just expect you to be prepared), and using whatever resources your school has (Math Labs, Writing Centers, etc.) you can probably make a C. Do you understand the grading policies? In some classes, it’s common for students to have a failing grade on a few exam and still get a C or better once the curve is applied. Go to your profs during office hours and discuss your concerns and ask for suggestions on ways to improve your grade…they’ve seen kids do turnarounds before!</p>
<p>I need to withdraw. There is no hope left for me. I have failed the classes for the most part. And I won’t be able to reach the school’s quota for credits (not sure if that is the SAP thing) by the end of next semester either. I’ll be too far behind because of this semester. I have no choice but to withdraw at this point to save my grades. My school needs a certain amount of credits by the end of the year. I won’t have them. It’s not possible.</p>
<p>I just need to know the financial aid situation. My financial aid “specialist” said I would be fine, but I need confirmation. She said something about a “return to title 4” guide. So I don’t know how or what I would need to do after withdrawing to insure I get aid for the future.</p>
<p>and I how do I go about applying to a CSU? JC?</p>
<p>How many years will I be good for? Will I get my grants? I really don’t know. Can someone walk me through?</p>
<p>"
have you been talking to an actual FA officer (not a student helper)? How much of the semester have you completed? Withdrawing before a certain point in the semester will mean the school is required to return certain funds to the government and then you are required repay to the school some federal aid, including part of any federal grant money you have received, based on how much of the aid you have “earned” - i.e how much of the semester you have completed. That is what return to title 4 refers to. Make quite sure you are talking to someone who knows what they are talking about.</p>
<p>As far as future aid. You may run into SAP problems. Every school must have a SAP policy that determines aid eligibility. It will include a requirement that you have successfully completed a certain percentage of all classes attempted anywhere ever. My son was once denied aid when he returned to school because he had withdrawn from a full semester for various reasons. He actually met SAP as far as total credits completed, grades etc (and he had never received aid in the past until the time he applied and was denied). He was able to get aid on appeal.</p>
<p>it was their “specialist”. She told me the exact day I needed to withdraw so I wouldn’t have to owe money. My financial aid would have been earned and I don’t have to pay anything. That’s what I remember her saying. so basically I just need to check the SAP policy of the school I want to apply into? But that means I won’t qualify for aid then? Because I will have no credits completed…</p>
<p>what should I do if this is the case?</p>
<p>It sounds as if your “specialist” was only advising you about current aid. Your future aid will almost certainly be impacted. Aside from staying enrolled for THIS semester, and making sure you complete at least 2/3 of the credits you registered for, the only other choice I know of is to pay full price for however many future credits you’ll need to meet the standard your new school has set. This is not easy because if you paid for and passed an equivalent number of credits to those you’re taking this semester you’d still be under 67%. I’m pretty sure it would take you a full year to recover your aid eligibility unless you were somehow able to successfully petition for a second chance. </p>
<p>How far into the semester are you? When are your mid-terms and what classes are you taking?</p>
<p>im halfway. midterms are this week and next. like i said, im going to fail?</p>
<p>what should i do (that will benefit me in the future most) ?
financially…</p>
<p>That’s really unanswerable at this point. My advice would be to only drop the class(es) where there’s no hope of passing (after speaking with the professor) and complete the rest. Do your best on your midterms and make sure you are going to every class, every review, seeking out tutors, studying effectively, etc.</p>
<p>I always tell students that they need to do whatever is best for them. In this case, it seems like the OP has determined that withdrawing is best. It is very important that you do not begin your withdrawal process prior to the date you were told that your aid will be 100% earned. If you stop attending class before withdrawing, for example, the profs may report you as a drop due to nonattendance & the school would have to use your last date of attendance. You want to keep attending class until the “safe” date … this impacts the R2T4 (return of title IV funds). You will want to make sure your official withdrawal date is not before the date the specialist gave you, or you may have to repay some of your aid.</p>
<p>Many schools do not care what happened at your prior school. I worked at a state U, and we did not pay any attention to the student’s satisfactory academic progress at his prior school. It is possible the school you wish to attend will not take your fall progress into consideration at all.</p>
<p>Your eligibility at the new school will be half your Pell grant and the remainder of your annual Stafford loan eligibility. SEOG and institutional grants are generally long gone by the time midyear transfer students receive their aid packages. If you receive any state funding, that may be available … you would have to talk to the new school about that.</p>
<p>By the way, if you stay enrolled in at least one class, you probably won’t have to worry about your aid. At least where I worked, as long as you had at least one credit, no aid had to be returned. That is because a student who dropped classes would not get any money back … and it was only if ALL classes were dropped that the federal R2T4 regs kicked in. If you can hang in for one class, that might be wise.</p>
<p>yea, i am attending some classes still. but i want to withdraw in november.</p>
<p>are u telling me to stay for the entire semester? if i leave in novermeber i wont have any credits at all, but i dont have to pay anything. and thats why i want to leave during that date.</p>
<p>also, i doubt ill be able to attend any school in spring. im looking at the next fall. will is till get my grants and fin aid? (i live in California if that matters)</p>
<p>and what steps do i need to take after withdrawing? (also, will there be any conflicts with withdrawing? is there anything i need to do to ensure i can withdraw? or is it entirely my choice?)</p>
<p>You actually will have to pay something…remember that your student loans will come due before next fall. There’s a 6 month grace period on direct loans and a 9 month grace period on Perkins loans.</p>
<p>No one here can tell you exactly how these withdrawals will affect you at your local college. From the link you shared via PM, it appears that they WILL use them in SAP calculations. When they say “all units attempted at prior colleges”, that means they will be looking at your transcripts. You can verify this with them directly and see if their one semester “warning” period will apply to you as an incoming student, particularly as there doesn’t seem to be a way for you to meet SAP within one semester there.</p>
<p>Btw, not to lecture, but I’m a bit bothered by the fact that you’re not even willing to try to rehabilitate your grades. Nothing in your communications indicates that you have gone to your academic advisors or reached out to resources that are likely available to you on campus. Having had several kids go through first semester of freshman year (with rocky/good starts, homesickness, hospitalizations, bad profs/good profs, horrible schedules, etc.) I have yet to have one unable to overcome and manage to pass if they really worked at it. I don’t think quitting in November is a smart choice, or the only choice, and I don’t think it will serve you (or the taxpayers who have supported you) well to completely withdraw with only a month or so left in the semester. Just my $.02…just remember that wherever you go, there you are, and life is full of tough challenges to be met.</p>