<p>I'm a JR level college student. I receive the Pell grant and loans to pay for school. Because I screwed up majorly during my first attempt at college, I will be be hitting the max amount of loans and the max amount of hours before I graduate. I have at least 3, probably 4 semesters left and my loans only last through summer. The pell grant alone is not quite enough to cover my tuition, let alone books and other expenses. I've been trying to look for scholarships, but I keep hitting road blocks. They're either for HS seniors or my GPA isn't high enough (my overall is not great because of the grades from the first time around) or they require community service or leadership. </p>
<p>I worked really hard to turn myself around. I started with a .66 transfer GPA and brought it up to a 2.39 overall GPA when I finished my AA. My GPA from fall 2011 on was just over a 3.0. I managed to get accepted at a school I never thought I'd go to in a million years and I really don't want to be stuck not being able to finish because I can't find the money. I don't work a regular job. because I am a single mother and, full time school and full time motherhood is all I can handle at this point. There's no way I could worry about a job too. I do some side work helping at my dad's business, but it's not regular. Considering that I was just as bad a HS student as I was the first time I went to college, all this scholarship stuff is pretty foreign to me. I could really use some advice. I'm pretty sure my school has an office that can help me, but I just started this semester, and it's a huge place, so I'm still trying to find my way around. I will be checking with them as soon as I figure out where it is ( I guess I would probably speak with a financial aid counsler.)</p>
<p>Here are my stats in case that might help anyone offer advice. </p>
<p>Non-traditional student (almost 35)
Single mother
First generation college student (neither of my parents have a degree, but my sister does)
College: University of Florida (Florida resident)
Major: Agricultural Education ( I don't qualify for the TEACH grant because I'm not at the College of Education. My major is at the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences). </p>
<p>I don't have community service hours, though I am currently doing some for one of my classes. There's nothing else that really stands out about my. I was basically a royal screw up until a couple of years ago when I decided I was going to get it together for my son. </p>
<p>Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, by “screw up” I don’t mean anything too bad. I’ve never been in trouble with the law and I don’t use drugs. I just worked crappy jobs and quit them on a whim. I never stayed at one and moved up the ladder. Even with almost 20 years of working, I can still only get jobs that pay $10 an hour max. It’s mostly because I have ADHD and some anxiety and self esteem issues going on, so I never bothered to try to do better because I knew I’d screw it up. </p>
<p>Sorry beolein…I worked too hard to get into this school. I will not be dropping out of the top college in my state to go to one that accepts anyone with an AA and a pulse. There’s money out there for me, I just need to know where to look and the best way to apply. Patsmom…thanks. I’ll check the list again and try not to let the application process overwhelm me. </p>
<p>Your best resource is the financial aid office at UF, and your department. Some departments have awards that no one else even applies for. You need to hound the financial aid office because you don’t want to miss deadlines.</p>
<p>I agree that you need to talk to the financial aid office of the schools, as well as to your community college about what aid is available to someone in your circumstance. Every CC i know has had some sort of resource office to help those transferring. They may have some information. Also look at Fastweb, get you name in there and look for some aid for non traditional students. </p>
<p>Our cousin went back to college after a hiatus, like you he was in his 30s when he got his degree. He could not find anything in terms of grants, even with stellar grades after returning to college and getting his AA. Absolutely nothing. He just paid for one course in the spring and fall at the local state school and then took advantage of the cheaper summer prices and took a bunch of classes then. So he got 6 classes done in a year. It took him about 4 years to get his bachelor’s after transferring to a 4 year school and he already had a lot of credits when he transferred. But…lucky day! He did get a job at the college where he was working on his degree and it paid for his last year or so there as part of the benefits of the job. So that was a very nice savings for him. it also meant he had a job when he finished that was a great springboard for the next step for him. Now ten years later, he is doing very well, right there with high school peers who did go directly to four year colleges. It just took him longer, but he did catch up. He did not have much in the way of loans either, as he was only taking a course at a time for a whlle and had used up a lot of his
Stafford money in his early tries at college. </p>
<p>As for awards asking about ECs, leadership, comm service, you should sit down and write an essay on what you are doing which is no small feat. Going back to school after earlier faiure, and puliing yourself up by your bootstraps as a mother, working part time and determined to get that degree. Spin it as a quest for that degree. YOur story will stand out over the captains of soccer teams and treasurers of student council and doing the midnight runs. Give them a whirl.</p>
<p>I started to fill out the CALS scholarship application, but it’s asking for HS gpa and I don’t even remember what it was. I just know it was bad. There was some other stuff on there that I just couldn’t answer. I have a 3 hour break between classes. I’m going to see if there’s someone who can help me fill it out. </p>
<p>the truth is, there isn’t a lot of money out there for a transfer student. Especially one that needs full aid and is supporting a child. How much do you need each year? $30k? more? less? Do you receive child support? If so, then you may not need as much, but you’ll still need a lot.</p>
<p>I’m not saying that you can’t find some small scholarships, but even if you could cobble together a few thousand, that amount plus a Pell Grant won’t cover. You’re running out of student loans. I’m guessing that you’ve been borrowing the max loans for independent undergrad students. As a junior, you can borrow about $12k, so you may end up getting junior year covered, but you need to consider both years since you don’t want to find yourself as an unfunded senior with no degree. Transferring again at that point would be very difficult because you have to take at least 30 credits at the next school.</p>
<p>Are you currently living with parents? And if you go to UF you’ll need an apartment by yourself with your child? That alone will cost you at least 1000 a month. </p>
<p>I guess this is going to be harder than I thought. I do live with my mother so my living expenses are reduced that way. I do pay bills here though. I commute an hour to Gainesville because if I moved there I would have to pay for an apartment alone, and child care. I have friends and family here who watch my son for free. I should have enough loans left to cover summer term and last I checked I had enough hours of pell grant left to just cover the rest of the degree. I think I can appeal to keep the pell grant if I’m close to done when it runs out. Now I’m kicking myself for taking max loans when I could have done with less. I guess I didn’t realize how close I was to running out. I can’t believe I finally made it to UF and I’m at risk of not getting my degree because of this. </p>
<p>The only scholarships I have seen that would apply are local business women organizations. Your best aid will likely come from the financial aid office. I would meet with them ASAP to determine your options. Hopefully they can be helpful.</p>