@cptofthehouse I’m currently a commuter student, so what I will save in gas will go toward transportation.
Also, my house is paid for, so my mom doesn’t have a mortgage. I don’t think she’ll ever sell it - even when my brother moves out.
I think I’ll contact the transfer coordinator since I’m not exactly sure who admitted me.
A formal appeal shouldn’t be necessary. I’d recommend calling, but email would be the next best option.
If a Perkins loan wasn’t in your aid pkg, you can’t get that. That has to be offered by the college in your FA pkg. You weren’t offered one. Usually those only are for Pell students.
@dodgersmom Do you have any tips on how to word my email?
I don’t want to sound selfish, but I personally can’t pay more than $6,200 per year (without wiping out my savings and checking accounts) and I don’t want my mom to pay more than $3,500 because that’s going to be a financial strain as it is.
She’s already talking about selling my car and cutting back on her spending.
@kgos16 Getting a Perkins loan is out of the question then. Are there any private loans you recommend?
@mom2collegekids This past aid year (2014-2015) I was awarded a Pell grant, so my mom must’ve made slightly more this year than last.
Will you have a co-signer for the private loans? You can always look with your local bank/credit union, and some of the major player in the private loan game include Sallie Mae, Discover, Wells Fargo.
Sallie Mae loans have some good options like cosigner release (where, after graduation, if you have good income and credit history and successfully make a certain number of payments on time you can get your cosigner’s name off of the loan). I read earlier that your mother doesn’t want to take out any loans or cosign and while I can’t really fault her for that a feature like this might help ease her concerns. (Your father may be willing to do this for you as well since it doesn’t require any upfront outlay of cash.)
Absent that, and absent any merit scholarships for transfer students coming in all of a sudden, I’m not sure how affordable this school is at this point though. It sounds like your plan over-relied on those matching contributions from both parents; it can be hard to have to generate an extra $3,500 of cash like that without borrowing or getting the school to kick in something extra.
@DmitriR Right after my parents got their taxes done, I ran College Board’s NPC for both of them.
My mom’s net price was $13,100 and my dad’s was $5,600. I was planning on taking out a $7,500 Stafford Loan and contributing $4,000 of my summer earnings, so my mom wouldn’t have to pay very much.
My dad intially acted like he could handle paying $5,600 per year and said he’d support me. So, I was surprised when he said later that he wouldn’t contribute $3,500.
The University of Richmond is my other option and I hope its net price is a few thousand dollars less than Mount Holyoke’s.
If a Perkins loan wasn’t in your aid pkg, you can’t get that.
You may need to choose another school.
If you got a Pell Grant last year, and then this year your mom’s EFC was that high, then she made a GOOD bit more money…not just a little bit. She made a LOT more.
Is $13,100 your mom’s EFC???
My mom's net price was $13,100 and my dad's was $5,600. I was planning on taking out a $7,500 Stafford Loan and contributing $4,000 of my summer earnings, so my mom wouldn't have to pay very much.
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@mom2collegekids According to FAFSA, my mom’s EFC this year is $6,522. The year before, it was around $4,800.
I hope the University of Richmond offers me more aid.
If I’m rejected, I’m stuck at my current college and that means I won’t get to study what I want.
If you can go on campus to both Mt Holyoke and U Richmond, setting up appts to make the day worthwhile. Personally see via department, advisor, financial aid office if there is any additional money you can ‘scratch up’.
If you lay your cards on the table as to your mom assisting what she can with her financial picture and what the numbers add up to. I believe FA office does best with face to face.
If all else fails, you can possibly ask your dad for a loan for the shortfall.
Sounds like you are doing the best you can in your circumstances. Good luck and let us know if you get your FA numbers to be ‘in the clear’ for next year and which school works out for you.
Sometimes money is committed to a student that isn’t continuing or is not going to attend. Sometimes there are benefactors and some scholarships not widely known about - esp since you are not currently on either of these campuses. My DD who was going into her junior year at her school got a $2000 scholarship, and she is hoping to obtain something for a senior in her major.
It never hurts to try to use the networking. It shows how serious and committed you are as a student.
WHat college are you going to now?
Why do you want to transfer?
Did you talk with your dad about those reasons?
Does he know if you can’t transfer you can’t study what you want?
Did he tell you when you applied to college how much he could afford?
Does your parent’s divorce degree say anything about college?
Can you talk to him about other possibilities? Like you take out a loan from him and pay him back in the future?
Nobody likes to hear “I have made a decision on my own, and now you get to pay for it”…make sure you talk to him about everything.
Perkins Loans are given to the lower income students at a specific college…and the college decides what “lower income” means. It is not a loan that is only for Pell Grant recipients.
My DD, oddly, got a Perkins loan for two years, and believe me, we are not low income. But at her college, we must have been “lower” income. To be honest, we were surprised. But we did have two kids in college that year…maybe that made the difference.
In addition, the Perkins was not in her original financial aid package. It was added when she met with her financial aid advisor on acceoted student weekend in April.
So,miss work asking if the school has any more available funds in aid. You never know what the answer will be.
@bopper I’m attending Missouri Southern State University in Joplin.
I want to transfer because MSSU attracts many non-traditional and commuter students. There is no sense of community because most people (athletes and international students are the exceptions) attend their classes and leave. Moreover, MSSU doesn’t have what I want to study. It has economics, but there isn’t a variety of courses. It doesn’t have Arabic or Middle Eastern studies either.
In March 2013, I decided to attend MSSU with the intent of transferring after my sophomore year. Both my parents have known this and I’ve talked regularly with them about it.
In my parents’ divorce papers, it says that he will pay half the cost of tuition at MSSU. I don’t know if that still applies if I attend Mount Holyoke or Richmond.
MSSU’s cost per credit hour is $173.20. If you multiply that times 15, you get $2,595.
When I filled out the CSS Profile, he told me he could only contribute $800, which I know isn’t the case.
I can talk to him about a loan, but it seems like I’ll have better luck asking other family members.
I guess I could tell him the reason I’m staying at MSSU is because he didn’t want to help. But that would be mean…
@thumper1 I would love to attend Mount Holyoke’s admitted students day in a few weeks, but it doesn’t seem wise to spend $1,000 (my grandma would come with me) on plane tickets when I’m already unsure of my ability to afford the college.
@HelloImChelsea Is he contributing half the cost of tuition? I thought you had a full ride? You could talk to a lawyer.
It seems to me that your father should be obligated to pay half the cost of current MSSU tuition no matter where you are attending school.
Another thing…if you are transferring as a junior, your Direct Loan amount is $7500, not $5500.
Did you take a Direct Loan for this current academic year? If not, you should be able to do so if you completed a FAFSA. The amount for a sophomore is $6500. If you don’t need it for this current year, you can bank it for next year.
The $6500 for this current year (assuming you haven’t laready taken this loan) could be divided in half, giving you 3250 per year for the next two years.