Confusing Times at Unnamed University

I was going to go into this rant about how unsubsidized loans should be offered to students who obviously have need and blah blah blah because of the fact they're not even need based. Well, then I went to the school and found out I have nothing to worry about... They just have the most confusing award letters ever.

The award letter is "just our first offer to you". Apparently, if they approve you for a student loan, you can still request any amount you want, despite the fact the subsidized part of the loan is need based. It then takes up to 8 weeks to process. You don't even have to sign the award letter like they tell you to.

So, my loan stuff should be cleared up in a couple weeks. Seriously, I'm just too confused about what happened today to even get into details. I've been meaning to actually describe the whole student loan process, and I will soon once I'm finished reading the literature I snagged from financial aid.

So Much to Do with a Month to Go

Crunch time. This is really where I'm the most nervous that I won't get every kink out before September 24. The problems I'm still having:

-School still has no catalog
-I really think my school isn't giving me the additional, non-need based (unsubsidized) loan I actually do need.
-Not 100% too worried as long as tuition is covered, but I'll get back to this.
-To keep unemployment, I have to take classes at night and Saturdays. I have no problem with this except for one thing: two nights a week I'll get stranded half way home.
-Need a car for ride-share purposes at least, but without the additional unsubsidized loan, I can't afford it.
-Still can't sign online promissory note, and when I even asked the school what I need to do next for the loan, they just tell me everything should be cleared in time for the distribution dates.
-School still has not released information on Fall Quarter distribution dates.
-Thanks to that last minute tuition increase I complained about not that long ago, I'm not 100% sure tuition will be covered, since the subsidized amount of the loan they approved only covers what tuition *used* to be. This one worries me the most because I did all this work to go back to school and I might not even get to go.

I like being prepared for things and I'm so unprepared right now it's hurting my chest. Any ideas/comments?

Help me fund my back to school adventures...

It's really easy. Just vote for this video every day between now and September 7. If I win, I get money for college. One lucky voter will also get money for college, so what's it going to hurt? Vote everyday and increase your chances!

Crap, I Forgot to Come Up With a Catchy Title...

So I visited my college today. Got some things accomplished... Learned some things about the school I will definitely like... And got some things completely not accomplished.

Let's start with what I got accomplished, because it's made numerous appearances in this blog: my student loan. I went to the financial aid office today and they told me the only thing they were waiting on was for me to do my electronic entrance counseling. Great. Awesome. I did that in April. So they sent me to one of their computers to log back into the site I'm pretty sure is run by the government (way to try to screw me, government...I'm kidding) and print out the entrance counseling thing and hand it to them and now everything is squared away. They say. I'm still paranoid, but whatever, they said it should all be cleared up by the time check disbursement starts. However, since I do have to wait for all that to clear up, things related to me having money to give to the school...like registering...got so not accomplished. But it will be, it will be. As always, my paranoid self is on top of it, not going to let it get out of control. However, the financial aid people were very nice and friendly and that was just refreshing.

So while I was in the financial aid office, I picked up literature on financial aid. I was going to research it and share the useful information...but the three booklets total like 200 pages. And no less of 100 of them are on student loans alone. I didn't read that much for entrance counseling, my goodness. Those poor trees.

So, after the financial aid I ate lunch, then I went to the bookstore to go get a Fall 2009 schedule of classes. Except, they sold out. All gone. But if I really wanted, for the last weeks of summer school, they had THOUSANDS of Summer 2009 schedule of classes. Methinks someone failed at ordering and ordered the quantities a little backwards. I finally got an ETA on the school catalog..."a few weeks". Nice. A few weeks could either mean "just in time for you to hope the classes for fall semester are available" or "just in time for you to hope you planned the right classes for your major or else you're screwed this semester". Either way, it's "a few weeks" later in coming out than it really should be. Of note, it is the only school in it's system that does not have a current catalog. I googled.

After that, I walked around, learned that some teachers' offices are serious business (it had a cash office lock on it, and it was a teacher office), and saw a list of available TVF classes near the advisement office. I'm hoping that the omission of Intro to Screenwriting was a mistake, or I can't take a class I need in the fall. After this, I was starting to get bored, so I headed back to the train, but not before grabbing a school paper and an Aquafina from a Pepsi machine. Sidebar, I'm no math major, but I'm pretty sure, Pepsi machine, that $2.00-1.35 isn't $0.30. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's $0.65. Where the hell is my other $0.35? Seeing as I have over $60 in a piggy bank telling myself it "isn't only" thirty-five cents, it was a little bit hard for me to just let that go. It's not like I was going to break the machine open, and if I bothered to complain people would think I was crazy, so I did just let it go.

The paper I got from the school...is a thing of beauty. It's a beautiful thing, it needs to be admired. The staff...they do not care what people think of them! There was one article complaining about how there are homeless students who can't afford school but then went into detail about how much money the President of the school was making, and it was completely unapologetic in all the dirt it dug up. There was a column written by a student as the Republican Party writing a love letter to it's ex-girlfriend America asking her to take him back. It was wonderful. I love unapologetic, opinionated people...you know, when the opinion is based on how they interpret facts and they express said opinion in an educated manner. They had an ad right there soliciting for reviews on books and movies and stuff and I was like, "I watch movies. I read books." It would probably never be fluff, because I can be incredibly critical on things I like, even. I might look into it, it depends if I decide I have time, plus would give me a way to be involved in the school.

If there are any classes left, I am excited for the fall quarter to begin on September 24. If anything, it'll be interesting.

Lazy Colleges--Why it's Unfair

Classes start September 24. It is August 14. Why haven't I still been mailed any information regarding my financial aid? By logging on to my school account, I can see I was offered something, but there's no way for me to accept it. And why is there still no new catalog, knowing the old one has expired?

Next week I'm going to visit my campus to try to get some answers, a Fall 2009 schedule of classes, an ID if they will let me, and some Carl's Jr. I'd also like a catalog, so that when I do register for classes I know I'm planning accordingly so I'll graduate sometime in the next decade, but I guess I'll have to wait until Spring and hope I don't screw up too bad with Fall. People are on me because I haven't registered for classes yet---I can't until September 1, anyway, despite all the problems I'm already having.

My school is doing absolutely everything last minute, but then I have to jump hoops. They gave me four days to bring in information for my financial aid earlier this summer, even though if they'd sent the letter in the mail on time, I would have had three weeks. Sure, I had to pay my deposit in May and make sure they had my transcripts by mid-July...but since then I have heard nothing from them. I'm the only person I know going to a school in this particular system who's not 100% prepared for September 24. Hell, I'm not even 5% prepared. I know because of budget cuts, they're trying to weed students out, but I think it's totally unethical if they're purposely waiting last minute to make students jump through hoops to go to school. I don't know, hopefully I'll have some answers next week.

The Quest For Scholarships

I do want to mention that the title and the tone of this blog was partially inspired by the fact that I was watching Angry Video Game Nerd while working on it, so I just want to suggest don't do that. This is going to be a horrible blog entry, but it's one that needs to be said. Scholarships are an urban myth. I learned that fact in high school when I was in high school and almost all the scholarships were for kids in the top 10% of the class that weren't in the top 5%. Yeah, if you need money for college, you'll be penalized for being too smart, but not smart enough to be valedictorian. Your parents better be rich. That's another problem: Parents. Parents think they're done with their kids once they turn 18 and many don't save for their kid's college for that reason. But guess what, government says you need to pitch in for your kid's college education until they're 23, unless they're married or something. Colleges can't cover all the costs of supporting the students financially, either, but need based aid is never enough, and somehow some people who need aid still don't get it.

Anyway, back to scholarships. They will tell you every year that there's a ton of unclaimed scholarships because people don't apply for them. I looked into those. It's because people don't qualify for them. This is why I say scholarships are an urban myth...they are designed so that nobody can get them.

Well, some people can. Engineers and business majors will never find a shortage of scholarship opportunities to them. Kids still in high school have a better chance than everyone else, since I guess most people who run these scholarships think if you're already in college, you must have money somewhere, even if that's not true. But outside of high school, if you're not an engineer or business major, you're screwed.

Never take a hiatus from college unless that hiatus was because you had a kid. It may be need based... Your parents didn't save anything for college but they make too much for you to receive aid, and you have to wait until you're 23 to claim yourself for college. I'm telling you, don't do it. In the rare instance you do find a scholarship in your major that you'd otherwise qualify for, there's an age limit on it.

If you spent your childhood being a child, there's no money for you. Anything you might find pretty much dictates you either had to have had a hardship childhood or that you've been volunteering in soup kitchens since you were 3, or you were President of the Student Council since birth. If you do find something, it's usually the only one, so it's the most competitive thing ever, you'd have a better chance of buying lotto to support your college education.

I have compiled a list of people who need scholarship money but just can't seem to find it. Now, before I show this list, I do want to point out I have had a Fastweb account since I was sixteen and I have never won a scholarship, even back when my parents were forcing me to be a teacher. It's been nine years. Anyway, that list:

-The top 5% of a high school's graduating class, except the valedictorian
-Anyone who's major isn't business or engineering
-Females older than 24 who aren't single mothers or a victim of crime
-Males older than 24 who aren't a hardship

So now I have some suggestions that while aren't as sweet nice as getting free money for college, is worth considering:

-Try to save even $10 a month. $120 can still buy you all the basic school supplies you would need in a year, even if you get other need based aid. Of course, if you can save a little more, do it. More money, more helpful. The school is expecting you to put *something* into your own education after all.
-Get a UPromise account. I have one, but I really have only a few dollars in it since I don't buy that much online. But I still am saving up money in it through one of their partners by answering surveys online. If you do buy things online through partners, a percentage is kicked back into an account for a college education. Do that and answer some surveys once in awhile...you should save up money for college without having to do any of your own actual saving.
-Save your pennies. I mentioned this already in my blog about trying to fund a year abroad, but you don't have to be as militant as I am. I stopped spending change altogether. Even if you do spend change in your normal purchases, how about at the end of the day, whatever change is still in your wallet, you kick into a piggy bank. Even if you average fifty cents a day, that's $15 a month.

If you have any other suggestions, or know of other scholarship search engines besides Fastweb, or even know of scholarships out there, please share them. As always, I love collaboration.

How to Fund a Year Abroad in Japan?

I really do want to study for a year in Japan, and I've started planning before this school year has even started. The estimated cost of the program as of right now is $21,233. That's just for the program, of course. I'm estimating another $2792 for costs the program doesn't consider, such as cell phones and storage costs for things that stay stateside. So, I'm estimating that a year abroad would cost me $24,025.

Upperclassmen can borrow $12,500 for student loans, so that's $11,525 I would need to come up with. Well, this year I don't have a job. While it's a bad thing, it might equate to a good thing. I have less money, so my need for aid would probably increase. Also, there are scholarships for students who study abroad. I'm not going to assume I will get much, though. But who knows?

One thing I've been doing is saving my pennies--and dimes, nickels, and quarters. I have stopped using change altogether and putting it all into a piggy bank. I have been doing this for about three weeks and have $47.65 saved as of today. I usually end up with $2-$3 in change a day, since I don't spend any change at all once I get it. If I can keep it up, I can save about $830 in a year.

So now what I need are some ideas for coming up with the other $10,695. Obviously, I could ask for cash for my birthday and Christmas and save it, but that would be another $200 at best. Do people really sell copies of the notes they take in class? I'm a really good note taker; I've gotten an A in many a class without ever opening a book. If that's a real thing, I could make a good chunk of change.

I want the funding of my year abroad in Japan to be a collaboration of ideas so they can be shared with others who are in a similar situation as myself. Plus, groups think of ideas that individuals do not. Plus, I love collaborating. It really brings out people's creative side. Any ideas at all would be appreciated.

Quickie update

If you scroll all the way to the bottom of my blog, you should notice a countdown timer. It is counting down to my first class in five years. It's about a month and a half away. While that's so exciting, it also reminds me I really need to get on the ball and finish up all the lose ends that need finishing up.

Correction: I removed the timer from my blog because it wasn't working properly. I do want a timer though so if anyone can recommend one, please let me know.

School tuition increases...yay!

I can totally fake being happy about this, but of course I'm not. Because Mr. Schwarzenegger, in all his wisdom, decided Californians don't really need to be educated anyway, he made massive cuts in education. This effected my school, which is why I absolutely can not be upset with them. I understand the situation they were in. They lost money that would have supported 95,000 students. Anyway, I found out this morning they increased tuition effective immediately (immediately meaning this upcoming quarter).

Once again, I am not angry with the school, I'm angry with politicians who just think education is a throw away expense. Also, I'm getting a student loan and the school has said that students demonstrating a financial need will have the cost offset with more financial aid. I just get nervous. The whole reason this break in my education started was because I couldn't pony up the money. I bet these same politicians wonder why there's not enough educated people in the workforce. Okay, I need to stop because I'm not trying to get all political. I know I'm worried over nothing, but I have gone to a school where they decided to *retroactively* increase tuition and everybody owed. Luckily, my tuition was paid for by the government that year, and it didn't effect me, except that it did because now I wonder... What if my school now finds a need to retroactively increase tuition and I can't pony up the money? This is made worse by the fact that at this moment I'm relying so heavily on loans for school since I don't qualify for grants and have yet to win a scholarship. I probably shouldn't worry so much about it but I am kind of curious about just how many students are going to schools that just told them "effective immediately, we will be increasing your student fees".

Planning to Visit My School

When I log into my online school account, they tell me I need to see the bursar to set up my account or something... I don't even know what a bursar is. Also, because I have so many questions regarding my financial aid, I think it's time just to go down there in person and get business taken care of.

I love going to my school, don't get me wrong. Beautiful campus, hours of fun, has the best choices for lunch. And a Starbucks. Starbucks is love. I just haven't taken the train by myself yet. The last few times I went, I drug my cousin along with me because I thought she'd enjoy it and because the only times I've been to LA by myself I got lost. No, I don't know how to propose I'd do that on train, either. Especially since my school is a stop. And I've been there multiple times. While we joked that my cousin would end up "auditing" classes with me, and I'd be the only person to go to class with an assistant, I do have to actually get used to going by myself.

Plus, I'll actually get to eat Carl's Jr. if I go by myself. My stupid cousin doesn't stupid like Carl's Jr. Oh, and if my cousin is reading this, I love you. :)

It's just this blog, you know?

After high school, I went to community college fully intending to transfer to university after I graduated with my AA. I got my AA five years ago. Then I couldn't afford to go. Then I just got a new job, so I should wait before I try to schedule school with work. Then I could almost afford it, but then my car died. Five years later, I have no job, less money than I ever did, and more determination. I applied to school back in March and was accepted. Right now I'm just waiting for the finishing touches on my student loan, and soon I can register and I will officially be back in school.

Then I realized that college is going to be so much fun, especially since I'm a film major. I'm going to have all these thoughts and stuff to write down. That's where this blog comes in. I'm going to write down my continuing adventures of continuing education. Hopefully, that includes a year in Japan. One of my goals for college is to spend a year abroad in Japan. First of all, Japan is the country of awesome. They invented video games, karaoke, sushi, anime, and Godzilla. And that's from an uninformed point of view. I do have other reasons why I want to go, but I like being superficial at times. Superficial can be fun.

A bit more about myself. I'm almost 26, I have an AA in Liberal Arts, it took me 3 years to get that because I couldn't pass biology but I was determined to finish what I started then. I'm determined to finish what I started now, which is why I'm going back to school after a 5 year hiatus. I'm majoring in Film because I was born to entertain people, but not necessarily as an entertainer. I'm a story teller. I'm good with words. I also have an overactive imagination, which means I visualize all my stories. I think some movies show the human condition, but I think some movies are just moronic fun. I like moronic fun, but I hope when I make films, the moronic fun is a cover for a story of the human condition. I'm a dork and I have a dark side.

I think I'm getting mail from my school today, and don't ask how I get mail on a Sunday. The short answer to that is I'm special. If I do and if it's of consequence, this blog will get an immediate update. Otherwise, there may be a wait period before my next update. But once school starts in seven and a half weeks, hopefully this blog will be constantly updated.

I'll post a link to my twitter in this blog, feel free to follow me.