Is there a way for me to take out more than $7500 in loans my junior year without a cosigner?

Paying for College
21

The Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan is a financial aid program intended to expand access to UC for lower-income students.

UC’s Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan will ensure that you will not have to pay UC’s systemwide tuition and fees out of your own pocket if you are a California resident whose total family income is less than $80,000 a year and you qualify for financial aid — and that’s just for starters.

Blue and Gold students with sufficient financial need can qualify for even more grant aid to help reduce the cost of attending.

Type of aid: Gift aid (from multiple sources)

How to apply: FAFSA/California Dream Act Application + Cal Grant GPA Verification Form (you will be automatically considered when you submit these forms by March 2; there is no separate application for this program)

What’s covered

If you are eligible, your systemwide tuition and fees will be fully covered by scholarship or grant money. The plan combines all sources of scholarship and grant awards you receive (federal, state, UC and private) to go toward covering your tuition and fees.

Students with greater financial need can qualify for even more grant support to help defray other educational expenses (like books, housing, transportation, etc.).

You don’t need to fill out a separate application to qualify for the Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan. You will receive the benefits of the Blue and Gold plan automatically if you qualify.

Eligibility requirements

Submit a FAFSA or California Dream Act Application and Cal Grant GPA Verification Form by March 2
California resident or have AB 540 status
Demonstrate total family income below $80,000 and financial need, as determined for federal need-based aid programs

Be in your first four years as a UC undergraduate (first two for transfer students)
Meet other campus basic requirements for UC grant aid (for example, be enrolled at least half-time during the academic year, meet campus academic progress standards, not be in default on student loans, etc.)

22

You need to find out if there is an appeal process as well.

23

Unfortunately, @mom2collegekids, there’s no appeals process for a missed deadline (unless the student has proof of mailing, etc., etc.).

24

^^
Thanks.

I wonder if this student used his school’s transfer office. It would seem that these offices need to make these things more clear, including that fed aid is different from state aid. …different process, different req’ts.

That said, I think the Cal Grant deadline for FAFSA is too early.

25

Okay, this is what I found regarding Cal Grant eligibility for students transferring from community college to a USC or UC:

To qualify for a Cal Grant Transfer Entitlement Award, you must submit the FAFSA and your verified community college GPA between January 1 and March 2 of the year prior to which you plan to transfer to a four-year college.

As I understand this, it means that a student’s only chance to apply for this award is before enrolling at a 4-year college - otherwise the student loses eligibility for this award altogether. (The other requirements are a qualifying community college GPA (2.4) and that the student be under the age of 28 when applying.)

@mvara742, you’ll need to confirm that this is accurate, but if it is, you may indeed need to delay your enrollment for a year - otherwise, you could lose your eligibility for this award altogether. From the [UCD website](http://catalog.ucdavis.edu/admission/specialadmit.html):

The Deferred Enrollment program allows newly admitted undergraduate students to postpone their initial enrollment at UC Davis for up to one year . . . To be eligible for Deferred Enrollment, you must submit your Statement of Intent to Register (SIR) and deposit by the stated deadline, satisfy all university admission and entrance requirements and provide all official transcripts and examination scores. After submitting the SIR, you can browse our deferred enrollment FAQs and apply for deferred enrollment through the MyAdmissions website. You must also submit a $70 processing fee within seven days of submitting your deferred enrollment application.

You will also need to confirm (and make sure you get this in writing) that deferring your enrollment for a year will not impact your eligibility to apply for the Transfer Entitlement Grant next March.

Call CSAC or the UCD financial aid office on Monday to find out what your options are. I’m sorry it’s not better news. :frowning:

26

I called UCD’s financial aid office, and they told me to send in a letter of appeal. They said there is a 50/50 chance that it will be accepted. If I am, I’ll be able to receive the Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan ($11,000 to $12,000)

Otherwise I’ll have to wait another year to attend UCD. Any suggestions on what I could include in my letter would be greatly appreciated :slight_smile: My reasoning is that I simply misunderstood the deadline date so I’m a little stuck on what to write.

@mom2collegekids: From my knowledge, Pierce College doesn’t have a transfer center - I was told to see a counselor regarding any transfer questions.

27

If you were misadvised, tell them that. If it was simple a lack of advice (due to the lack of a transfer center), then say so. Tell them you were on your own trying to sort out the financial aid application process for transfer students, and just misunderstood the deadline.

Explain also that without financial aid, you will be absolutely unable to enroll for the coming year, and you’ve worked hard to get to this point, and would be heartbroken to have to delay your education for a year. Or something like that. :slight_smile:

Be honest, keep it brief. Acknowledge your mistake. Hope for the best . . .

28

Don’t say that there isn’t a transfer center because there is one at Pierce.
http://www.piercecollege.edu/offices/transfer_center/

Your best bet is to take the "I’m very low income, my parents didn’t go to college, no one at home to help advise me, I didn’t understand that FAFSA is an app for fed aid, not also the app for Calif aid, blah blah blah …approach. If there was a reason that you couldn’t submit FAFSA earlier (parents needed more time to gather info for income info or whatever, then include a mention.

Be very apologetic, be extremely nice, and perhaps mention that having to delay a year to transfer so that you can get the needed aid will be risky because of the concepts you learned this past year will apply to the next level of coursework, so you don’t want to risk forgetting them.

Educators are sympathetic to low income First Gen students who have no one at home helping them with the whole education process.

29

https://fafsa.ed.gov/deadlines.htm

Good luck! It’s a good lesson to others too that state aid deadlines can be very early. And if you qualify for federal and state aid (or aren’t sure if you do) you should send in FAFSA, state forms as early as possible after Jan 1.
I also didn’t know until I read it here on CC that you can file FAFSA without having taxes filed, and then update it asap after your tax return has been processed.

30

^^^ This! If you are indeed first gen., you should definitely mention it in your appeal.

31

Thank you guys so much! I’ll definitely include everything that you guys mentioned. :slight_smile:

@mom2collegekids : The ‘transfer center’ aka “Student Services Building, First Floor” is the counseling office - those three buildings that show up on the website are all under construction & aren’t even open anymore. That being said, I’m sure that they could have informed me of the March 2 deadline if I went in and asked, so that was my mistake.

32

Could I get some input on my letter of appeal please? (Not sure if I should start a new thread or not.)

To Whom it May Concern:

My name is X, and I have recently received the honor of being accepted to the University of Davis for the Fall of 2015. I am writing to respectfully request consideration for the appeal of my financial aid award package. Due to the fact that I misunderstood the Cal Grant deadline, my information was not submitted to FAFSA before March 2nd and I was not able to receive any UC or Cal Grants. I am extremely grateful for the Federal Pell Grant that was awarded to me, however I still have a large gap in my financial aid that would make attending your school an impossibility. Although I can only hold myself responsible for this outcome, I would like to explain why I encourage you to review my financial aid application for this year and reconsider my case in its entirety.

On the FAFSA, my EFC is $0 since my family income is $28,000 a year. I currently live with my mother who works six days a week, and with my father who has been unemployed since 2008. He is unable to work due to his battle with severe mental illness and drug addiction, which has been a distressing process to witness over the years. I work on the weekends, but the money I earn goes directly towards daily expenses and bills. Without any credit history or a cosigner, it is not an option for me to cover the remaining cost of attendance with student loans. Aside from my aspirations to delve deeper into the study of international relations, a huge part of my decision to attend college comes from a strong sentiment to help take my parents out of their strenuous financial situation one day.

I hope you will take these details into consideration as you review my financial aid application for this year. Your wonderful institution has been my dream school since I first visited the University of Davis two years ago. I immediately felt a natural affinity with the venerable, calm energy of the campus. As I leant against a tree at the Arboretum overlooking the smooth greenery where the vibrant flowers and grasses waved in the wind, I made a vow to myself to one day stand behind the walls of the magnificent buildings. Since then, I have transferred schools and worked hard to improve my cumulative GPA from a 2.45 to a 3.75. I have high hopes that the learning environment inside of the buildings are just as beautiful as they are on the outside, and I write this letter with faith that I will be able to see this for myself when financial reasons no longer restrict me from accepting your offer of admission.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

–> Do you think the beginning of the letter “I have recently received the honor of being accepted to the University of Davis…” is too much sugar coating? Should I keep it simple, and just say: “I have recently been accepted to the University of Davis for the Fall of 2015.”

–> Is this part unnecessary? I want to take it out if it just sounds like a desperate attempt to get sympathy from the reader. “Aside from my aspirations to delve deeper into the study of international relations, a huge part of my decision to attend college comes from a strong sentiment to help take my parents out of their strenuous financial situation one day.”

—> Inputs would be greatly appreciated! Thank you :slight_smile:

33

Also: “I made a vow to myself to one day stand behind the walls of the magnificent buildings.”
Should I say “behind the walls”, or “inside the walls”?

34

Is leant a word?

35

http://grammarist.com/spelling/leaned-or-leant/

yes

36

“For leant, it is more popular outside of the United States, especially in Britain. That said, worldwide leaned is used ten times as much as leant. Looking forward, we think leant will slowly fade in usage.”

37

Yeah it’s less common. But not incorrect. I say dreamt instead of dreamed. But I say learned instead of learnt.

38

I doubt the school will give more money because a deadline was missed. Family income was already considered, thus there are no new facts or sudden change in financial circumstances. Even with Cal grant money, would the school have been affordable without a cosigner or Parent Plus loans?

39

I’m not an expert on the best way to word a FA appeal, but I would keep it simple and to the point. It might not work, but if they told you to send a letter I would give it a try.

40

I’m happy to help, @mvara742. I sent you a PM and am still waiting for your reply.