<p>^^ that's exactly how I feel....I could easily go to UCI which is 5 minutes from my place and save a lot of money, but I think going to UCLA would be worth it at the end...</p>
<p>UCLA offered me $22k in loans. </p>
<p>No thanks.</p>
<p>allie: don't you already go to UCLA?</p>
<p>yeah, just saying though. and hey its only been a year. im not that far removed. :)</p>
<p>um yeah what really sucks is having a parent who recently married a rich d i ck head who hates me and makes $220k a year, so I get zero aid from my school, meanwhile he refuses to give me a penny. Wait, no, he gave me $50 for graduation and not a cent since.... can we say student loans??? I hate the fricken financial aid deffinitions of parent and what not..</p>
<p>allie: so you didn't get any aid? how have you managed....need tips lol</p>
<p>I've been very, very fortunate that my mom had some stock options come in and I've been able to manage between that and a previously established and dwindling college account. </p>
<p>Did they offer you workstudy at all? I got absolutely none of that (because my moms income on paper looks much more impressive than in reality, with living in south orange county and supporting 4 people). I was supposed to get a job awhile ago but I was stubborn about wanting a paid internship or something in my field so it's taking a little while.</p>
<p>I would seriously consider getting an outside apartment if you're looking to save a little money or if you think you could live without the dorms. I chose not to do dorms because it reminded me too much of a summer camp situation. I was really lucky and found a (relatively for westwood) cheap apartment and some people to rent out the other rooms. </p>
<p>Student loans aren't the worst thing in the world, to be honest. But if you can minimize the amount (working, "cheaper" housing, etc) it'd be good. Obviously.</p>
<p>I filed a noncustodial parent waiver form. We'll see how THAT goes.</p>
<p>nope no workstudy.....I will start to look for apartments soon...btw...do you know anything bout the University Owned apartments? how are they? they seem cheaper than the dorms...</p>
<p>I have a friend who did those, but I've kinda lost touch with him. He seemed to like it at the beginning of the year though. </p>
<p>They're definitely cheaper than the dorms. There are definitely pros and cons though. Pros would be that its still kind of a dorm-ish environment where there's always people around to hang out with if you want. Cons are you don't have any choice over your roommate placement and how many people there are per room. There are probably more of both but I can't think of any at the moment.</p>
<p>I was reading the housing website...it seems for 2 bedroom 4 occupants is 5K...not bad...considering the location and it being furnished.</p>
<p>oh and what are the average apartment prices in Westwood?</p>
<p>You can work 20-25 hours a week and make enough to curb some of your expenses. There are so many kids that won't work and are supported by their parents, yet they complain about money. My grants covered tuition and I will have to work and take out loans to make up the other 12,000 for LIVING. </p>
<p>Complaining about tuition is one thing but the rest is normal living stuff! Apartments are expensive, food is expensive, reacreation is expensive..... what would you do if you weren't in school? Live with your parents and make them pay for everything? College is a good time for some real life experience.</p>
<p>citan, average two bedroom in westwood will cost u 2000-3000 thousand. 2500 being average cost usually.</p>
<p>My 2 bedroom on Kelton (which is the quietest street, give or take) is 2050. Which is low for the area. It also has a seperate dining room, so its closer to a three bedroom. We each have our own rooms and its broken down into 800 for me (bc i got the parking space), 700 for the girl with the other full bedroom, and 550 for the girl in the dining room. It worked out well (other than the fact that one of them is slightly crazy). </p>
<p>Id say average for a real two bedroom is around 2300-2400, depending on how new the building is. Most people end up doing two people per room and it works out to around $500 or $600 each. I've found lately that there are actually lots of older (still quite nice) places like mine that have extra rooms or stuff like that, they're just kind of hidden.</p>
<p>holy crap 2K? wow and I thought Irvine was expensive (2 bedroom here start at 1500)....I guess University apartments it is....</p>
<p>No. Orange County seems so cheap compared to westwood, especially for what you get (usually rundown i-havent-been-painted-since-1967 buildings with spotty brown carpet). There are nice places around (I think mine is fairly charming for being a zillion years old), but then they're still expensive. </p>
<p>and yeah university apartments will be cheaper.</p>
<p>I have yet to hear of 2K for two bedroom at Irvine, one of the most expensive cities in SoCal....Westwood seems more expensive to me....I remember last year I used to live in another apartment and that cost me 1400....I have moved to a new one and it's 1540...only luxury apartments here start at 2K for two bedrooms..</p>
<p>oh and, I hope Im not gettin too personal, is there a reason why you didn't go for University Apartments? any cons to living there?</p>
<p>No thats what I mean...it's WAY more expensive, and you don't get anywhere near as much (parking, laundry, appliances, etc) as you would in OC. </p>
<p>And eh. I didn't want to share a room. I shared a room for like 14 or 15 years with my sister and I just wasn't up to sharing a much smaller room with a total stranger. Also, I wanted to be able to choose who I lived with. Not that it helped much, since one of them really did turn out to be crazy. But still. I just like being completely independent. The university apartments would've been ok for me had I not cared about the room thing, but I most definitely was not into dorming. Too much like summer camp for my taste.</p>
<p>^^ haha wth. I guess I got dyslexic...anyway, yea maybe for the first year I will try University Apartments...should help in making friends too. thanks for the advice.</p>
<p>yep.</p>
<p>/sighihatethetencharacterrule.</p>