<p>So I'm in the midst of a breakdown at the moment because financial aid stuff is driving me mad. Basically, my situation is this:</p>
<p>I had terrible high school grades and went to a community college from 2011 - 2012 in my state to get my grades up so that I could be where I really wanted to be - a four year. As my year there started to draw to a close, I applied to about ten four years and got into most of them. As my financial situation started to become clearer, I ended up going with the cheapest option and it's still a really great school, but now I'm sort of panicking because my financial aid is not enough.</p>
<p>My family's on very low income; basically our only source of income at this point is my mum's social security disability because she doesn't and can't work. This resulted in some pretty good financial aid for me but it's not quite enough to cover it. I still have close to $900 I need to pay and to buy/rent books, it's going to be close to or over another $500. Work study was on my financial aid letter but it's looking more and more unlikely that I'll get placed considering they place students who already had jobs back in their jobs, then place students on the list who weren't placed the previous year, then place new students, and as I'm a new transfer student, I get considered last.</p>
<p>I've applied for loan after loan with my parents as cosigners since I don't have credit, but they're not creditworthy enough. Begging for a cosigner amongst family and friends has gotten me nowhere. Googling for bad credit loans has also gotten me nowhere - that just brings me to pages telling me to fill out my FAFSA, see what financial aid I can get, etc., all of which I've obviously already done.</p>
<p>Basically, I'm in panic mode at this point and terrified because I'm supposed to be moving in on the first of September, and I don't know what all this means for me if I can't cover the rest of my bill or buy my books. Does anyone know of anything else I can do or am I just screwed out of going for this semester? The financial aid office hasn't been very helpful in this except to tell me to start a payment plan with the student accounts office, which might be helpful if the first payment wasn't still due on the first day of classes when I'm not going to have it.</p>
<p>Please, any advice would be great. Thanks!
The school I'm transferring to is Daemen, by the way.</p>
<p>What is the total cost? What is your aid? Did your parents apply for a Parent PLUS loan, and were they denied the loan? If so, you can borrow up to $4000 in additional unsubsidized Direct Loan … if that isn’t included, you will be able to borrow the money you need (don’t borrow more than you need, but you could borrow enough to make it work!). If they haven’t applied for the PLUS, it sounds like they would be denied … so have them do that, then request the additional unsub.</p>
<p>My mum currently has the papers listing my total cost and aid, but essentially, everything is covered save for around $900. My parents did indeed apply for the PLUS loan and they were denied which added the $4000, but it’s still not quite enough to cover the rest of my bill. Thanks though!</p>
<p>Have you checked that all your federal/pell grants; sub/unsub loans have been paid? </p>
<p>Usually they don’t all pay out until school starts. </p>
<p>By the looks of it, your EFC should be around 0, and usually, a public four-year university would generally be accessible to most low income students through grants/loans (most usually don’t have to work if they’re willing to max out federal loans).</p>
<p>If you’re attending a public four-year, I’d be banking that not all your grants/loans have been paid off. </p>
<p>If you’re attending a private four-year, I’m not sure. These colleges are usually priced out of a low income students range unless you get merit.</p>
<p>Aptester…MOST four year public universities do not meet full need for all students. The OP sounds like he has the max Pell grant and the Direct loan plus extra direct loan due to parent denial for Plus loan. This total of all of this is about $15,000 or so. The student says he is short money and that is VERY believable. </p>
<p>To the OP…did you work this summer? If so, have those earnings already been allocated to college costs? </p>
<p>Does your school have a monthly payment plan and can you you do that in the amount you owe? This would enable you to pay 1/10th of the amount each month.</p>
<p>If you can’t find a work study job, is there any off campus employment you might be able to find? Also, keep checking those WS jobs. Often jobs in the dining halls are available… Or the call centers. Keep looking!</p>
<p>You can get books for way less than that. There is also a program that can spread out the balance over several months. I’m sure your school has suction a program. Also bug bug bug work study.</p>
<p>I’m wondering why you only went to a CC for one year. You should have gone for two years and then transferred.</p>
<p>There’s no reason to rack up a bunch of debt for soph year when you can go to a CC for this year and then transfer next year.</p>
<p>Ask your current school if you can delay enrollment for ONE year, go to CC, and then go NEXT year to the university.</p>
<p>In the meantime, work while going to your CC, set aside money for next year. Do not put that money in a savings with YOUR name on it. put it in a savings with your mom’s name on it. Then next year you won’t be short of funds. </p>
<p>*Daemen College is a private, nonsectarian, co-educational, comprehensive college in Amherst, New York, chartered to award both undergraduate and graduate level degrees. Located in a safe and attractive suburban setting, Daemen offers convenient access to one of the country’s most vibrant regions, spanning Buffalo-Niagara, the Great Lakes, and a cross-border corridor with Ontario, Canada, less than a two-hour drive from cosmopolitan Toronto.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Daemon is a private college. Are you commuting? </p>
<p>What is the breakdown of your aid pkg? </p>
<p>Did you apply to a local state school that you could commute to? </p>
<p>APTester…a public univ is not often affordable to a low income student UNLESS the student can commute. Aid doesn’t usually cover room and board costs.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I didn’t get to work this summer. I live out in the middle of the country and don’t have a license or a car so I’d have to rely on my mum’s fianc</p>
<p>You have a ZERO EFC and you want to the college, the government to pay for your living expenses at school? That is unreasonable. Yes, there are some kids who win that lottery when a college wants them badly enough to pay for them to come, which is what they are doing. But why should tax payers be paying for your room and board? </p>
<p>Unless the college comes up with the money for you and the job, on top of what they already have committed to you, it’s all on you to come up with the rest. You are asking for help to go away to a private school, which is an ultimate LUXURY.</p>
<p>Well, I’m sorry that my EFC is zero but there’s not much I can do about that. My mother’s only income is social security disability; she can’t work. And my dad’s not really a part of my life to help. You don’t have to make me feel like crap even more about that.</p>
<p>Furthermore, school is expensive as hell pretty much wherever I go. If I don’t go, I get told off for being lazy or arrogant. If I do go, I’m in debt up to my eyeballs for the rest of my life and I still don’t get a good job. So it’s really a damned if I do, damned if I don’t situation since I’m not rich. I’m not trying to get things handed to me here. Neither of my parents went to college and I’m doing my best all by myself to try and get this done. You don’t have to make me feel like crap about it. </p>
<p>I don’t think anybody (including cpt) is begrudging you for having zero EFC. I think there are two issues here:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Not completing 2 years at CC to minimize debt. Like cpt said, going away to a private college is a luxury. Luxury that you cannot afford. There are plenty of things you will have to do in life that will not be to your liking. It does not really matter if you hate being where you are. Buckle up for one more year. That’s what mature and responsible person would do.</p></li>
<li><p>Not being proactive about getting a job during summer. Judging from your post, you did not even look for a job. If you don’t go to college, how are you planning to support yourself?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>If you still insist to go away for college, have your mom apply for parent plus loan. If she gets it, good for you. If she ends up being rejected, you can get up to 4K in additional unsubsidized loan money. And do yourself a favor - get a job, even if it is non-work study.</p>
<p>Well, in real life, when you want to do things YOUR WAY, then YOU have to pay for it. The fact that you didn’t want to go to a CC for more than a year, and that you want to go OOS are all luxury choices. Either find a way to pay, or go to a CC for a second year (and ask for a delayed enrollment). </p>
<p>School is not expensive no matter where you go. If you commuted to your local cc and state school it would cost a LOT less than this OOS private.</p>
<p>BTW…How are you going to get back and forth to this OOS private for move in, holidays, etc?? Who’s going to pay for that?</p>
<p>you think that you’re only short for books, but there are a lot of other unexpected costs. You can’t budget that close to the penny.</p>
<p>How did you get to your CC this last year? </p>
<p>Even kids from families that have better incomes don’t often get these choices. That’s life.</p>
<p>Here’s the thing. College is four short years of your life and is a means to an end. Four years may seem a long time to you, but the real ‘end’ is the 45-70 years of the rest of your life. If this isn’t going to work out for you financially at all or without crippling you financially at the beginning of the rest of your life, you need to find cheaper alternatives.</p>
<p>The UMaine system is a great school and if you are a Maine resident it will be MUCH cheaper than the private school you have chosen for some reason. </p>
<p>The other posters are right. You want a luxury but can’t afford it. That is life. Go where you can afford and stay in Maine.</p>
<p>OP, I know you don’t want to hear this, but on the off chance that one more voice chiming in here with the same message might make a difference …</p>
<p>There is no magic money tree that’s going to suddenly cough up the money you need to go to this college. It is a college beyond your means to pay for. Sorry, but that’s the reality.</p>
<p>Now you’re going to want to hear this even less …</p>
<p>The fact that you can’t go to this college is one of the best things that’s ever happened to you, because if you had that extra $900, you’d wind up paying a lot of money for a degree that you can get for far less elsewhere - and paying for it by taking on what would be a crushing amount of debt.</p>
<p>My advice: go back to the community college and get another year’s worth of credits. Then apply to a public four-year college in Maine to finish your degree - ideally one where you can live at home and commute. You will wind up with a degree, and, if you make it your business to obtain one, an education, and graduate with little or no debt.</p>
<p>Maybe you guys are right but to be honest, I don’t exactly have a choice at this late in the game. I can’t exactly just take a semester off and wait for spring to go back to a CC. I can’t go back now because I’m never going to get housing and I can’t commute when the closest CC and uni are an hour away and the CC I was going to is four hours away.</p>
<p>Well then how did you get to the CC last year? If you found a way to get 4 hours away for CC college last year why could you not have used that same way to find a job over the summer.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Try really hard to get housing to go to CC you went last year.</p></li>
<li><p>Take a semester/year off, get a job and a driving license, and save, save, save. </p></li>
<li><p>Ask your mom to apply for Direct Plus loan to help you get into a lot of debt. </p></li>
</ol>