How do I go about paying for undergrad?

[SpaceHamsterBoo]

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I've had grants cover undergrad expenses for 5 semesters now. When I transfer into a state university this spring semester, I will be looking at a total cost of attendence at around 20K.

I have no familial support and I plan to take out loans. In terms of loans, what are my options? My EFC is 0.

 

[theseeker4]

I've had grants cover undergrad expenses for 5 semesters now. When I transfer into a state university this spring semester, I will be looking at a total cost of attendence at around 20K.

I have no familial support and I plan to take out loans. In terms of loans, what are my options? My EFC is 0.

If your parents make little money, meaning the FAFSA calculated EFC is 0 (and not just the amount you really expect from family) you should have a range of scholarships and grants you can apply for; call the school financial aid office about that. Federal loans are your first choice whenever you have to take out loans, and private loans should be a last choice. If you can avoid private loans, and federal loans for that matter, by working part time, do that as much as you can without hurting your GPA. Other than that, the financial aid office at your university will know a lot more about what you are eligible to receive than we could ever guess.

 

[SpaceHamsterBoo]

If your parents make little money, meaning the FAFSA calculated EFC is 0 (and not just the amount you really expect from family) you should have a range of scholarships and grants you can apply for; call the school financial aid office about that. Federal loans are your first choice whenever you have to take out loans, and private loans should be a last choice. If you can avoid private loans, and federal loans for that matter, by working part time, do that as much as you can without hurting your GPA. Other than that, the financial aid office at your university will know a lot more about what you are eligible to receive than we could ever guess.

I'm a transfer student and that is the problem...there ARE NO MERIT AID scholarships from the university for transfer students. High school guidance counselor said go to community college, you'll save a lot of money, you'll have an easy time transferring out, you won't have trouble with courses not transferring over or some universities saying their pre-med committees won't take me because my courses aren't rigorous or the fact that med schools will knock points on my app because of CC pre-reqs.

I do qualify for federal work study so I will use that (20 hours per week) but I won't be working outside of that. The other options left are federal loans and private loans. In terms of private loans, how should I procede?

 

[lobo.solo]

The key is to get a job that pays better than minimum wage. That way you can work less and don't compromise your academics. The best combo will be something that involves working in a clinical setting like CNA, ER tech, phlebotomist, MA, scribe, etc. good luck.

 

[SpaceHamsterBoo]

The key is to get a job that pays better than minimum wage. That way you can work less and don't compromise your academics. The best combo will be something that involves working in a clinical setting like CNA, ER tech, phlebotomist, MA, scribe, etc. good luck.

Most of these jobs require various certification...time I do not have.
Because of my CC predicament, I have 16-18 courses left to take; all are Chem/Bio/Biochem/Calculus courses.

 

[sommerwing]

I was in the same position as you.
My parents have an annual income of 27K, so their contribution was 0. But my college tuition was 40K.

I mostly covered it with need based scholarships (NOT MERIT) and federal loans. For this type of thing, go to the financial aid office and speak with your advisor, they will help you in a capacity that we cant.

Also, please please try not to get private loans. They Killed me while working after undergrad, the payments are not graduated.

 

[SpaceHamsterBoo]

I was in the same position as you.
My parents have an annual income of 27K, so their contribution was 0. But my college tuition was 40K.

I mostly covered it with need based scholarships (NOT MERIT) and federal loans. For this type of thing, go to the financial aid office and speak with your advisor, they will help you in a capacity that we cant.

Also, please please try not to get private loans. They Killed me while working after undergrad, the payments are not graduated.

You mention need based aid, I'm transferring to a podunk state university as a Junior not a HYPS institution that offers need based aid. Most of the competetive schools in my state DO NOT offer aid to transfer students. The only one that I imagine offering aid would be UPenn but I have no shot.

I am going to HAVE to take out private loans. How can I make the process less painful?

 

[BABSstudent]

Do not take out private loans. Even if they have a lower interest rate now, most have a variable interest rate (which will likely go up). Federal loans also offer income based repayment with forgiveness after 10 years. That means your payments during residency will max at at (currently) $5,000 per year. Private loans do not offer this, so you may be paying $10,000 per year in residency which would be difficult. Some even want you to start paying right away, or after graduation, so enjoy paying those in medical school.

With an EFC of 0, you may not get work study (my school saves that for students with a number higher than 0 but still have a hard time paying for school). However, such a low EFC means you will either have tuition covered or offered federal loans to pay for school.

And many schools offer need based aid even if they are not high ranking. My school offered me a need based scholarship and WSU is not a top ranking university. There are also STEM scholarships from the government meant for low income science majors.

Finally, apply for scholarships. Luckily, trying to apply to medical school makes you an excellent applicant for scholarships since you will have the grades, volunteerism, goals and determination that they are looking for. I used these applications as a way to gauge my likelihood of getting into medical school. If I didn't get as much as I thought I should have gotten, I would volunteer more and work harder. My philosophy was if I couldn't sway the scholarship panel now, how I could ever get an acceptance to medical school in the future.