Hello Guysm
I just saw my FA from a college
(I have quite huge outside scholarship and thus my contribution is 0 USD). Travel expenses and personal expenses are included in the FA (4,000USD ). However, my question is…how do they give it to me? They give me a check so I can buy books and other personal things throughout the year…or I will just keep collecting bills and then they would refund me?
Thank you
Refunds are processed by check or direct deposit typically after the add/drop period ends. This can be several weeks after the beginning of the semester – so, after you need to book and pay for flights, books, etc. You’ll have lots of up-front costs you need to plan for, even though you’ll get the refund later on.
Try and work and save up money now and during the summer
Some schools set up an account with the books store so you can have the books on the first day. Many athletic scholarships are handled that way, or the student gives a list of the needed books to an athletic dept employee and the books are ordered. Some schools do send a check early for pre-start expenses like travel. You’ll need to find out what the policy is for your school.
Shortly after each academic term (semester, quarter, or trimester), the scholarship money left over after deducting the billed tuition/fees/room/board will be divided by 2 (for semesters) or 3 (for quarters/trimesters) and refunded to you as a check or direct deposit. As other posters mentioned, you likely will need a couple thousand for the upfront travel and book costs before that first refund check arrives.
Did you report the huge outside scholarships to your school?
You need to contact the scholarship organization and you college/university and ask them how they will handle this. You need to find out if they will buy your plane ticket for you so that you can get to school this fall, or if you will have to pay for it yourself and then be reimbursed.