Hello, all.
I am enrolled to attend a City University of New York community college beginning this fall in pursuit of a degree in business administration. Because I am from out-of-state, I am undertaking more than twice the amount of debt that a student at this school averages because I have no choice other than to pay my rent with student loans as opposed to living at home. However, because I want to graduate with as little student debt as possible, I had intended to work for six hours each day. I made this very clear to my financial counselor and to my admissions counselor when I applied to this school. I was made to believe that this would not be a problem.
I had intended to move to New York at the end of June, ahead of orientation, which would have provided me with the time to find work and settle in. Instead, I returned home because of some medical issues involving my parents and will not return to New York until the end of this week. At orientation, they said that we would receive our schedules on August 1 (we did not receive them until Friday, though that is inconsequential) and that the schedules could not be changed without an official validation. This was not a red flag for me at the time as I thought that my choice in schedule was fairly safe and at the very least, the early reassurances from my counselors could serve in my favor. However, they have made it very clear that not only must I explain my reason for requesting a schedule change request (my reasoning is pasted below), but I must also submit an official letter or document of validation for my request.
I worry because the only given examples for why one may request a schedule change “includes but is not limited to medical verification, proof of need for child care, and religious observance.” Despite employment seeming like a fairly obvious reason in my opinion, it is not listed. The language gives me some wiggle room, but because I do not yet have secured employment, I cannot provide validation. “Requests without supporting documentation will not be reviewed.” means that I am caught between a rock and a hard place. I had selected a smaller school because, in my experience, smaller schools tend to treat the students more personally but this is not the case at all. I can’t transfer this late into the year and I can’t go home until the next semester, so the only thing I can do is find a loophole. The only firm thing that I could think of would be getting my parents to sign a letter on their businesses letterhead stating that I need to be available during certain afternoon hours. That leaves room to ask questions though. The religious exemption seems to be my next best bet, but I really do not like to lie about my religious beliefs for personal benefit as it seems disrespectful to true practitioners. However, I’m desperate and religion cannot be unreasonably questioned, legally.
Has anyone ever been in this situation? What did you do?
What I wrote, so far:
“I am requesting a change in my given schedule because, as an out-of-state student, I am taking on significantly more debt than the average [SCHOOL] student and will need to be able to work for a certain period of time each day equal to or greater than six hours each weekday. If my classes were to end at 6:15 p.m. each day and my work were to begin immediately afterward (which is obviously not realistic), I would not be returning home until nearly 1:00 a.m. each morning. Essentially, I would be unable to meet the work stipulation set for me. While it is too late to transfer to another school that could accommodate my needs at this time, I would be all but forced to do so in the next semester as over an academic year, the difference in debt would equate to roughly $10,000.00 or a $16,000.00 vs. $6,000.00. Though I chose to attend [SCHOOL] because of it’s outstanding progress and innovation in the offered academic categories and fields, I am simply unwilling to graduate with thrice the amount of debt necessary because of an uncooperative schedule. I do understand that this request is not to be undertaken lightly and that because of the number of students entering this school during this academic period, it is impossible to provide each and all of them with their desired schedule but I truly feel as though the circumstances for which I am requesting this change are unique, genuine, and viable.”