<p>
Good idea! Work this year to build up the emergency fund.</p>
<p>You could try the crowdfunding approach:</p>
<p><a href=“Link to Article: Student uses crowd funding for Vandy tuition after mom dies and dad loses job - #4 by turtletime - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums”>Link to Article: Student uses crowd funding for Vandy tuition after mom dies and dad loses job - #4 by turtletime - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums;
<p>Also, I don’t think it is unprofessional to go back to school #2 and have another conversation; you having nothing to lose - the worst the financial aid office can say to you is ‘no’. The school is not a person who has feelings and will think less of you by listening to your phone call about the change in your circumstances. </p>
<p>You also said that this school would result in $10,000 lower cost or debt (is that per year or an estimate of the total over four years?). Do you also plan to go to graduate or professional school after undergrad? If so, decreasing the debt load accumulating from your undergraduate years is an important consideration.</p>
<p>What is the amount you are responsible for at school #1 and school #2 for the first year (amount of loans plus the remaining gap after loans that you need to pay out of pocket, but excluding work study)?</p>
<p>I didn’t grow up in a house where we didn’t have things either. Many people, in fact, thought we were wealthy because my father spent money like he had a lot of it. Problem was, once we were away at school, he didn’t send us any. He’d come to school, take me and several friends out to dinner, buy all the beers at a football game, but then not have the money for my rent. It was very very difficult for me to live that way, and I don’t want my kids to have to live that way while they are at school either, so I tried to explain exactly what I could afford and what I couldn’t. </p>
<p>One daughter is living in a dorm that costs $2000 more than another choice, and she knows that by doing so, she’s going to have to give up something else (study abroad, summer unpaid internship). She just can’t spend the money twice.</p>
<p>I think taking the year off may make you a lot more secure financially. It takes maturity to understand that sometimes you just have to wait until conditions change to get what you want. Your mother may feel more secure too after a year in her new home. I know she wishes she could just hand you the money you need, as we all wish that as parents.</p>
<p>Hope the deferral comes through for you.</p>
<p>@Madison85 That’s a total estimate for all four years. I’m not really interested in grad school right now, but I have no idea what I’ll want to do in a few years. Now I’m more confused than ever. The less debt the better, for sure, regardless of whether or not I want to go to grad school, but the environment at this school is totally and completely different from the other and I’m afraid I won’t like it as much. I do love the school in general, but I don’t know if I could handle it…it has a reputation of being incredibly stressful. But at the same time, they accepted me so they must think I could do it…</p>
<p>Even though I want this school to accept the deferral request, I’m almost afraid that by doing that I’d be limiting my options. On the other hand, if I ended up going to the other school a year from now, I’d have major regret about not trying to get back in now, even though I’m afraid to call and ask. But I guess it’d be better to have extra money, anyway. I’m just nervous about not having a sure acceptance because my grades decreased a little bit senior year. Not by much, but still.</p>
<p>School #1 ended up expecting me to pay $4000 for the first semester alone (with half of the $3500 in loans already factored in), which is more than I expected for the entire year. Minus the health insurance for this semester, it’s a little less than $3000. </p>
<p>I don’t remember exactly what school #2 offered me, except I know they only gave me $1800 in loans and expected me to pay somewhere around 2/3 of what school 1 did. At the time, it didn’t seem like that much more, and I really didn’t want to pick a school based on money alone, but I guess I should’ve. </p>
<p>@twoinanddone Thank you! I hope so, too.</p>
<p>PLEASE call the other school on Monday, so you can either take it off the table or keep it in consideration while you think things over next week.</p>
<p>Don’t be afraid to call, you can do this!</p>
<p>What is your intended major? Is it a field of study where you don’t need a graduate degree to obtain gainful employment (and repay your school debt)?</p>
<p>Okay, but how can I ask in a way that doesn’t sound desperate, like I’m only calling because I have to? Do you think an email would be better? I feel like I could word it better that way because once I get on the phone, I’ll get all flustered and nervous…I don’t want to sound like I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel. I especially feel really stupid for asking because I already did once and said never mind before I could even get an answer…I hate that I did that. Do classes usually have left over room and things like that or do they try to fill them until housing runs out or something? I feel like such an idiot…but what if their payment plan already started and once again I can’t catch up? It’ll actually probably be the same situation, now that I think about it. Maybe it’s best to take time off and work regardless. </p>
<p>I want to do econ or stats</p>
<p>I can see why you’d prefer to write an email for the reasons you mentioned. Though, a phone call may get quicker attention and allow you to move forward one way or the other, sooner. If you do decide to call the admissions office, here’s a suggested dialog:</p>
<p>If you get a student helper on the phone:</p>
<p>“I have a complicated situation, can I please talk to a supervisor?”</p>
<p>Then:</p>
<p>'Hello, I am calling regarding my admission status. My name is … and I was admitted to your college but I turned down the offer. I have been rethinking my situation after some changes in my life and I wanted to find out if it would be possible for you to reconsider me for admission this fall (with on campus housing and the same financial aid package that was previously offered to me). I really appreciate your help with this."</p>
<p>That’s perfect, but I don’t think I should because if they let me back in, I probably would still be behind and unable to catch up on payments, and I still think it’d be better to take time to earn money before going to school. </p>
<p>if they let, me, i don’t know if i should stay committed to this school, though</p>
<p>Stay positive and keep your mind open to the options: work and save for a year with a deferral? Reapply next year? Check in with school #2 on Monday? </p>
<p>Here are two new ideas: 1) Ask your older brother if he can help with the payments that are due or past due on August 1st. 2) Since your mom may be eligible for a tax credit for your tuition and books paid out of pocket, she may want to decrease her federal income tax withholding on her upcoming paychecks - then maybe there’d be money available to pay the fees due to school #1 on Aug 1.</p>
<p>Also, I read on a different thread that someone who is taking a gap year plans to apply for the Gates Millennium scholarship. Is that something you would be eligible for?</p>
<p>My brother couldn’t. He basically spends all his money as soon as he gets it. Even if somehow we do get the money to pay on August 1, there’s so much other stuff to buy before I go it’s not even funny, and the tuition money paid would just be taking away from that. I really do think the only option at this point is a gap year. I don’t wanna scrape together money at the last minute; I want to be able to pay for all of it without worrying, you know?</p>
<p>I’ll look into it, but I’ve heard of it before and I don’t think I’ve done nearly enough in high school to get some kind of major award. Also, scholarships kind of confuse me because they don’t seem that helpful in the long run…once the loans are gotten rid of, I think, all my school does is reduce the grant they give you, so it’s almost like unless it’s a completely full ride, there’s no point. I don’t know if I’m saying that right or if that’s a normal thing, but I know of a few people going to this school who were complaining about scholarship money they couldn’t use or something like that. </p>
<p>…once the loans are gotten rid of, I think, all my school does is reduce the grant</p>
<p>But getting rid of the loans is a BIG deal. Really, getting rid of $30k over 4 years is a big big deal.</p>
<p>Callie, ask your school if you can defer admissions until the spring term. Gives you more time to find a job, for your mother to get her finances back on schedule and the bonus is that you can take out the full $5500 direct loans for the spring term alone. If the school will give you the exact same aid package as they are now offering you, you can then use the fall allotment of the Direct loan towards spring costs. That is another option. I also urge your mother to apply for the PLUS–it will just tell her denied or accepted. If accepted, she should not proceed to get the loan if it is a problem–you are wise beyond your years and I commend you for noting that. Being accepted does not mean you have the loan. You just have that option to so proceed to get it if you continue the process in the next so many days. If she is denied, which she will be if she is more than 90 overdue on any bills on her credit report, you automatically get another $4K in Direct loans, all student terms all on you, no parent involvement after that denial, which is disbursed $2K a term.</p>
<p>This is a major problem for a lot of families and students whose families are operating on a very small margin or no margin at all, and when there are no jobs available where the student lives. I have a friend whose town, locale has been hit so hard with the way this economy is that there are NO jobs available for young people. The jobs they traditionally have been taken are snatched up by adults with families, who need them. My friend’s DD could not find anything–coffee shop, rec center, McD, cleaning portajohns, nothing, nothing, nothing. All taken up. To go elsewhere involves living expenses. My son stayed at the college this summer, got a job and figured since the rent had to be paid for the apartment anyways, what’s the deal. He’s finding out what the deal is. Using our home supplies is a big boon. Buying food, cleaning supplies, toiletries, paying for laundry, all of these things add up terribly. He and apt mate don’t use the air conditioner to keep down their costs, as it is alarming how little they have managed to accumulate at this point for the upcoming school year. Here at home, he always had a healthy balance in his account once the summer paychecks started. </p>
<p>More seriously, schools that require a student/parent minimum contribution, and also use work study and the Direct Loan amounts in the financial aid packages, basically cut out or at least down, the options to work during the school years to pay part of that EFC since hours are already earmarked for WS, and the entire DL amount is also used up towards EFC.</p>
<p>This may sound dumb, but I’d almost rather wait a year because I want to go through orientation and everything and feel like a real freshman. I couldn’t imagine being a semester behind; everyone would already have made friends and become used to and comfortable with the place while I’d be even more of a newbie, and I’d have an even harder time making friends. </p>
<p>Isn’t $5500 in loans a lot to use for one semester, though? Wouldn’t it be better to be able to pay the EFC up front a year from now and only take out more loans if necessary?</p>
<p>And yeah, I can’t believe how impossible it is to find a job. I didn’t think it would be like this. It’s hard to think about the fact that if I had had a summer job all this time, I wouldn’t be in this situation. Also, on that front, I think a year would give me more time to find a job if necessary. By taking time off to work, I’m trying to make it so that a non-work study job during the school year isn’t do or die. </p>
<p>I’m still waiting to hear back on the deferral. They told me I would hear by today, but basically half the workday is already over. I’m so stressed out…I just want an answer</p>
<p>If you get the $5500 for the spring term, you can put the part you don’t use in a savings account and use it for next year. As long as you keep the accounting for it separate,you do not have to report that amount as assets on your next year’s FAFSA. If you do NOT use the $5500 at all this year, you do NOT get it the next year. The annual limits are use it or lose it. </p>
<p>You can also ask the financial aid office, if there is any way, they can give you a no interest loan for the amount you need so you can catch up and if there are campus jobs available so that you can earn some money there.</p>
<p>What do you mean? If I go to school as a freshman 2015-2016, I couldn’t get the $5500?</p>
<p>You get the $5500 in 2015-2016, yes, but it will be worked into your package as it is right now. If you go second semester only, you can get the $5500 for spring 2015 and what you don’t use, you can save for the next year, and then you will get the loan allocation for the next year as well, giving you some breathing room…</p>
<p>The fact of the matter is that you have not been able to find a job yet. You may not find much in the way of a job even for the year, depending on your area and job prospects there. My niece has to work three jobs to get 40 hours in a week, and what she nets is minimum wage, and after her car/gas expenses, she does not really have much more than spending money. She’s finding it just about impossible for her to save much or any for school, as she has been supposed to be doing. My son is having the same trouble. Can’t eat out, can’t do much that costs money, and a lot of these places make it difficult to work more than one place to get enough hours the way they change the schedules around each week. So presuming you are going to get a job and save all of this money, is exactly that, a presumption. The economy is terrible in some areas, and experienced adults are taking part time traditionally student work pretty much as permanent jobs to get by. To go where the jobs are, means more living expenses. So you have to look at where you are right now to predict what you are going to be able to do in the near future. The summer is half over, and it’ll be fall before you know it. If you aren’t getting a line on a job now, it can be a danged long time. I’ve seen it happen.</p>
<p>But if I went second semester, wouldn’t all of the $5500 go toward my EFC anyway? I thought it was all for school and only school and it went directly toward your outstanding balance. </p>
<p>If you can get your school to give you exactly what the award is for second term as they currently have it, you would have $2750 of your Direct loan unused from the first term. If they redid your package entirely and integrated it, yes, you would just have that reducing other aid possibly, depending on how this schools does things. It all comes down to what you can work out with the fin aid office You need to talk to a director, not a student worker there. Also ask your admissions director for some help. Thank that person who sent you the admissions letter and explain your issue and ask for advice. </p>
<p>As of now, I’d only have $3500 in loans for the first year. I don’t really think second semester is doable, though. </p>
<p>The office closes in an hour but they still haven’t gotten back to me on the deferral. I don’t want to be pushy, but as time passes it’s just gonna get less likely to get answered because more emails are gonna be on top of it. What if the person making the decisions (whom it was forwarded to) doesn’t even really check their email? …I would call but I can’t right now. And it’s worded way better in email. What do I do? Do I send it again or just wait?</p>