<p>I’m transferring to a school in upstate NY and I just got my financial aid package. It’s good news and bad news. </p>
<p>I’m an independent student with 0 EFC. I’m getting the full pell grant, plus $11,000 in transfer scholarships. When my stafford loans are added in I have just enough to cover tuition with $900 left over (for one quarter), plus I have $800 in work study. I still have to pay for books, health insurance, transportation, room and board. I think books, health insurance, and (public) transportation will take up the $900 easily. Then I have ~$350/mo work study. </p>
<p>I think I still have to come up with around $1000 a month to close the gap. It looks like the jobs in that area are mostly minimum wage, so I am looking at working 30+ hours a week while going full-time and an academically challenging school in a fairly intense major (software engineering).</p>
<p>I work and go to school full-time right now, so I am used to it. I don’t mind working, but what if I can’t find a job after I get there?</p>
<p>Based on the schools cost of attendance I still have $2150 of unmet need. The other school that accepted me offered me something called an EOG Grant and a Perkins Loan. Should I ask the school about this?</p>
<p>You definitively should. Since you’re independent for federal aid purpose, this might help you to get additional aid, even if unsubsidized, from other sources.</p>
<p>Is health insurance mandatory for your school? I don’t want to be in the position of ever recommending not having health insurance, but if you don’t have money…</p>
<p>Re: health insurance. Most schools require that the student either uses their plan or has a plan of their own that meets certain requirements. </p>
<p>Are you an OOS student or attending a private university? The amounts of your pell, scholarship and stafford loans would pay instate tuition/room/board at most public universities.</p>
<p>Does your school guarantee to meet full need? If not, you are will need to figure out a way to finance this schooling. </p>
<p>When you made the plan to transfer, how did you think you were going to pay the bills?</p>
<p>It was probably the SEOG (a federal grant) and the Perkins (a federal loan)you were offered at the school. You can ask this school but you may be out of luck. Both the SEOG and the Perkins are campus based aid programs which means each school determines their own criteria for awarding them. Each school has a very limited amount of funds for both the SEOG and the Perkins and some schools do not even have any Perkins funds. This is different to the Pell and Stafford which are automatic $$ amounts based on your EFC. You may meet the criteria for the awards at school A but not at school B. So while I would expect the Pell and Stafford loan amounts to be the same from 2 (or 10) schools, the SEOG and Perkins will not be the same. (for instance the max SEOG at my son’s school is $200 while at my daughter’s it is $2000). Also as the funds for these awards are *very *limited, they run out early. My son got the $200 for the upcoming year as he filed early, but did not get it last year as he did not file early.</p>
<p>Always worth asking but don’t count on it as, even if you meet their criteria, the funds may not be available. Once they have awarded the $$$s they have, they cannot get any more.</p>
I figured I’d cross the bridge when I came to it, and I’m at it.</p>
<p>I’m not interesting in continuing my studies in Nevada, which is where I could get cheap instate tuition. The budget stuff is too precarious. I don’t want to trust my future to Jim Gibbons. Also, with the scholarships that the school I am transferring to has given me it won’t really cost any more than if I stayed here.</p>
<p>I’m just looking for advice on meeting that $2000 gap in need. As I said, I don’t mind working. I’m just concerned that I won’t find a job soon enough. And with the stress of a new school and cross-country move adding a 30+ hour a week job in the mix on top of work study isn’t all that appealing.</p>
<p>Are you planning on living on campus? If not, I think $1K a month is more than you’ll have to spend for the Rochester area, especially if you can find a roommate or two. Are you taking the max Stafford loans?</p>
<p>I’ll be living off campus. The roommate thing is a little difficult being an older student. Yes, The figures above include the maximum stafford loans.</p>
<p>I would reevaluate staying in state. Working 30 hours per week with decent pay is not something I’d count on in upstate NY. It would also seriously compromise your college experience. And huge loans will compromise your future.</p>
<p>So many young people here want to go other places so badly that I think they often neglect to fully think through the consequences. All schools are having problems now, the grass is not necessarily greener.</p>
<p>Posh, I was thinking maybe some grad student/Pharm student from the area would be looking to share. You might find some advice on decent low cost options from the parents who offer help on the “in loco parentis” thread stickied at the top of the Parents forum.</p>
<p>As far as jobs go, I would look for something that would be more weekend intensive and offer good tips, especially if you’re over 21! Also, check with the school about jobs - they usually have listings for both on campus and local employers.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice sk8rmom. Finding grad students to share housing with is a great idea. I’ll also probably take another job while I am here (I’m not moving until the end of February) and try to save more money. Although, that’s sort of a double edged sword. </p>
<p>hmom5, I’m not at all interested in staying in state. Neither UNLV nor UNR has a software engineering program, and the computer science programs at both aren’t particularly good. Plus the governor already tried to cut the universities’ budgets in half, but the legislature stopped him. What if he gets more support next time he tries it? It is too much of a risk. </p>
<p>The jobs aren’t here anyway. The unemployment rate in NV is around 11% right now and there are very few technology jobs, and the tech jobs that exist are all in gaming, which is not where I see myself in the future. Nevada is also a lot more expensive to live in. The scholarships I am getting in NY bring the cost down to around the same level as if I stayed here.</p>
<p>I’m going to struggle either way. It makes more sense for me to go and struggle than to stay and struggle.</p>