FINANCIAL AID & PHARMACY SCHOOL/CANDIDATE DECISIONS!! Help?! (=

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houston068

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Hello, Hi!

I'm a bit confused on the whole financial aid process.

My FAFSA is complete. I have been approved for $20,000 in Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans.

The out-of-state school I'm hoping to get into, (currently wait-listed) is going to cost about $56,800 the first year.



*2 Questions.

1) After an interview, are you supposed to apply for additional methods of financial aid "just in case" you do get accepted?!

2) Does the Admissions Committee review how much financial aid a student can get before they make final decisions?
--> Could I have potentially been wait-listed because I failed to provide proof of sufficient financial aid?!


If somebody could provide me some knowledge, or give me some insight, I would greatly appreciate it!! (=

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Direct and Direct PLUS loans will cover up to the cost of attendance. As long as you have submitted your FAFSA, you're fine and there is no need for additional financial aid.
 
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Hello, Hi!

I'm a bit confused on the whole financial aid process.

My FAFSA is complete. I have been approved for $20,000 in Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans.

The out-of-state school I'm hoping to get into, (currently wait-listed) is going to cost about $56,800 the first year.
.

*2 Questions.

1) After an interview, are you supposed to apply for additional methods of financial aid "just in case" you do get accepted?!

In general, I agree with SJV above that at many pharmacy schools, Direct Stafford + Direct Loan Plus would cover the student's Cost of Attendance, which is including tuition/fees + cost of living + other school expenses estimated by the school's office of student financial aid. You do not need to apply for anything else (e.g. private loans) unless the school's financial aid award for you does not cover the entire cost of attendance and your family or you cannot provide enough fund to cover the difference.

They already estimate that you will receive ~ 20K in Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans (graduate/health professional students are only eligible for Direct Unsubsidized SL, but not Direct Subsidized SL). The rest, ~ 30K+ would be covered by Direct Grad Plus Loan (which only graduate/health professional students are eligible), which you can borrow up to the cost of attendance.

I think the 20,000 is the number you got from FAFSA's loan estimate for your financial aid when you completed you FAFSA application online and not from the office of student financial aid itself, right ?? Usually the office of student financial aid does not started working on your financial aid award until you are already admitted.

Call the school's office of student financial aid to ask your questions and check/confirm the types of available loans/grants you are eligible for and the numbers you are qualified for. They are the better source to give you answers and advice to your specific situation.


2) Does the Admissions Committee review how much financial aid a student can get before they make final decisions?
--> Could I have potentially been wait-listed because I failed to provide proof of sufficient financial aid?!

If somebody could provide me some knowledge, or give me some insight, I would greatly appreciate it!! (=.

I do not think the Adcom will look at your financial aid information to make their decision for admission. Unless the school is shaddy type of school like Hawaii College of Pharmacy, admission decisions are usually independent of the student's financial aid/support at established/legitimate schools.

In general, the Student Financial Aid Office is the office that is handling student's financial aid and/or scholarships (hence the name :) ). Sometimes, in my experience, the Office of Admission of the individual school or the individual school/dean (e.g. school of pharmacy vs the whole university) might also consider and award some additional scholarships to students of the school (because the school might have their own individual funds/donations for scholarships).

Conrats on being waitlisted. Hope you get in !!:xf::xf: What school are you being waitlisted at ?? :)
 
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Professional students will get 33,000 unsubsided direct stafford at 6.8% interest then you will have to take out grad plus which is like 7.5 %. Don't forget about the origination fees....

But my question to you is why are you going to this school that is 56,000 a year?

That's greater than 200K after graduation BEFORE interest accumulates. Which it will accumulate for the life of the loan. ( hence unsubsidized)
 
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Professional students will get 33,000 unsubsided direct stafford at 6.8% interest then you will have to take out grad plus which is like 7.5 %. Don't forget about the origination fees....

But my question to you is why are you going to this school that is 56,000 a year?

That's greater than 200K after graduation BEFORE interest accumulates. Which it will accumulate for the life of the loan. ( hence unsubsidized)

Jibby321: tuition avg for private pharmacy school is ~ 30K these days.

56K is probably their estimate of the whole cost of attendance, which is including tuition/fees + cost of living + other school expenses. The OP was not clear whether that was the tuition alone or the cost of attendance.

but there are many schools whose tuition is more than the 30K avg. Tuition alone @ USF for example is ~ 50K if I remember it correctly, but people are still going there :)

https://pharmacyschool.usc.edu/programs/pharmd/pharmdprogram/cost/
 
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I think the unsubsidized Staffords are actually at 5.4% right now. At least for 2013-2014.
 
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Jibby321: tuition avg for private pharmacy school is ~ 30K these days.

56K is probably their estimate of the whole cost of attendance, which is including tuition/fees + cost of living + other school expenses. The OP was not clear whether that was the tuition alone or the cost of attendance.

but there are many schools whose tuition is more than the 30K avg. Tuition alone @ USF for example is ~ 50K if I remember it correctly, but people are still going there :)

https://pharmacyschool.usc.edu/programs/pharmd/pharmdprogram/cost/
You mean USC tuition?

Yea I know people are still going but I don't comprehend why. On a 100K salary it will be hard to pay off 250K in loans.... You know?
 
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You mean USC tuition?

Yea I know people are still going but I don't comprehend why. On a 100K salary it will be hard to pay off 250K in loans.... You know?


sorry... typo... I meant USC :)

well I have no idea how they will pay off their student loans. Maybe they got paid more in California or they have to work 2 full time jobs or take twice as long to pay the loans off and/or not buying any house for a while...
 
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sorry... typo... I meant USC :)

well I have no idea how they will pay off their student loans. Maybe they got paid more in California or they have to work 2 full time jobs or take twice as long to pay the loans off and/or not buying any house for a while...
Not that much more. Lol.
 
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Thanks y'all for responding!

Yes, you are right Oldstock! The $20,000 was the FAFSA estimate, not from the actual school.

I'm wait-listed at the University of Colorado...Not really sure what expectations to have since they wait-list everyone who doesn't initially get an offer.

I interviewed at the end of February & got the wait-list email at the beginning of April. If I don't get in, I'm just going back to school in Texas (home state) for a Master's degree in Biology.

The $56K amount is the Year 1 overall cost of attendance for an out-of-state student. It shall be less after the first year of living in Colorado.
 
I heard that if you are out-of-state the first year, you will continue to be out-of-state for the rest of pharmacy school (most schools do this) You should research and see if University of Colorado does the same.
 
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I heard that if you are out-of-state the first year, you will continue to be out-of-state for the rest of pharmacy school (most schools do this) You should research and see if University of Colorado does the same.

I know many schools does allow OOS students to apply for in-state status. (One of the schools I got accepted to does this too.) But the process and qualifications are extremely hard. U of Colorado may allow students to apply for in-state status, but real-life success rate of doing that is probably very low.

It is best to ask them directly what qualifications there are for in-state consideration and how much chance you as an OOS student could successfully obtain the in-state status.
 
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Why don't you stay in Texas? They have the cheapest tuition.
 
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I know many schools does allow OOS students to apply for in-state status. (One of the schools I got accepted to does this too.) But the process and qualifications are extremely hard. U of Colorado may allow students to apply for in-state status, but real-life success rate of doing that is probably very low.

It is best to ask them directly what qualifications there are for in-state consideration and how much chance you as an OOS student could successfully obtain the in-state status.
From what I heard from current students, most people at UC Denver who apply for in-state status get it.
 
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Hello!!

There are many reasons why I didn't apply to Texas schools:
1) Out of all the schools in Texas -- Tech has the best NAPLEX passing rate, but it still isn't 100%.
2) In general, many out-of-state schools have better programs & higher passing rates.
3) Texas schools take preference over the students that complete their pre-reqs at community college with a 4.0 GPA.


So I found out that you can apply to become a resident after living in Colorado for a year & will be eligible for in-state tuition.
 
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