http://housingmealplans.syr.edu/meal-plans/rates/
@blossom, good advice!
For freshmen I think there are only 4 choices of meal plans. The two lowest are 14 meal plan with $180 food funds at $3,375 a semester. The 19 meal plan with $195 food funds is $3845 a semester.
So depending on the person/availablity of stores/etc the 19 meal plan might be better, it has 5 more meals per week.
I think you can change the plan in the first week or so.
Syracuse’s least expensive meal plan covers 2 meals a day 7 days a week.
However @blossom brings up a good point about not wanting OP to be food insecure at college. This is an especially big problem among low income students at college who may not be able to afford larger meal plans and then end up going hungry. Again this is another thing OP needs to work out.
It is not a matter of you having health insurance, it is a matter of you having sufficient health insurance that you can use in Syracuse. Currently, you can be on your parent’s health insurance plan until you are 26.
Hopefully @blossom can add more to this
@MassDaD68 Please don’t encourage this student to work 25+ hours per week in college. That’s very poor advice.
Yes, you would have to check with Syracuse and confirm that the current insurance coverage (and future coverage) satisfies their requirements. And then probably have to fill out a waiver. They might have a deadline by when this has to be done, and possibly every year, so you don’t get billed.
You should write down all the questions you have about insurance, aid, room and board costs, scholarship, etc and request to talk to someone about this, tell them you need definite answers so that you can make a decision by Feb 15.
2016 is already finished. How much did you earn from a job on a W2?
Did your parents make more/less than last year?
The income from 2016 will be on the 2018/19 FAFSA, for your sophomore year.
Like I said you could make around $6,420 for 2015 and it would not affect EFC. I think the income protection amount goes up a bit every year.
I would not recommend a full time student, first time away from home especially, to work 25 hrs a week!
Work study is usually around 10-15 hrs a week and they understand and work with a student’s schedule/finals.
OP was accepted to a double major program. I wouldn’t count on a lot of spare time to work. Is the tuition grant tied to maintaining a certain GPA? If so, what is it?
If it is a merit scholarship she must maintain a 2.75
25 hours a week? Possible if it means sitting at the library security desk answering 2 questions per hour and otherwise doing your homework. But work study isn’t going to give the OP 25 hours a week. A regular job means standing, waiting tables, folding sweaters, stocking shelves, etc. The Assistant Manager won’t let you rearrange your schedule during midterms. The Shift Supervisor doesn’t let you check your phone while you are working so no luck getting answers from the TA in time to finish the problem-set which is due by midnight.
With all due respect to the posters here- who are trying to be helpful- I think the OP needs to see the downside of going off to Syracuse with an insecure financial situation as well as the rosey glasses version of "just get a job and you’ll be fine, eat two meals a day and save a boatload of money, pray you don’t get sick first semester because if you take a week away from your food service job because you have some bad bug, you won’t have the money coming in that you need AND you may get fired.
I am not aware of any college work study job that would fire a kid for getting sick and not showing up. It happens all the time for minimum wage earners-- especially in retail, restaurant, etc. Your virus is someone else’s chance to consolidate their shifts.
OP- hugs to you. This is a big and hard decision but you are smart to be evaluating all your options. Why does your healthcare go away when you turn 18- are you on a state-subsidized program???
"I think the OP needs to see the downside of going off to Syracuse with an insecure financial situation as well as the rosey glasses version of “just get a job and you’ll be fine, eat two meals a day and save a boatload of money, pray you don’t get sick first semester because if you take a week away from your food service job because you have some bad bug, you won’t have the money coming in that you need AND you may get fired.”
Literally this. It’s a terrible idea to go to Syracuse. It’s nice that y’alls kids have had a great time, and such, but you’re in a different financial situation than OP. He/she should go to FIU. Going to Syracuse is building a house on sand. Once it starts to slip, it’ll all be gone.
OP has a good plan, working in the summer to help parents pay for college, work study for personal expenses/extra food while at school.
Now she needs to get all questions answered to find out the full cost of Syracuse.
Then she and parents have to decide if they can pay these costs.
I like that she has an affordable option at home.
As previously explained, for FAFSA reasons and more flexibility with work hours/student responsibilities, an on campus work study job would be far preferable to an off campus regular job.
We did not suggest for her to try and earn a lot of money at school, because she needs time for classes and studying too. The WS money is to help her supplement her meal plan, buy shampoo, detergent during the semester.
If she is extra frugal and has money left over, great!
i agree with @CourtneyThurston and @itsgettingreal17 about going to FIU. IMO your financial situation warrants exposing yourself to as little debt and financial risk as possible. the value offered by FIU plus the cost savings of being able to live at home make it the right choice in your situation, i think.
the flip side of “will i regret not going to Syracuse and trying to make it work out” is, “will i regret passing up such a cost-effective opportunity like FIU, while accruing college debt and stressing myself out trying to walk the financial tightrope”
“If she is extra frugal and has money left over, great!”
Let me tell you how much having to be extra frugal sucks. I did it my freshman year fairly successfully just out of a desire to save, and was so miserable. I can’t imagine HAVING to skip meals, stretch laundry, work 25+ hour weeks, etc to go to school. It’s not sustainable.
^^^
also that’s 25+ hours per week you can have participating in clubs and activities, pursuing internships and research possibilities, networking, maximizing all available opportunities, and enjoying all that college life has to offer at FIU, vs. NOT being able to do those things at Syracuse b/c you are working all the time.
But some of us did just that. It’s a choice. Not worth it to some, totally worth it to others. Other people HAVE walked in your shoes.
I did it while I was in college, but when my son had a similar choice a couple of years ago I suggested he go the commuter route. Why? Not just because being hungry, having to worry about whether or not you can stay awake long enough after work to get your homework done, and stressing about getting sick because you can’t afford the time or expense all stink. When you’re stretched so thin you give up a lot of opportunities. There’s no time or money for clubs or social activities which impacts the ability to make friends and create networking opportunities. There’s no money for travel during spring break or to study abroad. Summers are spent working, so there’s no time for internships that could advance your career.
My son commutes and he loves it. This semester he joined a management club that helps the students get internships and summer jobs. He wouldn’t have time for that if he was attending a school whose direct costs we were struggling to afford.
Far too many students that follow the plans suggested here end up with no degree and in debt. Not worth it.
I was a poor kid in college. I was the first in my family to leave the state and we really had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. Had i posted a question like this at CC many (many 
years ago, everyone would have tried to talk me out of it. But I persisted (to jump on a trending moment) and it worked out for me. Not saying that this is the right path for the OP…but I’m saying that its possible to go through college with great uncertainty and have everything turn out.
“But some of us did just that. It’s a choice.”
Except that it’s not. You got lucky. Yes, you worked hard, but you ALSO didn’t have any devastating events crop out that knocked you off the thin tightrope you were walking. We’re just telling this kid not to take that risk because, as others have pointed out, we’ve all seen many many many kids here take that risk and end up never graduating because a parent died and depression set in/the kid got some illness and had to take medical leave and debt piled up/any one of the billion other things that can happen and derail even the most hardworking student when they’re walking a thin line between being able to just barely afford the school and having it become wholly unaffordable.
Not to mention that college costs increase every year, so if you can just barely afford the school now by working your fingers to the bone, you won’t be able to afford it no matter what you do 1, 2, or 3 years later.
NPR had a segment today on the rising number of homeless and food secure college students as tuition rises. There are other articles with similar themes.
Op…you got in a great program that has a tremendous alumnae network. I am not sure if others here know how The Newhouse school is perceived in the communications industry, combine that with Whitman biz major and it becomes a great opportunity. I was a poor student myself, and paid for half of my college (from a state school) from my summer and school ear jobs. I was fortunate that my grandmother paid the other half. Granted this was 1985-89 when the total cost of attendance was $4,500. Getting a full scholarship for this program is quite the feat. Think hard. It is 156 credits, but if you have AP’s it makes it mangebale. My daughter came in with 24 credits. Keep in ind that minimum wage for fast food workers in NYS will be $11.75 per hour beginning