IAmTheWalrus
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2005
- Messages
- 241
Okay, so I'm in alot of debt already and I'm not sure what to do. Fair warning, this will probably be a long post.
So I moved from Illinois to Florida to attend school. I do not have Florida residency and do not seem to be able to get it, despite my intent on living here for a long, long time because I'm still considered a dependent and my mother is an Illinois resident. Another huge issue is my dependency status. I do to talk to my mother, do not accept money from her, and do not even know where she is right now. We are completely estraned and I have heard that she is in rehab right now after losing her house. I don't know.
But because of those two things, it is very hard to complete a FAFSA correctly. Because I cannot complete it correctly, I have to deal with the financial aid administrators of each college I attend (2 so far, more on that later). My financial aid ia always fucked up, and I end up having to take out loans when I feel like I should be eligible for grants. (Yes, I am also working on scholarships, but so far have only been awarded 1 worth $1000)
I went to a very good private university (Stetson) for my first semester of college and then did a very dumb thing and transferred to a community college where my boyfriend at the time was living. I was having problems with the financial ai department and thought it might be wiser to try a community college for a while. It wasn't because I still don't know what I want to do and I have taken heaps of useless, but still very expensive because of out of state tuition, classes.
Now I have broken up with the bf and have no reason to be in this shithole town. I have family in the southern part of the state and am considering New College. It seems like a good liberal arts school with a unique curriculum, emphasis on art, individuality, etc.
But the financial aid situation is still not looking very good. I just cannot see the sense in arriving at this school with no money and no idea how to pay for tuition like I did at the other two. I am half tempted to quit altogether, but when you drop below half time status you have to start paying back loans and I can barely afford to eat, let alone spend a bunch of money on loans. If I could, I would. I am trying to figure out a place to start as far as dealing with financial aid at New College. I guess I will start by applying for as many scholarships as possible, and trying to sift through the dependency and residency issues first.
I just do not know what to do. I guess I would just like to know if anyone has been in a situation like this. I know there are lots of people with no money, but how are these people going to school?????? I just have the feeling that there is a much better way of going about this, a way to get less screwed lol.
By the way, I don't know if this is relevant or not, but I plan on doing a psychology major with a minor in Spanish and maybe trying to incorporate some art into that (art therapy). There is not much money in this field, but I'm really not very interested in anything else. Also, I am probably about $11,000 in debt right now and I have just ended my third semester of college.
Any help would be much appreciated-Thanks!!!
So I moved from Illinois to Florida to attend school. I do not have Florida residency and do not seem to be able to get it, despite my intent on living here for a long, long time because I'm still considered a dependent and my mother is an Illinois resident. Another huge issue is my dependency status. I do to talk to my mother, do not accept money from her, and do not even know where she is right now. We are completely estraned and I have heard that she is in rehab right now after losing her house. I don't know.
But because of those two things, it is very hard to complete a FAFSA correctly. Because I cannot complete it correctly, I have to deal with the financial aid administrators of each college I attend (2 so far, more on that later). My financial aid ia always fucked up, and I end up having to take out loans when I feel like I should be eligible for grants. (Yes, I am also working on scholarships, but so far have only been awarded 1 worth $1000)
I went to a very good private university (Stetson) for my first semester of college and then did a very dumb thing and transferred to a community college where my boyfriend at the time was living. I was having problems with the financial ai department and thought it might be wiser to try a community college for a while. It wasn't because I still don't know what I want to do and I have taken heaps of useless, but still very expensive because of out of state tuition, classes.
Now I have broken up with the bf and have no reason to be in this shithole town. I have family in the southern part of the state and am considering New College. It seems like a good liberal arts school with a unique curriculum, emphasis on art, individuality, etc.
But the financial aid situation is still not looking very good. I just cannot see the sense in arriving at this school with no money and no idea how to pay for tuition like I did at the other two. I am half tempted to quit altogether, but when you drop below half time status you have to start paying back loans and I can barely afford to eat, let alone spend a bunch of money on loans. If I could, I would. I am trying to figure out a place to start as far as dealing with financial aid at New College. I guess I will start by applying for as many scholarships as possible, and trying to sift through the dependency and residency issues first.
I just do not know what to do. I guess I would just like to know if anyone has been in a situation like this. I know there are lots of people with no money, but how are these people going to school?????? I just have the feeling that there is a much better way of going about this, a way to get less screwed lol.
By the way, I don't know if this is relevant or not, but I plan on doing a psychology major with a minor in Spanish and maybe trying to incorporate some art into that (art therapy). There is not much money in this field, but I'm really not very interested in anything else. Also, I am probably about $11,000 in debt right now and I have just ended my third semester of college.
Any help would be much appreciated-Thanks!!!