Fingers crossed for UNM working out.
“the reason why you did not get awarded workstudy or institutional aid is because you missed the priority deadline. The priority deadline was set for January 31st to have a complete file and you did not get admitted or finish your financial aid file until this month. That aid is first come first serve and there is limited funding for it.” so no chance of either of those, i guess. this probably takes UNM off the table financially, and assuming i don’t hate YSU i will deposit there. kind of upset actually, i liked the idea of UNM but i guess it wasn’t meant to be.
Don’t give up just yet. There are a lot of kids who have been awarded Work Study who won’t be using it. Example: kids who got in and got a financial aid package but won’t be attending, kids (like my S) who were given work study and then got bigger scholarships but the work study hasn’t been taken away yet, kids who will decline their awards, etc.
Call them back and ask how likely it is that you’ll be awarded work study if you wait? How has that gone in other years?
UNM will let you attend if you decide sometime over the summer. Last year, they were still awarding Amigos in JULY.
Go ahead and deposit at YSU, but don’t decline anything at UNM until later in the summer.
If you can make the first year work, the next year will be even less expensive. You’ll be able to move off campus, you’ll be eligible for some institutional aid ($1,000 grants) that you missed the deadline for this time, and you’ll make the priority deadline for the work study.
Also remember that there’s no tuition for your final semester if you graduate in 4 years. When you figure total cost, make sure to add that in.
Hang in there!
i think it’s crazy that they were still awarding amigos in july but they say they run out of work study and institutional funding so early. i’d really like to go somewhere i can pursue film, but looking at 2k out of pocket for YSU and 8k out of pocket for UNM even with work study i’m not sure i can ask my parents to do that.
they said: “Not sure, I can put your interest for work study into the office of financial aid, but I can’t give you an estimated guess on funding. Usually that funding goes to those who met the priority date and they have until October to decline.”
so i put in a request through them and i’ll see what happens. i won’t outright decline UNM but unless something like that happens i’m not seeing it.
I still think it’s worth waiting to see what happens. If you get the work study, It makes YSU and UNM very close in cost.
Would you be living at home for YSU? If not, what’s off-campus rent like? Have you figured the 4-year cost including UNM’s free tuition for your final semester?
Please forgive me for a stupid question, but I’m not sure why work/study will make the difference. I know many students, including my daughter, who did not get work study, but found jobs in and around campus anyway and make as much, if not more then they would have with work study. What am I missing?
Not a stupid question at all. I was all the way through grad school before I understood the difference.
OP is worried about job income increasing her EFC for next year, thus reducing her aid. Work study doesn’t do that.
i would not be living at home for YSU as it is 2+ hours away. i am not sure what off campus rent is like but the 2k includes room and board, honors housing and then later honors apartments i could lease. so for YSU the four year cost would be about 30k (federal loans of 22000, assuming i do not have to take the increased loan, and 2k a year out of pocket. i am pretty sure they do a no tuition increase promise but i would have to check on that.) i haven’t sat down and figured out UNM, it would be easier to do once the amigo comes in and i get a federal shopping sheet.
yes, i am worried about job income increasing my EFC. i don’t want to get into a situation where i’m making 10k or however much a year part time/as many shifts as i can handle, but they take 25%-50% of that and add it onto my EFC, which results in the institutions taking away aid and my pell grant going away. i’m not sure how to get around that besides only using work study.
hmmm… you have to decide, but UNM and Ursinus may be worth $8500 a year over YSU. You had also mentioned transferring to Penn State, could you do that after 2 years at YSU?
so far UNM would cost me $7741 out of pocket with my federal loans and my pell grant. if i somehow manage to get max work study from them over the summer, even though that money isn’t up front the cost would be $2741. this isn’t including travel or books or anything, just cheapest room, cheapest meal plan, and in-state tuition.
I wrote my comment before I saw your expenses. I didn’t realize you already had 22K in loans.
i kind of viewed YSU honors and ursinus as similar academically, and do not see a point paying 8500 out of pocket for ursinus after it is all said and done. i think academically i would be able to transfer to penn state after two years, but i’m not sure financially if it would be worth it. odds are tuition will increase and it will cost me even more than it would have as a freshman, leaving me with over 40k of debt just for two years at penn state not counting the 12k i’d already have from YSU. it seems risky to take out more loans than i could cover working at walmart or something.
edit for @stemmmm the 22k in loans is just something i’m going to have to take out no matter what i do for all four years, whether that be at YSU or penn state or somewhere else. if ysu for 2 and penn state for 2 i would be in at 52k bare minimum.
Wait a while, I doubt it’s all been processed.
If you don’t get work study, work a few hours (under 8 a week). Do you have any specific skills (ie., plumbing, languages)…? You could contact the dept directly and state clearly you have x skill but no work study award as of yet, would they have a few hours for you?
Students WILL drop their work study in October.
Don’t deposit till May 1st evening. 
When’s the YSU visit?
i have library management skills thru internship, so i know how to catalogue, shelve according to dewey decimal, and use library management systems, and i could freelance write online or some local papers sometimes accept interns as stringers. so i could contact the libraries i suppose.
ysu is this week so i should have a better feel for it by end of week.
Ok, perfect. May 2 you can contact the UNM libraries and see if they need someone.
I hope you’ll recap your visit.
i will for sure recap my visit, i am scheduled to do an honors tour (including honors housing) plus a general tour and seminar. not sure about any departmental visits. crazy to me that anyone would drop work study even if they don’t “need” it since it doesn’t affect EFC but still leaves you with cushion/spending money and work experience, even if you dont have to save every penny to cover your bill.
Dropping work study sounds crazy, yes. People do it for several reasons.
- They decide not to work and take out private loans instead.
- They don’t know about it not affecting EFC (this was me, dropped my work study every single year).
- They already have a job that isn’t a work study job and they want to keep it, sometimes because they make a higher wage. Etc.
I must have missed it when you ruled out Ursinus. If it’s easy to explain, how did the math cause it to fall out of favor?
Also, not sure if it matters, but would you be comfortable calling their admissions office and telling them you’d really like to make it work, but they’d need to provide another $3500 (or whatever) per year? I just got an email today from Marist, which was addressed to my D that already deposited at Ursinus. The email indicates they have more $ to distribute for her course of study and want her to contact them to discuss further. We won’t be taking that route, but it just goes to show there might be more $ out there for the taking.
My guess is that Collegeville itself, and it’s proximity to Philly, could be a much better experience than Youngstown (no disrespect to anyone).
after i got my FA package there was about a 10k gap. basically it was housing, but since i’m required to live on campus all 4 years of undergrad according to their site. i submitted a financial appeal with the award letters from YSU and UP-bradford and they were able to give me more through the UC fund, but the gap is still 7 or 8k. i’m not sure if talking to them or my department would annoy them after i already submitted a financial appeal. i would rather be in/near philly over youngstown but i just don’t see how it’s possible.
Taking a gap year is still off the table? I’ve read your reasons for not wanting to take one, and don’t mean to sow seeds of doubt, only wondering if during this last month you have reconsidered or not?