<p>To take a semester off from college to receive more financial aid in the future semester? What happened was I did some classes at a CC, and then transferred into a university, but when I was actually accepted and did the fafsa, I was only eligible for the pell grant and a whole bunch of loans. I didn't want to take out but so much in loans, and the financial aid office said I was eligible for more scholarship and grants, but since I was late with the fafsa, it was all gone because it was on a first come first serve basis. Do you think it will be a good idea to take this semester (continue to work) and fill out the fafsa earlier so my student loans won't be as high next time around. Keep in mind that I'm a non-traditional student (24 now) and I feel terrible for waiting longer so considering I'm still a freshman. Which means I could be 28-29 when I'm finish. I'm trying to take as low of a risk as possible considering I'm entering a challenging major (computer science) and I have fear of flunking out/and or being unemployable and still being stuck with an enormous amount of debt. 6500 is too steep of a debt for one semester in my opinion.</p>
<p>How much can you pay for out of pocket? Could you pay for just one class without any financial aid? That way you would still be moving forward toward your long-term goal while you wait for a semester where you can receive a better aid package and start studying full time then.</p>
<p>actually, I thought about that, and I can’t even afford that. Classes were supposed to start next week and I basically just had enough saved for a laptop and other fees that I wanted to pay out of pocket, instead of taking out loans to pay. Paying for one class would put me over the edge. I think it’s about 450 per credit hour.</p>
<p>message bump lol</p>
<p>I was late with the fafsa for this year. I decided to go ahead and start, and to reduce the debt burden make sure I get it in early for all of the other years. I filed at 1:00 am on January 1st for next year (can’t use IRS tool yet, waiting for employer statement, then will file and use tool same day.) just remember if you are worried about finding work - you can request relief if the payments are over a certain percent of your income and they will lower your payments (in case you need to settle for a less glamorous job until a better one comes through.) but, if you decide to wait, don’t worry about being “too old.” My decision to go to college at 42 has been viewed by everyone I’ve talked to as a badge of great motivation and courage. I believe it will be viewed very positively by future employers.</p>
<p>Thank You!</p>
<p>It looks like taking the semester off makes sense. But do make sure that you are officially on a leave or deferred so that you don’t have to reapply for admission for the fall. If you can pull together enough money between now and the summer session, you might be able to take a class then.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Taking a semester off it is! Thank you so much!</p>