I got into IU and they have me a little over $14,000 for financial aid. However, that’s only about $7,000 a semester, and I’m an out of state student. So I have $9,000 in scholarships, so that will be enough to cover the fee of taking 12 credits. But I don’t have enough for room and board. I applied for a co-op dorm, which is significantly cheaper than the other dorms. So what should I do about room and board?
You’re from VA, right? If your parents can’t pay for you to dorm at an OOS college, you can’t go there. How much can your parents pay without borrowing? Did you apply to any VA colleges?
If your short on money, you can’t go. Simple as that. You will have to find a college option that you can afford. There is not magic wand that you can swing to make money appear. The FIN AID office cannot help either. They have already evaluated your situation and you are receiving what they felt was appropriate.
Chin up. this is not the only school around. you will settle into a great school and do fine.
I always hate to tell someone they can’t do something because I believe if people really try, they can find a way. However, you do have some obstacles with financing. You didn’t say what the breakdown was for the Financial aid so is that all scholarship money or does that also include the $5,500 loan you can take out as a student? If it does then you are further away from closing the gap.
Have you actually sat down and outlined the cost to attend and calculated how much you are short by? I think in another post you stated that your mom doesn’t want you to go to an OOS school. Are your parents willing to pitch in at all or is it up to you to fund the difference between your aid and the amount due?
At the end of the day, if you don’t have the funds, you can’t go so your challenge is knowing the difference and then figuring out if you can earn the difference through a part time job or other means.
Plus, as an OOS student there are more cost than just tuition and room & board. There are travel costs to get there and back. There are other fees and items that will come up throughout the year.