I have been accepted to Tech’s College of Engineering, and that’s where I intend to go. My SAR states that my EFC is $1,420, and my estimated Pell Grant is about $4,500. What kind of aid package should I expect from Tech? Oh, and, I am an in-stater.
Thank you!
My sibling is on financial aid with a lower EFC. You’ll likely get the following grants with amounts somewhere in these ranges for next year:
VA Guaranteed Assistance Program or Commonwealth Award (you only get one depending on your stats, I think VGAP awards more): $2500-$4000
Work Study: $1500-$2000
Subsidized Loan: $3500
Unsubsidized Loan: $2000
After your freshman year, the amounts for most of these grants and the subsidized loan will go up to reflect the increase in Cost of Attendance. Additionally, you will be able to receive both the Virginia Tech Grant ($1000) and Funds for the Future ($500-$1000) after your freshman year. Funds for the Future increases quite a bit each year.
Hope this helps!
Thank you! My family won’t be able to contribute a lot so I kind of have to undertake the funding. Man, growing up sucks; it’s petrifying.
No problem! My sibling and I went through the same thing, our parents weren’t able to contribute at all. Some tips I learned along the way:
-If you have any excess from loans you’ll get those funds through direct deposit to your bank account, which you can use for books or whatever other living expenses you may have
-The first year is generally a lot easier in dealing with money since Fin Aid is credited to your tuition, housing, and meal plan before the semester starts.
-Be sure to look on Hokies4Hire in the summer for work study jobs, I remember seeing posts as early as the beginning of August when I would look.
-It gets a bit more complicated if you move off campus, but you learn how to budget and spend whatever funds you have in the most efficient way.
-There are a few places on campus that offer emergency financial assistance should you ever find yourself needing extra assistance - you just need proof or to explain your situation to someone in those offices (for some reason, Financial Aid doesn’t always tell you this)
If you have any questions let me know! I was a bit stressed my first year of college but I got even more stressed out going into sophomore year when I decided to move off and began comparing prices/options for everything. Best of luck!
Thanks again! I paid my matriculation fee yesterday. So, I’m officially class of 2019! It’s pretty exciting. Then, the thoughts of money and loans looming over my head just spoils the excitement. I am gonna start working now. I won’t be able to earn a lot, but hopefully, I can make enough to offset some minor fees. How did you manage your money? Your user ID tells me it wasn’t easy for you.
Do you know when we find out about what we receive in financial aid? Do you think that’s also late March, early April like scholarships?
@KeepCalmAndSleep haha yeah, I made this username to just post on the FinAid forum when I started at Tech and ended up finding this forum and sticking around. I hit some bumps when I moved off campus and my parents (who aren’t from the US and didn’t go to college) didn’t know how to help. Here are some tips/advice I can think of off the top of my head, sorry if it’s kind of long!:
The only thing I personally had to worry about going into freshman year was buying a laptop, dorm stuff and books. Working over the summer can help offset this. I actually only bought absolutely essential items before going off school for my dorm like the stuff my roommate and I agreed to split and stuff I didn’t have already. I didn’t have twin XL sheets, but I waited til later in the summer to buy them from Target and they were actually on sale. I also shopped around a lot before buying dorm stuff and found good deals at places like TJ Maxx and Ross. I didn’t buy a twin XL comforter because it wasn’t necessary, a twin one fits and looks just fine, so I brought what I already had a home. The laptop was the biggest investment, and I started comparing prices and looking for good deals early. When I was a student, Best Buy offered student discounts starting in June or July on top of their sales, so it was a good deal. I didn’t need to buy any extra software because we already pay for it through Tech.
Once you get to school, books are the only major expense you’ll have to take care of yourself. There are a few bookstores in addition to the on campus bookstore, where you may end up going during orientation. If the books you need are available, I would compare prices online on Amazon or other book comparison websites and to the bookstore websites online. This way, you can just buy where it’s cheapest before classes start.
Aside from this, the biggest advice to a freshman would be to plan ahead to think about your financial situation for sophomore year. Most likely this will start mid-Fall semester if you are looking to live off campus. If you choose to remain on campus, then budgeting will actually be pretty easy since you have a meal plan and rent will be deducted from your Financial Aid package. But if you move off campus, like I did, things get very complicated. You’ll most likely have to pay for a deposit (1 month’s rent) for your apartment when you sign the lease, and also start paying rent over the summer before you get any Financial Aid. Depending on your apartment, you might also have to pay a deposit for utilities up front, again before classes start. If you have a work-study job or summer job, you can expect to use a lot of money from those sources before you get Financial Aid when the next school year starts.
After freshman year, I got a direct deposit refund between $3000-$4000ish a week before classes started. I had to keep a strict budget with these funds and tried only to use it for books, parking pass, rent and utilities, gas, and groceries. I kept an excel spreadsheet of how much everything would be and always estimated on the high end for gas and utilities, so basically I knew how much I could spend each month in order to last until my next aid refund in January. When budgeting for the semester, it’s important to count rent and utilities for the month of January since these will be due before you get your refund for the Spring semester.
If you end up getting a job, you have more room to be flexible. I’ve met people in similar financial situations as me who get really excited to get a huge check at the start of the school year and run out of their money by October and don’t have jobs. They basically end up taking less desirable jobs since all the good ones hire right before classes start. Working over the summer helps a lot too, and it’s even better if you get an internship in your field (money + experience). I got an internship in Northern VA after my junior year and made about $3000 over the summer, which lasted me my entire junior year on top of financial aid.
Loans are kind of daunting, especially when you’re only 17/18. I know I felt pretty overwhelmed at times, and looking back there are some things I would’ve done different, but thankfully a combination of jobs, internships, and the random scholarship or 2 that I got let me still have a full experience. I graduated 2 years ago with a social science/liberal arts degree about $30k in debt, but I was able to get a great job, start grad school, and I’m making steady payments on my loans. It doesn’t have any negative impact on my life aside from the fact that I’m committed to paying them for the next 6-10 years. My job and school are in a high cost of living city, so my loans are honestly the least financially demanding thing I deal with now, haha.
If you have any other specific questions or anything, feel free to PM me or let me know, I’m happy to help!
@NickP961 Yes, I usually got my Financial Aid notifications in early April each year.
@financiallylost It seems like I am in the same situation as you were when you first went to Tech. I moved here four years ago so my parents didn’t go to college here. They don’t know how to help.Hopefully, I will be able to figure everything out and it will all work out. Thanks for sharing your all the information. It helps to hear from someone who has been through everything I will have to face. 
If I have any other question I will just comment on this post and mention you.
Thanks again!!!
I accepted my admission offer last week and paid my deposit, and my finacial aid letter is now available on HokieSpa and under the “accepted” status on my online application!
Yea, my financial aid letter is available too. They need to give me more money. lol
^ @KeepCalmAndSleep true dat. I/my family cannot afford even after the money they plan to give me
@peaches333 There is still a huge gap between my financial aid and my COA. I don’t they VT will offer me more aid though. 
I am gonna have to take out private loans on top of what I already plan to take out.
@KeepCalmAndSleep and @peaches333 are you guys in state for VA? I am and have a gap between aid and COA and my parents are against taking out loans outside of the aid package… idk what to do because honestly Tech is the cheapest/best option unless I commute hours each day (but I think that will end up making it just as expensive cuz I’ll need to pay for gas and stuff).
Do you all mind posting what your aid is? I’m secretly hoping I might be missing something and a few thousand more will come through before April…
@feebfrances and @KeepCalmandStudy so I’m kinda relieved that I’m not the only one having a problem cause when I first saw, I thought VT didn’t do the FAFSA stuff and only did their grants and aid, but they sent an email saying the financial aid includes FAFSA also I’m instate and I was SO excited I got accepted but then this happened and now I’m like freaking out. I really don’t want to take out loans either… by aid is about 17K (I know, it’s A LOT, but my family really really cannot afford even paying the remaining 12K or so ) @feebfrances is that your case also?
@peaches333 my aid is around $15k right now… I’ve been doing research on the website but they don’t seem to have a specific/finalized Cost of Attendance for next year. This year’s COA was listed online as $25,280 - but I subtracted what wouldn’t be on the bill (computer, transportation, personal expenses), which put me at $21,010. So that leaves $6k for me total which isn’t as bad as $12k, but still a lot to come up with.
I have a $2000 work study award listed which would bring down the COA to $4k for the year, but this money would be earned throughout the semester so it’s not really available…
I’m wondering how anyone with a low EFC but no other forms of aid or scholarships are able to attend VT or any other college in state for that matter? Aside from UVA & W&M, I’ve heard the other publics in VA are more expensive but less recognized than VT and also have even less money to give away. On top of that, I always hear how VA has a GREAT public university system and it’s such a good deal compared to most states… so I just have no idea how people can afford to go to college anywhere without scholarships or crazy loans, lol. This is so stressful! I’m going to be doing more sleuthing to try and make some sense of it all. Hopefully we can all make it through!
If you can get a degree with only $4000 a year in loans, that sounds very good. Many kids work during school or in the summers to help with costs. As long as the loans are reasonable, you should be fine.
@feebfrances Wait, so I’m confused. The first link says 17K for my total aid and when I subtract that from the estimated COA, it brings me to about 6K which isn’t bad at all, but the second link already calculated my net price and brought me to 12K. And yeah I know, it stinks. My cost at VaTech will be DOUBLED what my brother had to pay at UVA and my parents have been pretty much making the same amount (they actually made less this year). But yeah, I really hope everything works out for everyone!! Good luck to you!!
@sevmom I’m really trying to avoid loans as of right now because I want to go to med school, but I’ll just have to wait a bit longer and see:/ Thank you for the advice though!!
@sevmom my cost of $4k would be after the subsidized and unsubsidized loans of $5500, $9500 is a lot for college loans based on what i’ve read on the Financial Aid forum 
@peaches333 do you have a link to the calculator? it hasnt been working for me and i’ve been basing everything off the listed COA. a friend that I have that’s a sophomore at VT right now says the COA on the financial aid package has been accurate for him for the past 2 years. the calculator might be including or rounding up some costs that aren’t on the COA?
from what i’ve read also, UVA is great for financial aid because they have different policies for families under a certain income amount and a much much bigger pool of money than VT does for financial aid - VT relies mostly on state funding, as well as most other schools in VA. unfortunately that’s also why it’s a lot harder to get into