Hamman

call during your lunch, that's what I did. If you can't use your phone in school, go off campus

aladdinAWNW

Hm....I don't want to message Proud Husky but I sure wish I had his wise words right now....

So Gates pays for unmet need for the COA....the Cost of Attendance includes tuition, room and board....books? personal expenses? transportation? deposit? btw, the Gates website is SO HARD to navigate.

Oh, and lastly....I don't think the website does a very good job at joining us together and helping us meet each other....it's so complicated and hard to search for people...

Hahastupidme

yeah, i'll definitely call ms. april tomorrow during lunch. oh wait, not tomorrow im busy during lunch, so...ummm...i'll call on friday.
so the website doesn't help us come together?? yeah i agree, the website isn't their greatest thing....

Proud Husky

aladdin--Yes, Gates pays for your COA which should include all of the items you mentioned. If you foresee additional expenses, contact your financial aid counselor (or better yet the Gates contact in the fin. aid office) to see if you can add additional expenses. You can use this process to add thing like a laptop, printer, and student insurance--this is the part that's known as "self-help" (also takes care of loans and work-study). I just brought a 2008 Gates Scholar to the fin. aid office at UW today, and she was able to add her additional expenses and finalize her fin. aid package.

You are right. The Gates website is not very user-friendly. The old site was just as bad if not worse. Facebook helps you get connected with other scholars if you join the group. Plus you will meet many Gates Scholars at the Leadership Conference, and the best way to keep in touch is through Facebook, phone calls, and emails.

If you have other questions, feel free to message if you'd like. I'm more likely to respond that way since I'm on CC less often.

aubrey

Yeah there's the 2008 facebook group link below here (this is like the fifth and probably last time i'm posting it so if anyone wanna keep recycling, feel free)
Login | Facebook

several other scholars already joined so if you're a scholar, you know what to do. it's closed so you have to get approved first.

tscandalous23

Do you guys think I should call the UC Davis financial aid office and see if they will add my $3000 laptop onto my COA and ask them the 50 million questions i have or just make an appointment with the school and fly up there and ask them all my questions? because i want to know how much money I can get off of my COA for a public institution.

Hahastupidme

so all the cost depends on whatever the financial aid counselor says? the laptop and personal expenses?

ahhhhhhhhhh

yup...
10 chars

ahhhhhhhhhh

oh...i have a question....

are we taxed for the scholarships we received? is the Gates tax?
I have about 10,000 in outside scholarship, outside of Gates...are these taxed...

DerailleurGears

I keep calling the Gates Scholarship hotline number for my ID and password, but after I say my SSN and my birthday, it says that they don't have a record of me. I'm really confused. How do I get an email? And what number should I call?

you'llsee...

is this scholarship only for really low income students? My parents make 64,000 a year, so I don't know if I should apply or not.

ahhhhhhhhhh

i would call and speak with a person ...they probably don't have us on file yet....

someone answer MY question!!!

Hahastupidme

sorry ahhhhhhhhhh, i don't know anything about taxes and scholarships. u might wanna talk to ur counselor, she might know something about it.
does gates pay for pharmacy school? pre-pharmacy is only 2 undergrad yrs and gates pays for 4...so shouldn't they pay for at least 2 yrs of pharmacy school?

elizabeth2005

thanks! i thought i didn't get it at first because i sent in my stuff mid march and still didn't get any notification. my package came with the 2nd page of another girl's paper though so i'll have to contact the office.

i would like to know the answer to ahhhhh's question as well. btw, since gates covers COA, what happens to any outside scholarships we get? will the school refunded to us?

elizabeth2005

ahhhhhhh(sry if i'm missing any h's),
i read this post on another thread that might answer your question (i also had the same question),

few questions about scholarship money

swimcatsmom said: "If she does it would depend on the rules of the scholarships so she would have to check those. Some may be payable directly to the school, some may be specifically for tuition etc. Also any scholarships that are over the amount of tuition and fees are taxable so make sure she puts aside money for the taxes.

Also if she is recieving any sort of need based financial aid she is required to report any outside scholarships to the school. "

i'm guessing the outside scholarships we receive are taxable, especially if it's a large amount. is your school refunding the 10k grand you got in scholarships to you because gates cover COA? i guess my question is what happens to those scholarships?

and if they get refunded to us, does that increase my family's contribution the following year? i'm a bit worried cause i know gates only covers everything except family's contribution.