Have any of you had issues with financial aid?

MKE · Post by **MKE** » Fri Nov 03, 2006 11:50 pm

This is a quick post, but i got my second, and last financial aid check in today.

when i signed up at my school they said i was getting ~2700$ financial aid. which would have covered my books and tuition. and it wasnt even just this school, all the schools my sat scores were sent to gave me the same estimate.

now, in the past 2 weeks, i've gotten both checks. one for $666.25, and the other for $250. this doesnt even cover all my books.

i'm calling the financial aid office on monday and seeing what's going on, i'm just curious if anyone else here has had this same issue.

Prophet][ · Post by **Prophet][** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 12:25 am

ahhh HECS, how I love thee.

Travis of the Cosmos · Sat Nov 04, 2006 10:45 am

Maybe they deducted your tuition from your aid and sent you what was left.
That is the way my school handled financial aid.
And they dole it out one semester at a time, not the entire academic year.

$900 for textbooks seem very expensive for just for one semester or is that the for two semesters?

arrowhead · Post by **arrowhead** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 12:34 pm

That is the leftover. That is about what I had leftover after the cal and pell grants. Check your financial aid calander, and it should have the total of your grants, then a deduction for tuition, then the leftover amount which should be the same amount you recieved in checks.

Travis is also correct, WTF are you taking where its gonna cost almost 9 hundy for books? The most I ever paid for books was 500 and that was when I was taking 16 units.

Post by **Roofus** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 12:37 pm

If you get your books from Amazon, you can save several hundred dollars. Just be sure you order them early. This semester, I saved about $300.

Post by **melancholy** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 4:01 pm

Are you sure they are not talking over the course of two semesters? For instance, I received a letter from Ball State telling me I will be receiving $2400 in extra financial aid. That translates into $1200 now, and $1200 for the spring semester.

MKE · Post by **MKE** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 7:40 pm

no, that was for this semester only, and i've already paid for everything (tuition and books) out of "pocket" (credit card) and was waiting for the 'reimbursement' checks to come in.

and all 700$ wasnt just for books, it was for everything for school, which my one design art class, i spent about 300$ on alone just getting the painting supplies.

i also know i could have gotten my books somewhere cheaper, but it was much easier going to the schools book store and them telling me what i need, and getting it right there.

butters · Post by **butters** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 9:49 pm

You've got to fill out 20,000 forms and make 20 phone calls to get all of the financial aid that you deserve.

Post by **melancholy** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 9:54 pm

MKE wrote:no, that was for this semester only, and i've already paid for everything (tuition and books) out of "pocket" (credit card) and was waiting for the 'reimbursement' checks to come in.

and all 700$ wasnt just for books, it was for everything for school, which my one design art class, i spent about 300$ on alone just getting the painting supplies.

i also know i could have gotten my books somewhere cheaper, but it was much easier going to the schools book store and them telling me what i need, and getting it right there.

Dang, I have a ton of oil paints I will never use if you need anything. I had to take one painting class, but I absolutely hate painting, so I'll never use them again.

gamedudex2 · Post by **gamedudex2** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 11:27 am

i spent over $800 just on film alone this semester

SuperMegatron · Post by **SuperMegatron** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 1:00 pm

Yeap the books are a killer at most schools. Here is a trick of the trade dont buy your books the library at all colleges keeps a copy of all currently used text books on file. You can go there and read the chapter needed for class and take notes out of the book and even photo copy out what is needed.

arrowhead · Post by **arrowhead** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 7:08 pm

SuperMegatron wrote:Yeap the books are a killer at most schools. Here is a trick of the trade dont buy your books the library at all colleges keeps a copy of all currently used text books on file. You can go there and read the chapter needed for class and take notes out of the book and even photo copy out what is needed.

That isnt true, it isnt the library's responsibility to keep texts on hold. If a profe puts one there, your good. if not, your fucked.

butters · Post by **butters** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 7:14 pm

arrowhead wrote:
SuperMegatron wrote:Yeap the books are a killer at most schools. Here is a trick of the trade dont buy your books the library at all colleges keeps a copy of all currently used text books on file. You can go there and read the chapter needed for class and take notes out of the book and even photo copy out what is needed.
That isnt true, it isnt the library's responsibility to keep texts on hold. If a profe puts one there, your good. if not, your fucked.

On top of that, if someone checks out the book, you are screwed.