<p>Hi all,
I am admitted into 2013 as an Early Decision student. The finaid office will call me back soon and decide how much they want to give me. I suspect that they will cover most if not all of my costs to attend Columbia because of my current financial circumstances. They do ask that i generate 1850 dollars this summer as my responsibility as the student. I am pretty confident I can do that by taking up a job and working through the summer.</p>
<p>Would you recommend that I also look for outside scholarships also? Or is that a moot point? How do most Columbia students do this? I wonder if Columbia will just see my scholarships, then dock my "need of aid" and just give me less money.. At the same time, I also want Columbia to know that I'm tryingmy best to make some money so they don't have to pay so much for me. What do all you current students think?</p>
<p>An outside scholarship at this point will deduct away from your work-study responsibility during the year. Your work-study maxes out at 2500 but that money is given to you during the school year but the cost that it covers in tuition is expected at the beginning of the semester. So, yes apply for scholarships but also work during the summer.</p>
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They do ask that i generate 1850 dollars this summer as my responsibility as the student.
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<p>this might end up being money that you don't have to give columbia since they calculate books and personal expenses into the package</p>
<p>karot's post is extremely confusing ....noone said anything about work study ....i'm assuming this is just the expected student/family contribution</p>
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if we don't have work study and get scholarships then does that reduce the amount that we would be getting as a grant?
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<p>it will deduct from your grant either way...i think the rule is that scholorships deduct from grant then loans ...i doubt they'll ever take away work study....not sure if this rule has changed or not</p>
<p>When my big package came, they said that I would get a work-study exemption for my first year due to being a John Jay Scholar or something.. which is nice, but I'll probably try to find a campus (or off-campus) job anyway. </p>
<p>And yes, Columbia has replaced loans with grants for this year, although they are available at low interest rates if you'd like one (and need one).</p>
<p>So I think my question is the same as alejis' - if I get scholarships, will they just deduct from my Columbia grant? Does that mean it's basically a waste of time to look for scholarships, or am I interpreting this incorrectly?</p>
<p>yeah that's exactly what I was thinking thebeef.. I saw that they said they would re-calculate my financial aid if I got any scholarships, so I was wondering if I should even bother..</p>
<p>I emailed the financial aid office this question earlier and this was my reply:</p>
<p>FAQ #11: How do outside scholarships affect my Columbia financial aid award?</p>
<p>The scholarships you receive from outside sources will be used to reduce the work study portion of your financial aid package. For example, if you are awarded a $2,000 National Merit Scholarship, your work study expectation will be reduced by the full $2,000. Only after your work study has been completely eliminated will your scholarships begin to reduce any Columbia Grant you may have received.</p>
<p>^ yea, so i was thinking, i could apply for scholarships to reduce the work-study portion? I'm still going to try to get a job during the school year, either way, but does anyone know how that would differ from work-study?</p>
<p>If you can get any scholarship aid from funds external to your university you definitely should.</p>
<p>Even the Ivies have limited, albeit very substantial resources. If you bring outside money into your institution, even if it does not help you directly, you help your school free up resources for other students. </p>
<p>You compete with your classmates for grades but all of you have a vested interest in improving the school. Having as much money as possible facilitates this goal. Look at how well endowment correlates with ranking. </p>
<p>Take as much as you need and contribute as much as you can. A $200.00 scholarship for having a particular shoe size is $200.00 Columbia would not have had if you did not secure it.</p>
<p>You are part of Columbia now and should act in its interests as long as there are no overriding moral conflicts.</p>
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karot's post is extremely confusing ....noone said anything about work study ....i'm assuming this is just the expected student/family contribution
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<p>Sorry. When Columbia doles out financial aid, they start with the EFC number, then subtract your summer earnings, earnings from work-study during the year, other awards and scholarships and parent contribution. Then they make up the difference in grants. </p>
<p>Workstudy isn't free money. It actually is part of Columbia's financial aid package but the problem is that you don't get the money before you need to pay your tuition bill. This means that you're still expected to pay how much money you'd make from workstudy upfront, and then gradually make that money back during the school year. I had to borrow the difference from my parents and then payed them back with workstudy during the school year.</p>
<p>As disiny2003 found out, the first thing to go is your workstudy, which is a good thing because workstudy isn't any bonus money that's given to you for free but simply sticks you with a loan upfront and then gives you a method to pay it back.</p>
<p>if my parents rly r not able to give me money to borrow and i don't have sufficient mone of my own to pay up front, would i then have to take out a loan or something?</p>