<p>2nd year at tech and I pay out-of-state tuition, which is a bit pressure on me and my parents.. I get loans and grants but still my parents pay a bunch..</p>
<p>So I talked to someone at the financial office and she told me the highest chance to get a residency to be eligible for in-state tuition is to work a full time job for a year and prove that I am financially independent, she said that means 51% of my outcome has to come from my own income. Along with providing documents of residing in VA, voter registration, vehicle registration, etc.</p>
<p>So.. I have no car.. no driver's license.. not much money.. no people connection to get me a job related to my major...</p>
<p>The only jobs I can probably get are at like Best Buy, Target, etc.. and somewhere near tech..</p>
<p>I'm really not sure if this is worth it though.. what if I don't get that in-state tuition... maybe I can save up some money but again I never really have official work experience outside of school besides tutoring a high school kid..</p>
<p>has anyone gone through something like this?</p>
<p>Working full-time (40 hours) and trying to go to school full-time is a major challenge to even the strongest student. How do you parents feel about the situation?</p>
<p>I am afraid this was the whole idea when the residency requirements were created. You’re not supposed to be able to establish Virginia residency easily if you’ve come from out of state to go to school.</p>
<p>I couldn’t do it when I was a grad student 25 years ago, and you’re supposed to find it difficult to do now.</p>
<p>But the thing is, really this is fair. Virginians have been supporting Tech (and other public colleges and universities) through their state taxes since long before you arrived in Blacksburg. That’s why they qualify for discounted in-state tuition. You and your parents haven’t been supporting the public universities in Virginia (at least, not until you started to pay tuition), and that’s why you don’t qualify for discounted tuition. You family has been supporting public colleges and universities in the state where you do live, but you opted not to attend one of those.</p>
<p>I think I forgot to mention that if I’m willing to get this done I will rest a year of college to work… which makes sense because that means I only have to pay for my rent, food, etc, so I will be able to pay 51% of my outcome.</p>
<p>Well, my parents said it’s really up to me… so idk…</p>
<p>Sikorsky- Yes, I get the concept. It’s hard. That’s why I’m asking people if it’s worth it trying to establish residency by using up a whole year.</p>
<p>At the very least interest will probably start accruing on them. Taking a year off can have some pretty brutal consequences in regards to financial aid, although it isn’t always a bad idea.</p>
<p>What state are you from and what’s your major? Check this site and make sure you don’t qualify for the Academic Common Market which will get you in-state tuition without residency. It’s only available for majors not offered in your home state and only available in certain states but it’s worth a look.</p>
<p>If you don’t have a car (etc) then how would you even live on your own outside of the college atmosphere and get to a job? I think your options are less “pay full tuition/establish residency” and more “pay full tuition/look for a cheaper school.”</p>
<p>How much debt are you looking at being in after you get your degree if you pay full tuition? If your major doesn’t have great job prospects and that number is over $30,000 I’d really consider transferring.</p>
<p>Just looked up the Academic Common Market and VT is discontinuing this program after next spring semester. Guess they need that dough. My home state doesn’t qualify anyway.</p>
<p>Buses run around campus, so without a car and a place to stay elsewhere, most likely I would stay around campus.</p>
<p>I’m in one of the engineering majors and if my parents will keep pay at this rate, I think I will probably end up with a debt close to $30,000.</p>
<p>30k is high but not crushingly high for an engineering major. I would stick with it, try and get internships during the summer and save that money, and get a part time job while you’re in school. A lot of jobs like the call center will work with you when it comes to how many hours you can work.</p>
<p>To follow up on chuy’s suggestion to pursue an internship during the summer or a job during school, you might want to consider a co-op for a semester. You would keep your student status (loans don’t become due), add to your resume, and most importantly earn money to help offset the price of tuition. Although VT doesn’t include co-ops as part of their required curriculum as some other schools I do know several students at VT who have gone this route successfully. It was a value add all the way around.</p>
<p>Great suggestion, if you can get one and don’t mind being behind a semester or year then a co-op is pretty much an all around win. Experience, contacts and money. You’ll have to do a considerable amount of legwork to find one but remember, when it comes to job hunting 99 'no’s and a ‘yes’ means ‘yes.’</p>
<p>The thing is when I talked to the financial office, they told me anything school-related jobs would not count to establishing my residency.</p>
<p>They told me I would have to find work outside of anything school related programs, so realistically since I would only finish my second year in engineering, I don’t have many opportunities…</p>
<p>I wasn’t suggesting a co-op to establish residency. Personally I think you’re fighting a very difficult, uphill battle there. My suggestion was to help ease the finances and help ensure employment upon graduation so you can better pay your loans.</p>
<p>Right, plus the money you’d get from working the co-op. It won’t be a ton but if you’re smart about your money then you can save some. And you only don’t have opportunities if you don’t look for them.</p>
<p>If you are able to establish residency (and that’s still an IF) you would save approximately $14k in tuition for the next two years. However, working one year at Target (or similar) is a complete waste in terms of advancing your future career in engineering. The year at Target also takes the place of the first year employment as an engineer if you just paid the next two years as out-of-state. If you assume upon graduation you would have a job offer in engineering of 60k, your cash flow would look like this if in-state is the base-line:</p>
<p>In-state YR1 - 0 YR2 0 YR3 0 </p>
<p>OOS YR1 -14k YR2 -14k YR3 +60k</p>
<p>I show 0 net for establishing in-state residency because I assume your additional income will be offset by additional expenses. You could put in a +5k or something if you wanted. IMO, the OOS investment of an extra 28k over two years is worth earning the 60k in year 3. You could improve the OOS option by entering full time into COOP; getting internships Soph&Junior year; or working as an RA.</p>
<p>hmmmm I see… thanks for the all the advice…
so as an engineering student… taking a year off isn’t that much worth it…
but rather try to earn money with opportunities related to my major…
as it is a plus to my career and money</p>
<p>but what if I graduate in 5 years… that means I am in an extra -14k debt…
or is working at somewhere like Target as ChrisTKD mentioned is a waste regardless?</p>
<p>Short answer is not to take 5 years to graduate unless you are in a full time CO-OP program. You should try to get summer work related to your major this summer and next summer. In the short term you get money to reduce the total debt you’ll be taking on for your degree. But, just as important you will have some experience to supplement your resume when you are interviewing for full time jobs during the fall of Senior year. So, prepare your resume and get ready for the Engineering Career Fair in February. Good luck.</p>