<p>The student contribution in my FA package is $2300 or so. They say that can be earned from a summer job. When do they expect this money? Do they expect it when I arrive on campus?</p>
<p>I've been applying everywhere for a job at the few places that are actually hiring. However, the places that are hiring don't seem to want someone with no experience. I'd definitely try earn the $2300 if I could find a job.</p>
<p>The job market sucks right now.</p>
<p>HeeEeeEy, join the club =P, I’m in the same spot. I’d like to know about this as well.</p>
<p>You split pay per semester. That moneys probably going to be going toward tuition, so 1/2 at the beg of fall and 1/2 at spring.</p>
<p>Also, just cause it’s student contribution doesnt mean your parents can’t pay.</p>
<p>Actually…you may not need to contribute your expected contribution. Take a close look at your financial aid award. If the money Cornell offered you (grants/loans/work-study) covers the full cost of tuition, room + board, then you don’t need to contribute the $2,300. However, if you can find a job…take it. You’ll need spending money :)</p>
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<p>If you do need the student contribution to cover your required costs and you aren’t lucky enough to have parents who can/will pay it, you can get a loan to cover it.</p>
<p>Oh, on my financial aid forms, it says:</p>
<p>"Estimated Cost of Attendance
<hr>
<p>= Expected Student Contribution"</p>
<p>So for me, the Student contribution already has all the other money factored out. </p>
<p>Sorry I do have to correct my regular post, I THINK it’s possible to split your tuition costs over the course of 6 months using the payment plan (not 100% sure about this though). </p>
<p>On the parents thing, yeah, I was just making the point because it sounded like they didn’t know that. I’m going to paying my own student contribution with a summer job, it’s not too bad. </p>
<p>People will say the economy is bad, but there will always be minimum wage jobs available. At least in my opinion.</p>
<p>I’m aware that my parents can pay, however I’m already covering their contribution with loans. Both of our contributions combined are about 9,000. For the 7,000 from their contribution, they’ll pay about 1,500 (the most they really can) and then I’m using the Cornell loan to cover the max of 5,500. Then what’s left is my 2,300 student contribution as indicated by my financial aid package. That’s where I’m stuck. I was trying to avoid taking out loans.</p>
<p>I’d also love to even be able to find a minimum wage job but that’s near impossible.</p>
<p>Even so, I’d have to work my butt off to earn enough by the end of August to come up with enough money.</p>
<p>“If the money Cornell offered you (grants/loans/work-study) covers the full cost of tuition, room + board, then you don’t need to contribute the $2,300”</p>
<p>mine does cover all of that. so the student contribution just won’t show up on our bill or what?</p>
<p>Correct. It’s money that Cornell <em>thinks</em> you’ll need to live but not money you’ll pay directly to Cornell.</p>
<p>whew. faaaaaaaaaantastic! :D</p>
<p>I don’t see what’s so hard about finding a job… I’ve got two jobs right now, one pays $7/hr, on pays $20/hr. I can think of tons of places someone could get a job if they really wanted to. Most of the time it’s people turning their noses up at the less than desirable places…</p>
<p>I know it’s not the best economy right now, and companies are cutting back, but there are always pools that need lifeguards and grocery stores that need cashiers/stockers/etc. I umpire little league baseball. It’s super easy, flexible hours, and phenomenal pay. There are jobs, just gotta find them.</p>
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<p>not really. sometimes employers dont want “smart” kids working for them. i applied to mcdonalds out of desperation. also there’s no point in working somewhere where you know you wont succeed i.e. if you are clumsy and start waiting tables.</p>
<p>ZFanatic…I’ve called about 20 places in my area asking about jobs, and applied to the 10 who said they were accepting application, and still have nothing. I actually had 4 initial interview/job offers, but these vanished as soon as I mentioned that I wasn’t 18 yet. It seems that the few places around here that are hiring require you to be 18. I don’t turn 18 until the fall, so this severely limits my job options…to basically nothing…</p>
<p>the only jobs that seem to be consistently available are summer camp counselors, which I missed out on because the application dates are really early, and lifeguards, which is ruled out since I’m not the greatest of swimmers and could not be certified in time.</p>
<p>on top of that, even if I did find a job I would have difficulty getting to/from it because I don’t have a car and both my parents work. it would take 15-20 minutes to walk to the nearest job option and I’d have to cross a highway, plus most job possibilities are at the mall which is a 15-20 minute drive. and the public transportation around here sucks/is nonexistent.</p>
<p>it does help Zfanatic that he lives in the metroplex which isnt suffering too much from the economy (texas in general)</p>
<p>Yeah, its a lot harder in different places. i applied to seriously every job around my building when i moved here (including like Joanne’s fabrics, Target, Best Buy, Blockbuster, In n’ out, gyms…EVERYTHING). i followed up with calls checking on my application and i have stable work experience (my last job i had for over a year and a half) and i still only got 4 interviews. the job i finally got is a 40 minute drive from my house and i only get 18 hours a week.</p>
<p>i think we still have to pay the student contribution whether or not Cornell is covering our tuition, room & board, etc. I remember reading somewhere that everyone has to pay at least the $2,320.</p>
<p>This is false, it’s not a uniform requirement and there are plenty of people with very unique financial aid plans.</p>
<p>The “student contribution” and “parental contribution” areas of your financial aid statement aren’t restrictions. Cornell does not monitor the source of the income when you pay your bill (or sign up for Fannie Mae)</p>
<p>maybe i’m misunderstanding my finaid package but it made it seem like although Cornell is paying for everything else and eliminated my parents’ contribution, i still have to pay the minimum student contribution along with everyone else. i’ve never actually read or heard from the finaid office that it was just an amount that Cornell feels we need to live off of, as norcalguy stated earlier.</p>
<p>the only thing cornell charges you for right off the bat are tuition, room + board, student fee, and health insurance (if you dont have it already) </p>
<p>if your grant/finaid covers this you really dont have to pay much more</p>
<p>to understand what is being said here. You have to realize that your total cost for purposes of financial aid includes things that Cornell will put on your bursar bill, plus things like personal expenses, textbooks etc… that won’t always be on the bill.</p>
<p>So, for example. Lets say your Cost of Attendance is $52,982. That number consists of Tuition & Fees, Housing, Dining, Books and Supplies and Personal & Misc. Expenses.</p>
<p>The books and supplies is $760 and the Personal Expenses is 1540. That is $2300 that is not going to show up on your bursar bill and not have to be paid to Cornell, unless you buy your books and put them on your cornell card of course. So, that is almost the same amount as the Student contribution.</p>
<p>Now, keep in mind of course. You still need books and you will have personal expenses that need to be met. So, if you don’t get the money from working this summer, it will need to come from somewhere. Either a student loan or your parents or somewhere. Cornell does not care one way or the other where it comes from.</p>
<p>Of course you likely have federal work study also. If you don’t do that, you will have that much less money.</p>
<p>This is all “general” in nature and each package can and will be slightly different depending on the circumstances.</p>
<p>hope that helps some of you understand a little more.</p>