<p>Yes I do understand that. But why should they get it even easier to make up for that amount they need while I have to either find a job off campus that will probably be hard trying to match my class schedule when I have to pay off more loans than they do. Why isnt the government giving me the chance to pay it all off earlier rather than have ME have accumulated debt in the long run. Its all for PROFIT. How much they can give out of us poor students who will soon belong to this world, working our butts off. And I can see why you’re kids have to take out so much kdog044 because they dont have receive cal grant. But they should’ve stayed in their state then.I cant quite understand the need to leave their own state to attend college unless its graduate school or something. But yea I dont want to judge since they probably wanted to graduate from a prestigious school.<br>
I turned down a school from NY offering my $16k of scholarship. Because I knew I wouldn’t be eligible to receive NY’s tuition assistance program which is equivalent to Calgrant here in California.</p>
<p>The reason some of us are harsh on Diana is not because we don’t sympathize with her but because she is totally off base in thinking that she would be so much better off to be truly low income. Yes, it is POSSIBLE, not CERTAIN, but possible, in some cases, in very few cases, for a low income student to get a generous amount of financial aid. If it were such a great deal, families would be divesting themselves of jobs and assets to get that great bonus. College is only one small part of life.</p>
<p>It is really insulting to those who do have to work with much lower EFCs and issues that come from being in a low income family, to act as though it is a stroke of good luck. It’s like envying someone who gets food stamps or free school lunches, IMO.</p>
<p>Lerkin Yes I do realize that nothing is free. TINSTAAFL right? But I’d like to tell you that I dont really get “NEED” based scholarships. Calgrant was earned through grades. Chancellors was earned through grades. And the UC Grant I got I guess is the Supposed called Blue and Gold scholarship that helps families making under 80 k. I’m not trying to argue or start anything guys. But I guess you know… just tough it out. We’re not always going to agree with each other… We’re not always going to want to PAY for others either. But that’s how California works. </p>
<p>Yes I know. I will still get a job. even Without workstudy… But I’m just worried it will be much harder on me. I’m even thinking of moving maybe a month and in advance just to go job hunting.
My point is. I just wished the ADVANTAGE of workstudy would be given to everyone since… we all need it…either that…or get rid of it.</p>
<p>@Sylvan I see your point on the outside scholarships… But it really depends on the school. UCI reduces the amount of loans first whenever we add outside scholarships. But it’s better to try right? It’s better to invest time doing something than benefit your future than not at all. Like for me…Yes I know the amount of loans I’ll need will increase as the time passes but I do believe and will try my best to make time to apply for more scholarships while I’m studying. </p>
<p>@cptoftthehouse ahh I see your point now. I went thru this phase also… of hating the people in poverty…I felt so backstabbed when I found out I didnt qualify for pell grant. My parents who have worked their butts off …my dad who works at night for hours despite the hazard and danger while my mom works… and gets up early in the morning. To get a couple hundred dollars… and yet the taxes they give, I felt like they weren’t reaping the benefits of it all. Especially since many of the govt programs we qualified for including Health insurance with Healthy families…etc etc was cut. But I realized what would hating and being envious of them do to me? How will that benefit me?
We just need to find our own way in this system that works. Point is Diana will get over it. But there’s no need for people to be rude…since it is quite shocking when we find out about the reality of how much we have to pay or get out in loans.</p>
<p>GTalum, how did your daughter get a 5.2, what grading system was her school on?</p>
<p>Cityincolor,</p>
<p>You don’t have to work of campus at most schools. You can still work on campus. </p>
<p>I am the first one scream bloody murder about need based free money. But I will absolutely support work-study for low income students. The reason why they should get a break is because they didn’t have too many breaks in their life. By working hard they were able to compete with kids from more affluent families to get accepted to College. They absolutely deserve the work-study break.</p>
<p>Cal Grant is a ‘need based" grant that requires certain grades as well. But it is NEED BASED. Believe me, kids who dont’ have the qualified need, don’t get Cal Grants. </p>
<p>The UC grant that you got supplemented your Cal Grant.
Your Chancellors scholarship was merit based.</p>
<p>How much did you get in…</p>
<p>Cal Grant?</p>
<p>UC Grant?</p>
<p>Chancellors?</p>
<p>and there are on-campus jobs that aren’t Work study…look for them. They might be tutoring jobs, life-guarding at the pool, etc.</p>
<p>cityincolors12, my daughter does attend our instate college. I was merely pointing out that we don’t live in CA. At least the ones eligible in CA get their tuition covered in grants. Our AGI is around $60K and the grants my D receives doesn’t even cover tuition. Her work study job allows her to cover the shortfall so at least tuition is covered.</p>
<p>
How is it any easier for them? They still have to seek out the employment just like you do. There is nothing stopping you from getting a job on campus. Usually jobs limited to FWS (Federal Work Study) are a small portion of the overall jobs available on campus.</p>
<p>Polarscribe: </p>
<p>I love your posts :)</p>
<p>THere are flaws in every system and none are entirely fair. If you live in CA, if you qualify for the UCs, if you get accepted to them, if you can afford them, if you can’t afford them and qualify for the various state grants, if the school you want gives you enough aid, if, if if. A lot of if’s with each a potential hurdle. </p>
<p>Basically, from what I can see from the Cal grants, in order to include those at higher income levels, more money needs to be poured into them or money be taken from those under the threshold to be given to those above the thresh hold, even if it is done on a gradation basis. The way things have been going, it is more likely that the grants will be graded to a fade and the money scaped off from it will be the program cut, so that anyone over that threshhold doesn’t get anything anyways. JMO. </p>
<p>If you have need, City, that is still unmet, it is possible that you can get work study once you are at the school unless this particular UC does not operate that way. I don’t know much about the CA schools being on the other side of the country, so I am just speaking about schools here. My SIL’s niece is working two jobs, one work study, both she found after getting to college. Her financial need was not fully met, so she was able to get a work study position that came up even though it was not in her award packet. Not enough hours, so she found another job on campus. She’s busy, but happy, and was able to pay the interest on her unsubsidized loans and may not need to take out that portion next year with the two jobs and summer earnings. So sometimes these things do work out.</p>
<p>I want to add that my son worked first term after getting the hang of things, but then this second term found that one of his classes was causing him trouble, plus he got a nasty cold that really wiped him out. He is now behind the 8 ball in terms of time and had to quit his job. Some other things came up as well, and he is now short on money to make his goals and ended up taking a loan that he had hoped to avoid. So sometimes jobs can be a problem.</p>
<p>My apologies on my misunderstandings then. And I forgot about that part of calgrant. I guess I was lucky to qualify for calgrant since I FIRST submitted my parents income from 2010 which was way less than 2011… They havent changed it on my webgrant which is probably why I qualified?
UC Grant was 3427, chancellors was 4k, calgrant is 12,924. totalling in around 20 k gift aid.
And I am grateful believe me. Though I know that these numbers will probably decrease as I study for the next four years.</p>
<p>Another thing with Workstudy… arent you GUARANTEED a job that will at least meet that sufficient need? I on the other hand…I wont be guaranteed a job to meet and pay for those loans… I just wished …I had some slack too…since I worked hard as well. But my complaining won’t get me anywhere so I’ll always try my best and of course work.</p>
<p>@Kdog044 My apologies on misunderstand as well. And I get what you mean. I’m sorry to have misjudged</p>
<p>and do you guys know that families who establish a business can get a 10 k reduction out of their Adjusted gross income…That business can be something so simple as renting out a house. It bugs me so much when my friend’s family has THREE freaking houses yet she qualifies for Pell grant over me… living in an okay house with 2 rms.
Our system is just whack I agree. but what can I do.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids Oh thanks for explaining B&G no wonder the scholarship lady said it wasnt a scholarship but a program. And I will follow up and check on the financial aid office if my unsubsidized and direct plus loans can be changed to work study or something else…thanks!</p>
<p>If you are talking about UC’s they use their own system to calculate a “UC GPA”. Basically, it’s sophmore and junior grades, plus up to 8 semesters of “honors/AP” points. The honors/AP points are only available to courses from your high school that the UC system will weight. This is all published on the UC Doorways web site. So comparing GPA’s of 4.4 or 3.8 is meaningless for the UC system, you need the UC GPA.<br>
They also have a website that you can create a custom table of factors and it will give you the historical rate of acceptance at each UC you select.</p>
<p>The FA system in CA is crazy, and the sliding scale suggested earlier makes so much more sense than what is currently happening. But the OP needs ideas now…I’d investigate those Regents offers at other UC’s, the CC to UC transfer option (could include UCLA or CAL), and the gap year to generous merit scholarship. The point is, the CA system isn’t changing today, so it’s time to make another plan.</p>
<p>sorry, long delay in posting, the thread has moved on…</p>
<p>No. You are not guaranteed a job when it comes to work study at any school I know. if the UCs work diffently, someone in the know, please correct me.</p>
<p>When you get workstudy money in your aid package, the way I have seen it work, it means that the school has allocated that amount for you. You don’t get the money until you earn it. You don’t earn it until you find a job. Work Study recipients have to go to FInancial Aid and pore over the job listings looking for one that matches their hours, that they can do, that is left since upper classmen usually get the first pickings leaving the dregs for the freshmen. You have to try to find the positions that will use the allotment you have. I’ve known a lot of kids who simply could not or waited too long and nothing doable was left. There is nothing automatic about Work STudy. </p>
<p>My SIL’s niece had unmet need and found that there was an office at the school that had a job opening that was work study funded. She did not get work study in her package so she went to the financial aid office and requested it for the job she found, and they gave it to her. It’s not all that much, but it 's convenient to her schedule and easy to do. She likes it and every bit helps. She then found another job that paid more and has more hours, but kept the work study one because it just slips into her schedule perfectly. She will lobby for work study for next year and will have the backing of the office who wants to have her as a worker for more hours next year. But she will probably work two jobs again, because her family is going to be very short on funds with another kid going to college next year and neither of the students are in schools that guarantee to meet full need. A has a small grant, the Staffords, some state money and the two jobs. She is paying nearly half of the cost of college herself with past, current, and future jobs as well as her Staffords.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>AP classes are on a 6.0 scale. It wasn’t easy to get a 6.0 a you had to get a 97 or above. But, she and the Salutatorian both took the toughest schedule and managed above a 5.2.</p>
<p>
Just an aside, but renting out a house is often far from “simple”. Here’s a link to artlover’s thread on the joys of landlording:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1312810-landlords-stories.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1312810-landlords-stories.html</a></p>
<p>Your friend with the 3 houses - are those all houses the family lives in, as in country house, city house, vacation in palm beach house? Or are they houses that are rented out to others to supplement the family income?</p>
<p>City, I would not count other people’s money. Sometimes, in fact, oftentimes, things are not as they appear or as they are told to you. FAFSA requires houses other than the family’s one primary residence to be reported as assets, so I’m not sure what the story is here. The houses can be mortgaged up to the whazoo for all you know or even what the student knows, and the net income from the rentals washed away by other costs. My friend who has invested in a number of rental properties has often operated at a loss for the first year or two after buying a property when it needs work.</p>
<p>*UC Grant was 3427, chancellors was 4k, calgrant is 12,924. totalling in around 20 k gift aid.</p>
<p>And I am grateful believe me. Though I know that these numbers will probably decrease as I study for the next four years.*</p>
<p>EFC 5362</p>
<p>Ok…I think you need a bit of a reality check.</p>
<p>$20k in gift aid
$10k in loans</p>
<p>and an EFC over $5k, you’re beyond COA.</p>
<p>Are you including Plus loans in the above? who is paying the EFC? YOU? Your parents with Plus Loans or what?</p>
<p>You’ve gotten an awesome aid pkg from a state school. If your parents paid their EFC, you shouldn’t have to borrow so much.</p>
<p>Also, if you don’t want to borrow so much, then work like heck over the summer and sock that money away to use instead of loans. </p>
<p>Seriously…where are we at when a Calif kid with a $5k EFC gets $20k in free money to use at a UC and the kid complains??? Oh my.</p>
<p>
That’s the way it works in our state too, nothing is guaranteed and you have to seek out the employment. Also, assuming you were awarded $2500 and the job you find pays $8/hr you have to work 312.5 hours to get to that amount.</p>
<p>GTalum, what scale are regular classes on? Sorry for bugging it’s just different from my school, we have a 4.0 scale for regular classes and 5.0 for AP and honors courses. Thank you for the reply!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>No. Not even close. </p>
<p>Fwiw, both of my non-WS jobs pay more than my WS job.</p>
<p>@Sylvan they’re houses rented out to supplement income and pay off the other houses I guess. </p>
<p>@mom2collegekids I’m not complaining about my package. I said I was very happy with it and actually was very surprised I got a lot. But as a mom you should understand that a parent can not always give that expected EFC. And Yes those loans are all are a combination of PLUS loans and Direct loans. I got the maximum subsidized amount of loan I’m allowed to get. I have no problem with subsidized loans. Cause I know I’ll pay it off and I have a grace period after I graduate before I have to start. But the problem is the Unsubsidized loans that has twice the amount of interest and I have to start paying it off immediately. My parents have enough in their hands already to pay for. So I’m doing what I can so I can reduce it and not lead to a greater amount of monthly payments for them. I’m just thinking of whats best for MY parents as their child. They can’t keep working with the harsh conditions they face at their age. And who am I to make it even worst for them? It’s okay for me to get in debt to pay off MY education. But what I won’t allow is for my parents to have sacrifice even more than they already have to. I don’t get why I said wrong to deserve a rude tone when I was just thinking of what will least be a burden for my parents.
I never said I DIDNT want to work. I SAID I’d be more THAN HAPPY to work. Because I’m used to working for everything I have. I just hope that there will be enough opportunities for me and I really hope that it will work with my schedule. </p>
<p>@cptofthehouse Yes I know. Friends have already told me that things might not always be the case…But what I dont get is… How come a family who rents out a house to move into an even grander and spacious house for luxury… get pell grant over my parents who work really hard and contribute to the taxes that has to pay for the pell grant of another student who’s family is living in luxury. ok it might not be as simple as I think it is…and I may be naive when it comes to this… But it just doesn’t make sense to me. Why a person like this would still get federal aid.</p>
<p>So as for how workstudy is beneficial… is it beneficial and better because there’s no interest? ahh I see that’s a nice benefit… So that means if I needed around 2k of work study… Then they’ll consider it fine for me to pay off 28 k… as long as I work for that 2k before I graduate…I think I get it.</p>