What would you do in my situation?

[Fashion2088]

Hey all...Im still pretty new to this site; however, I have gained plenty advice from the post on here🙂...I need your help tho, im kinda in a serious situation here...just wanna know what one would do in my shoes😕...Well, a breif story about me, i went to highschool in south florida, but had to drop out at 16 due to serious issues that went on in my household😡...I was always an "A" student and actually kept a 3.8 GPA dispite all that i went through outside of school...I moved out at the age of 16 and have been living on my own since...im 21 now...I got my GED and I started college at the local Community College in my area...I finished all of my humanities courses courses such as Public Speaking1600, English 1101 and 1102...Psychology, American History, Ethics, and one college algerbra course with all A's and 1 B👍...I work full time as well as go to school full time...I really want to go to a university and start my science courses, but i have not taken the SAT nor ACT to get into college...Many schools that i have looked into states that i would have to apply as a Freshman student rather that a Transfer student...Another thing that turns me away is MONEY. See i dont qualify for financial aid due to me working full time. According to my school and FAFSA, I made too much money to qualify for Pell Grants. I am only eligeble for loans..I think that could vary from school to school, but I dont want to bulk up on loans when i know for a fact im gonna get into med school and have to aquire more debt...If you were in my shoes, how would you handle this situation? For those of you who go to school full time and dont work, how do u manage? Does financial aid award you with enough money to survive? How do you pay bills?😕 I really want to focus on my education full time and quit working or at least cut my hours to part time but i really dont know how that would effect my finances. I dont know how to go about doing it because I am my only source of financial support. I am still in florida now, but i may be moving to GA. I thought about Morehouse..But any decent university sounds fine to me... Does anyone have any tips? 😕

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[sunny1]

You might have already done this, but I would schedule an appointment with advisors at universities close to you (U of Tampa and USF) and bring a copy of your transcripts from the community college and see how they recommend you apply.

Even if you do have to apply/enter as a freshman, your credits will most likely transfer and give you advanced standing after that. But only the advisor can help you sort through that.

In terms of financing college, yeah, pretty much I took out Stafford loans and then worked part-time to help pay the monthly bills. So wherever you end up applying/going, be sure you get in-state tuition -- or apply to various places but ultimately choose the school that will give you the lowest per credit hour cost. Generally Stafford loans should be enough to cover in-state tuition and then a little bit on top for living expenses. But I think you might still want a part-time job to make the transition to a lower income easier. Also consider what, if any, bills you can cut back on (cable! phone! entertainment!).

Alternatively, SOME universities give their employees a tuition discount for working there. Where I currently am, if you work 0.6 or more FTE, you get like a 75% break in tuition. Clearly not all schools will be that generous, and some have strict requirements like working there a certain amount of time, but that might be something to look into. Most university employment/HR websites will outline their tuition reimbursement benefits and policies online.

 

[sunny1]

University of Tampa says "free tuition" for the full-time employee and USF says up to 6 credit hours per semester free for full-time employees.

I don't know how they define full-time, whether you have to work a full 40 hours or if 30 hours would be acceptable. So that's something to consider.

But working that many hours is going to slow your timeline of classes down too, taking you longer to complete your undergrad degree...

Ultimately, taking out Stafford loans may just be the best and quickest option for you to get to where you want to be! But really, I'd look into how many hours they require you to work to be eligible for tuition benefits.

 

[crazydiamond]

I would definitely talk to an adviser!

One thing you'll need to consider is whether you'd want to be working full-time while in college. If you scale back your hours or find a less demanding job, would you then be able to qualify for pell grants? If it works out about the same either way, I would definitely opt for working less and getting the grants or taking subsidized loans.

Also really look into scholarships. You might be surprised to find that there are many that are designed just for people like you. Not the "straight-from-high school" crowd, but people who've faced adversity and show great promise in overcoming it.

And I wouldn't worry a bit about being classified as a freshmen. Really, who cares. Just get admitted and start taking classes there. A lot of your classes will probably transfer just fine. And in the end, it's the credit hours and requirements that get you graduated. . not specifically classification. After your first year you'll probably find yourself being classified as a junior or something. At my university, all incomming students from CCs were freshmen, but after the first year the classifications were adjusted based on credits earned.

Good luck to you!

 

[Harry Bahgina]

Edit: OOps, nevermind! Covered in an earlier reply to your post.

 

[MeowMix]

I worked and paid my own way through college. I was lucky to go to a 5-year "co-op" program where we alternated 4-month school terms and 4-month paid work terms (making enough $$ to pay for the next semester). I also had to work part-time a couple of semesters to cover unexpected expenses (like supporting my sisters).

You have many years ahead of you; I think you're very smart to limit your debt and live within your means. It's really OK to take a few extra years to get to med school. It's also SO much nicer to be in school and be a full-time student, instead of having to work and study at the same time.

Talk to any advisor who'll listen, and good luck.

 

[Fashion2088]

thank you all for your advice...it was a big help...i did call the advisors to several schools...all of my humaniites courses will be able to transfer, however, only my science labs will be accepted...the actual lecture courses will be counted as elective credits. what a bummer...

 

[crazydiamond]

thank you all for your advice...it was a big help...i did call the advisors to several schools...all of my humaniites courses will be able to transfer, however, only my science labs will be accepted...the actual lecture courses will be counted as elective credits. what a bummer...

That's a real bummer about the lectures 🙁 Because at a lot (most?) universities, you can't take the lectures separately from the labs.

 

[sunny1]

I dunno, I've attended 5 different universities (for various reasons - yeah, that number sounds a little ridiculous!!) and only 1 of them had combined science lecture with lab class and grade structure. Everywhere else had them separate, so it wasn't the norm to have them stuck together in my experience.

 

[crazydiamond]

I dunno, I've attended 5 different universities (for various reasons - yeah, that number sounds a little ridiculous!!) and only 1 of them had combined science lecture with lab class and grade structure. Everywhere else had them separate, so it wasn't the norm to have them stuck together in my experience.

Interesting! Where I went to school, the classes were numbered different and you got separate grades for them, you just couldn't enroll in one without the other.