<p>^^
yes, he couldn’t buy booze or ciggies with that burger and soft drink. </p>
<p>Thank you, everyone. Every single thing you’ve all said has really helped me. I have gotten as much money back as I could at this point and I am still working on it. I’ve sent leftover funds directly to the college so that way I do not spend it. I’ve spoken to my family about it and I’ve concluded that it’s best that I do not use the money for anything unless it is a severe emergency. I still have to buy my own dorm stuff and textbooks so I will keep the money for those purposes and send whatever else I have leftover afterwards towards tuition.</p>
<p>My main concern when I get to college and hopefully get a FWS job is how much should I put towards what? My FWS would pay me $900 every two weeks so that’s $1800 a month. The payment plan would allow me to make monthly payments for 5 months to pay off whatever I can without taking out huge loans. Should I send the entire $1800 towards tuition or set aside at least $200 for essentials?</p>
<p>Also, the reason my family is willing to send me money for college is because that’s just the kind of relationship I have with them. My mom is not receiving money from them because of personal issues/she’s also too proud sometimes (if you ask me). </p>
<p>The school itself is known for being expensive and having reasonable-to-subpar financial aid packages, so I’m considering transferring after the first year if it’s just completely unaffordable for me. I’m willing to go for the first year and see how it works out. I’ve talked to other people in my position and they’ve given me the same advice. I want to try to make it work before I give up on it.</p>
<p>I also came across certain charges on my tuition bill that should not be there and I am working to get it fixed, so everything will go as I originally planned.</p>
<p>But really, am I wrong to think that these things have ways of working out if I work towards it? </p>
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<p>You will be lucky if you get 1800 for the semester in FWS (and that would be high)… FWS is usually about 2000 for the whole school year.</p>
<p>That’s the impression I was under. Would it be a good idea to have a FWS job, work another part-time job, be a full-time student and also try to be involved in EC’s on campus?</p>
<p>Um. The likelihood they you will be earning $450 a week in college is very very LOW. As Sybbie noted…you will be lucky to earn $450 a month. </p>
<p>Your college financial aid letter should have stated the maximum amount you could earn with a work study award. What IS that amount?</p>
<p>Oh, I think I misread the award letter and the information on the site. The letter says $900.</p>
<p>I am confused now. A few posts earlier you said you sent the leftover money to the school to “pay off” your tuition? Did you mean that you only made a payment “towards” your tuition, or did you mean that you paid it off in full because in a later post you referred to still making tuition payments from your WS earnings. You would need to do the math to see how much you should pay each month towards your tuition bill if you have 5 months to have it paid off. We can’t answer your question about how much to pay each month without knowing how much you still owe. </p>
<p>Also, $1800 a month in WS money means you’d be working A LOT of hours. Are you sure you can handle that with your course load? Be careful not to bite off more than you can chew. College classes are not like high school and involve lots of reading and study time.</p>
<p>If the letter is your annual award letter then you are getting $900 a year awarded. You can work and earn more if a job is available and that will just be a regular job not a W/S job. But it is not recommended to work more than 15 hours a week, 20 if you must, because you need to make college your priority and things tend to bunch up around midterms and finals and you need the study time.</p>
<p>Haven’t you ever looked back and saw that you did something the hard way when there was an easy way? Or just looked back with regret? When you just hope things will work out if you try, then you don’t plan and make good decisions. We are all guilty of that. But you have a chance to anticipate and plan for the best outcome for you.</p>
<p>The issue is that freshmen get the best financial deals from colleges. Transfers don’t often get anything. So you need to have a 4 year plan, not a 1 year plan. 4 year plan means you get to graduate. </p>
<p>It doesn’t matter what the school price is or what it costs other people, just you. Can you please get your financial letter and list the COA, which is tuition, fees, room, board, personal, transportation and any other thing they list. That is total costs. Also does your mother have good insurance that covers you that is acceptable to the school? If not, then they will charge you for school insurance which can run 1,000 to 3,000 per year. That is usually not listed in the COA but is a very real cost charged up front. </p>
<p>Now after you list costs, what are your financial aid awards. Grant, W/S, loan–whatever is listed. This will give people a clearer picture to give you better advice.</p>
<p>What exactly is your WS award for each semester?</p>
<p>If it is 900 per semester, there are almost 4 months in a semester, so that is about $225 a semester…so about 113 every two weeks (dont know what is taken out for FICA, etc)</p>
<p>That 225 a month is really only going to cover your day to day expenses…a shirt that is needed, pizza with friends, a movie with friends, taxis/travel/bus, etc. If you are frugal, you may be able to set aside 100 a month for emergencies, etc.</p>
<p>Sorry, I don’t feel completely comfortable listing all the expenses. It’s nothing personal against any of you, but it’s just something that makes me a little uncomfortable. Once again, I do appreciate all the help, though.</p>
<p>When I was talking about paying off my tuition, I meant I was just paying money towards it, not in full.</p>
<p>As for the health insurance, I do have health insurance and the school billed me for its health insurance which I will have to have waived.</p>
<p>After the grants and billing issues fixed, it should run me just under $20k to pay for the first semester. I was thinking about just taking out the $20k loan and put the money towards that than just doing the payment plan and have to keep applying for loans. Should I do that? Also, which loans have the lowest interest rates? I’m also on the track to graduate a year early so that should save me a good amount of money.</p>
<p>Lastly, should I just keep the FWS as pocket money? I have about another $1k in scholarship money leftover that I just received. Should I send that to the college?</p>
<p>That is $900 per YEAR…about $90 a month.</p>
<p>Where will YOU get $20,000 in loans for just the first semester? That would be $40,000 for the full academic year.</p>
<p>That is WAYYYYYY too much loan debt.</p>
<p>Who will cosign these loans? You will NOT be able to get them in YOUR name only.</p>
<p>Actually, it’ll be about $15k for the first semester. So should I just take out the $15k loan?</p>
<p>I think you had better look at your award letter and find out how much the school has given you in financial aid. You also had better find out how much the school is going to cost you. At the end of August or beginning of Sept, your bill for the first term will come due. Whatever aid you have gotten for the year is usually cut in half with half going to this first term and the rest to the second. The school will take out what you have in that account in terms of grants, what you deposited and loan procedes to pay your tuition, fees, room and board for the first term. If there is money left over, you can request it to go to you or you can have it roll over for the second term. However, if you owe a balance, you are going to have to come up with that money. Work Study, you will get the pay checks IF you find a job, work the hours and when the pay is released and it goes via check to you. You still need to get to the school, get schools supplies, buy books, I hope you understand. You also have some minimum standards to get federal aid. If that $900 is your FWS for the year, then you won’t make but $450 that first term.</p>
<p>I don’t see how you are getting a $15K loan. A freshman is entitled to $5500 that first year, so that comes to $2750 for the term in Direct Loans. A Perkins loan might be offered but that also is of limited amounts. Certainly not $15K for the year, much less the semester. If your award letter is talking about PLUS loans, a parent has to APPLY, get approved for that money to be dispensed. That parent will be responsible for the loan, goes on his/her credit record which would be checked before s/he can eve get the approval for the loan and is not a certainty. Schools do not give out much in loans to teenagers. Unless you are age 24, you are likely considered dependent, so I don’t see how you are getting that much in loans.</p>
<p>If you need $30K in loans for the year, and the PLUS loans that a parent has to take out are included in the mix, you may not be going to college at all, if they cannot or will not take out that loan. It’s also a travesty to expect parents or anyone in the dire straits you describe your parents and family to be borrowing for YOU to go to college. </p>
<p>Please sit down and read your financial aid award, check out how much college is going to cost you, and who has to do what to get the money. You don’t seem to know what you are writing about.</p>
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<p>Actually, it’ll be about $15k for the first semester. So should I just take out the $15k loan?</p>
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<p>???</p>
<p>what 15k loan. You havent been offered a 15k loan for fall semester.</p>
<p>what school is this?</p>
<p>are you saying that your pkg has a 15 parent plus loan for each semester??? Hopefully, your mom will not agree to take those out. </p>
<p>are you considering taking out 30k per year for college? that is insane. do you know how impossible that will be to pay back/?</p>
<p>what is your future career?</p>
<p>I’m going to cut to the quick here. You say you are going to be FLAT BROKE in college. That being the case, if you have to take out $30,000 a year in loans, this college is NOT an affordable option for you. It just isn’t. </p>
<p>And I’m going to add…I’m not sure I’m believing this story. This student needs $15,000 a semester in loans, but asks if they should be working this summer? Seriously? </p>
<p>This story is making and sense. The student doesn’t have enough money to buy clothes (and uses college scholarship money to do so) and thinks taking out $15,000 a SEMESTER in loans is a good idea? </p>
<p>Next thing, she will be saying she is majoring in finance. </p>
<p>I smell a ■■■■■.</p>
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<p>You won’t qualify for $30k loans/year as an undergrad if you’re a dependent, and from your description of your family’s financial situation, they won’t qualify for loans either. Do you have a safety school picked out?</p>
<p>Do you have an AFFORDABLE college picked out??</p>
<p>I have already been offered $11k in loans (federal direct sub and unsub loans). If you think I’m a ■■■■■, don’t comment, then. It’s quite simple. I don’t care who does and doesn’t believe this story. I don’t need any of your harsh comments, I’m looking for useful advice. I don’t need any of you to try to shame me or whatever, so please, save it.</p>
<p>I plan to become a lawyer, and through research I discovered that there is a loan forgiveness program for those working in that field. I plan to be a public servant as an ADA. The school doesn’t matter. I came on here to anonymously ask for advice and I would like to continue to do so as best as possible.</p>
<p>I didn’t ask if I should be working this summer, I said I planned on it. Once again, I’m seeking useful advice, not comments in that manner. The “AFFORDABLE” college is a community college and I don’t plan on going there. The college I’m going to is my dream college. Really, this thread is becoming more harmful than helpful.</p>
<p>As for the clothes, I already spoke to the scholarship donor and they’ve approved of me making that transaction, but that is irrelevant since I returned them.</p>
<p>I am not doing a parent PLUS loan because I do not want to put my mom in that situation. It was my decision to go to college (with her full support) and she will help me finance it to the best of her abilities and that’s all I can ask for. I don’t want to hook her onto any loans. This is all on me.</p>
<p>At 12AM I will be logging off my account for good and moving on with my life. I will contact people who are more equipped to help me with my situation and I feel comfortable giving them all of my personal information. Some of you really just don’t get it and I do not want to read anymore comments from some of you. Thank you to those who have helped and have a good night.</p>
<p>No one is trying to offend you. You say you are very low income, but at the same time say you are going to need a lot of loans. Please don’t take offense…but do try to realistically look at your financial situation. Especially if you plan to go to law school…you should keep your undergrad loans to a minimum. Yes…there ARE loan forgiveness programs but they are not a guarantee. You have to GET one of those positions. And there are tons of lawyers vying for each job opening.</p>
<p>Are you an incoming freshman? If so, how would you have $11,000 in federal loans? You would have $5500 in Direct Loans with up to $3500 of that being subsidized. The only other federal loan you could have received would be the Perkins Loan…but for $5500? It’s possible, I suppose, but that exceeds the typical Perkins Loan.</p>
<p>If you on,y need an additional $4000 in loans, then you likely can work two jobs this summer to make up at least a good portion of that amount. </p>
<p>If you need $15,000 in addition to the $11,000 you already have in loans, I think you need to realistically think about how you are going to get these loans.</p>
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<p>You can’t delete accounts here.</p>
<p>What people don’t want to see happen is for you to go into debt, not be able to afford to continue, and not be able to get a job. You seem unclear about what your expenses are and how much your awards actually are. Are you saying that after your grants, you have $20k/semester to make up and you have $11k/semester in loans?</p>