I messed up.

It just wasn’t meant to be for UNM. Sorry for the frustration with your GC though. Full steam ahead for your other options!

I wish I could help you with the Ursinus cost - I’m sure my D could use a friend like you. But with two of my own starting in the fall…

Your maturity in handling all of this and taking setbacks in stride is commendable, and refreshing.

If you can afford the $12 try to get it sent. It sounds like you need the UNM option as the other offers are close not quite where you need them to be.

Ysu is affordable, others depend on the appeals. Would unm clock in under 10k? And if they won’t accept the unofficial in the interest of time I will send it asap. If I deposit at ysu and unm ends up affordable I assume I can call, decline (and lose deposit) abd switch to unm?

If you deposit on May first and get a decent offer from UNM you can switch to UNM and forfeit your YSU deposit, yes. Sometimes you get a little leeway with your deposit date.
UNM is in a better environment than YSU and it’s a flagship. However it’s further away. BOTH would be good choices.

What’s your EFC? What have you been offered in federal grant aid (Pell, anything else?) at other schools? Does the 10k figure include loans?

I’m guessing you’d get the max in work study, which is $5000/year, but I don’t have a way of predicting your Pell or institutional aid.

As long as you graduate in 4 years, UNM gives you your final semester tuition-free.

Estimated Costs Full-Time Resident

Tuition & Fees $7,146.00

Room & Board - Traditional $9,662.00

Books & Supplies $1,102.00

Transportation $1,854.00

Miscellaneous $2,080.00

Total $21,844.00

If the total is 22k, and you get $5500 in loans and $5000 in work study, you’re already at around $11,300.

Efc 3410, got 2470 est in Pell, 10k included my federal loan. Work study seems to vary from school to school.

Before UNM knew that my S was NMF, they offered us the max in Work Study, which was $5k, split over two semesters. After that and the Amigo, they only offered loans - but we weren’t Pell eligible, and our EFC was more than double yours.

Ill see what happens, rush SAT is cheaper than a lost deposit

I can also tell you that the number quoted for Room & Board is an average of all the different dorms and meal plans. If you get the cheapest meal plan, which still includes 24/7 access at the dining hall, and the cheapest double room, it comes out to $8840 instead of the $9662 they’re quoting.

So if they give you $5,000 in Work Study and $2470 for your Pell, that’s $7,470. The Amigo also gives you $100/semester, so that’s $7,670, which is full tuition with a few hundred left over.

I’m guessing on the Work Study, and I don’t know if you’ll get any additional grant aid directly from the school.

That’s awesome, ty!!!

@ACollegeHopeful3 I love reading this thread. I’m so happy with you and all of the guidance you’re receiving from the parents. I would love to send you the $12 if you have Venmo or cash app. If that works please pm me. Good luck on wherever you decide to go. Options are plentiful now.

@VANYU2021Mom thank you so much! i called this morning and they said they would not accept my student report in the interim so i ended up paying rush, it cost less than i expected. the support and offers of assistance on this thread have been overwhelming and i think i would be in a very different place if i hadn’t posted here. i’ll continue to update as appeal decisions and (hopefully) UNM decision(s) come in.

also getting a letter stating my CMU financial aid was revised. i checked the portal and it was revised 4/17, but i’m not sure why as awards look exactly the same. i did not change any financial info on my FAFSA, i only altered it once to add/remove schools. a sign maybe? not sure. strange in any case.

Make a little room in the budget for the miscellaneous expenses, and don’t be afraid to ask for a fee waiver for Orientation. Rent your textbooks through Chegg or Amazon, and buy your school supplies at Walmart in the summer, not at the bookstore in the fall. You can literally save hundreds each semester this way I would also consider a job when you get to school. Push for work study because those $$ don’t count against you for next year’s financial aid. Once you go off campus, as a sophmore, you will be able to reduce some of your housing costs. You continue to be an inspiration.

ty, those tips help a lot!! im hoping to get a job once i get to school but not sure how to swing it depending on work-study hours. i think i also have to make under 6k in order not to file and have the best chance of it not affecting my FA but not sure about that.

The threshold for filing a federal tax return is approx. $6,500. But any amount of money you earn is reportable on the FASFA even if you don’t have to file a tax return. Normally, 25% of student earnings are added to the total EFC. However, work study earnings are excluded from the EFC. So, it can save you some money.
Also, make sure that you are covered on your parents health plan. The university usually charges ~$2k for if you don’t have health insurance. I’m just trying to make sure you don’t have surprises.

@ACollegeHopeful3 you’re welcome. You’ve got this, and keep up the great work you’re doing.

My parents don’t have health insurance, I can stay under state insurance until I’m 19 and then ill have to find something cheap in the marketplace (assuming that exists by then lol) but all that info helps a lot!

O.k. I didn’t mean to confuse you. Most universities offer health insurance, but it appears that UNM does it through the Exchange. Just plan for that in the future.

With UNM - or with any university - you can ask them to do a financial aid review based on your family’s actual expenses instead of going by the federal formula. If your housing costs are high, if your family has had unusual medical expenses, etc. this can bump up your aid. Installment debt (credit cards, car loans) usually doesn’t count.

You will have to submit documentation - tax return, rent / mortgage bills, utility bills, etc.

https://unm-student.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5369

http://financialaid.unm.edu/forms/2018-2019/special-dependent.pdf

Re: housing costs - this is another advantage of Albuquerque. Rents are low compared to a lot of other places. I’ve only done a little bit of looking, but from what I’ve seen you can get half of a 2-bedroom apartment or a bedroom to yourself in a house for $400 - $500/month. I’ve seen a few postings under $400/month, but you’d have to check those out very carefully.