<p>Hey everyone</p>
<p>I was wondering if any of you could help me out with this whole financial aid crap...I have literally no idea how all the finances of college work out. In the myBerkeley app it says I have an offer letter...but it hasn't been accepted..and then I got an email in my Calmail that said something about having to do an interview before getting loans? AHHHHH!!! A bunch of the money in my offer letter on Bearfacts is marked as "Not Accepted"...so I have no idea whether or not my education is payed for. My parents aren't very helpful....I'm not sure if they're even paying for my college or not, and if they aren't I'm not sure exactly what I'm supposed to do...?</p>
<p>I'd ask Berkeley directly...but frankly the people aren't very helpful or ummm....nice. I figured the people on this board would be pretty knowledgable and a lot friendlier. heh. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.</p>
<p>Oh to get loans....you have to go to this one site, I think and take a quiz. You have 3 chances and have to get 12/15 to pass : </p>
<p><a href="http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/DirectLoan/index.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/DirectLoan/index.html</a></p>
<p>hahah i thought u were joking about the quiz until i actually took a look...</p>
<p>Thanks man.</p>
<p>Do you know what the hell an MPN is and when/where we fill it out? I've been asking some friends of mine going to Davis this fall and apparently they have a checklist for all their finaid stuff...complete with friendly smiley faces. I can't find anything similar on myBerkeley. The checklist seems to be just for admissions stuff (transcripts, AP scores which btw they STILL dont have ARGGGHHH). </p>
<p>I. am. so. confused.</p>
<p>I think those people who get their parents to take care of their finances are very, very lucky... <em>goes in a corner and cries</em></p>
<p>First of all stop crying. Now an MPN is a master promissory note. You can fill it out online at <a href="https://dlenote.ed.gov/%5B/url%5D">https://dlenote.ed.gov/</a>. You will need to do one for yourself if you are taking out loans and for your parents if they are taking out loans. Then you need to log onto bearfacts and accept all your awards. To do this you need to go under financial aid and there is a tab that saids offer letter then click where it says 2006-2007. You will enter your social and then you can accept your awards. Go to the section that tells you to accept them and enter the amounts you want for everything. Then you wait. If you have grants, they should already be sent to CARS, but loans take a long time. For the parent PLUS loan they will send out a packet of paper work you need to fill out. Its not that bad, just a couple of papers. I actually got mine in the mail yesterday. Then you send it back and in about a month you get the money sent to CARS. They need to do a credit check to see if your parents qualify, oh yeah i think only one parent can be on the loan. And dont worry about the checklist, they have deadlines, but they dont mean anything. My AP atuff and transcript never posted online until like a week before i went to cal. And all my loans never went throug till like November, but dont wait that long, i almost had my meal points taken away. look through the financial aid website a little bit so you can be familiar with the entire process. If you have any other questions, pm me and i'll see if i can help.</p>
<p>a stupid question...but if one is capable of paying for their education at the time they begin college...then theres no point in loans right?</p>
<p>i mean if i can pay for something right now, why waste time and go into debt?</p>
<p>or do the loans you guys speak of, not get paid back..i'm a bit confused</p>
<p>basically, yes.</p>
<p>we can afford this year because of special circumstances, and we're trying to pay for as much of undergrad as we can because there is a federal max-out on how many loans a student can take out and i'm saving them for grad school as much as possible.</p>
<p>so if you can pay, do it.</p>
<p>"because there is a federal max-out on how many loans a student can take out"</p>
<p>Where does it say this? Link?</p>
<p>we aren't supposed to pay the entire tuition by aug 15 right? only some part of it by this time? I believe the whole financial thing is broken up into small payments. if i could pay these small installments, then should i not get the loans?</p>
<p>You need to pay registration by the time school starts or you wont be able to get your class pass for the busses. The monthly payments are for your dorm basically. Its just like paying off campus rent.</p>
<p>are there a lot of scholarship options out there for community colleges, or are most scholarships geared more towards freshmans?</p>
<p>do you mean transfer students?</p>
<p>Transfers can get regents scholarships. Also, most CCs offer scholarships...just check with your FA center or whereever they post the scholarship opportunities.</p>
<p>But most sholarhips are intended for incoming freshman, as they are the majority of new students. But there are others out there.</p>
<p>adam, are you a community college transfer to berkeley?</p>
<p>no i am a 2nd year. why?</p>
<p>^ I think ILoveCalifornia is trying to get 13351 jealous. Don't be a ploy in her games.</p>
<p>lol jealous of what?</p>