<p>I recently received a very generous FA package from Wellesley. It included:</p>
<p>COA: $58,364
Grants: $36,940
Plitt Kirgan Loan: $2,625
Work Study: $2,100
EFC: $16,699</p>
<p>I read something about being able to take $5,500 in loans from the federal government (Stafford loans?). Would I be able to add that onto my FA? </p>
<p>I was hoping to get outside scholarships to cover the work study and loans Wellesley gave me and then use federal loans to reduce my EFC to $11,199. My family and I will be unable to contribute that much to my education each year. </p>
<p>Stafford loan is guaranteed and can be thought of as a loan separate from the FA package you got since it is not included in it. Assuming you already filed for FAFSA, you should be able to get the loan automatically. Contact the school financial aid office and they should be able to tell you how to get it. So yes, you can think of it as additional money on top of your FA package. Note that it is a loan and you need to pay it back after you finish school.</p>
<p>Leave the work-study alone and concentrate on reducing EFC. Yes, you can get 5500 in student loans. Also, since you say that your mom has bad credit, have her apply for a Plus loan, then she’d get denied and you can get $4k more.</p>
<p>if you get any scholarships, look to see if they’re only for freshman year. If they aren’t renewable, you’re going to be short for your soph, jr, and sr years. Most private scholarships are for frosh year only.</p>
<p>I’m sorry I don’t understand. “Leave the work-study alone and concentrate on reducing EFC.” Could you elaborate? I have no choice but get my outside scholarships to cover work study and loans…?</p>
<p>Work/study is a job on the campus. That you need to find yourself usually. You’ll be paid every two weeks or every week or the 15th and 30th…basically whatever schedule your college is on and generally it takes a week or two or three to get the first paycheck. Don’t forget to bring a birth certificate or passport to college for the paperwork you will fill out when you find the job. It’s a good thing to have if you can secure a job because it will give you some pocket change to cover incidentals you need. Your tuition, fees, room and board will be due and need to be paid probably before you ever get that first pay check.</p>
<p>Also make SURE Wellesley won’t reduce your grant if you bring earn outside scholarships. If you don’t have a job now…look for one…even at minimum wage you could easily earn $3000 between now and the end of summer even if you only work 10-15 hours a week while you finish up your senior year. The money you earn will go right to your EFC.</p>
<p>We realize that you work at Starbucks IN YOUR HOMETOWN. We have no idea if you’d have the same job opportunity by Wellesley.</p>
<p>Who knows whether you’d get the same job in your college town. Or, you may need to work BOTH…your work-study job AND a new Starbucks job in your college town in order to get enough hours to help pay for school. You could work your W-S job for 8 hours during the school week, and then work 6-8 hours at a college town Starbucks on weekends.</p>
<p>My point is that you don’t know if you can get a Starbucks job in your collegetown that is close enough to your dorm that you won’t need a car. You don’t know if you’d get enough hours. </p>
<p>That’s why I said to KEEP your work-study award, don’t try to cover it with scholarships. Instead, put all scholarship money towards your uncovered EFC.</p>
<p>and…bring your Social Security card with you. And, if you have a checking acct, you may need to bring a voided check for auto-deposits.</p>
<p>Congratulations Starbucks! You are so very much closer to your dream, I think you will be able to make the rest of this work and hopefully you and your dad are working things out.</p>
<p>That’s great Starbucks…I didn’t know if you were currently working, had worked or were aspiring :-)</p>
<p>Once last thing…keep the work study because it is up to you to find the job. If you don’t locate a work/study job or choose not to work a work/study job (because you find a better one in your college town)…it doesn’t matter one bit. It’s there if you need it. If you turn it down you probably can’t get it back since many college run out of work/study funds. My middle son was on a waiting list for work/study (he did find a job eventually that wasn’t work/study funded). My older son had it but found a better paying job in town and they still added work/study the next year. So there is no harm in keeping it and a potential loss if you decline it! So hang onto it and don’t decline it.</p>
<p>I think Barista’s point is that any outside scholarships will decrease her need-based aid first. You can’t use scholarships to reduce your family contribution. It sounds like Wellesley will reduce her self-help (loans and work-study) first. She can still get a non-WS job.</p>
<p>Or at least how I understood? I thought that scholarships would be going directly to the school and covering loans/work study and then taking over grants… My understanding is that outside scholarships cannot cover EFC? Please correct me if I am wrong.</p>
<p>It depends on Wellesley’s policies. Go to that section and read exactly how they handle outside scholarships because that is all that matters here.</p>
<p>Assuming that the $16,699 family contribution includes about a $2K expected student contribution from summer earnings, outside scholarships could go toward that in addition to loans and work-study. Then Barista could actually use her summer (and current) earnings toward the “parent portion” of the EFC.</p>