<p>So I'm having a bit of trouble getting my mind wrapped around all the financial hoo-ha associated with grad school. Mostly I feel a bit like with grad school they throw as much loan money at you that you want and I don't want to go into a bunch of debt without really thinking about it. So I have a couple of questions (they are kind of extended so any help offered would be much appreciated):</p>
<p>is it normal to receive funding for masters' programs? I am going for the MSW and I want to look into tuition scholarships, or I guess any fellowship(?) or what have you.</p>
<p>My financial aid package included a summer work study (even though I'm not enrolled for summer). I am having a hard time finding a work study position (and plus I'm really lazy and depressed and honestly just haven't been looking) so I am trying to find out about converting work study to a loan. Since it's only for the summer semester, will they give me the full amount? Will it be totally separate from the rest of my aid or will it somehow come out of other loan money? What are the pros and cons of work study vs converting work study to a loan?</p>
<p>I could live at home and commute every day but really I'd like to just live on campus and get it over with. However, if I stayed at home that'd put a lot of money in my pocket. Do you think it's better to live on campus in a better environment or stay home only to save? I think I would probably have enough refund money that I could live on a tight budget without having to get a job (other than work study, I suppose) but I did want to have some kind of regular job. Is it recommended to work during grad school just for extra income? And how does that affect the fafsa for next year, if at all?</p>
<p>Are there any secret money loopholes that I just don't know about or how to access? For example, I read some things on my school's website that they offer extra loans for things like computers and even have an "emergency" loan where you can just go to the bursar and get 200$.</p>
<p>Mostly I'm just becoming a little overwhelmed with how to manage the financial aspects, plus make decisions on things like living expenses. I feel kind of guilty just accepting all this money (even though I know it isn't free cuz I'll have to pay it back later, lol) so I WANT to cut corners/work independently but I don't know how reasonable or likely these things are.</p>
<p>Nodisrespect, Nodisrespect but you are not abiding by the terms of your package by not doing summer work study, so call the grad financial aid office and find out your options.</p>
<p>Sorry? Not only is it abiding by the terms of the package to convert the work study into a loan (it is addressed in the student loan administration FAQ), I spoke with a counselor today who advised me to give it another couple weeks to try and find something before revisiting the loan idea. I got the feeling that it was a last-resort sort of thing, but certainly not that it wasn’t allowed. I’m not worried about whether or not it’s possible or allowed, just exactly how it works.</p>
<p>Work-study is always better than taking on an additional loan. Stop being lazy and apply for jobs. Campus employers prefer students with work-study awards (sad, but true). I received a work-study award and it only took me a few weeks for a department to offer me the job. I applied aggressively. If I can do it, you can do it too (I’m also entering a social work program this fall).</p>
<p>It is more normal in some fields than others. The MSW rarely offers a substantial amount of funding, though, as it is a professional degree. You’d have to win a scholarship, and the scholarship is not likely to cover the full costs of the degree.</p>
<p>For the summer semester they usually give you half a year’s worth of the loan, if that’s the only semester you are attending, or one-third the year’s worth of the loan if that is combined with a fall and winter semester. But it depends on the school. I don’t understand why anyone would want to convert work-study (which is nonrepayable aid) to a loan that accrues interest and that you have to pay back, other than laziness which you acknowledged. I really suggest that you get in gear and step up your looking for jobs.</p>
<p>It’s graduate school. You don’t need to live on campus like in undergrad to be tapped into the community. If you can save a substantial amount of money by living off-campus at home – especially for only two years – then you definitely should. Master’s degrees are not cheap and don’t provide a lot of funding; if I lived at home instead of in an apartment (if I were going to graduate school in my home city, that is) I would be saving $11,000 a year solely in rent. That’s not including the amount I would’ve saved on utilities, on buying furniture, and on my security deposit. All together that comes out to $15,000+.</p>
<p>They do have emergency loans, but they are only for emergencies, obviously. For example, due to the bureaucratic nightmare at my university I didn’t get my first paycheck until a 5 weeks after I was supposed to have received it – two and a half months into the academic year. I was able to get an emergency loan from the bursar for $500, which I paid back when I got my money. I bought my computer out of my student loans, which I will have to pay back when I graduate, but my old computer was going the way of the dinosaur.</p>
<p>I forgot to mention that I received a half-tuition scholarship for my master’s (it’s competitive, and your academic record needs to be strong). I still need to rely on loans to cover my living expenses (no longer working full-time; living off-campus away from the undergraduate “ghetto”). It’s very rare to receive full funding at the master’s level (unless you’re among the very top of the incoming class).</p>
<p>There is a lower-tier state school near me that has a masters degree program in School Psych that I am applying to next year. It’s NASP approved and I would live home to save money if all else falls through. I can’t see spending money on an apartment, etc. if I am that close. I can’t afford to pay for much in any program, so if my grades, etc. don’t make those offers come, I will do what I can to have a workable loan when I am done by cutting costs where I can.
I spoke to someone that commuted from NYC to Ct everyday going for his masters,rather than pay the prices for apartments near him (Fordham I think) He read a lot of the train, did some homework, got discount tickets and saved quite a bit. It was a mental exercise to remind himself that he was independent, helped out at home, paid for his own things, etc. but there is that draw to do it alone. The money in the bank though was far more important in the end.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t recommend working during grad school. At least no more than you need to.</p>
<p>I was awarded work study as well and I applied for every job I could find that would work in my schedule. It’s maddening but gotta do it. Work study is designed to cover your expenses like books, food, etc not covered by the big tuition bill. </p>
<p>You’re contradicting yourself in this post. On one hand, you want to cover your work study into a loan of what? $3000? So you don’t have to work or job searching just seemed to hard. On the other hand, you’re looking to reduce your debt. How would converting a work study award into a loan reduce your debt?</p>
<p>I know of a MSW/PhD student who lives about 30 minutes away from campus in order to save even more money. Her rent is basically half of where we live for sharing a house. It’s ridiculous. As a grad student, I praise her for going to money-saving route and knowing that as a grad student, she doesn’t really need to be on campus. She calculated that even with gas, it was way cheaper to live at home. The only reason to live on-campus or literally next to it is if you have friends who are in the area.</p>
<p>Whatever you earn during your work study won’t affect your ability to get a similar package for the following year since you’ll be making practically minimum wage anyway.</p>
<p>^^^ I initially thought about commuting but then I did the math and realized that it wasn’t worth it. I did not want to commute an hour to classes and have to worry about getting to work on time. I was offered a work-study job on my financial aid award this fall and was hired for am above-minimum wage (more than $10/hr) work-study position. </p>
<p>There are campus departments right now hiring for the fall. Pursue aggressively!</p>
<p>Instead, I found and leased a nice 2-bedroom apartment in Ann Arbor for $750/month. As ticklemepink said, you don’t need to live on campus if you’re a graduate student. Add a roommate, and I will save even more money. Free heat, parking, trash removal, and all. You can’t beat that anywhere, not even in metro Detroit. It sealed the deal.</p>
<p>This is what this MSW student is going to be doing to save money next year. I got an internship 45 minutes away for my 2nd year, and I arranged my classes to only have them one day per week. While that one day a week commute will be a pain, the other three days I’ll be able to walk to my internship. Currently my partner and I are living in a cramped, extremely overpriced one-bedroom walking distance from campus. In the new city we’ll be living in a 2 br / 2 bath in a luxury complex and saving about $1200 - $1300 in rent-related expenses. While we’ll be using more gas it won’t be $1200 worth! You might look into arranging your internship in a cheaper city and commuting and see if it works for you.</p>
<p>As others have said, financial aid outside of loans is not typical in MSW programs, although you can check with your school and see if they offer any stipends or scholarships. (mine has a few.) You may also want to look into internship placements and see if you can find one that pays you or offers some kind of stipend. If you don’t feel like you have enough loans in your package you can also get a Grad PLUS loan. I’d also try to look for a work-study position that’s laid back and will give you time to do your homework. Good luck.</p>
<p>Hi, can you read? Because this isn’t what I asked. I didn’t ask for opinions on which is the better course of action. I asked how it’s done. If you don’t have anything helpful to offer don’t bother replying. </p>
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<p>The thing about this work study (which is 4k not 3k) is that it’s for the summer quarter, which I’m not enrolled in. 1600 of it has been allocated into my autumn quarter tuition but other than that, it isn’t supposed to be used for the year. I have an additional work study for the year in the form of an assistantship. That’s why I want this money now - so that I can take care of all the things I need handled BEFORE I begin (credit card debt, car troubles, etc). It doesn’t really matter whether I work for it or not since the summer quarter is only from mid june to mid August. I’m going to be working during the year regardless and I’d rather get the full amount of the loan than only having the option of working for some of it. Is that even how it works? This is why I asked about the conversion process because I’m not sure of the stipulations. I wasn’t looking for opinions on getting loans.</p>
<p>Obviously the work study is better because you don’t have to pay it back. But I’m going to be in a **** ton of debt anyway and it really doesn’t bother me to put this on top of it.</p>
<p>Let me copy a couple things from the SLA if it helps you guys understand what I’m saying.</p>
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<p>It is to my understanding, and my finaid package confirms this, that this money has no bearing on the work study I will be doing during the year. That’s why I don’t care to go out of my way to find a position for it.</p>
<p>I am obviously aware of the merits of living at home vs living on campus and I still haven’t decided either way what I’m going to do yet. I have to put a lot more thought into the matter. But if I can find something really affordable, I’m going to go for it.</p>
<p>OP, I am sure you have figured all of this out by now but I ran into your post and thought I would bring it to life. I am currently pursuing my MSW (Advanced Standing program) at NYU. In my financial aid package I was given a very large scholarship (almsot half), loans and a work study ($3,000 with possibility for increase). I know exactly what you are going through, trying to keep your loans down but still keep good grades and be involved on campus. I am from Florida, so I went the student housing route (way overpriced, but my only option since I didnt know any other students in NY). I am going back and forth with keeping my work study. The idea of knocking $3,000 off my tuition sounds really nice, if I put all my earned money to my loan. But, I am more worried about my available time!!! MSW programs are very demanding. My course load is very similar to a 2nd year MSW student. I have a internship on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday from 8-3 (working for free!!), classes on friday and saturday and I am TRYING/CONSIDERING a work study on Thursday and Friday. That leaves me with NO spare time to do assignments except Sunday and week nights. I assume by now you have determined that work study money does not have to be spent in one semester. For example, if they granted you $4,000… that money does not have be used $2,000 each semester… instead you could work $3,000 worth one semester and $1,000 worth the next semester. You have a full year to use up your work study money (or for you, they granted you 3 semesters). I assume your work study was higher because you did not recieve a scholarship.</p>
<p>I am wondering… this post was written a year ago. So, where are you now? Did you take the work study placement? How do you feel it effected your classwork and performance in the classroom? Did you stay at home? How do you feel about your work study?</p>
<p>Work-study positions on the whole are supposed to be low-intensity (at least that was the theory at my university)…that is, they generally allow you downtime which you can use toward schoolwork etc. I was pretty lucky in that I wasn’t given much work to do in the office I worked in, so I was essentially just getting paid to catch up on schoolwork or surf the internet. On the other hand, I knew people who had to actually “work” at work. Mostly you’re just “free labor” for different departments, so how they utilize you will vary.</p>