Financial Aid

[tcrudisi]

What is the secret to getting financial aid (f.a.)? I seem to have the worst luck with it and the financial aid departments at every university I have been to.

Most recently I was accepted into graduate school at NC State. After a while I began to get nervous because I wasn't receiving any information from the financial aid department so I called them up. As it turns out, they needed a copy of my social security card in order to get my FAFSA and process me for f.a. Well, I gave them a copy, but it was very close to the "payment required" deadline where they drop you for not having paid.

And then, joy of joys, they decide to give me a "random verification"... it's the 3rd time it's happened to me and all 3 times have occurred when my estimated family contribution was $0. That sounds very random to me. Anyway, I fill out the forms and turn them in within a day, but of course the f.a. department was way behind and so I was just withdrawn from all my classes.

Assuming they are able to get to me before classes start (which is certainly not a guarantee), I will be able to attend this semester with a $150 penalty which I feel as though was not my fault. I feel like they should have informed me that they needed my social security card when I first applied. No other university required this. If they had just sent me a message or even put it on my f.a. page (that I was checking very regularly), then I would not be in this position.

Even worse? They are so far behind that they might not even process my application before classes start ... and I might find myself not being able to attend this semester.

I am very, very annoyed. Has anyone else had this kind of problem with the f.a. department? And what are your secrets for finding grants and scholarships?

[KenderWizard]

A lot of universities seem to have this kind of bureaucratic problem where different departments don't talk to one another and none of them tell you what you're supposed to be doing.

I don't have any advice for your specific problem, only to ask around as much as possible, amongst other students especially. Often there are short-cuts, if you're able to talk to the right person. You need to find the competent person who just deals with the problems and sends you on your merry way. Other students might have advice for dealing with this particular university, or getting on the fast-track, or at least be good people to share H.R. department horror stories with! :smallsmile:

Best of luck getting sorted out, anyway!

[Bonecrusher Doc]

Keep track of every letter, e-mail and phone conversation you have - the date, time and person your communicated with. Instead of just saying, "Somebody told me I didn't need Form B," you can say, "On August 1st, Sally at the Bursar's Office said I didn't need Form B."

If all else fails, you can go up the supervisory chain as high as you need to go with your documentation of your quest for financial aid and the monsters you've encountered. As soon as somebody important enough decides that you're right, you need your financial aid problems straightened out NOW... all of a sudden seemingly impossible obstacles may vanish.

[Drolyt]

Universities often have stupid bureaucracies like that. I can't help you much now, but in the future I would recommend doing everything as early as possible and calling them frequently to make sure everything is going ok and that they have everything they need, even before you suspect there might be a problem. Be vigilant until you have your money. Right now the best you can do is try and go up the chain to whoever is in charge and explain that it was not your fault. They might care.

[Cyrion]

And also don't rely on your financial aid department to look out for you. They'll do their best, but they've got an awful lot of people to try to take care of. Go out and see what you can find on you own. Do an internet search- there are lots of free and subscription search engines that will help you find stuff. The good thing is that these are often scholarships instead of loans. FREE MONEY!

Here's a search engine (http://apps.collegeboard.com/cbsearch_ss/welcome.jsp) I'm going to recommend to my students this semester. (It's free, and I was able to find some good candidates for my wife who's starting grad school this Fall.)

This won't help you much for Fall, but I'd take a look for Spring or next Fall semester.

[Syka]

Generally, if you have financial aid the 'deadline' is flexible. There IS a deadline, but it's after the regular one. At least, that's how it's always worked for me. Mostly because sometime it can take a while for the monies to get through.

As for the FAFSA, I feel your pain. Every. Single. Year I was in college, I got picked for that (so...like, 4 times). I have a feeling that there is something that flags our apps as suspicious- 0$ expected family contribution in your case, having a family income that is very...out of the ordinary for where we reside in my case (middle-upper class area with near poverty line income).

It's easy enough to get through, though.


TIP: MAKE SURE YOU STAY ON TOP OF EVERYTHING. DO NOT TAKE ANYONE'S WORD FOR ANYTHING. GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING. One year I got completely screwed out of the Pell because I did the verification, they told me it was finished, and I never got the check. I asked about it and they said- whoops, it's too late!

So always keep track of what is going on with your account. And never let them slide. Last semester I was watching my account for tuition remission to go through and I didn't see it. So I called them and found out HR had never sent my form over to Financial Aid, despite having given me the approved copy back a week prior. :smallsigh: