<p>I am a high school senior that has just graduated and will be going to the University of Washington this fall. Though it will cost be about $20,000 for the cost of attendance, and all I was offered was a $3,500 loan. Thus the total resources I may have is $16,500. My parents will try to support me, but they are unable to afford to pay each quarter. The bad thing is that my sister will try to attend the University of Washington next year, which will double the cost and double their support. Is there anyway I could try to make it easier on my parents and myself?</p>
<p>Right now I am trying to look for a job out there, but it wouldn't be enough. I'm a typical Asian student with at least a 3.7 average, and some clubs but barely any volunteering. So it's tough for me to get scholarships with my background information, since I haven't done anything "amazing," while most of the scholarships usually look at the students' history in high school and such. </p>
<p>Is there anyway I could try to help with this financial aid issue? I've been searching for scholarships that wouldn't have much competition, but so far I never been able to get one. I really do not want to drop out of college because I needed help getting the financial aid.</p>
<p>Did your parents and your fill out a FAFSA? What is your EFC? Are you working right now to get some money for college? Are your parents putting some money away for this first year? Have you saved any money for college?</p>
<p>If you have US citizenship or a green card, you will be entitled to borrow $5500 this first year on your own name. That still leaves $11K for you and your parents to pay. If between the two of you, you cannot come up with this money, you can’t go there. Depending on their financial situation, they too can borrow, most easily through PLUS if the FAFSA is filled out Your Direct Loan of $5500 is only obtainable with a 2014 FAFSA.</p>
<p>College is intended to be paid with past, present and future earnings of parents and student. If you haven’t saved to meet the past part of this formula, you have to lean more on the present (scrimping and working) and future (borrowing), both you and parents.</p>
<p>Next year with two in college your parents EFC will be half of what it is this year, but since UW does not guarantee to meet full need. it may not mean anything. Also, we don’t know what their EFC is this year just for you, so it’s hard to say if your family is even eligible for aid. </p>
<p>As for outside scholarships, yes, they are very difficult to get, unless you have an association with a organization that gives them or you are the cream of the crop. My one son applied to hundreds of them and got only one small one. That was with near perfect SATs, so though you can keep your eyes open, you can’t count on getting much. Your college is the best source of financial aid and merit money. </p>
<p>Mew. Your family and you need to have a plan to pay your college bills BEFORE you head off to college. If the college is truly unaffordable, you should consider other options that will be affordable for your family, if they do not have the resources to pay $16,000 a year for you to attend UW you won’t be able to attend.</p>
<p>Is there a community college where you could go and commute from home? You could take your general education courses there, and then complete your degree at UW (perhaps working to save money to do so). </p>
<p>Did you get accepted to any more affordable options? Did you apply to any colleges with guaranteed merit aid for your stats? </p>
<p>Yes we applied for FAFSA. But my parents haven’t been planning for my college bills. It’s going to be especially tough if my sister goes there next year.</p>
<p>So I guess it’ll be tough to get financial aid to attend the University of Washington? Especially with the present and future. Is there any way to find some good student loans that will help me? My EFC is 16322, which is pretty high…</p>
<p>We’re trying to save as much money as possible by trying to find used books, using the bus rather than paying for parking, and staying at home rather than a dorm.</p>
<p>They say my room and board is $3,500, transportation might be $400 (but I’ll be going by bus), and books and supplies will be $1200 (but I’ll try to find used ones). And my personal expense is $2,300.</p>
<p>If I take out room and board, and personal expense, does that mean my total cost of attendance then would be $11700?</p>
<p>No idea… my parents are having a fight right now about my financial aid and I really don’t want to be in the middle of that conflict. All I know is that they tell me they are unable to afford it. Sometimes I wished I hadn’t applied to the University of Washington and went with a cheaper school. But it’s the only school that I applied to, so if I decided to go for another school, it would be Shoreline Community College. </p>
<p>P.S.</p>
<p>They say my room and board is $3,500, transportation might be $400 (but I’ll be going by bus), and books and supplies will be $1200 (but I’ll try to find used ones). And my personal expense is $2,300.</p>
<p>If I take out room and board, and personal expense (since I’ll be living with my parents), does that mean my total cost of attendance then would be $11700?</p>
<p>If you’re commuting from your parents’ home then all you’re paying is tuition, fees, transportation, and books.
According to the collegeapps website, all of that amounts to slightly over $13,500.</p>
<p>Alright thanks… It’s still pretty expensive but I’ll try.</p>
<p>Has anyone ever been in a financial aid crisis like this and found a solution? I’ve been googling this situation myself, but I want to hear a personal side, someone who actually knows rather than “get a job, get scholarships.” </p>
<p>Right now my parents are trying to find some way to find a loan to help pay for my tuition. Though there are many loans out there and we are unsure which one would be the best one to pick…</p>
<p>The first kind of loans you would want to consider are the Federal Loans you are offered as a student if you filled out your financial aid paperwork correctly for your college (filed FAFSA, filled out other paperwork required by the college). You can take out $5,500 in loans for your first year, $6,500 sophomore year, and $7,500 each junior and senior year. </p>
<p>Here is a good link on information on federal loans:</p>
<p>Second thing to do is “get a job”. Get two summer jobs if you have to, and plan to work on campus during the school year part time as well. You can likely earn $3,000-$4,000/year if you hustle doing that.</p>
<p>Finally, your parents’ EFC indicates that they should be able to pay SOMETHING toward your education. The fact that they are fighting about it probably means one parent thinks they can come up with something, and the other doesn’t… If they could pay $5,000/year and you live at home and commute (not clear if that is an option), I think you could make it. They might need to put a bit less in during your last couple of years when you can borrow more (but the price of the college will go up, probably best to assume 4-5%/year).</p>
<p>When your sister goes to school, you might get more financial aid if both of you are in school at the same time, too.</p>
<p>Ah alright thanks! I only got a Fed Direct Sub Stafford Loan of $3500. And a Fed Direct Unsub Stafford Loan of #295. How do I get $5,500 in loans for the first year? </p>
<p>I’ll try to get a summer job, hopefully full time for the summer. Though how do I work on campus during the school year part time as well? I thought that meant I had to get work study for it, and my Federal Work Study Program was cancelled (meaning they didn’t give me it).</p>
<p>Also, if you have high test scores, you may want to take a gap year and find a school that will give you scholarships. Please ask other “more” senior members about the gap year.</p>
<p>It is not likely that you will get increased aid if you move into the dorm. But you will get an increased bill…which you cannot pay.</p>
<p>With regards to your Direct Loans. You got enough in loans, that when added to your EFC, it looks like it equals the cost of attending UW ($16,322 plus $3500 plus $295 equals that commuter COA).</p>
<p>However, you should be able to get the unsubsidized Direct Loan amount increased to the full. $2000, I believe. Call the school financial,aid department and ask.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if I want to take a gap year and miss out one year of college. Because I’m planning to take four years after the University of Washington to go into medical school… which is going to be even more expensive! But then there would be better financial aid.</p>
<p>Certainly if you plan on medical school you should minimize your undergraduate loans an expenses as much as you possibly can. Even if it means going to CC for two years, or taking a gap year to do so. </p>
<p>Yes, you should also be eligible for the unsubsidized Direct Loan of $2,000, so follow @thumper1 's advice and call the financial aid office. Regarding working, many campus jobs (labs, working in libraries, etc.) are work study and you wouldn’t be able to get those. But working at a business near campus (fast food, etc) could be possible. You want to hustle early in the fall to find a job, though, a lot of students will be looking. If you live close enough to commute, I’d suggest going over a couple weeks before school starts and fill out applications/ask about hiring all around the university at private businesses. Sometimes there are campus jobs that aren’t work study, but I’d get a job lined up where I could, and if a good campus job opens up that isn’t work study that you can get, you can always quit the other job.</p>
<p>Sometimes students have to take a semester or a year off in the middle of their college years to earn money to finish, too. You do have to start paying on your federal loans if you do that, though.</p>
<p>Are you saying there will be more financial aid for medical school? If so, you are WRONG about that…totally wrong. </p>
<p>Some students receive some aid for medical school, but most do not. The costs even at some instate public universities can run over $40,000 a year. And that doesn’t include housing.</p>
<p>ETA…if you live close enough to commute to the UW campus…get a job NOW…near your home…and see if they will work with you regarding your college class schedule and work hours.</p>
<p>Would getting a job at Fred Meyers part time or full time be enough…? I’m not sure how much it will help but I was thinking about applying for a job there since I live close to it.</p>
<p>Anyway I’m still a little new to this financial aid thing, so for the unsubsidized Direct Loan, is it okay if I just email the financial office at the University of Washington and ask “Am I eligible for the unsubsidized Direct Loan of $2,000.” I’m not really sure how to approach them since I don’t know much about it.</p>
<p>RE: Workstudy… Many universities have non-workstudy on campus jobs available in addition to federal workstudy jobs. Often local establishments around universities will also hire students to work. </p>