<p>OK…my school left a $16,000 dollar gap in my financial aid…and I just got rejeced from the sallie mae signature loan…twice. Am I out of options?</p>
<p>still a few scholarships out there…</p>
<p>At this point it’s unlikely that you’ll suddenly find hidden scholarships to meet anywhere near your need. IF your meeting with the school FinAid office doesn’t change anything you might need to shift into another gear: community college for a year or two, live at home and commute, Americorps or other service that will help pay, etc.
Lots of parents on the parent forum with more experience than me, so try asking there.</p>
<p>Go to a public school. Thought you should have your college choices and back up plan all figured out in April and May.</p>
<p>You’re absolutely certain you have no one to cosign a loan for you?</p>
<p>Even if you were able to get a $16,000 loan, assuming that you’d need 3 more years of at least $16,000 loans, that’s not worth it. That is too high an amount of loans to carry: would seriously hamper your post graduate options. Usually the first year aid is your best aid. Loans also tend to increase in later years.</p>
<p>I agree with dragonmom about your options.</p>
<p>In checking your posts, I see that the college is U Conn. and you live 800 miles away and have an EFC of 0. IMO it’s not worth it for you to take out such loans to go there. Do check your instate publics and community colleges.</p>
<p>It also would be worth it to take a gap year to be able to apply again to colleges and give yourself better 4-year options.</p>
<p>I know you’ve already paid your deposit to U Conn., but it would be better to lose that money than to cripple your future with the kind of loans your considering taking out.</p>
<p>I see that your stats are below. If you are willing to take a gap year, I think that there are parents here, including me, who can help you find a college that will give you the aid you need and help you have decent chances to med school (Since I found a post with a comment by you on U Conn’s bio building, I assume you’re premed).</p>
<p>I actually think that you’d have your best chances of accomplishing this by going to school in your current state, W. Va., where you probably stand out as a stellar student. More than likely W. Va. has programs to help instate premed students because typically rural places and relatively low income stats have hard times finding doctors, so W. Va. probably has lots of incentives to help instate students get to med school.</p>
<p>Since I saw comments from you on other boards that indicated that you used to live elsewhere and since you were applying to various places out of state, I am guessing that you aren’t that fond of W. Va. However it probably would give you your best college options including your best shot at getting to med school. Your math score is very low for someone who wants to go to med school, but I think that going to a place like a W. Va. public – where you probably would be a star and get all sorts of mentoring to get to med school – would put you on the best track to reach your dreams.</p>
<p>“UCONN was my first acceptance letter. I’ll probably end up going there…except they gave kind of a sucky financial aid packet.
Where you live: West Virginia
GPA: 3.5 (UW)
SATv: 650
SATm: 590 (Very bad Alegbra 2 teacher…)
SATw: 600
ACT: 29
Rank: 3 of 20 (small private school)
Major: Molecular and Cell Biology”</p>
<p>I wouldn’t apply for more private loans as sallie mae is by far the most giving and the more you apply the worse your credit will become.</p>
<p>just go to s state school, big names schools in the long run wont get you anywhere special.</p>
<p>Sounds like UCONN screwed you. I’m an admissions/financial aid expert (28 yrs) and there are so many other options for you I don’t have the space to write them all.</p>
<p>I just wanted to add my voice to the other parents here – U CONN is not worth $64,000 of debt. You would regret it, I guarantee it. And if you are considering Med School – financial aid for that is usually all loans and alot of them.</p>
<p>I suggest a gap year – take a look at Americorps. Then reapply with some advice from some of the parents here.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Honey, please re-assess your educational options. That with the University of Conn. is not going to work out for you, financially. No offense to that school or anything. </p>
<p>What were your other acceptance letters? Did you get a better deal with an in state school? </p>
<p>Also, your SAT maths and kinda sorta your ACT score are not super swell at all. And, I am making reference to the course of study you desire to pursue. Alright? No offense intended to you personally. Like, if you wanted to study History, I would not say anything. But, with what you want to study, you need a wee bit more study behind you with your maths. </p>
<p>You could do a good six months of prep to raise your scores on those two tests. And, you could also do a massive review of sorts through a Community College for this with your maths. I am serious.</p>
<p>You say you had a bad Alagebra II teacher? Too late to do anything about that now at the High School level. </p>
<p>But, you could take your maths into your own hands by doing some self study or Community College work and then taking the SAT maths as well as the ACT over. All it would take would maybe be two Community College classes. Or, self study. I have yet to see that be deemed unethical by anyone. You take, maybe…Algebra II over and then slide on in to some Trig and/or Calc…take those two tests over and have that be it. Or, you could self study.</p>
<p>No biggie.</p>
<p>You have many more educational options just almost right within reach! Do not give up, but maybe do not do this with the University of Conn. </p>
<p>I have rather rocking stats (that is soo not modest, I am just trying to make a point). But, I am super poor. I held out for more money in the form of a good academic scholarship. Haven’t cried over anything yet, either.</p>
<p>Reecy, I would like to read some of the better options that you have in mind. OP is looking for advice, so I would think that the OP would like specific suggestions.</p>
<p>I have to agree with the previous posters - that is way too much debt - especially if you plan to further your education more. Did you apply to any other schools? If you have options that are not going to put you $64,000 in debt please consider them.</p>
<p>what schools would you consider are worth $64,000 in debt?</p>
<p>Yea…thanks everybody. The University of New Hampshire gave me $28,000 in financial aid, which is practically all but about $4,000. It’s just, it’s probably too late to have them let me back in, no?</p>
<p>Soccer, It certainly does not hurt to ask! If not, see if they can take you in January with a good aid package.</p>
<p>Alright, thanks! I’m waiting on a call from UConn financial aid, but as bad as they’re acting, it probably won’t do much good. I mean…how can they advertise 70% need met, then leave $16,000 uncovered for someone with an EFC of 0?</p>
<p>soccer_guy472, UConn is notorious for bad FA. My D was accepted (in-state) and her FA package was not nearly as good as UNH, where she will be attending. All things considered, the cost was a wash between the 2 schools, and UNH gave her a nice scholarship. UConn gave no scholarship, which was ridiculous, as her stats were amazing. After our dealings with UConn, it seems to be a school that doesn’t really care who attends. I would try contacting UNH to see if you would still have time to enroll there. Good luck!</p>
<p>I am not talking about the OP’s package, but UNH on average meets 84% of need. They meet need mostly with loans, b/c the breakdown on the CB website shows that they usually meet need with 34% of the package as grants and 66% in loans. It does not break this down further between OOS and instate. For OOS the school’s sticker price is over 30,000/year for tuition, and R &B alone. Add to that costs for personal expenses and books.</p>
<p>definitely call the UNH and ask if you can still attend with the same FA package – you never know how. That is by far the better choice. I have a feeling that even if UCONN increased your package this year, it wouldn’t be as good a deal as UNH and next year would probably be a nightmare again.</p>