<p>I know the subject line sounds overly dramatic but I'm confused about the process of paying the tuition/room and board, etc.</p>
<p>It says that the total bill for my family is $15,000 - $3000 for loans and $12,000 from my parents right now.</p>
<p>a) How do my parents pay the bill? Is there a certain site or something?
b) How do I tell Smith that I want to take the $3000 loan rather than having my parents pay for it upfront? (I'd like to get a campus job and pay it off b/c my parents don't make that much money anyway.)
c) Does the loan work so that I don't have to deal with interest until after 1 year or so of graduation?</p>
<p>You should contact Student Financial Services, they can give you all the information you need and help guide you through the payment process. I'm sure people on CC can give you some information, but Student Financial Services is the official source and they will be able to give you the most accurate info.</p>
<p>At some point, the letter describing your financial aid award arrived, and you were to send it back, crossing out the things you didn't want in your package (so if you didn't want work study or loans, you could have eliminated them from your financial aid package).</p>
<p>If you have confusion, asking student financial services is the best bet. If the loans are through Smith, you'll have to sign a promissory note online this summer, so a quick email inquiring about that won't hurt. </p>
<p>If the loans you are taking out are Subsidized Stafford Loans or Perkins Loans, you won't need to pay them back until after graduation and won't accumulate interest until you start paying (but the grace period differs on each one). When you sign the promissory note it will outline how long you have to pay that loan back and what your options for repayment are. (You'll have to do this again before you graduate.)</p>
<p>Oh, and to pay the bill, you can send a check to Student Financial Services. I don't know if Smith accepts any other methods of payment.</p>
<p>For a $50 flat fee you can arrange an 8 month payment schedule, starting August 1st, through Bank of America's Tuition Pay(?) plan; SFS will have the info.</p>
<p>Also, the salary from your campus job is usually considreded for personal expenses (tolietries, travel, etc.); you will have to make a special arrangement if you want that salary applied to your tuition bill.</p>