<p>I thankfully got accepted to UCF and as an out-of-state National Merit Finalist got offered a big scholarship. :D I have a few questions though!</p>
<p>The laptop that comes with the scholarship--we're supposed to have our choice of Mac or Windows, which is cool. Do you know if the laptops will come with any extras? Do we get a set amount of money to spend on them?
In that vein, is it worth buying and packing your own scanner, colour printer, etc., or is most of that going to be available and easy-to-get-to through the Burnett Honors College? </p>
<p>In my financial aid section on myUCF, I see that they've budgeted, in addition to the scholarship, a $600/semester loan that I'll have to repay. I'm really hoping to lessen my costs as much as possible; is that just an overestimation that I'll have to pay if I decide to get the biggest meal plan, most expensive housing, and that kind of thing? Or will I definitely have to repay it? Is there any other scholarship I can apply for to cover the difference?</p>
<p>There's also a $750 stipend I only just learned about. Is that in addition to the scholarship amount that was quoted when they offered it to me, or is it included in it?</p>
<p>Are there any money-saving or general tips I should know about before going? Any classes I ought to avoid signing up for?</p>
<p>First of all- congrats.</p>
<p>To answer your questions</p>
<p>The Laptop scholarship is 1500$ to the UCF computer store. They will custom order etc. to get nice parts, but it CANNOT exceed $1500, even if you will pay the difference (for tax reasons).</p>
<p>I have my own printer, but because ink is expensive, I only use it when I can’t get to the BHC lab…I think it’s worth it for those just incase moments, but other than that, you can do most printing in the BHC lab.</p>
<p>You don’t have to take any loans, fyi (they are optional)…and you probably won’t need it. </p>
<p>The $750 is in addition.</p>
<p>As for money saving tips… I got a few.</p>
<p>Books- DON’T BUY THEM AT THE CAMPUS BOOKSTORE. They are ALWAYS overpriced. My $250 Organic chem book was $80 on Amazon. My $200 Gen. Chem. book was $20 on Text Books R Us. You can always save a ton of money shopping elsewhere.
Also, avoid buying the newest version of the book if you don’t need to. For some classes, you have to because there are new sections or there is collected homework assigned from the book. If there isn’t, however, go for an older edition or a different author…Most content doesn’t change from year to year, so a freshman Physics book from 1996 won’t vary much from a Physics book from 2012.</p>
<p>Food- If you get a meal plan, don’t get more than 15/week. You won’t go to MP/Knightro’s enough to make up the cost of an all access plan.</p>
<p>Thanks so much; this is a /huge/ help!</p>
<p>Congrats Julilo! DD is going to UCF this fall and I had similar questions about her laptop. I called Luke a few weeks back and he said that he’d be following up with the laptop options in early June so I guess we all have to wait until then. Each of the options will have varying extras (like software, carrying cases, etc) depending on the exact package the students pick. A higher end PC computer may not have as many extras as a mid-grade computer with more extras. I agree on skipping the printer. I’m not buying one for DD as it looks like there are so many free places to print in Towers and BHC. About the loans, DD got offered one too but we’re not accepting it. I may check out some extra scholarships on the Financial Aid web site too, [Student</a> Financial Assistance, UCF](<a href=“http://finaid.ucf.edu/scholarships/]Student”>http://finaid.ucf.edu/scholarships/). The NM award is pretty big but can’t hurt to at least apply for these if DD can get some extra money. The Ticks is right. The $750 award is in addition to the rest of the scholarship money (as long as you didn’t qualify for a corporate scholarship, DD got the $750 too).</p>