<p>*As for my parents, they lost their jobs and are struggling to make ends meet right now. I did ask the school for a larger FA however, they didn’t really listen and kinda blew me off. *</p>
<p>for students reading this thread…if this ever happens to you at a school that meets need, the answer isn’t loans. You either get someone to address your situation or request a gap year (the request itself may get FA attention).</p>
<p>However, the story still doesn’t make sense. Even if the school wouldn’t adjust aid and used previous year’s income for aid estimates for Year 2 (the cosign loan year), when you applied for aid for Year 3 (after parents had been unemployed for well over a year), why didn’t you automatically qualify for aid THEN??? at that point your EFC would legitamately be quite low.</p>
<p>My EFC was really low. close to 0. but they still didn’t offer more than $26,000 per yr which was less than half the total amount of tuition due.</p>
<p>From the OP’s first post, I thought his LAC was one of those top ranked ones that “meet need.” I guess it wasn’t. </p>
<p>What school was this?</p>
<p>More warnings to students…if you’re going to go to a pricey school that doesn’t meet need, it’s very risky if you’re depending on your parents to pay and they don’t have the money saved and must pay out of real income with jobs that they at a serious risk of losing.</p>
<p>OP, I don’t have any advice other than what was already given. But this thread seems to be turning hostile, and I know you’re upset and scared enough as it is. My advice: take the good advice from this thread, flush the bad, get a job (wherever you can) to pay your debts, and start at the community college when you have enough money. </p>
<p>It’s worth getting a degree even if you’re 40 if it will help in your career / life, and not worth getting one ever if your chosen career path is one that typically doesn’t require getting one and you don’t have the money.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the OP is in a bad situation (due to poor decisions on both the OP’s part and that of relatives) that is going to be very hard to get out of. The thread is best seen as a lesson and warning for others (both students and parents) on what not to do.</p>
<p>To answer your questions, I am not really sure what “meet needs” means but I’m pretty sure that my school didn’t do that or started meeting needs pretty recently. Well actually the thing is that my father owned his own medical practice and lost his license out of the blue…so when I first went to school, there wasn’t that much of a risk of him losing his job. </p>
<p>GeekMom-thanks a lot for your support. yeah i am pretty scared and that’s the reason I posted on this site, to see if you guys had any advice and I’m grateful for the bits that I’ve gotten.</p>
<p>You’ve “even” asked local restaurants and grocery stores??? Sounds like those types of jobs weren’t your first choice.</p>
<p>Well, here’s a news flash for you: you don’t get to choose! You pursue any type of job that’s out there - and you pursue it actively! If they don’t have an opening the first time you inquire, you go back a week later, and a week after that! My local grocery store has hundreds of applications on file. You know who gets the jobs? The kids who follow up with the store manager and let him know they’re really interested. The other applications just gather dust.</p>
<p>If you can’t find a paying job, then get a volunteer position somewhere. Build your resume.</p>
<p>I understand that things didn’t work out the way you expected. But you can’t just close your eyes and make it all go away. Your idea that you can just start college all over again, somewhere else, is simply denial. You’re in a bad situation and now you have to figure out a way to get yourself out. If you were smart enough and hardworking enough in high school to get yourself into a good college, then take those same qualities and apply them to finding a way to fix the situation you’re in now. </p>
<p>And it won’t be time wasted, by the way, even if all you can get is a menial job. Your ability to solve this problem is just the kind of experience you need to be successful later in life. Honestly, whom do you think your future employers will want to hire - the kid who had everything handed to him on a silver platter, or the kid who figured out how to work his (or her) way out of a bad situation? You have an opportunity to prove yourself - take advantage of it!</p>
<p>“meets need” means that the school PROMISES to “meet the determined need” of each accepted student. What school is this? </p>
<p>If your dad was a physician who owned his practice, did he not have ANY money saved at all? That seems odd. Most doctors of his age, with a practice, would have a healthy savings acct somewhere. If your parents do have some money saved somewhere, it would be best for them to pay the school so you can move on.</p>
<p>One would think – but many high income people are not particularly good at saving their money (i.e. they spend it all as fast as their earn it).</p>
<p>I am puzzled by the choice to sit around at home for a semester and let this problem get worse. You could get a ten dollar an hour job, work forty hours per week and have this debt repaid in 25 weeks. You could work two jobs, work 80 hours per week and have this debt repaid in three months. Stop blaming other people and get to work.</p>
<p>Even a minimum wage job while living at home would allow you to pay off a debt of under $10K – how quickly you are able to pay off the debt would depend on whether you use all the earnings to pay off the debt and how many hours you can get at ANY legal job. Scan the want ads, go in & apply for any jobs available. Food service jobs often offer tips that can really boost what appears to be low pay as well.</p>