<p>So I looked on my ConnectCarolina student account, and I only have $98 left in financial aid (after the tuition, meal plan, housing, and the required fees have been charged). I was planning to charge the costs of my books to my student account, but with only $98 left, that obviously won't pay for all the books. Can I still put the book charges on my student account, but pay those charges later on, like, in September? You think it would be better if I just rented/bought from amazon? What other charges could possibly be put on my student account during the fall semester, other than obvious charges, like books? </p>
<p>AND.....</p>
<p>I didn't realize that I had to register for marching band at CTOPS (something I will do during the drop/add period). Currently, I have 15 credits. Marching band is one credit. How much would that increase my tuition by? Do you think I should drop one 3-credit class (either my statistics or history class) and then add marching band and another 1-credit class, like a LFIT class, so then I would have 14 credits than just 13?</p>
<p>-Should I pay my fall tuition bill after the drop/add period so that my tuition is finalized (and my schedule would be finalized) but before the deadline of the 10th? </p>
<p>I'm really sorry about all the questions! I'm just really nervous and would like to see answers from different perspectives! :)</p>
<p>You can defer the tuition payment, if you decide to add text books to student account if done before the due date. This should put the book cost on the next bill giving you time to get the funds.</p>
<p>As for adding Marching Band, I believe the tuition costs covers up to 18 credits. Therefore, there is no need to drop or swap your existing course load. Just add the course, you will still be within the 18 credit limit.</p>
<p>so I just checked my financial aid statement to see it it was updated, and alas, it was! They added a tuition grant supplemental, so now I have approximately $472.76 in financial aid left for books! But with a little snooping, I could save a lot more money from sites like Amazon if I bought my books there. What should I do? Should I buy though the Student Store or should I wait until I get my refund from financial aid and then use that to buy my textbooks from Amazon? And should I wait until my books have been added to my bill to proceed with the deferment process of the bill?</p>
<p>The question is do you want to pay less by ordering from Amazon.com or other sites or are you okay with paying Student Store prices? Will the financial aid refund be directly deposited into your account in time to take advantage of the lower prices? </p>
<p>Also, be careful that the books you order are not International editions or valid to be sold. I have read postings where an instructor’s edition, not for resale, was shipped to a student. So, buyer be ware.</p>
<p>Amazon is usually really safe to deal with, but I do try to be careful when I have to buy something from a third party on Amazon… I’ve never tried half.com or other sites like that because they seem a bit sketchy. Maybe you can compare the prices of your books at Student Stores vs. Amazon and go from there.</p>
<p>I signed up for Direct Deposit, so I get my refund from my financial aid deposited into my checking account by the 1st day of classes. I wanna use that refund to buy the books I can get a better deal on Amazon, which is about 3 books, but I want to be prepared the first day of classes, so I guess I should just get all the books though the Student store, right? and I was wondering when I should request deferral of my fall tuition bill. Should I wait until my textbooks (that I pre-ordered) show up my fall tuition bill? I plan to change my meal plan too, so should I wait until those changes are reflected on my billing statement?</p>
<p>Does changing your meal plan entail increased cost or reduced cost, increasing refund amount? Although it is admirable to want to be prepared the first day of classes, I am sure having your books the first day will not be required, unless instructors post assignments on the Blackboard app that must be done before the first day. I think you can buy the books later if needed. </p>
<p>Wouldn’t the cost of pre-ordered books post to tuition bill before a refund is made, decreasing refund amount, if any? As you can see, the answer to your dilemma is contingent upon answers to other questions? Just things you need to consider in finding your answers.</p>
<p>well, my meal plan was originally the 160 Block, but to save money, I plan on changing it to the 120 Block plan. So I really won’t need my textbooks the first day of classes? I see what I need to do now. ;)</p>
<p>The 120 Block plan is a far wiser choice. You would have been trying to feed everyone you know the last few weeks of the semester with 160 meals.</p>
<p>14 meals a week would be too many for me… Most people don’t eat two meals a day in the dining hall because you tend to get sick of it pretty quickly that way. I’m going the 120 route because I eat dinner there most nights, and I like to grab breakfast a couple days a week too. You can always see what works first semester and then downgrade/upgrade second semester!</p>
<p>Don’t do anything but the block plans…you can eat those meals at ANY time during the semester…the other plans require you to eat them during a designated time…ie if you don’t use them in a given week they are gone…forever.</p>
<p>from the Dining Services pages</p>
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<p>On the other hand block plan meals can be eaten at ANY time and you can use them to feed friends as well. The cost per meal is shown to be more expensive but in reality it isn’t when you factor in just how many meals you will not be able to use. 120 Block and $300 D/F is $200 less expensive than 14 meals a week, offers far greater flexibility and you can always add D/F dollars if needed and they will carry over to the second semester.</p>
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<p>You have to trust those who have been there before you but 120 meals and $300-400 in Dining flex dollars will be more than enough meals…there will be plenty of free meals the first few weeks of school with clubs and organizations as well as fraternities and sororities providing free food as they host events and introduce themselves to you. Besides, 120 meals a semester is more than 6 meals a week in actuality.</p>
<p>You’ll be the only person I have ever heard of in over 6+ years on these boards who wasn’t happy with a 120 Block plan and Dining Flex dollars…in fact, in the past the Block was 110 meals and it seemed to be enough for everyone.</p>
<p>Change your meal plan…save the money and get the flexibility…please trust me here.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. Could you tell me how Dining flex works? And what is the cost of an average non-dining hall meal? (I’m an international student, so I’m not familiar with that stuff)</p>
<p>Also, how do you put dining flex into your account?</p>
<p>I second the advice with going for the lowest block meal plan! I was perfectly fine with the 110 block next year; not sure why they had to increase it to 120! </p>
<p>Go here: [About[/url</a>]</p>
<p>From this site you can get/change meal plans, add flex, and add expense to your account. Dining flex allows you to easily buy, without tax, meals from the various stores on campus. You can use it to buy from the retail food places (like Alpine Bagel), Starbucks, Rams Head Market, and probably use it to order online from local restaurants too. Check out the dining services site ([url=<a href=“http://www.dining.unc.edu%5DCarolina”>http://www.dining.unc.edu]Carolina</a> Dining Services at UNC Chapel Hill - Dining Locations on Campus, Meal Plans, News and Events](<a href=“http://www.onecard.unc.edu/]About[/url”>http://www.onecard.unc.edu/)) for more info. </p>
<p>A typical meal? Depends on where you get it from. Usually for me, it works out in between $5 and $12, usually for me, but if you go out on Franklin street you can find slightly cheaper and much more expensive meals. Stores are expensive, so I sometimes cooked my own meals for healthier and cheaper food.</p>
<p>About textbooks… I ran into the same dilemma my first year as you. I wanted to use my refund to pay for them, since I didn’t have much spare money, but Student Stores is expensive. So I bought off Amazon and half.com some inexpensive books, and then charged the others to my account and picked them up from the Student Stores. I recommend, if you can, buy online! You will later receive your refunded money and you can do whatever you want with it! If you can’t buy a ton of books, you could try to do what I did last semester. This time, I’m buying completley online. It saves so much.</p>
<p>yeah, well, since I was told I wouldn’t need my books right away, like, for the first day of classes, I will use the financial aid refund that I will get so that I can buy the books from amazon that are cheaper compared to the Student Stores. However, there are 1 or 2 books from the Student Store that I cannot find anywhere else, so I plan to buy those there, but I pre-ordered the textbooks already, so when I go pick up those textbooks, do I just return the ones I don’t want (the ones I will be buying off of amazon instead)? :)</p>
<p>They won’t let you add anymore flex about a month or so before the semester ends (Spring semester, I think) because they don’t want you adding $200 or whatever and then losing it because they don’t refund you at the end of the year. Flex does carry over from Fall to Spring, but not Spring to Fall.</p>
<p>And yes, when you pick up your pre-order, you can immediately return the books you don’t want (there is usually a special line in the bookstore for that).</p>