Can I do anything to better my situation?

Paying for College
1

<p>Hey guys, last year was my freshmen year at IU and the actual COA ended up being near 30K.</p>

<p>To cover that, the school gave me a merit based 6K grant and I look some federal loan- not much available for a freshmen.</p>

<p>To cover the rest I needed a 18K Parent Plus loan and on top of that I ended up spending another 3K on my own money for books, transport etc…</p>

<p>To avoid that this year, I applied to become a RA for the school and my charisma shined through. That equates to free dorming, meal plan, and a 1300 stipend. I still have my 6K grant and this year (sophomore) the federal loans went up to 9K. Unfortunately, after my school send me something along the nature of a CSS profile my Pell Grant got cut from 2500 to 400 and for some reason I didn’t get the ACC grant I was hoping for. I still need to cover another 12K or so.</p>

<p>Now, my freshmen year I worked hard and was not only accepted into the Kelley (School of Business) program but also the Mitte Honors program.</p>

<p>I called my school and they advised for me to set up an appointment with my schools scholarship adviser but I was hoping you guys can offer some more advice.</p>

<p>I’m also considering transferring into NYU Stern for my last 2 years- are my loans going to bury me or can I expect more grants from a prestigious private university like NYU?</p>

2

<p>NYU is notoriously bad with financial aid. They give out a lot of loans and save their big grants for kids who they’re afraid of losing to more prestigious schools. I wouldn’t bank on getting much in the way of grants from them, unfortunately.</p>

3

<p>make an appointment with the FA office and find out specifically why the Pell grant was cut and what happened to the ACC grant. It may be totally legit or you may not have provided correct figures.</p>

<p>Then – check out your school’s departmental scholarships.</p>

4

<p>Sounds good. I already called my honors adviser an she recommended to me that I speak with the scholarship coordinator with my school.</p>

<p>Maybe I can talk them into giving me the standard Direct Admit package-4K!</p>