<p>Do check with the school and make sure your aid amounts are not contingent upon living on campus. You have a merit award so, it likely does not have the stipulations, but it could. Some schools do have them.</p>
<p>If you live off campus, you will likely have a 12 month lease. As to paying off your student loans, I think you will need the proceeds of them while in school–maybe you will catch up and be able to pay the interest each year, but for now you need to focus on making ends meet. </p>
<p>My kids both rented off campus,apartments …two years each. In both cases, the lease was for twelve months, not just for the school year. So, if you have a 12 month lease, then yes, you will pay rent plus all utilities during the summers. Some folks sublet…but that is not allowed in some apartments.</p>
<p>You need to check to see what kind of lease you are getting.</p>
<p>Most apartments also require a deposit that is one additional month of rent. </p>
<p>And like I said…you likely will NOT have your financial aid refund money until well after the term begins.</p>
<p>On the scholarship paper, it does not say that I have to live on campus, whereas for another school I got accepted to, it said I must mail back a residence hall agreement. So for Dominican I believe it’ll be fine if I live off campus. And I just thought about it, and having a 12 month lease would make sense. If I want to live in the same apartment for all four years it would be beneficial to continue payment on it. And I know this is lame but I’m also not too knowledgeable on apartments leases. What does this “As to paying off your student loans, I think you will need the proceeds of them while in school–maybe you will catch up and be able to pay the interest each year, but for now you need to focus on making ends meet.” mean?</p>
<p>I don’t think I will have refund money from financial aid. If the year’s budget is 56,760, subtract 23000 and you’re left with 33760. If I get a student loan (5500), it’ll only bring my full tuition down to 28260. Where else would the money come from? I don’t know how much I would qualify for in federal government aid, and I’m not sure if I’ll receive the Cal grant or the Pell grant, let alone know how to apply for these grants. Do I need to send in a completely different application from the FAFSA, or am I automatically considered once I submit my FAFSA?</p>
<p>Um…how are you goiing to pay for what your merit award didn’t cover at Dominican?</p>
<p>You need to complete the FAFSA and submit it to all,the schools you apply to. You need to apply for the Calgrant AND make sure your transcript gets sent. And don’t miss that deadline by one second…or you won’t get this Calgrant.</p>
<p>The colleges actualy award your financial aid to,you based on their policies of awarding aid. If you are eligible for the Pell, you will get it.</p>
<p>There may be an expectation from your parents for you to attend a university, but in most cases there is also an expectation that the parent will make a contribution to paying for that university. Obviously that isn’t the case in your situation, and you really need to consider what taking out all these loans means. Do you want to be paying these loans off for decades? There is also going to be the question of paying for grad school since you want to go into the medical field. How do you plan to pay for that? IMO your best option is starting at a community college for 2 years then transferring.</p>
<p>Most colleges require freshmen to live on campus unless they live within about 30 miles. Frankly, the idea of living 10 miles from college in your own apartment sounds difficult. You might end up making several trips a day since you can’t always get classes back to back and getting involved in student activities will be hard. I also want to mention to you that since you only need the apartment for nine months you usually can’t just break the lease without affecting your credit score. Poor credit score might affect future loans. If you sublease the apartment in the summer you might be liable for damage from the person you lease it to. Just things to think about since you are young. I’m not sure the cost of gas/maintenance/insurance and a $900+utilities apartment is going to put you ahead of living in the dorm. </p>
<p>Sorry these financial problems have struck you so late in the game. Others have given you really good information. You might really need to start a job now to save a few thousand before August. Good luck.</p>
<p>Don’t know what parking is like at this college, but sometimes it is expensive and a hassle, too. </p>
<p>Also, even if you can sublet your apartment in the summer, you probably won’t get your full rent amount for it (so you will still have to cover some costs).</p>
<p>I’ve read through most of the posts and I know you won’t be able to afford neither this school nor your living expenses. It costs money to set up an apartment. Bare bones items like utilities, paying for washing and drying your clothes, food, etc. The very basics add up, towels, sheets, toilet paper, utensils, blankets, pots, pans, not to mention oil changes, tire maintenance. Do you currently have a job? They are not that easy to find and the hours you need to work to maintain your expenses will impact your study schedule.</p>
<p>I know of too many of my children’s friends who have been in this situation. You will end up dropping out and getting into debt with bad credit. </p>
<p>There is nothing wrong with going to a California Community college since our CC’s are really good. Your parents have caviar tastes with a peanut butter budget. </p>
<p>The problem with a community college for the OP is, as I understand it, it’s pretty hard to get financial aid as a transfer student. She has a pretty hefty aid award now – even with the savings of attending CC for 2 years, if she has to pay full boat for the last 2 years, will she really save any money?</p>
<p>@dustypig, She can get cal grant funding for her last two years at a private college.</p>
<p>You will likely need a guarantor on your lease. Are your parents willing to do this as well as your friends parents? If room and board on campus is around 13k you will be spending almost 12k in rent alone for the year. Then you will probably have to pay for utilities. At lease signing you may be paying a hefty sum which could include first and last months rent as well as a security deposit. It doesn’t sound like you will be saving money living off campus. </p>
<p>Rent will be less than 10k a year. </p>
<p>Re: #49</p>
<p>Looks like the UCs and CSUs will offer similar financial aid for transfers as for frosh (they pretty much have to in order to fulfill the mission of having CC->UC and CC->CSU be a lower cost option for students from poor families). However, this may not be true for other four year schools.</p>
<p>How is rent less than $10,000 per year? You said your rent would be $965 per month. So 12 months x $965 = $11,580. Next consider the 1 month security deposit, utilities such as heat/AC, water, TV, internet, electricity and you are over $13000 without food. The $13000 on campus estimate for room and food is lower than you off campus apartment. What about gas and parking? Is it like high school where you can park foo free in a lot next to the classroom buildings?</p>
<p>How old will you be when you start college? Many of the rentals near our local SUNY only rent to upperclassmen. Also, rentals go quickly. There may be a complex nearby with affordable rentals, but they may not have an opening when you need one. If you’re depending on having a roommate to make it affordable, you have to consider how you’ll make ends meet if s/he leaves. Could you cover the full expenses until you found another roommate?</p>
<p>Also note that Dominican’s website states that freshmen are not allowed to have cars on campus. Find out if this applies to you if you commute from an apartment and ask how much the monthly on campus parking permit costs.</p>
<p>If you are going to move away to attend college, you should really live on campus for the first year or two. It sounds like your distant apartment isn’t really going to save you money and it will be difficult to form study groups and it will be harder to participate in on campus activities when all the other freshman are on campus and you are not.</p>
<p>What does this “As to paying off your student loans, I think you will need the proceeds of them while in school–maybe you will catch up and be able to pay the interest each year, but for now you need to focus on making ends meet.” mean? </p>
<p>It means I think you are going to be on a tight enough budget that paying back your loans as you are going to go to school is going to be difficult. You probably won’t be able to do it. If you can just keep up with the interest accrual, you will be doing well.</p>
<p>My son took out a student loan one year and tried to repay it within the year. He’s a frugal, diligent, organized sort, and it was a no go. Too many things just happen,which was why he had to take out the loan to begin with. You get tooth aches, glasses break, accidents happen, get behind on classes, work hours get cut, stuff happens unless you are very lucky. Just this month we’ve been hit with enormous expenses from unexpected deaths and the need for our kids to come home for the funerals. It’s just the way it goes. </p>
<p>If it’s cheaper to live on campus, I’ll probably just do that. At this point I’m just trying to find out where I can get money from. I’ve been crunching numbers but I don’t think I’ll have enough money to attend. @cptofthehouse I know things happen, which is why I’m trying to find the easiest most affordable way to attend college. I thought the apartment would help, but I guess not. It’s just hard given the circumstances. </p>