I have used all my financial aid and FAFSA aid, but I still have money left over to pay. I’m a pre-med student and all my labs increase my tuition drastically. I got into a respected science oriented college but I never imagined it would be so costly. I wanted to take out a student loan but all my family has their own college/ personal loans they have yet to pay and therefore can’t cosign me. I have no idea what to do without a cosigner I can’t get a loan because I’m full time student that doesn’t have assets. I plan to start two jobs next semester but I don’t know what to do for my current term. I don’t have the money at hand (total: 11,812 for the year) and I have tried asking everyone I could…but everyone says they can’t which I understand, loans are a huge responsibility.
I feel stressed and mad at myself because I don’t want to give up on my dreams of becoming a doctor. It’s only been my mother, brother and I my whole life. Due to special circumstances my father has been absent from our lives and my mother is undocumented so my parents can’t take out personal loans. I’m at a lost. Does anyone have any advice? My mother recently told me to just go to the financial aid office and sit down to talk with them to see if I can get any more money because I have no where to full 11k from. My mom earns the bare minimum and my brother is disabled. I feel idiotic for picking a college due to its prestige and pre med program I thought I could make ends meet but I just can’t.
If you are a freshman at Pitt, and not a PA resident, you will not receive any additional financial aid. In one of your post you state that you are from Illinois. If your family still lives in Il, then you have to go home and attend an affordable school in state.
If you know that you do not have the money to for next semester, do not register for any classes. If you register and don’t pay, they will hold on to your transcript, which will prevent you from attending another school.
I am sorry you are in this predicament, but honestly if any of us knew how to make $11,000 appear out of thin air we would be doing that instead of posting on CC.
It sounds like you picked a college you couldn’t afford. If you are out of money after one semester, how on earth can you pay for undergrad plus medical school?
This stinks, but it is what it is - you can’t afford to stay at Penn State. Time to start formulating plan B
You are in your first semester, and have already run out of money. Your are at a university that you can’t afford.
You need to stop at the end of the current semester. You are also going to need to pay off whatever you owe for this first semester before you are going to be able to get your transcript, which you will need to transfer to somewhere more affordable. I agree with @sybbie719, do not register for any classes after the end of the current semester. Make sure that your current university knows that you are leaving. For example, you don’t want to have bills for your dorm room or anything else after you leave at the end of the current semester.
You should also reconsider medical school. You might be better served seeking a degree that will get you into a well paying job with less study. Undergrad + med school + residency is a long and expensive road if you have no family resources to draw on and are just hanging on financially semester by semester.
You can’t just sit in the financial aid office and wish up $11K. Their money is directed for thousands of students. You don’t need to go to a prestigious school that you obviously cannot afford.
Go home; go to a CC to pick up your basic courses and find an affordable college that you can commute to from your home.
Is this current ( fall semester ) paid for or do you still owe money?
How are you planning to pay for the spring semester?
Your challenge is unless the fall semester bill is paid, you will not be able to transfer to another school be cause your grades and transcripts will be on hold.
Op attends a state university ( most of the funding is by the Pennsylvania taxpayers) as an OOS student.
Remember the goal of an public university is to provide an affordable option for their taxpayer base. OOS students are a revenue source.
All of the visits in the world is not going to net her 11k. The best she can do is if her mom is not eligible for a PLUS loan, she can get an additional 4K (2k/psemester) unsub loan. This is not going to put a dent in the 11k.
Op is financially over her head with this school and needs an affordable option
You need $6k just to pay for the fall semester on top of the ~$2750/semester federal student loan? That’s a net cost of ~$17k/year. How did your mom think it was going to get paid? You can’t borrow ~$68k for undergrad. That’s actually a good thing. Working 2 jobs while attending school full time when you want to go to med school isn’t going to help your GPA, so that’s not really an option. This school just isn’t affordable.
You need to formally withdraw so your debt doesn’t increase. It’s important that you completely withdraw or you’ll owe more money. Go to the financial aid office and the registrar and make sure you’re NOT enrolled in classes next semester. Visit campus housing and cancel your housing and meal plan for the spring too. Then go home and find an affordable option. You may have to work first to pay off the money you owe to get your transcripts released. Ask the financial office to set up a payment plan for you.
Penn State isn’t even affordable for instate students without parent help and scholarships because it costs over $30 k and federal and PA grants plus student loan only covers about $15,000.
I agree with the other posters that you need to find an affordable IL school that you can commute to so that your Pell Grant and student loan covers tuition and you save on housing and food by living at home.
First : are you worried about paying this semester or spring semester?
Second: what are your current grades? What classes are you taking and how many credits?
Third: do you live near any Illinois public university?
Fourth: give us details about your financial aid package. How much does the university cost? What does your financial aid include? List everything.
Fifth: what were your HS stats (GPA, AP/IB, test scores)?
Sixth: you may need to transfer in the Spring and deadlines may well have passed for that. Please provide the info to questions above so we can see where you might be able to go.
I hate to ask this…but how did you think your college costs were going to be paid when you decided to matriculate at this college? You had a financial aid award that was not sufficient to cover your costs.
If you really think you can make the finances work in the future…see if you can apply for a leave of absence for the next terms in this academic year. See if you can work out the finances…for ALL YOUR REMAINING UNDERGRAD YEARS. And yes…I’m shouting…because clearly, you didn’t have a plan when you enrolled as a freshman.
If you can be guaranteed that your costs will be covered until you graduate…between whatever aid you get from the school, federally funded Direct Loans only, and money from your family…then fine…return to your college next fall.
In the meantime…start looking for options that ARE within the price point your family can pay.
What are your current grades? What was your SAT or ACT score?
Why would this be the case? The cost of attendance is clearly posted on every college website…and your labs aren’t the only cost that is taking you over the tipping point. The whole cost of attending this college is too high.
I really hope this works out for you somehow…but don’t expect a public university in another state to come up with money to cover your shortfall.
I agree with @mommdc and others who stated that the PA state-related universities are unaffordable even for most PA lower income students. The exceptions would be very high-stats students who win full tuition or full ride scholarships to Pitt or Temple. I didn’t allow my instate daughter to apply to Penn State or Pitt, knowing that there was no way we’d be able to afford it. What Illinois schools are within commuting distance from your home? You may have missed out on the best merit scholarships, since they are usually awarded to incoming freshmen. However, some schools may still consider you an entering freshman. Your most affordable choice at this point may be to transfer to a directional University after doing well at a community college. As an example, see the following info from SIU Carbondale: http://scholarships.siu.edu (click on 2018-19 Academic Scholarship Brochure)
According to your posting history you realized that Penn State was unaffordable in August before you started. You will need to transfer to one of your in state schools, perhaps after taking a gap semester this spring.
HS Stats and number of credits completed come in handy as some colleges with excellent need-based aid will still consider a high stats student with 15 or fewer credits as a freshman. A 100% need college would be ideal for a first gen, EFC zero student.
But we need to hear back from OP first (questions 1-5 in post 12) @lilyays4 : please read through. Stay strong, as the news isn’t good, but we’re trying to help.
which I understand, loans are a huge responsibility.