Major financial aid dilemma..only answer if you WORK in financial aid!!!

Paying for College
1

<p>I would only prefer answers from those that work in financial aid or college administration.</p>

<p>I am 34 years old. When I was 18 years old, I went to college my first year and at the end of the year I had a 2.2 GPA. My parents refused to help me for a second year, so I got a student loan (which I have completely paid off, no lates) for the second year, and at the end of my second year, I had a 1.8 GPA. </p>

<p>I hated school. I didn't want to be there. So I quit and got a job.</p>

<p>When I was in my late 20's, I decided that I really wanted to be a teacher. I knew I was smart, but no college would look at me because my GPA was below a 2.0.</p>

<p>So, what I did, is I simply applied to a university and didn't tell them I had ever been to college before...I paid cash my entire way (because I knew this loan showed up on my financial aid history and was afraid that someone would see it), and I graduated last May of 2008 with a degree in Chemistry and I have a 3.8 GPA. I obviously, took every single class over again.</p>

<p>NOW FOR THE PROBLEM:</p>

<p>I just, this week, got accepted for a very good pharmacy school to the tune of over $20,000 a year tuition. Pharmacy schools are highly competitive and graduate schools in general, are very unforgiving. I never disclosed I had been to another school...and I only turned in my transcript from the school I got my Chemistry degree in.</p>

<p>I was readily accepted....no waiting list. I performed well on the PCAT.</p>

<p>I do not have $20,000 a year to pay for school. I need financial aid. However, I don't want to take out private loans because there is no cap on the interest rates...I refuse to do that. </p>

<p>My fear, is if I apply for financial aid, some financial aid worker will key my social security number into the system and see the disbursement of a Stafford loan to the college that I never disclosed and I'm afraid that they will report that to admissions.</p>

<p>I don't know if my fears are unfounded or real.</p>

<p>I feel like I have paid a very dear price for my mistake, but I sure as heck don't feel like I should be punished for the rest of my life or lose my spot in Pharmacy school because of stupid mistakes I made, academically, when I was 18 and 19 years old.</p>

<p>If someone could please guide me on what I need to do. The only thing that I don't want to hear is "Honesty is the best policy"..b/c what no one understands is that there is NO QUESTION that I will lose my admissions spot if I disclose, that I did not disclose, a previous college.</p>

<p>So, that is why I need an opinion from someone that WORKS in an upper-level position in financial aid to answer my question...I need concrete answers, not an assumption, not an "I think"...I don't want someone to quote what is on the bottom of the application..I need to know how the procedure REALLY works.</p>

2

<p>Bump…surely someone who has direct knowledge has insight.</p>

3

<p>You’ve asked that only a very specific and narrow group of people provide any response. In all honesty, I’d be surprised if someone who fit your criteria finds their way to this forum and is able to respond.</p>

4

<p>^ There are a few FA folks who read this board regularly. I don’t know if they would have any good news for the OP, though.</p>

5

<p>We have had that happen to a few students (failed to report college attendance). We most certainly report the information to the admission’s office and the Dean of Students, who then determine if the student can remain admitted to their program. In one case, it did cause the school to withdraw their offer of admission to the student. In another case, they just placed the student on probation with a STERN warning about the honor code.</p>

<p>Your best bet is to inform the admissions office immediately of your oversight and be prepared to explain why this oversight should be overlooked. In all honesty, their decision could go either way.</p>

<p>Also, quite honestly, the financial aid office may not even catch the missing school. Some schools are not as meticulous in reviewing this type of information as others. My office routinely reviews NSLDS reports for all Spring applicants but we rarely review NSLDS reports for FAll applicants unless we suspect something is wrong.</p>

6

<p>Listen to NiKKiiL’s advice. He works in FinAid at a University.</p>

7

<p>The sad part is that pharmacy schools seem to love these kinds of students - upward trend, perseveranc, etc. - and your original grades would have been so old that they may not have been a factor anyway. But the integrity issue could get very sticky. Best to come clean now, before you incur grad school debt. No fun to have this hanging over you for 4 years!</p>