What's Your Financial Aid?

<p>thanks speedsolver, you’ve been a lot of help to everyone here. i’m currently deciding on whether or not to dorm since I’ve heard it’s really hard to make friends if you don’t…</p>

<p>@ costax; my household income is 18,000 a year, with 6 people under that income. and 2 are in college!</p>

<p>All loans…</p>

<p>Did anyone else get the Costco diversity scholarship letter?</p>

<p>Thanks for answering…that makes sense. You definitely deserve it then :)</p>

<p>@ costax, I hope to see you at the orientation… btw, do you know what you are majoring in as of now?</p>

<p>Is anybody’s financial aid page still says “we received your financial aid…but have not yet awarded you aid”? because I am pretty sure that I am qualify for aids. I’m just anxious to see how much I have to pay next year.</p>

<p>^ Same boat as you.</p>

<p>I’m OOS and didn’t get my FAFSA info turned until after the Feb 28th priority date. I have still not received my financial aid from UW either. Anyone know specifically what you’re suppose to lose if you didn’t get it in by that deadline? All they said was I’m only available for “limited aid.”</p>

<p>$9,157 in grants. $0 in loans.</p>

<p>Does anyone know the actual cost of attendance is? A friend was saying how FAFSA overestimates how much money is actually needed. Like personal expenses, books (since a lot of people buy them second hand), etc. I ended up taking all the grants offered (obviously), and a few loans. FAFSA covered all of tuition and dorming in grants/loans… but I chose not to take out all the loans and will instead fill the gap that I owe out of pocket with a job/side money. Is this an uncommon route to take? I feel like I’m gambling with what I’m doing, but my sister advised me to do it.</p>

<p>Generally, when you talk about the total cost of attending a university (per year), you are talking about the following expenses:
Tuition
Insurance
Housing (optional, if you live by campus)
Books (including supplies)
Food (optional, if you live by campus)
Transportation
Student Life (optional)</p>

<p>I will note that it would be worthwhile to check out the jobs available on and around campus at <a href=“https://washington-csm.symplicity.com/students/[/url]”>https://washington-csm.symplicity.com/students/&lt;/a&gt; . Remember, it is good to have a balance between work and academics. </p>

<p>Tuition</p>

<p>This link provides a rough estimate of the total cost for being an undergraduate per year based on the student’s living arrangements: [Student</a> Office of Financial Aid](<a href=“Student Financial Aid”>Student Financial Aid) .</p>

<p>Another link for the 2011-2012 student tuition amount can be found here: <a href=“http://www.washington.edu/admin/pb/home/pdf/tuition/2011-12-tf-annual.pdf[/url]”>http://www.washington.edu/admin/pb/home/pdf/tuition/2011-12-tf-annual.pdf&lt;/a&gt;. Both of these links have rough estimates for tuition costs. Generally, the tuition will be $9-11,000 depending on what type of classes the student is taking and the amount of classes the student is taking. </p>

<p>Insurance</p>

<p>Some students will purchase insurance if they do not have coverage all ready. The cost ranges from $500-$10,000 depending on the coverage and the amount of people being covered.*</p>

<p>*This may or may not include co-pay for certain circumstances and payment for medication.</p>

<p>Housing (residence halls, greek system, houses, and apartments)</p>

<p>Residence Halls: The residence halls have two main costs (room and food). Room can range anywhere from $4-$9,000 depending on if the student wants to live in a triple (room with three people) or a single. All residence halls require a meal plan ranging from $2-5,000. However, people get around this by getting the cheapest plan and shopping at the grocery store for their food. There is also cost for laundry ($105) and money for when the dining halls close (many restaurants don’t take Husky Cash). ( [UW</a> Housing and Food Services > Housing Options](<a href=“Housing & Food Services - UW HFS”>Housing & Food Services - UW HFS) )</p>

<p>Greek System: The average cost for a fraternity (found on the UW IFC website) is $6.5k per year. The cost is probably very similar for sororities. This cost does factor in food and parking (probably).</p>

<p>Apartments: Usually apartments will go for $3000 ($500 per month) and upward. However, this cost does not factor in food or amenities, such as internet or TV (found in greek houses and residence halls). </p>

<p>Houses: Normally, you rent out a house with a couple of people so that the cost per room is similar to that of an apartment. The cost for certain amenities might be shared amongst the people living in the house. </p>

<p>Books:</p>

<p>The average cost of books per year will be around $1,000 depending on the classes you are taking. Sometimes the best deals can be found online or at a bookstore in the U-district.</p>

<p>Food</p>

<p>The first link under tuition provides a good estimate for the cost of food. If you are commuting, then you can negate this cost by eating at home. </p>

<p>Transportation
Parking Pass
For a car, the cost for a spot per year is 1.3k. ( [UW:</a> FS: Commuter Services: Single Occupancy Vehicle (SOV) Permit](<a href=“http://www.washington.edu/facilities/transportation/commuterservices/parking/permits/single-occupancy-vehicle-sov-permit]UW:”>http://www.washington.edu/facilities/transportation/commuterservices/parking/permits/single-occupancy-vehicle-sov-permit) )</p>

<p>U-pass
The U-pass is used for commuters and students living near campus. One thing to keep in mind is the cost of the U-pass will be going to down to $76 dollars per quarter ([UW:</a> FS: Commuter Services: U-PASS Fees](<a href=“http://www.washington.edu/facilities/transportation/commuterservices/u-pass/fees]UW:”>Getting to UW | Transportation Services)). </p>

<p>Student Life</p>

<p>Obviously, there isn’t an average cost for student life, but here is a list of expenses from different sources of student activities:</p>

<p>Gym Classes
Sports Club (Club Fee, Travel, Uniforms)
Student Club/Organization (Initiation Fee, Annual Fee)
Sports Games (Dawg Pack, Single Game Tickets, Clothing, Tailgating)
Social Events</p>

<hr>

<p>I did not include fees for switching or dropping classes after certain times in each quarter.</p>

<p>I have a $45,000 income for a family of three + whatever income I had last year (probably around $3,000). Yet, I have an EFC of $27,000. UW changed it from $0 to $15,000 to $27,000 gradually over the past couple of months. :/</p>

<p>I finally figured out why. My dad is taking out money from his retirement fund. So it looks like our income is $100,000+, even though it’s because he’s completely depleting his retirement in order to pay medical bills (my stepmom was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder this year, plus she had Mersa + surgery last year too.) Not only do we have to deal with the $40,000+ medical bills, but now I have to take out a private loan because they think the $100,000 is part of our annual income, which it’s not. We sent in an appeal, so I hope that does something worthwhile.</p>

<p>Kaylee, Have you called the U.W. financial aid office and told them this? I have found them very willing to help out. I would at least call and see if there would be some way around the new figures with all the medical costs.</p>

<p>Kaylee, Have you called the U.W. financial aid office and told them this? I have found them very willing to help out. I would at least call and see if there would be some way around the new figures with all the medical costs.</p>

<p>KayleyFC,</p>

<p>why don’t you go in person and talk to either a counselor or a financial aid adviser at uw and take some proofs with you. Maybe they can offer something else now. it wont hurt anyway. </p>

<p>i rejected all the loans. i really needed them, but i was too scared not to be able to pay them back. also, for 16thousand, i have to return 22thou.</p>

<p>They were very generous with my financial aid. I have an EFC of 0, and have a dependent. Everything was covered by grants, except for about $1000 in work study and $4000 in loans.</p>

<p>@ nana & tessey: Thanks for the advice! I actually went in person to Financial Aid a couple of weeks ago, and the representative there directed me to the appeal process. My dad just finished getting all of the documents together (including copies of the medical bill), and he’s going to send it in soon. I hope it really does make a difference. After hearing the testimonies from everyone here, I am feeling a lot more hopeful.</p>

<p>KayleyFC/
we all cross fingers for you. Hopefully, you will get it. </p>

<p>good luck</p>

<p>I think it will work out for you as it worked out for us. They are more than willing to work with different situations, you just have to ask, as you did!</p>