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:eek: I’m guessing you meant 12 months?</p>
<p>Yeah, sorry, 12 month. That’s bad enough, though typical in that area. as well as many college areas. He had better be well out there before 12 years, LOL.</p>
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<p>cptofthehouse, I wasn’t criticizing the statement, just agreeing. And it’s not really that obvious in these parts, is it? Sometimes it seems to me that there are so many posts about how much FA those with “no money” get (and my son’s is extremely generous) and then there are threads about, “okay, we’re done paying tuition! should we buy a vacation home or just summer in Europe?”</p>
<p>I try to practice what my father told me, and what I tell my son, who has to deal with it much more than I: there’ll always be people with more than you, and there’ll always be people with less; don’t let that keep you from appreciating what you have. </p>
<p>Not always easy though…</p>
<p>You are wise, and the most valuable and wonderful thing your son got was a mom who can help him with attitude. Yes, there is a lot of the entitlement attitude, and sadly my own kids have it as well. Every bad cliche comes out of their mouths, which is why I apologized for stating the obvious. I hear them doing the same.</p>
<p>Those who don’t have it “all” point to those who seem to have so much more and to those who have less that are getting aid. My kids are very lucky in that we cover what we do and that there are jobs availabe for them to stretch things even further.</p>
<p>I have a friend who lives in a depressed area and there are simply no jobs. What the heck is she and her kids to do? They have their home there. They have just enough income to keep going there. They have no one or no place that will take them in, so that risking what they have is not a good risk for her. Yes, her kids have gone to other locales, gotten work, but after expenses, they can’t net out. But my son is most likely not to net any money over the summer when he stays in the school area next year. Not unless he lucks out and finds a high paying job. Even if the rent is covered for those three months, just living expenses can ge way up there unless he is v-e-r-y careful, and I’m afraid I’ve spoiled him too much for him to be able to to that consistently over 3 months. It will be a learning experience for him.</p>
<p>My kids had 12 month leases for several years each. First…the total for the full year of rent was less than living in their dorms for 9 months. Second…the one who did not stay at school town in the summer had no difficulty subletting for the summer months while he was gone. I know that isn’t what all do…but it worked well for our kids.</p>
<p>Anyway…back to the student contribution! Look at the cost of attendance. It should include a line item for “personal expenses and books”. We expected our kids to pay for those anyway…so they had to earn at least as much as they cost. We also didn’t pay for any discretionary travel…just tickets home for the holidays and summer.</p>
<p>Babysitting, house sitting (there is a thread in the cafe about this…look at what can be charged in some areas!), pet sitting, lawn and garden work (I got poison ivy one summer and paid a kid to weed my yard…neither of mine were home!).</p>
<p>An unrealistic summer savings expectation is the problem.</p>
<p>If you look at the amount that schools expect students to earn over the summer and from work-study, it’s about the same as the “personal expenses, travel, misc” estimate. That’s not a coincidence. Colleges expect YOU to pay for your own travel, toothpaste, shampoo, pizza with friends, clothes, etc. They don’t want to fund those costs. So, if you’re more frugal (buy few clothes, travel less, etc) then you won’t need to spend as much. If your parents expect you to come home more often, then THEY can fund that desire.</p>
<p>So, the situation is: it’s not unrealistic; most colleges aren’t going to fund your personal costs.</p>
<p>For those who have a zero EFC and are in a situation where the family really can’t give a dime towards anythiing, it’s a problem if the student can’t find work because s/he has to get to the school, buy provisions for school, get books, toothpast, shampoo, etc. Can’t squeeze money out of stone. </p>
<p>My son has a friend who was part of an outreach program and therefore at a private high school. When his mother died, he literally had nothing. In his case, he was able to earn the required student contributuions required, but had he lived somewhere that had no jobs, it couldn’t be done. </p>
<p>Then there are the kids for whom the plan was to earn money toward the family required contribution, and then there is the student contribution slapped on top of it. It is a very unfair situation that those kids who don’t have need, AND whose parents are paying for everything, have that leeway to work summers, during the year, and borrow the DIrect Loan amounts for emergencies, leeway, luxuries and helping ease, say, the EFC. When those amounts are tucked into the financial aid, and are either done so directly with work study hours and sometimes the entire DIrect Loan maximums made part of the package, it really put the kid up the wall in that on top of what his parents are required to pay by formula, the kid has to come up with additional money. Schools that pride themselves in saying they don’t put loans in a package will add a student required contributuon on top of the parental one that effectively means the kids have to take out that loan or the parents have to come up with that much more. And those are the lucky ones who don’t have the loans tucked into the package AND are still asking ofr the student contribution.</p>
<p>My son is on a reasonable budget, and last year got hit by several issues, none catastrophic but involved cost. For him to meet some goals, he needed to take a summer school course. He could not work as planned that term. He had some medical events that cost money. And he got a wonderful opportunity that for him to take would cost money and also hit him in that he woudl not be able to work in the time he was partaking in the opportunity which was an additonal cost. So he borrowed from Direct Loan, and it has been very difficult for him to repay this. A very good lesson on what kind of sweat equity it takes to pay back a loan. But the truth of the matter, is that he was always covered. No true hardship here, and yet, it illustrates how easiy one can slide inoto problem areas monetarily.</p>
<p>I don;t have any blame or any solutions here. Just staing some facts here.</p>
<p>Thumper, DS’s apartment is still a bit of a savings over a dorm room and certainly over an upper classman apartment through student housing. I suspect he’ll be able to beat the room and board cost for a double room and a midlevel cafeteria plan for the year. His lease doesn’t permit subletting, though kids do it in that building. I think you can just let anyone you want stay in your apartment and you just make under the table payment arrangements. DS thinks he can get a job in the area, and I’m sure he could, but the issue is whether he can net out as much as he does working at his job here over the summer. And I don’t see how he can come close even with the rent as a wash. He’s going to be hard put to have any money left over whereas he has most of his summer pay stashed each year. Namely because we subsidize him in terms of toothpaste, shampoo, other sundries and we feed him as well. Plus a number of other necessities and ameneties are covered by us. It will be a good lesson as to how much it truly costs to live, but it will cost him what he has been putting towards his college costs, I’m afraid.</p>
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<p>My impression is that these usually pay enough to cover the expenses of living in the internship location, but not enough to make the summer amount expected on top of that. I suppose a kid could try to get a second part time job on top of that if the hours allowed it, though.</p>
<p>^^^
My kids’ summer internships thru REU’s provided free housing PLUS a generous stipend. Plenty of money to save towards a summer contribution. </p>
<p>Lots/most/all REU’s provide free housing, travel money plus generous stipends…so look there for summer pay.</p>
<p>After reading all the comments from posters stating that obtaining a full-time summer job is easily obtained or that piggy backing several part-time jobs is another option, I provide a couple of articles disputing those claims. </p>
<p>[Summer</a> Job Outlook for Teens](<a href=“http://www.whatkidscando.org/featurestories/2013/05_summer_job_outlook/]Summer”>Summer Job Outlook for Teens)</p>
<p>[Wanted</a> (sorta): Summer jobs for teens](<a href=“http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/06/10/teens-summer-jobs-unemployment-college/2405261/]Wanted”>Wanted (sorta): Summer jobs for teens)</p>
<p>These articles substantiate my original premise…The summer savings EXPECTATION is unrealistic. </p>
<p>If there exists studies or articles claiming the opposite, I would love to read them.</p>
<p>Simply stated…articles are articles. </p>
<p>You have two choices…</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Figure out a way to pay the student contribution and go to this college.</p></li>
<li><p>Decide that the school is unaffordable and enroll elsewhere. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>The school is NOT going to change their policy because YOU cannot meet their financial expectation. It doesn’t matter whether it is realistic or not. It is what the school has decided their students MUST contribute one way or another. So…either figure out a way to pay that amount…or go to a more affordable college.</p>
<p>We are just mostly stating what our kids experienced this summer looking for work… my kid looked hard and did find a job (late, starting early July, but she found something). With no connections, I might add. Where do you live, OP? What is the unemployment rate in your particular city or area?</p>
<p>I am a lot more sympathetic with high school kids looking for jobs these days. My D found that almost everyplace she applied wanted her to be 18 (probably 75% of the businesses). At least most college students are over that hurdle.</p>
<p>I do know some college students who work retail over their winter break during the Christmas rush – although they are mostly kids who have a long winter break, like those who attend Carleton.</p>
<p>Thumper,</p>
<p>I do not expect the college to change their policy. I merely stated the EXPECTATION is unreasonable and wondered if others agreed or disagreed. </p>
<p>You claimed full-time employment or piggybacking several part-time jobs is easily done and done by the majority of students. That statement is untrue. </p>
<p>I wanted to know whether an appeal to the FA office was possible. I understand now that the FA office would not be sympathetic.</p>
<p>Just for the record here… I NEVER said it was easily done to get several part time jobs. I said it was something many students do. And I still say that. Many students cobble together a number of jobs during the summer…part time employment, babysitting, house sitting, mowing lawns, etc. </p>
<p>It may not be easy but it is possible and students DO it. Are all students successful, no…but many are if they are flexible,about what they do, and are tenacious in terms of looking.</p>
<p>Don’t recall the implication in any post that it was easily done. And the hardest part isn’t necessarily finding the jobs, it’s juggling them all. I’ve got students returning to classes in the fall more burnt out than when they left.</p>
<p>Wow, reading this thread makes me realize just how lucky my son was this summer!</p>
<p>He’s not 18 yet and doesn’t drive. I work, so I can’t afford to be driving him all over the place. And there’s no public transportation here.</p>
<p>He filled out applications at every grocery store and fast food place within a reasonable driving distance of where we live. No responses. He checked craigslist daily, and answered every ad that looked promising. No responses for two weeks. Even posted his own ad.</p>
<p>Then he got a single reply. A guy was looking for a high school student to help him paint a vacant apartment. One day’s work, at most. Well, that one day stretched into six weeks, four to six hours a day during the week, and as many hours as the kid wanted to put in on his own over the weekends. (Turns out the guy owned a lot of apartments!) He ended up working 40+ hours a week, and making more than he ever would have at a fast food place . . . and all this at a worksite less than a 10-minute drive from our house! And the job is open to him next summer again, if he wants it.</p>
<p>The kid isn’t sure about next summer. It’s manual labor, and not a lot of fun. And he thinks it’ll look better on his resume if he can get a fancy paid internship with an engineering firm. Yeah, right . . . 'cause there are lots of those within 10 minutes of our house! :D</p>
<p>I’m bookmarking this thread for him. He has NO idea how lucky he was!</p>
<p>I think at a young age you son has demonstrated some great initiative and work ethic. </p>
<p>He knew that he had to get some $$ together for the next school year, got an opportunity, did well (he would have never been able to extend the job to 6 weeks/40 hours if he were not doing a good job) and ran with it. </p>
<p>It is this kind of drive that will take him far in life. He knows how to take lemons and make lemonade.</p>
<p>Simplystated…you have to have some gumption and go out and find/make work. Reading between the lines, it just sounds like you don’t want to work, or you don’t want to make much of an efford to find work. </p>
<p>You’re the one who wants to go to college. College isn’t cheap. The tuition and associated costs must get covered. Your personal costs must get covered. To expect YOU to cover some of those costs is completely sensible.</p>
<p>Dodgersmom - your son also learned a great life skill that will come in handy down the road.
Something to think about for any parents/high school age students reading this – don’t wait until summer after senior year of high school or frosh year to look for a job. Sometimes that opportunity you get at say, 16, can carry you for several years. Listening to a friend of mine complain about her 19 year not having a job this summer got me thinking, well, you’ve never suggested he get a job at 16, 17 or 18! Yes, I know he was busy, but so were my kids and they made it work.
Some employers around here use an online ‘sign up’ system for students to plug in the hours they are available - employers realize students have other committments, perhaps another job or are taking a class so they want the kids to show up for their shifts. This makes working more than 1 part time job possible.<br>
I do agree some parts of the country have more summer opportunities available ( where I live it seems pretty good ) BUT you also have to get creative - Thumper lists some jobs where you can employ yourself and the $ can be quite good!</p>
<p>While there is undoubtedly some variation among regoins of the country and economic conditions, it is not EASY for anyone to find a job.</p>
<p>Our family’s story is similar to dodgersmom. We have 18-year old twins who have had sports team commitments and summer enrichment opportunities during high school that precluded summer jobs. This year they graudated and faced the summer earnings expectation. We did not have any family connections or other easy routes for them to get jobs. We also have limited transportation options that restricted their search radius.</p>
<p>Neither started looking for jobs until April, which we found was later than many others. However, they each completed roughly 50 applications and had at least a dozen interviews. They tried everything - Craigslist, online apps, job boards, school counselors, even driving door-to-door - but seemed to be striking out. Very discouraging.</p>
<p>DD has worked during the school year at a job that offered only 4-6 hours per week, but at least it was something. Finally in late May, she got an offer as a greeter at a restaurant, probably only 15-20 hours/week but at that point, the numbers would work for her to meet her Summer Earnings. Out of the blue just before Memorial Day, she got a call from an internship that she had applied for in February but never heard back. They offered an internship that she would have taken for free, but actually paid her for a 40-hour week, working 8-5. She is now juggling all three jobs and adding in occassional babysitting. Not much social life, but she prefers it this way. In fact, she is in danger of hitting the $6,300 point where FA will take 50% of her earnings (on top of federal/state/local taxes).</p>
<p>DS also received an offer in late May working at a grocery for 20-30 hours/week. He values his social life more than his sister, so he stopped interviewing for other positions at that point. If he averages 25 hours/week for 12 weeks at $8/hour, he will just barely clear enough to cover his summer earnings. He gets all the lousy shifts, working every weekend evening, but his buddies don’t mind waiting until 9 or 10 pm to hang out with him since they don’t need to be up early.</p>
<p>I found it interesting that both kids started getting another flurry of calls around the Fourth of July holiday. Even though they hadn’t been actively looking for a job for over a month, employers were now asking if they were still interested in jobs. When it rains, it pours. All of these calls offered jobs in the 20-25 hours/week range and stated they were willing to work around other job schedules.</p>
<p>Stick with it! Jobs are probably out there, but there will be many doors closed in your face until you find one. Determination and flexibility, and lucky timing, are critical when your job skills are minimal.</p>