@Midwest67 no, i haven’t. my financial situation wouldn’t foreseeably change in the next year and working would mess it up. i would get better FA at places like UNM next year early, but i just feel like i would stagnate/not do anything productive, and run the risk of losing motivation and just never going at all
Thinking about work study here…
I’ve been trying to find that post where someone said that you have to earn more than X dollars before it impacts next year’s EFC. I’m not having any luck, but the number was somewhere around $6,400 if I remember right.
Since the year is already half over, you wouldn’t be in jeopardy of damaging your EFC with a regular job because it’s unlikely that you’d hit the limit.
Also, what about a gap semester? I wonder if you’d make priority deadlines for work study, UNM Grant II and SEOG for UNM Spring admits? I bet there’s a separate bucket for Spring admits.
That might be worth (yet another! :D) phone call to find out.
that would be worth trying. plus if i made around 6k a year, even if i dont have work study this year i would have those savings to pay for it with. i could call about UNM spring and see if i made priority deadline for that and if i could get it switched, i’m a little concerned about the impact it would have on my social life and everyone already having friends though.
You’ll be okay. Freshman year of college I transferred after Thanksgiving break! I started at a different school in January. I made new friends just fine.
Our oldest daughter did community college for two years, then our state flagship. She also made friends just fine, even though most of her friends had been at the school for two years already.
@DiotimaDM I see on the UNM web site that for the Amigo, for best consideration, admitted by October 1 for spring semester. Are you thinking the work study will also be available for spring semester entry & deadlines?
Unless you really can’t make one of your current alternatives work, I wouldn’t recommend taking any time off. You are clearly ready for the college experience now and would benefit from starting the process with students your own age and at the same time.
Yes, I’m thinking that there’s a completely different set of deadlines for spring admits. So if those deadlines are in Sept./Oct., she’ll probably get the max in work study, plus she might snag UNM Grant II or SEOG, which are $1,000 - but you can only have one or the other, not both.
This would give her several months to work and save up $$, too.
I transferred as an undergrad and took a semester off to gain residency, so I was a spring transfer student. I made friends just fine, too, even though I never lived on campus. OP will make friends in the dorms, in her classes, in the Honors College, etc.
Be sure to ask how the freshman residency requirement works for spring admits.
Disclaimer - @ OP, I’m not sure how we all started calling you “she.” If we’re wrong and it’s bugging you, let us know.
I hope your suggestion turns out to be brilliant. 
You have YSU as an affordable choice. (Would you be taking your full federal loans there?)
I agree the environment at UNM would be better and I can imagine how eager you’d be to spend four years without ba coat hat mittens, and muffler ;). But YSU honors is much better than Pitt Bradford w and cheaper to boot.
i would be taking full federal loans and trying to pay them back as i go if i can get a job in addition to work study.
used the live chat feature and asked and they said the deadlines were still in january for spring 2019. since both semesters fall in the same award year, priority deadlines are apparently the same for both semesters, so i don’t think it would be much use to defer admissions unless i was taking a gap year, which i really do not want to do.
i could do a year or two at YSU, they do the amigo and stuff for transfers, i would just have to keep my grades really high. or there are schools like u of alabama that do free rides for transfers if you get a very high gpa and have enough credit-hours. i don’t think there would be a point in applying to the schools that rejected me as a transfer, and i certainly dont want to go into YSU or anywhere else with a transfer mindset, but i’d like to keep the option in mind.
Bleah! Sorry to hear it.
Well, deposit at YSU on May 1, but keep your options open with UNM in case more funding comes through.
It doesn’t sound like it’s been finalized for UNM though.
i’m not sure what you mean - if you mean i am not totally out of luck with UNM that is true and i will definitely keep it open. if you mean my funding is not finalized, my amigo scholarship has not yet processed but i talked to them and they confirmed that federal funding is the only assistance i will receive.
The work study award would be the maximum amount you can earn per year, you aren’t guaranteed to get a work study job, or get enough hours.
$5,000 divided by 30 weeks would be $166 a week. You would either need to work 15 hrs a week at close to $10/hr or work 20 hrs.
20 hrs should be the maximum for a full time student to work.
You could try to get a campus job that isn’t work study, if you have to.
Yes, don’t forget to figure in flights and books and personal expenses.
You need to be careful too that you don’t provide more than 50% of your own support, or your parents won’t be able to claim you as a dependent on taxes. They would not get the AOTC (American Opportunity Tax Credit), or the $500 dependent credit.
@ACollegeHopeful3 I believe that the Amigo award is a merit award, and is not need based. It’s awarded separately from financial aid. So I wouldn’t give up just yet. Large public universities accommodate a lot of students and it takes time to process the paperwork.
@mamaedefamilia yes, i was told they were still giving them out when i contacted the person who awards them a few days ago, it would just take time. even with that award the gap would still be 7k, though.
my math may be wrong, but over 4 years if i factor in getting work study in the next 3 years, UNM might work out to be similar in cost to YSU?
already stated i’d have to take out basically 30k in loans + leftover cost, not including year long work study (which was much less than the max at UNM) at YSU.
at UNM the billable costs are 16808 - my aid award this year of 8145 = 8663 gap. if i happen to get max work study or work over the summer up to 6000, i’m left with 2000~ cost.
over the next three years, if i were to attend, even if i did not get work study this year but got max work study the following years plus a $1000 SEOG, it would look like this (assuming tuition, fees, and room and board remained relatively the same and i stayed on the cheapest university plans)
year 1: 8663 gap + 5500 loans
year 2: 2663 gap + 5500 loans
year 3: 1663 gap + 6500 loans
year 4: if i stay on track and my last semester is free, tuition and fees + room and board would be 13235. if i get same pell and do again max work study, i wouldn’t even need my full federal loan of 7500. 13235 - pell of 2645 - 5000 WS = 5590 gap, so i could take out 6 in federal instead of my last 7500.
total est cost: 35,989 over 4 years. the first year would be the big up front cost. this is of course assuming i dont take any additional job hours that chance messing up my EFC, and i stay on the lowest FULL meal plan and cheapest room and board and don’t go off campus. if i rented a room off campus or went off the meal plan after my first year these costs might be even cheaper. and if i worked an additional job to work study and made under 6k a year, it would also alter my costs dramatically, taking a total of 24k~ out of gaps and loans, leaving me with ~12k debt once i graduate. of course, i could also do this at youngstown and graduate with ~6k debt. i’m also not sure if my assumptions and math are wrong, lol.
I’m glad you are looking at the 4 year COA.
No time to check your math right now. Is the first year at UNM possible for you & your family?
i’m not sure and if the math i’ve done is correct, it is something i would have to present to them and talk to them about.
Income protection amount for dependent on FAFSA is $6,570 and then federal, state and social security taxes are subtracted from total income too.