<p>For those of you attending UCLA with little or no help from parents, how affordable is it? I have seen the figures on the UCLA website (on-campus per year cost ~ $25,000), but I would like to hear from undergraduates at UCLA.
I am considering this with roughly $6,500 in fin. aid through Cal-Grant, so basically tuition is paid. Is it feasible to assume that a part-time job could take out ~$10,000 more? Do many of you work to handle the expenses?
That still leaves around $8,000-10,000, of which part could be paid by scholarships and additional grants if possible?
Thats a sketchy plan of paying for UCLA. Does it seem reasonable or practical? This still leaves around >$5,000 in loans I think... is this the usual amount of loan, or realistically, would it be much more for someone in my situation?
Does that make any sense? UCLA undergrad insight would be very helpful!</p>
<p>Hi electrifice,</p>
<p>I would say that $25000 is a very high estimate for in-state students. I don't think you'll end up paying that much. With that said, I think most students end up with some type of loan. Besides the grants, you probably will get work study, which will cover some. The rest usually comes from loans. Without parental support, $5000 in loans seems highly possible in your situation.</p>
<p>Thank you ekn111 for the quick reply. I also thought that was a rather high estimate. What would be a more realistic estimate? Also, how much would living off-campus reduce the costs (if not increase), and would that reduce the fin. aid awards?</p>
<p>Well, I can't pinpoint an amount but I would say you can pay less than $20000 if you budget right. As for housing, living off-campus usually is cheaper than on-campus. However, I think living on-campus provides convenience, and it's maybe something you don't want to miss out your first year here (just for the experience).</p>
<p>electrifice,</p>
<p>I worked 20+ hours a week, and was being paid far more than minimum wage and got nowhere near $10K a year. </p>
<p>Why are you so adverse to taking out loans? What about pell grants?</p>
<p>Well, at $9.25 an hour for 21hours a week, I was pulling home about $700 a month after taxes. So you can definitely make $7000 during the school year and an extra couple of thousand over the summer. Add $7,000 to summer wages, 10 weeks full time, $3,500. You'll easily pull in $10,500 a year if you can find a decent job.</p>
<p>My hourly rate was only $7.50 an hour but my bonuses bumped it up to $9.25 an hour consistently.</p>
<p>Add in a $4,000 deduction tax credit for being a student and expect a nice $500-600 dollar tax refund check every year provided you have some other deductions.</p>
<p>That's close to $11,000 a year after taxes</p>
<p>You could, but summer should be used for internships, research opportunities, going abroad...</p>
<p>I just don't see the reason to work like crazy when you can do way more constructive things during the summer and off time.</p>
<p>I was in a similar boat, with no help whatsoever from my parents. I'm not receiving any grants, only a max of $5500 unsubsidized loan a year. I live off-campus, but I really feel like I missed out by not living on-campus, especially since I'm a transfer. There was just no possibility of on-campus housing, since I wasn't even offered loans over $5500. I find myself paying about $450-500 a quarter in addition to what the loan covers for tuition, an additional $100-150 for books a quarter, then finally about $600 for rent and utilities. </p>
<p>I work way too much (35+ hours) a week and it's variable since I depend on tips, but I earn anywhere from $250-350 a week in tips, and around $200 in minimum wage...translating to $1500-2000 a month. Of course, this is by working night and day and leaving virtually no time for studying or research. </p>
<p>My advice: scholarships, scholarships, scholarships. I really regret not trying harder to find scholarships when I was transferring. If you work your ass off, you should be able to keep loans to a minimum. 10,000 does sound a bit much though. Are you an incoming freshman?</p>
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My advice: scholarships, scholarships, scholarships.
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<p>Just to reiterate. :)</p>
<p>scholarships, scholarships, scholarships.Just to reiterate. :)</p>
<p>UCLAri... I'm not entirely sure of what exactly my financial aid package will be (still have to file taxes) and the only intimation I have received so far is from the Cal Grant which is why I mentioned it. Hopefully, I will get Pell Grants too (...with $2500 EFC??). I posed my question by assuming a highest level of what I might have to pay and a lowest level of fin. aid. I hope that ultimately the cost will be lower than expcectations, and the aid higher. As for loans, I want to stay away from as much as possible. I know I will have to take them and I definitely will when the time comes, but I just want to keep it as low as possible.
Thanks for your estimates everyone about how much you are able to earn. I am hoping to get a job through which I should be able to earn between $1-1.5 K per month with around 25 hours a week (and I have some reason to believe I'll be able to get such a job). But I definitely don't want to go through work, school, work, school, work, school.... part of my high school experience has already been like that.
About those scholarships... I have to admit this is where I'm lazy. So, from your individual experiences, how much can an average person expect to get out of scholarships? I find it hard to apply to them because they take time and I get disenchanted by the numbers (ie: $10,000 and 15,000 avg. applicants). Also, what kind of scholarships are best to apply to?
And bfired2... Yes, I will be an incoming freshman.
Thanks again.</p>
<p>I got thousands of dollars a year in scholarships, and it usually involved very little legwork on my part.</p>
<p>With a $2500 EFC, you will get a lot of grats, don't worry. You'll be able to make up most of the rest of it in subsidized loans (the good kind) and work-study/work.</p>
<p>I highly recommend that you try to limit your working as much as possible. An extra $5K in debt now is well worth your having time to do something unique academically.</p>
<p>with an efc of 2500 and qualifying for CAL grants, the rest of your aid should be met by ucla so i wouldnt worry too much.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the helpful replies everyone...
When will I find out about all the financial aid UCLA can offer (ie: the Pell Grant)? Will that be after they have sent the official acceptance letter? Also, do I need to apply for anything else other than the FAFSA for all the help that they can offer me? I get this ominous feeling that I haven't done something...!</p>
<p>"You'll easily pull in $10,500 a year if you can find a decent job."</p>
<p>Bad idea, aid-wise. Students get an income protection allowance of only about 3K-- everything above that gets assessed at a whopping 50% in the aid formula. So if you make 10K, the 7K you make over the 3K allowance ends up reducing your aid package by $3,500.</p>
<p>Wait until you see the aid package UCLA offers. With an EFC of 2500, you'll likely get about 5K in subsidized Stafford/Perkins loans, the $6141 CalGrant, $2500 work study, and about 7K in University grants/scholarships to make up the balance (maybe a bit less depending on your grades since the scholarship portion of the finaid package is grade-dependent).</p>
<p>And note that if you take the work-study, your income isn't counted against you in the aid formula, like other income is.</p>
<p>There's an application for general UCLA scholarships that you should complete. I think the deadline was 3/1 (but that might be for returning students).</p>
<p>Yes, you'll receive the financial aid notification from UCLA after your official acceptance.</p>
<p>Heh, just ask your boss to pay you in cash... ummm durr?</p>
<p>Either that or start a company and just expense the tuition money and not pay taxes on money u earn. But w/e... its just money. Make it and spend it! Until, u actually make some real money =P</p>
<p>I don't need a scholarship because I have worked out a way to win the lottery.</p>
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About those scholarships... I have to admit this is where I'm lazy. So, from your individual experiences, how much can an average person expect to get out of scholarships? I find it hard to apply to them because they take time and I get disenchanted by the numbers (ie: $10,000 and 15,000 avg. applicants). Also, what kind of scholarships are best to apply to?
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Local scholarships are ideal. Yeah, I've seen the 10K and 15K scholarships from FastWeb that are really hard to get - Coca-Cola Scholars and others. Just keep applying to local scholarships, talk to your guidance counselor, and find other resources. Oh and definitely apply to Gates-Millennium if you're eligible; this was one of my biggest regrets. There are so many GM scholars and it doesn't seem as difficult to get like Coca-Cola. Don't feel bad or lazy -- a lot of the essay prompts that I worked on for scholarships were very similar so I just altered them a little bit and submitted them.</p>
<p>You only need to submit the FAFSA for UCLA. Other schools, mostly private universities, might have you complete the CSS Profile on CollegeBoard as well. You will be OK.</p>