2014-2015 SUNY Downstate Application Thread

[lightasday]

Does anyone know how financial aid gets distributed? I know it goes straight to the school for tuitions and fees first, but when do we receive the left over portion? Kind of worried about how much money I need to have on hand to survive... I called financial aid but they hung up without explaining fully, must be a busy day.

So after you complete your fafsa, financial aid will send you a letter to your address with your financial aid package. I got a total of 50k in loans and no scholarships/grants. There's a form in the letter that asks you to either accept or decline your loans. Sign that and submit it to financial aid. The cost at downstate is approx 68k so you can request an increase in loans to cover any gaps you feel are present.

Then financial aid forwards the amount of money you accepted in loans to the bursar. The bursar will use money towards tuition and fees. The rest of the money is given to you as a check.

Hope this helps!

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[skysong7]

So after you complete your fafsa, financial aid will send you a letter to your address with your financial aid package. I got a total of 50k in loans and no scholarships/grants. There's a form in the letter that asks you to either accept or decline your loans. Sign that and submit it to financial aid. The cost at downstate is approx 68k so you can request an increase in loans to cover any gaps you feel are present.

Then financial aid forwards the amount of money you accepted in loans to the bursar. The bursar will use money towards tuition and fees. The rest of the money is given to you as a check.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for confirming! I was primarily concerned with when the remaining portion gets distributed, hopefully not too late into the semester! Anyone else suddenly starting to panic about how to make the money last all year after tuition is taken out?

 

[Emt2md23]

Mid- August and January sounds good, I thought I heard her say "mid-semester" which freaked me out!

Yeah no. They know that we need these to live off of lol. I wish they would give us the funds like now so that we can actually afford to buy the stuff to prepare for school...

 

[Emt2md23]

Also when do you have to accept/reject the loans btw?

 

[skysong7]

Also when do you have to accept/reject the loans btw?

I'm actually not sure... The office hasn't mentioned any deadlines at all lol, though in the Financial Aid PDF, it says that processing loans may take up to 4 weeks though they will defer your tuition due date if necessary. I think. LOL

 

[Stawk]

Question about the white coat ceremony. Do we receive actual tickets after we RSVP? I've RSVP'd for myself and two guests, but haven't received any tickets yet..

 

[Emt2md23]

Question about the white coat ceremony. Do we receive actual tickets after we RSVP? I've RSVP'd for myself and two guests, but haven't received any tickets yet..

How did you rsvp? Through the mail? Cause the rsvp that they sent was really confusing. Do we just put our name and that we're bringing 2 guests? Lol. The whole "your name" and then "name of class of 2019 student" thing is confusing me

 

[Stawk]

How did you rsvp? Through the mail? Cause the rsvp that they sent was really confusing. Do we just put our name and that we're bringing 2 guests? Lol. The whole "your name" and then "name of class of 2019 student" thing is confusing me

Right? Really confusing, but yeah I RSVP'd through the mail.

 

[ChiapetBrownie]

Thanks for confirming! I was primarily concerned with when the remaining portion gets distributed, hopefully not too late into the semester! Anyone else suddenly starting to panic about how to make the money last all year after tuition is taken out?

Also when do you have to accept/reject the loans btw?

I've heard from second years, that your loans get "finalized" when you pay your bill which is during orientation week. As for making it last, cup noodles and stealing cable from your neighbors should help lol but I know I asked for as little as possible since I've been told by a few different people that if suddenly you realize you didn't take out enough or something you can speak to financial aid to request additional loans

 

[Emt2md23]

I need to buy a new laptop...does anybody who is either a current student and knows what works best at downstate or just knows a little about computers want to give me a hand and send me a message? I'm terrible with computers and dk if I should drop the extra cash on a Mac or go with a pc. Just concerned cause people tell me pcs don't last as long

 

[Keladry]

I need to buy a new laptop...does anybody who is either a current student and knows what works best at downstate or just knows a little about computers want to give me a hand and send me a message? I'm terrible with computers and dk if I should drop the extra cash on a Mac or go with a pc. Just concerned cause people tell me pcs don't last as long

Get whatever you're comfortable using, whether that's Apple or PC. Don't get a bottom-of-the-line PC and you'll be fine. Look up reviews/google something like "best laptops under [insert budget here" and find something that you like. I personally have had a great experience with Acer, a horrible one with Lenovo (though some people swear by them; see above about not getting bottom-of-the-line), and just bought a Dell (it was that or Asus, which I've also heard good things about).

 

[DECO665]

So how many people do we think are still on the alternate list? Five, fifteen, fifty?

Here's the point. How many people are they going to accept between now and first day of class? One, two max? Why leave people hanging?

I would love nothing more than to attend Downstate but if you're not one of the top alternates why not let applicants know NOW?!? Why do they drag it out for so long?

 

[partypantss]

So how many people do we think are still on the alternate list? Five, fifteen, fifty?

Here's the point. How many people are they going to accept between now and first day of class? One, two max? Why leave people hanging?

I would love nothing more than to attend Downstate but if you're not one of the top alternates why not let applicants know NOW?!? Why do they drag it out for so long?

Honestly? I think it's because there's no downside to keeping people on it as long as possible. They lose nothing by having a bunch of people wait all summer who have no chance of being admitted and this way, if the unexpected happens (like, a huge group of people just withdrawing the week before class starts) they haven't burnt any bridges and still have all these backups waiting on line.

Just see it from their perspective, it only benefits them to keep as many people hanging as possible.
Like I said earlier, at this point they are filling based on demographics. If your a white male, you can assume it's over.

 

[DECO665]

Honestly? I think it's because there's no downside to keeping people on it as long as possible. They lose nothing by having a bunch of people wait all summer who have no chance of being admitted and this way, if the unexpected happens (like, a huge group of people just withdrawing the week before class starts) they haven't burnt any bridges and still have all these backups waiting on line.

Just see it from their perspective, it only benefits them to keep as many people hanging as possible.
Like I said earlier, at this point they are filling based on demographics. If your a white male, you can assume it's over.

I agree with your thinking and see it from their perspective. They definitely need some sort of backup in case of the aforementioned unexpected. I just question the quantity they need to retain. I have a feeling there are way more than 15 still on the alternate list. What are the chances that 15+ accepted students get offers at different schools and decline their Downstate application?

Could you clarify on the demographics? What if the applicant who declines is a white male? Won't they will it with another white male on the alternate list?

 

[lightasday]

I agree with your thinking and see it from their perspective. They definitely need some sort of backup in case of the aforementioned unexpected. I just question the quantity they need to retain. I have a feeling there are way more than 15 still on the alternate list. What are the chances that 15+ accepted students get offers at different schools and decline their Downstate application?

Could you clarify on the demographics? What if the applicant who declines is a white male? Won't they will it with another white male on the alternate list?

I think you're overthinking it.

 

[DECO665]

I think you're overthinking it.

Lol, I think you are approximately 99.9% right.

 

[partypantss]

I agree with your thinking and see it from their perspective. They definitely need some sort of backup in case of the aforementioned unexpected. I just question the quantity they need to retain. I have a feeling there are way more than 15 still on the alternate list. What are the chances that 15+ accepted students get offers at different schools and decline their Downstate application?

Could you clarify on the demographics? What if the applicant who declines is a white male? Won't they will it with another white male on the alternate list?

Nope, because they need more minority females, not white males. If a white male drops out now, they will be happy to take a minority female from the list. Like I said, I suppose if the hugely unexpected happens, like large amounts of people dropping out now, then a white male could get a chance but I wouldn't count on it.

 

[shtumpa]

Just noticed that it says on alternate checklist:

ACCEPTED/ALTERNATE LIST APPLICANT M.D. CHECKLIST Required Items Needed for Registration

If you have questions about the checklist, email [email protected] and include Medicine applicant in the subject line. Your name and AAMC ID should be included in the body of the email. Some conditions for acceptance appear at the bottom or in the text of your acceptance letter.

So strange...

 

[smooki]

Just noticed that it says on alternate checklist:

ACCEPTED/ALTERNATE LIST APPLICANT M.D. CHECKLIST Required Items Needed for Registration

If you have questions about the checklist, email [email protected] and include Medicine applicant in the subject line. Your name and AAMC ID should be included in the body of the email. Some conditions for acceptance appear at the bottom or in the text of your acceptance letter.

So strange...

What's strange about it

 

[shtumpa]

They write about "your acceptance letter" to people on the waitlist.

I thought it was weird, anyway.

 

[smooki]

They write about "your acceptance letter" to people on the waitlist.

I thought it was weird, anyway.

Ahhh yes lol no that is quirky. They also include "acceptance response letter" and "white coat form" in alternate checklists...if you think about it as the school preparing a bunch of students in case they have to fill a seat, I guess it's a little less strange.

 

[partypantss]

They write about "your acceptance letter" to people on the waitlist.

I thought it was weird, anyway.

They just use the same page for collecting material from accepted students and alternate listers.

 

[Stawk]

Tomorrow's the big day. Can't wait to meet everybody!