<p>:( I guess I gotta go to UC Merced then...</p>
<p><em>sigh</em> And I had really wanted to go to UCSC :(</p>
<p>UC Santa Cruz Grant 372.00<br>
UC Fee Grant 672.00<br>
Federal Perkins Loan 1,299.00<br>
Federal Direct Subsidized Loan 3,500.00<br>
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Ln 2,000.00<br>
Federal College Work-Study 1,500.00<br>
Parent Loan Option-Submit Form 21,359.00</p>
<p>may i ask what is ur EFC and ur estimaetd financial aid that u received by mail? I still haven’t received mines yet</p>
<p>Wow, does that even constitute as financial aid if its 2% grant and 98% loans? Maybe reapply after another year?</p>
<p>Versii: Federal loans are considered to be financial aid. Very few schools around the country promise to meet 100% of need without loans. UCSC is not one of them.</p>
<p>whatthefriction: I wonder how UCSC determines who receives Perkins and subsidized loans since I was always under the impression that they both required decently low EFCs since they’re both subsidized while you’re in school. Did you qualify for Cal Grant? The ceiling for A is above the $70,000 ceiling for Blue&Gold. I’m almost positive “UC Fee Grant” is Blue&Gold…</p>
<p>Your package is really confusing. There’s too many things in it that I would expect to see on one with a low EFC, but that large of a PLUS loan indicates a large EFC.</p>
<p>My initial EFC for both Merced and Santa Cruz was I think…12,301.</p>
<p>We had to send in parent verification for UCSC, and after a while it changed to…I’m not totally sure, but I think it was like 12,219, or around there.
But then! When I got my official offer however and saw the EFC, it changed again to 12,985!</p>
<p>:/
I just submitted my SIR to Merced this morning. I’m really disappointed, but I just have to choose a different road that is within my family’s means and do the best there. :)</p>
<p>For the FAFSA, I think my parent’s income was 79,something, just under the 80 thousand line. We don’t qualify for much aid but we don’t have money to pay for it! Ah the middle class >_>. I have to go to Merced though cause it’s cheaper (they gave me a little money for scholarship, and it’s closer so my parents wouldn’t have to drive so much…)</p>
<p>Sigh.</p>
<p>Leuzinger, the mail estimated financial aid was estimated somewhere around 18,000 or something.</p>
<p>Versii, I thought you had to have a certain amount of credits and be an incoming junior to apply/transfer?</p>
<p>Kender, for Merced they made a mistake and put cal grant for me at first, but they took it off. It was just a mistake, which makes sense because I don’t qualify for Cal Grant on the official site, and my college counselor doesn’t have me listed for receiving Cal Grant anyways.</p>
<p>UCM On-Campus
Ed/Reg Fee: $10,302
Campus Fees: $728
Health Insurance: $861
Room and Board: $12,801
Books and Supplies: $1,563
Personal Expenses: $1,356
Transportation: $1,391
TOTAL COST: $29,002</p>
<p>UCSC On-Campus
Fees (estimated): $12,732
Food and Housing: $14,172
Books and Supplies: $1,404
Transportation: $870
Personal Expenses: $1,524
TOTAL COST: $30,702</p>
<p>There’s really not that much difference in cost. Most of it looks like it’s in the housing costs where the big difference is (and I did read last year that UCSC is one of the most expensive campuses to live on in the United States).</p>
<p>[NOTE: UCSC includes campus fees and health insurance into one lump category called “Fees” on their COA chart]</p>
<p>UCSC FA Package Total (minus PLUS loans): $9,343
EFC: $12,985
Need: $17,717</p>
<p>So you’ve been gapped $8,374. That’s a lot ): I know UCSC doesn’t guarantee to meet 100% of need, but that’s a rather large gap for a California resident in my opinion. I know you’ve already submitted your SIR to UCM, but maybe you could see if UCSC would be willing to review your package? I doubt it will change anything, but that seems like such a huge gap. On the plus, there will be a lot of great opportunities at UCM since the school is still growing.</p>
<p>By the way, opting out of health insurance if you have good coverage through your parents that will cover you at school will save you money. I don’t know what’s near Merced, all I know is my old band director was from there. But for example, I had Kaiser (individual plan I paid for out of pocket myself). I dropped it because the closest Kaiser is in San Jose and the on campus health plan covers me at any Blue Cross if I’m more than 25 miles from school. Those books, supplies, and personal cost estimates are easy to lower as well.</p>
<p>But Kender, UCM offered me a scholarship…I just checked right now, and they just updated my EFC, and…what the heck, the scholarship is less?! 7,017, and last time it was 7,782! WHY?! WHY DO I GET SCREWED OVER FOR EVERYTHING?!</p>
<p>I wish there were a way to go to UCSC though; and would calling the financial aid office really change anything? I submitted my SIR to Merced but I haven’t paid the fee yet, so it’s unofficial. Even if by some miracle I could somehow swindle down the price of UCSC, I don’t know how to un-sumbit that SIR lol.</p>
<p>I have nothing against Merced, except it’s just everything that I’ve known! It’s exactly like my school (my school opened in '06). </p>
<p>This is my UCM award package:
Fed Direct Parent PLUS Loan $16,485.00
Fed Direct Student Sub Loan $3,500.00
Fed Direct Student Unsub Loan $2,000.00
Bobcat Scholarship (E) $7,017.00</p>
<p>I have nothing against UCM either ;). I’m just not an inland kind of person. I’m also not a SoCal person so that severely limited me where I could look at schools to go to.</p>
<p>You were still gapped by UCM, just not quite as much. Lame ):</p>
<p>I see a couple options:</p>
<p>1) Call and see if your financial aid can be revisited. There’s no guarantee, but I’ve read some people in the financial aid forum had some luck there. I’d read through some of those threads (they’re fairly easy to find) and see about the suggestions on wording. Although the FA staff at UCSC is nice, you might catch that one person who is having a very bad day.</p>
<p>I, unfortunately, had that happen in my first dealing with UCSC FA staff. And I was not asking about money, I was asking if the fact my FA package indicated off campus would hurt my housing guarantee for on campus. I was criticized and told I needed to “always include my ID number or the could not help me.” Guess what? It was in there with the designation “UCSC Student ID#” XD Right after my signature too. I complained about my treatment to someone else I later talked with about something completely different and wonder of wonders, my original email was found and my questions answered VERY politely and thoroughly.</p>
<p>2) One way to really save money would be to do community college for a couple years. I know it’s not the option most people want to hear about and some may even feel like it’s “giving up,” but most people do it because of financial reasons nowadays. That’s what I did and I think I was able to perform better because of not worrying about money quite so much. I find myself so severely stressed now because of the increased amount I pay now.</p>
<p>I’d also ask if that scholarship from UCM will continue through all four years. I’m sorry they lowered it on you ): It looks like no matter which choice you go to, you’re stuck with a decent amount of debt between the student loans and the PLUS loans for your parents. Getting out of a SIR isn’t too difficult. Generally, you just lose the deposit if you change your mind.</p>
<p>So you’re an jr/sr at ucsc? I just called the FA office at UCSC, and the lady was decently nice, but apparently the reason for the results of my FA package was I guess because some of the stuff my dad put in the packet (we had to send in the verification forms) could not be calculated, and so that money went into the parent plus forms? Something like that. >:|</p>
<p>I’ll talk to my dad about it, lol, but I hope he doesn’t get annoyed or mad at me for asking. He’s very financially…I don’t know the word for it, but finances are important to him. lol. </p>
<p>I didn’t even apply for JC! :|</p>
<p>You know what! As much as I want to go to this school, I will just make myself get amazing grades for the next year or two (depending on whether I can transfer as a sophomore or junior), and then reapply!</p>
<p>Thanks for all of your help Kender, I appreciate it.</p>
<p>I’m a junior :). I’d have been senior status at the start of this quarter had I transferred in the fall, but I stupidly chose a winter transfer (I highly recommend against this as it is incredibly stressful). So I will have to wait for my senior status to be official at the end of this current quarter.</p>
<p>JC’s are open admissions for the most part. Many of them you can apply to attend the day classes begin. I would recommend against this, though ;). California community colleges are very impacted, but if you work through it correctly, you shouldn’t have too much trouble in getting classes. For example, I found an on campus job at my last one and I was able to have priority enrollment. Meaning I was allowed to register before everyone else (but I did register after the EOP kids). Some campuses will even give their student government members priority enrollment as well.</p>
<p>The only problem I have ever seen with the JC route is some people do become settled, so to speak. They just don’t maintain the desire to move on from where they are. Me, I took longer deliberately because I knew I would not be receiving aid from my father and that my mother would be unable to help me (long story). I needed to wait until I became an independent for financial aid purposes. I do not recommend this unless you’re okay waiting until you turn 24 to transfer.</p>
<p>That said, I think I learned a lot more about life the route I took.</p>
<p>It is possible to transfer as a sophomore, but I recommend junior transfer. You 60 semester/90 quarter units to transfer. If you have a specific program you want to go into then check to see what pattern of GE classes would be right to follow (for example, the game design major here at UCSC recommends against the IGETC pattern).</p>
<p>Another benefit you might find from going to a JC is maybe you might change your mind on major or even what UC (or another college outside of that system) you want to go to. JC allows you to come to this realization much, much cheaper.</p>
<p>And I don’t mind giving you my input at all! I’m just sorry I’m so long-winded and you have so much to read in my posts XD. And I definitely empathize with the money situation. I just wish I could give you all the answers you needed. This is a really terrible position you’re in. And I don’t want to steer you in a direction you don’t feel would be best for you. I hope your dad will be amiable and willing to speak with you about all of this without becoming upset.</p>
<p>I don’t know how adept you are at spreadsheets, but I would create some if I were you and line out how much everything is going to cost. Look up local community colleges near you that have articulation agreements with UCs and CSUs (I’m not aware of any in California that don’t, but you never know). You can find the agreements at assist.org after you figure out which college is near you. Put that information in too.</p>
<p>My thought is that if your father can see things side by side and that you’re making such an effort to find the most financially sound option, he will be willing to discuss with you what he’s willing to do.</p>
<p>My dad was really p.issed at me because because of me, my financial aid got changed (less scholarship, more parent loan at UCM) because I made him send in the parent verification form to UCSC against his warnings. -Sigh-</p>
<p>He was ranting to my mom :|</p>
<p>Lol, about the JC’s being impacted, aren’t even they hard to get into now too? Like at my local JC, I’m not sure if you can get classes for the fall for sure for sure if you don’t take a spring class concurrent with your high school classes right now. Idk, I just went on their site and it doesn’t say admissions are over or anything, and the link to the application is open too, so maybe you are right. But then again…I may not even be able to get the classes I’d need/want if I were to take that route.
If you don’t mind me asking, how much time did you actually spend at a JC?
You had to wait until you were 24 to become financially dependent? 0_o</p>
<p>Anyways, my dad paid the SIR fee last night, so I guess I am pretty much officially on my way to UCM. Who knows, maybe I’ll love it there…If not, then a FALL transfer may happen in my future. Lol. Thanks for that advice too. And no, thank you for your long, informative posts. It’s better reading than some books I’ve had to read for AP Eng >:|. lol. Thanks.</p>
<p>I’m just a “rebel” like this, but I’d have reminded my father that if I had not sent in the verification, I would have lost all financial aid ;). I’m sorry you’re having to deal with that. My father is severely angry right now that I’m succeeding without his help at all (financial or other).</p>
<p>Which JC is near you? If you don’t want to post it publicly, just PM it to me and I can do some research on it. Only a few of them capped enrollment and that was only for mid-year enrollment this past year. I have not heard of any doing it for fall yet (but I also am not at my old JC anymore and not getting any of the good gossip). Don’t worry about the concurrent enrollment stuff. I had that (and it’s awesomely cheap since you only pay a processing fee, not the credit fees), but it didn’t help me too terribly much except to put me at Sophomore status by the end of my first semester.</p>
<p>JC is much easier to crash classes in my opinion. Like I said, though, if I have a name of the school, I can do a little more research for you. I might know someone there or who went there so I can get some “inside” information. I can also see how impacted the classes look and such. My last JC (the one I transferred from officially) was really impacted, though, to the point it was mentioned on the news. Since it was quarter system, we were hit hard one fall with people who couldn’t get into the semester classes trying to get into the quarter classes (we started about a month later).</p>
<p>And yes, I had to wait until I turned 24 to be considered financially independent (it was that or get married, have a kid, or a few other options that were just not going to happen). Despite paying for all my school costs, insurance, and general living costs, I was considered a dependent of my parents (including my father who I had not lived with since I was a sophomore in high school). And it depends… from the time of my first college credit? Summer 2000 (would have been Summer 1999, but I forgot to fill out the paper work). If you mean from the time I graduated high school? Fall 2003 (Summer 2003 if you want to count orientation). I took some time off to work and figure out what I wanted to do (if it was worth waiting so long so I could afford school or if I should just give up), but I maintained a full time schedule for the most part and worked.</p>
<p>I highly recommend against the route I took. It was not fun. But I am incredibly pleased with where I have ended up. I also feel I am a much better person now for everything I have gone through. But I still do not recommend this route XD</p>
<p>I think Cal Grant for this year stops at $73,800 for family of 3, $80,200 income for a family of 4, and $92,700 for six or more. What’s your family size, may I ask? </p>
<p>INFO at: [CSAC</a> California Student Aid Commission](<a href=“http://www.csac.ca.gov%5DCSAC”>http://www.csac.ca.gov)</p>
<p>I have four members in my family. I was just looking at the Cal Grant requirements earlier (either this morning or yesterday), and it was weird, because my GPA qualifies me, I have a family of four and our income after everything comes down to 79,something.
:?</p>
<p>Hrm, so you’re under the income ceiling. Do you have any assets that might have caused a problem?</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.csac.ca.gov/facts/2010-11IncomeCeilings.pdf[/url]”>http://www.csac.ca.gov/facts/2010-11IncomeCeilings.pdf</a></p>
<p>apparently we do have “assets”, or whatever. We have a house that we rent out to relatives, but it’s not like we’re making bank on that. In fact, we’ve lost a bunch of money on that. :|</p>
<p>Sigh. It’s pretty official that I’m going to Merced, but I wouldn’t mind getting a cal grant for that either, instead of the lesser amount Bobcat scholarship.</p>
<p>Actually, things change…I think I’m going to JC instead.</p>
<p>trust me…fill out the schools silly paperwork. I know more than one person, who got a bill for several thousand dollars. They were granted fin aid, but somehow it was miscalculated (most likely they filled the paperwork incorrectly). It sucks to pay back a bunch of money, you’ve already spent!!!</p>