Again. You can work during the year plus the summer. It should help make a small dent. Talk to your religious affiliations also since they have school grants usually. Look at your cultural organizations and scholarship sites online. They are usually for minorities. Set up a go fund me page and be strategic about it. Set up a linked in account. There are actually people and employers that will help you pay for college but you have to guarantee them work afterwards to pay them back. Talk to the administration to see about a pay back program. Talk to your head of your department and other professors… Lots of times they know of people that might hire you on their suggestions and can work part time and do school part time. I don’t think anyone here has the magic formula but you have many suggestions to follow up on.
How many semesters (total) have you been in college? You only get 12 semesters of federal aid. It sounds like you did 2 years at a cc, (that’s 4 semesters), then 2 more years at UM followed by a year abroad. That’s 3 more years (6 semesters). According to the rules you have 2 more semesters (1 year) of federal aid left. If your Pell Grant ends this semester, you have 1 semester of aid left. You keep saying your debt load will double, but when you reach the end of your Pell eligibility then I think you’ve reached the end of your ability to take federal loans too. Your debt load can’t increase if nobody will lend you the money.
I wouldn’t blame yourself for your situation. It doesn’t really matter why it happened. What matters is getting a degree while you have funding left to pay for it. Speak to your adviser at the college and find out if there’s any degree you can complete with the aid you have left. That’s something you need to do before you get too far into this semester to be able to change classes. If you don’t have time, then I’d take a leave until you figure it out. You’d have to completely withdraw so you’re not billed, and you might have to work to make loan payments if you’re out for longer than 6 months, but I wouldn’t take any more classes until you know what degree you can get and how you’re going to pay for it.
After study abroad, I took one more year at U-M. I spent 3 years at a CC. 1 semesters at Kirtland Community College, then I spent 5 semesters at North Central Michigan College. As is the case with these smaller colleges, when I audited for my degree they said, “Oh, you actually have to take x more courses to graduate.” That’s where the 5th semester at NCMC comes from.
But I’m afraid if I take too large of a course load, I’ll become overwhelmed because of my disability at the school.
The department I talked to CREATED the Biology, Health, and Society degree for me (or students like me). I was the first student enrolled in it before it was even published! I sat down with a woman and looked at the draft copy the week they were making it based on a meeting they had about me!
Remember, guys, I spent an entire year meeting with professionals at the college because of this predicament. Their plan was that they were to create a new degree that would help students with my sort of academic history graduate. The Biology, Health, and Society degree is the degree an advisor at U-M biology created my graduation plan around, and then took to Financial Aid in order to petition for more financial aid.
@Redslp Yes, it is a documented disability with the college. I receive additional support based on the disability. The disability was diagnosed at the age of 5, got re-diagnosed at the age of 18, and is documented with the university even now.
To my knowledge, my CC funds consisted of loans and the Pell Grant. Based on my memory, there were 6 semesters of Pell Grant from there. That’s 3 years. It may have been more. If anyone can do the math for me, I got a Pell Grant for each semester I was in CC.
From this information, you’ll see that I basically had to re-do a four year degree.
I transferred over for my first semester Fall 2014.
Fall 2014:
CC Scholar AWD: $2500
U-M Grant: $7132
Fed. Pell Grant: $2865
Fed Supp. Grant: $750
Work Study: $694
Fed Sub Loan: $750
Total: $14,691
Winter 2015:
CC Scholar AWD: $2500
U-M Grant: $7133
Fed. Pell Grant: $2865
Fed Supp. Grant: $750
Work Study: $693
Total: $13,941
Fall 2015:
CC Scholar AWD: $2500
U-M Grant: $7535
M-Pact Scholarship: $928
Fed Pell Grant: $2888
Fed Supp Grant: $750
Work Study: $1250
Total: $15,851
Winter 2016 (Study Abroad):
CC Scholar AWD: $2500
U-M Grant: $4235
U-M Grant Study Abroad Advance: $3300
M-Pact Scholarship: $927
Fed Pell Grant: $2887
Fed Supp Grant: $750
LSA Global Experience Scholarship: $963
Aupperle Family Travel Fund: $500
Total: $16,062
Spring/Summer 2016 (Study Abroad) [I nearly starved this semester]:
Nelson UG Scholarship: $1000
Fall 2016:
U-M Grant: $8544
Fed. Pell Grant: $2908
Fed Perkins Loan: $95
Fed. Sub. Direct Loan: $2750
Fed Unsub Direct Loan: $1000
Total: $15,297
Winter 2017:
U-M Grant: $8544
Fed. Pell Grant: $2907
Fed. Perkins Loan: $94
Fed. Sub. Direct Loan: $2750
Fed. Unsub Direct: $1000
Total: $15,295
Financial Aid Year 2017-2018 was a gap year I took. They only offered me a $2000 Pell Grant with nothing more for aid. I reached a credit limit. I had to meet with officials and petition to get credits dropped from my transcript to qualify for more loans.
After meeting with financial aid, they decided to award me one more term of the U-M Grant.
Fall 2018:
U-M Grant: $7219
Fed. Pell Grant: $2285
Fed. Work Study: $1500
Fed. Sub Direct Loan: $2750
Fed. Unsub Direct Loan: $3500
Total: $17,254
Winter 2019 (No Pell Grant):
U-M Grant: $7220
Fed Work Study: $1500
Fed. Sub. Direct Loan: $2750
Fed. Unsub Direct Loan: $3500
Total: $14,970
^Barely enough to cover all the costs. I’ll owe the school around $2000. I don’t know how I’ll buy books for either of these semesters.
Fall 2019 (Last Semester):
Fed. Work Study: $1500
Fed. Sub Direct Loan: $2750
Fed. Unsub Direct Loan: $3500
Total: $7,750
Look, in their minds they don’t care that my credits are blank, and didn’t transfer in for anything. In their minds, it’s my fault the planning went wrong. Perhaps it is. I had to repeat ALL intro courses. Calc I, Physics I & II, Bio I, II, and lab, and ect… Besides some elective courses, and a few gen. distribution requirements completed, the foundation of the science degree remained incomplete when I transferred in.
I know it sucks but the library should have the books. Many times you can gets loaner from the professor or TA. Many classes you don’t need to book since a lot of the lessons are online. Used books are around with chegg and other places. There might be special grants just for books…
@Knowsstuff I’ll probably try just renting out the books for these two semesters. Yeah, it sucks, but oh well. lol
Is there anywhere on college confidential that has used books for sale? Maybe we can help each other out. I am looking at some of my kids college books but rather sell them for less to someone in need. Maybe there are boards up at school with people not looking to make a killing on the books you need?
One thing’s for sure: You MUST finish your degree, or else it will be very difficult to find a high-enough paying job to pay back your loans.
PLEASE CALL THE DEAN OF STUDENTS FIRST THING MONDAY MORNING.
The web page for Dean of students says that you are to contact them immediately for “critical incidents.” This is the list of what they consider a critical incident. At least FOUR of them apply to you – I have starred them.
Academic distress due to personal issues****
Emergency/crisis situations****
Concerning or unsafe behavior
Medical illness/injury/hospitalization and post hospitalization coordination and support
Mental health need or hospitalization and post hospitalization coordination and support
Financial hardship/distress****
Death or serious illness of a family member
Communication difficulties
Personal safety needs
Off-campus housing conflict or concern
Unresolved conflict or relationship distress
Loss/unexpected change in housing
Community supports
Inability to find necessary resources****
Here’s how to contact the office of the Dean of Students.
609 Tappan St.
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
(734) 764-7420
DeanofStudents@umich.edu
Monday-Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM
Walk in on Monday. Report back here on what happened.
Hi guys my family are at home, sick with the flu. I also caught the flu and am puking. It’s going to be a couple days before I see the Dean of Students. I’m currently in my dorm room.
I’ll post back here when I do.
Do you live in a University of Michigan dorm room in Ann Arbor? If so, how is that related to your family being sick? I thought your family lives a few hours north of Ann Arbor? I’m just confused.
Sorry you are not feeling well. Hope you feel better soon. I just returned from Ann Arbor and became sick with the same thing, so something is going around.
In the meantime, call the Dean of Students and make an appointment for Wednesday morning. Do it before all the chaos when freshmen come.
@brantly I’ll have to email. I can’t afford a phone.
Ask someone you know if you can borrow theirs for 2mn.
Collective wisdom of cc, what are the cheapest phones and plans?
@stsherma my son was looking for books he needs for Michigan online. He was able to get 3/4 as free pdf 's online. I guess people copy and post these. Even his professors said that if you look hard enough online you should be able to find the books. Many also said the books were optional not required and he is finding this more and more at Michigan… Just a FYI.
OP, what’s your U of M GPA? What are your post-graduate plans as of now? All things considered, I don’t think $40k is unmanageable debt for a U of M degree + 1yr study abroad experience. My aunt counsels adults who have maxed out loans and failed out of places like Eastern Michigan and Wayne State. Imagine $60k in loans and no degree!
One of my cousins transferred into U of M from a community college and lost most of her credit hours because she took a few semesters of remedial courses. Another cousin had good mentors and only enrolled in courses she saw on the U of M transfer equivalency list, so there were no surprises. I was dual enrolled at a community college in high school and honestly, those remedial courses aren’t anywhere near the work required for a U of M course, so it wouldn’t be fair to get 3-4 credits for each one, when U of M students have to do 10x the work for their 3-4 credits.
Hi @hannaw18 my current GPA is a 3.2. It’s nothing spectacular, but trust me with a reported learning disability in the school, it was hard to achieve.
@brantly I wasn’t able to get a meeting with the Associate Dean of Students. She cancelled at the last moment because of a scheduling error. But I did get to meet someone on call. They are helping me with my problems.
They said that they’d contact financial aid for me in order to search for additional funding for my last semester. Also they said they could find another scholarship opportunity I could apply for.
So now all I have to do is wait and see if anything can be done.
@stsherma That’s great! So you DID meet with someone from the office of the Dean of Students who is now advocating on your behalf. That’s fantastic. Make sure to follow up. Send a nice email thanking him/her for the time and for helping you. Ask if there’s anything you need to be doing in the meantime. Put it on your calendar to follow up in a week if you haven’t heard anything.
Bad news.
This is the email I received.
"According to Financial Aid, you are at the maximum level of annual borrowing, so there aren’t any options available and unfortunately you may not be academically eligible for an LSA scholarship.
Financial Aid recommended that you do a graduation audit (with LSA) to determine if you have enough credits to graduate in one of your two programs (the major or the minor) this December (you already have completed 130 credits, which is enough for graduation; you just need to determine if you have completed all of the requirements for a degree). You have the opportunity to change your course load this term, if necessary, and allow for graduation sooner rather than later if you have enough credits/degree requirements.
The only other option is to obtain a private educational loan for your remaining 2 semesters, if you can find a lender."
I’m very upset right now that nothing could be done. I already did an audit ONE YEAR AGO. I told the Associate Dean that I wanted to talk to someone else.