<p>See what Towson can help you with for financial aid.</p>
<p>What is the closest community college to you? They may grant you credit for AP classes. Your pell grant might pay for most of a community college’s tuition.</p>
<p>You are not the first person to be working it all out in June and early July. You have some options. You may need to go to community college this Fall and transfer to Towson in Spring. Keep us posted because we are with you!</p>
<p>Since Towson has offered you a scholarship, you need to find out if you can still get that for this fall. you probably could NOT get it for spring or as a transfer.</p>
<p>If Towson says “no,” and that you’d need to reapply for next fall, then it may be best to take a gap year and reapply…otherwise when you later transfer to Towson, you won’t get that money. </p>
<p>If Towson offered you free tuition scholarship, then a Pell Grant and a student loan should cover most of the other expenses.</p>
<p>You write that even with aid, you are still short 4k for Towson. If so, you may not be able to afford Towson either.</p>
<p>What county are you in? What is your major? After you speak with the people at Towson, talk with the admission staff at your local community college, and do some research about options for your last two years through [UMUC</a> - Homepage](<a href=“http://www.UMUC.edu%5DUMUC”>http://www.UMUC.edu) check out Salisbury and Frostburg too. They can be less expensive than Towson for some students.</p>
<p>You have options, just ones that are different from what you’d expected.</p>
<p>So I’m not really sure what to do at this point… Loose my deposits for ODU, Call Towson and beg to be let in for spring with my aid? Or go to community college?</p>
<p>I would see if you could get your deposit back from ODU, it may not be possible, buy no harm in asking. Click on the ODU admissions website and see if they have a form to withdraw and/ or request a refund of your deposit. Even if you cannot get it back, losing the deposit is preferable to getting close to $25,000 in debt for one year of school… which, honestly, will likely not happen without a cosigner anyway.</p>
<p>Contact Towson and explain your situation and see what they say.</p>
<p>Look at CC options. Look for schools with articulation agreements in your major with four year colleges in your state. See if there may be scholarships available for transfer students from CCs to four year colleges in your state.</p>
<p>Gather as much information as possible to asses the situation and come up with a plan for next year.</p>
<p>Did your parents apply for a PLUS loan? If they apply and are denied you are eligible for another $4000 in a stafford loan for your first year.</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID RAZR using CC</p>
<p>Start with the phone call to Towson. See what they can do for you. Tell them you’d be open for either a fall or a spring start date, and see what they have to say.</p>
<p>Then, call ODU and explain your situation to them. See if any of what you’ve already paid would be refundable.</p>
<p>No point in panicking before you have all the info.</p>
<p>When you call to find out if your deposits are refundable, be sure to mention that you are a Pell student. It’s possible that you weren’t supposed to pay deposits…that your deposits should have been waived. If so, then they really should give you your deposits back.</p>
<p>Call Towson and see if you can get the scholarship offer for THIS FALL. If they say, “no,” then ask if you can enroll in Spring and STILL GET THE scholarship. If they say, “no,” then ask if you can reapply for Fall 2013 and get the scholarship then. (if they say no to the first 2 things, they will likely say yes to the last request.).</p>
<p>If Towson agrees to let you enroll THIS fall with the scholarship money, then that’s great. (what was the FA breakdown from Towson? How much did you get in merit??? how much in Pell?? how much in loans??</p>
<p>If you’re still short a big of money for Towson, then if you have a parent with bad credit, have that parent apply for a Plus loan, when he/she is denied, you’ll then get up to $4k more in loans. </p>
<p>also, are you working this summer and earning money for college???</p>
<p>If Towson says that you have to reapply for Fall 2013, then do NOT go to a CC in the fall…you’ll ruin your incoming freshman status for Towson’s merit scholarships. </p>
<p>At this point, you can’t make a decision. You need to find out the FACTS first.</p>
<p>So I called and I may be able to get my deposits back… And Towson said I could apply for spring semester and almost be guaranteed admission… It’s just getting all my transcripts etc from school when it’s closed for break. Also they said my aid would most likely be reinstated but maybe not the full amount which kind of worries me… Taking off for a semester makes me really nervous. I also qualified for the MDCAPs scholarship but had to turn it down for ODU, does anyone know if that can be reapplyed for?</p>
<p>The folks at Towson should be able to tell you about the MDCAPs. If they can’t and you have lost the contact information, get your old guidance counselor to help you find it.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Be careful with the PLUS loan thing - I told my sister to do the same thing because we were so sure that my mom, who has ABYSMAL credit (she can’t even get a checking account!) would get denied for the PLUS loan. Much to everyone’s surprise, she got approved for it. It ended up being a disaster, because there’s a reason no one gives my mom credit. I would still try this method, but have a Plan B on the back burner just in case.</p>
<p>If you can’t get the full aid from Towson for Spring (get it in writing), then tell them that you’re going to take a gap year and apply for Fall 2013 so that you can get all the aid and merit.</p>
<p>Yes I just got off the phone with Towson and was told that I would not be able to receive that aid for spring… But I have talked to ODU and I have to jump through some hoops but I should be able to get my deposits back</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>So, then, did you ask Towson if you should take a gap year, take NO classes anywhere, and reapply for FALL 2013 to get the same/similar aid???</p>
<p>They said freshman status is considered less than 30 credits but I’m worried if I use aid for CC I won’t get as much for Towson next year. Also I am still 5,000 short for Towson but a year would give me time to look into more scholarships etc</p>
<p>Yes, freshman status is less than 30 credits, but that’s for a different issue.</p>
<p>Once a student takes CC or other college classes after high school, he’s usually no longer considered an “incoming frosh” for bigger scholarship purposes, so that’s why you probably should NOT take any classes next year. Instead, work and identify schools that would give you large scholarships for your stats and apply for FALL 2013.</p>
<p>And, maybe retake the SAT or ACT and see if you get a better score.</p>
<p>So my aunt said that she called Towson and the cost was around $4000 (tuition, fees, housing meal plan, eyc) a semester and my pell grant is 5,500 so should I go for the spring cause that could cover it</p>
<p>No. $4K is tuition only. [Projected</a> Four Year University Cost - Tuition & Fees - The Bursar’s Office - Towson University](<a href=“http://www.towson.edu/adminfinance/fiscalplanning/bursar/tuitionandfees/projectedfouryearcost.asp]Projected”>http://www.towson.edu/adminfinance/fiscalplanning/bursar/tuitionandfees/projectedfouryearcost.asp)</p>
<p>So if I have 5,500 and then government loans which would cover the other 4 or so grand would it make sense to go in the spring or wait the semester?</p>
<p>First, your pell grand covers the whole year. Semester is going to be half of that. </p>
<p>Now I am confused. What were the details of your original aid package?</p>
<p>Also, can you commute there!</p>
<p>^^^^</p>
<p>Correct…</p>
<p>You would only get HALF of your Pell Grant since you’re only going half a year. </p>
<p>I think you need to do a gap YEAR so you can also get the merit scholarship.</p>