There is yet Hope
I would like to apologize for the semi-incoherent and whiny nature of my last post. I was a bit flustered when I wrote it and on further reflection I can see that I overstated my difficuties.
I was expecting to get pretty much all of my college tuition paid for by financial aid because my family, while living comfortably, is not burdened with a great abundance of excess money. According to the Washinton State education website our family income is less than a quarter of what it "should" be for its size.
Let me make it clear that I never expected for my parents to pay for my education. They have five other kids to worry about and I'm already absorbing more than my share of their resources. While it might be convenient to have parental assistance in funding my time at the UW it really isn't their responsibility and the struggle to make it work without them is probably good for me.
Unfortunately for me, there is something that makes Dad's assets look to be several times what they actually are. This of course elevates the states expectation of his contributions towards my education from nothing to about $7,000 a year. This means that I won't be able to get any government aid.
Because I was confident of getting government aid I wasn't proactive in looking for private scholarships. I've started getting myself in gear on that front but I'm pretty late out of the gate.
This paints a pretty dismal picture of my ability to fund college but things are not so bad as I thought.
First, there is a good possibility that Dad can get things ironed out so that I can give the financial aid people an accurate picture and get all of the help from them that I originally expected.
Secondly, I've got a bit of money stashed away in nooks and crannies, I've got a job and 8 months before school starts. Even afte school starts there have been hundreds of thousands of people who have been able to work their way through college, I'm not so different from them and I can probably fund my college by myself.
Third, I might be able to get a scholarship. I have pretty strong grades, a 97+ percentile SAT score and teachers willing to recommend me.
Finally, if all my other options fall through, the military has just doubled the potential for enlistment bonuses and is offering loads of college money. As a recruit with a two-year degree, strong test scores etc. I should be able to get a fair bit of money and college assistance out of them. (Up to $40k enlistment bonus, $16K annual salary plus living expenses, $71 in college money and that's not counting any of the special duty bonuses currently available.) The army is a last resort because it would mean taking several more years off of school.
Things could definitely be worse.
I was expecting to get pretty much all of my college tuition paid for by financial aid because my family, while living comfortably, is not burdened with a great abundance of excess money. According to the Washinton State education website our family income is less than a quarter of what it "should" be for its size.
Let me make it clear that I never expected for my parents to pay for my education. They have five other kids to worry about and I'm already absorbing more than my share of their resources. While it might be convenient to have parental assistance in funding my time at the UW it really isn't their responsibility and the struggle to make it work without them is probably good for me.
Unfortunately for me, there is something that makes Dad's assets look to be several times what they actually are. This of course elevates the states expectation of his contributions towards my education from nothing to about $7,000 a year. This means that I won't be able to get any government aid.
Because I was confident of getting government aid I wasn't proactive in looking for private scholarships. I've started getting myself in gear on that front but I'm pretty late out of the gate.
This paints a pretty dismal picture of my ability to fund college but things are not so bad as I thought.
First, there is a good possibility that Dad can get things ironed out so that I can give the financial aid people an accurate picture and get all of the help from them that I originally expected.
Secondly, I've got a bit of money stashed away in nooks and crannies, I've got a job and 8 months before school starts. Even afte school starts there have been hundreds of thousands of people who have been able to work their way through college, I'm not so different from them and I can probably fund my college by myself.
Third, I might be able to get a scholarship. I have pretty strong grades, a 97+ percentile SAT score and teachers willing to recommend me.
Finally, if all my other options fall through, the military has just doubled the potential for enlistment bonuses and is offering loads of college money. As a recruit with a two-year degree, strong test scores etc. I should be able to get a fair bit of money and college assistance out of them. (Up to $40k enlistment bonus, $16K annual salary plus living expenses, $71 in college money and that's not counting any of the special duty bonuses currently available.) The army is a last resort because it would mean taking several more years off of school.
Things could definitely be worse.
5 Comments:
there is something that makes Dad's assets look to be several times what they actually are
something = truth
join the army, it'll be good for you. you'll meet lots of new people from all over the world. travel, go fight in this war you love. it'll be great.
welcome to the real world kid.
rabenstrange, I know what you mean. The student assistance programs in Ontario work the same way. For example, farmer's kids usually can't get a whiff of a student loan, because mom and dad have all these huge capital machinery assets. The student grant/loan people say Hey, tell dad to sell his tractor. Never mind that that would take away his ability to make a living. Many other self-employed people run into the same thing... Keep your chin up.
I detest anonymous hit & run commenters.
Thank goodness I've got a few years before I have to worry about this! Good luck though, just remember to rely on God, He will (in His time) Supply!
Good luck, it's probably tough to think about. I hope you can get the money you need.
Curious...
And to Anonymous: something = truth may be true...but it also can be equal to otehr things. Like:
-IRS having strange standards.
-Taking into account other things than direct income.
-Mistakes
And if you wish to be anonymous...make a log-in named that.
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