<p>Consumer debt is not considered in the financial aid calculations for ANYONE.</p>
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<p>Are you trying to convince us that EVERYONE going to college in Fargo MUST have a car? Sorry…but that just isn’t true. MANY college students do not have cars. I would say that if your parents are unable to help pay for your college costs, they do not need to assume a THIRD car payment…and you don’t need a car or the expenses associated with owning one (insurance, gas, maintenance, etc). </p>
<p>Having a boat with a payment would be considered a luxury by almost everyone.</p>
<p>I’m sorry I don’t sound sympathetic but I think your family needs to prioritize its spending while the kids are in college. As many who have read my posts know…we have NO discretionary spending going on until the last college bill is paid. We purposely bought cars so that there would be NO PAYMENTS during the 7 years of college payments. We don’t own a boat…and wouldn’t think of buying our college students a vehicle. That money is being used to pay tuition/room/board.</p>
<p>And our kids work to pay for every bit of their discretionary spending including college books.</p>
<p>Why the END of May? Students need to make matriculation decisions by May 1. Did you miss the financial aid application deadline? Why aren’t you hearing about your financial aid BEFORE the May 1 date to make a matriculation decision.</p>
<p>Sorry…I stand by my previous post…you don’t need a car. Tell them that…tell them to SAVE THE MONEY.</p>
<p>Re: those loans you might need for college…if your parents continue to overextend THEIR credit, they might not be in a position to cosign a loan with you for college.</p>
<p>And…plan to get a job when you are in college. Most students report that working actually HELPS them budget their time better than not working. You can use your earnings to help pay your college expenses.</p>
<p>I would call NDSU and see if you can speak to the Finaid director. Since it’s a state school they probably don’t have much they can do outside of the Federal funds, but they may be able to tell you if you will receive and merit money or at least give you a general idea of how your packaging might look especially because you are a freshman. Generally they work on those first and are probably in the “thick” of it right now. The upper years they tend to work on later in the spring so you might luck out and find out how things are going to look sooner than May.</p>
<p>I have had a car before. I know the costs associated with owning one. It was a 96 Nissan that I had for 18 months and finally stopped running after 225,000 miles.
I am an only child, so my parents aren’t going to have to worry about sending anyone else to college or any other cars. Neither of my parents went to college so they hadn’t been preparing for this at all until my Junior year.</p>
<p>I have already called NDSU that’s when I found out that they wouldn’t send me financial information until the end of May. Which I agree, is way too late. I won’t even get my housing papers until early August.</p>
<p>@Thumper1: I don’t want you to be sympathetic, nor would I expect you to be. But it is not as though I am some whiny rich kid begging for a car. And my parents didn’t spend beyond their limits when they bought these things that now have them in debt. At the time they were making more money and now with the down-turn in the economy they are making less money.</p>
<p>On this I WILL be sympathetic. How can you make a matriculation decision by MAY 1 if you don’t have your financial aid in place? WHY is this coming after May 1? Are you saying you won’t get a housing assignment until August…or that you can’t even pick housing until August.</p>
<p>At MOST schools these late notifications only happen if the applications were late. </p>
<p>Honestly, I’m perplexed as to why you are being notified so late in this process.</p>
<p>OK…OP I DO sympathize with you now…I really do. This is from the NDSU website. Clearly they don’t notify about aid before the 15th of May. </p>
<p>To others…how do they expect students to make informed choices between their late notice school…and other schools that might require an earlier commitment date (I do realize not ALL schools require the May 1 matriculation choice, but a LOT do)?</p>
<p>y2k…do you have any way to make up the difference in what your parents will pay for this school?</p>
<p>Another consideration…many PharmD students are considered enrolled in professional school after their soph year or junior year is completed…and they don’t get undergrad need based aid at all. You need to check to see if this will be the case.</p>
<p>If your application is processed by the March 15 deadline, you can expect to receive notification of your proposed award between May 15 and June 15.</p>
<p>I’m guessing that this is a school that isn’t used to having kids apply elsewhere.</p>
<p>First, are you choosing NDSU because you’re guaranteed entry into the PharmD program if you keep a certain gpa? Or do you have to take the PCAT and reapply in two years? If so, do they give preference to their own pre-pharm undergrads? I don’t know much about NDSU Pharmacy but was under the impression that they mainly give preference to instate applicants.</p>
<p>A quick look at College Board will tell you that NDSU offers an average of 66% financial aid and only 23% of that is in the form of grants/scholarships! So, although it is a fairly inexpensive school, they are unlikely to offer an OOS resident much in the way of “free” money. I’m assuming you would know if you met any scholarship criteria by now.</p>
<p>So, I think you should be prepared for a very low offer of FA from NDSU…maybe you’ll be pleasantly surprised but, in the meantime, were you accepted at any other schools that will be more affordable if you don’t receive aid other than loans? You could take your pre-reqs at another school, keeping your gpa and PCAT as high as possible, and then apply. </p>
<p>Finally, does NDSU have other programs that interest you in case you’re not accepted for pharmacy school or your career interests change? A lot of students change their major once they really get into the chem and bio pre-reqs or discover that another field that suits them better. Would you choose NDSU if you weren’t interested in pharmacy? Although you should be able to afford fairly hefty loans if you earn a PharmD, what happens if you borrow heavily and then change your major in two years or aren’t accepted? I would try to keep the loans as low as possible unitl pharmacy school is a reality…just my $.02!</p>
<p>@OP: Just because your parents could make the payments at the time doesn’t mean they could actually afford to buy the boat, etc. If you can’t prepare for a rainy day or save up for college, retirement, etc. at the same time, you can’t really afford to spend the money.</p>
<p>As for helpful advice, all I can tell you is to run the numbers and see what monthly payments over the ten year repayment period would be like if you do end up borrowing heavily.</p>
<p>@OP: Just because your parents could make the payments at the time doesn’t mean they could actually afford to buy the boat, etc. If you can’t prepare for a rainy day or save up for college, retirement, etc. at the same time, you can’t really afford to spend the money.</p>
<p>As for helpful advice, all I can tell you is to run the numbers and see what monthly payments over the ten year repayment period would be like if you do end up borrowing heavily.</p>