Picked up a school paper, you know I'm addicted to those, and they're hiring it seems. I'm terribly shy (no, really, I am) so I don't know if I'll actually call and say "hey, I'm a writer", but it is an idea. Only had my one class tonight, and already we're going to produce PSAs as our first group project. We all get to pitch in ideas, then we get to pick the best ones to make. I'm putting in a video game addiction PSA pitch since I was joking about making some all summer anyway. Actually, I have three ideas for PSAs, but the one that requires a set and a budget is the one I'm going to pitch. The other two... I can just do them in my own free time if I want. I digress.
As soon as I stepped on campus, I was given a flyer for protesting budget cuts to education. There was even a form to fill out in the paper for how the budget cuts affect students personally... So I filled it out. It's not even anonymous, it has my full name and where I go to school, and a copy of it is going to be sent to the school system's regents and Schwarzenegger. Oh, and you know how I say my school is lazy? The teacher didn't even know he had our class until yesterday. I really don't like how my school is run. That's okay, the teachers don't either. However, class was cool and I have a feeling I'll love the classes. As long as they're, you know, around. But yeah, basically a basic first day of school.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Less Than 24 Hours Crunch
You remember being a kid and how even though summer was fun and you could do that forever, you're kinda excited for the new school year? No? That was only me? I'm a nerd? Oh, okay. Either way, I have that feeling right now, which is a feeling I stopped having after my first year in community college.
I know what I'm wearing for the first day of school... I have my school supplies... I'm taking cereal to school to snack on because I can... I feel pumped but at the same time nervous. It's the same nervous feeling I'd get starting a new school as a kid... And I grew up in a family of modern day nomads, so that happened a lot. Will I make any new friends? Will my teachers like me? I actually find my situation adorable.
I also find it comparable. That may be confusing, but I realize that I can compare my experiences with various members of my family. There's my brother who's in the middle in my family who is also a junior in college, but has been in college for like 7 years. There's my youngest brother who started his freshman year of college this year after a four year break from high school. Then there's my cousin who is just fresh out of high school and starting her freshman year in college, hoping to finish in four years. My Van Wilder brother and I were traditional students once upon a time, so it'll be interesting to see if our cousin follows our path or finishes like most traditional students do. It'll also be interesting to see how each of our years are going.
I'm so excited I won't be able to sleep. That's how it always is the last day of summer vacation for me. And it's been five years of summer vacation.
I know what I'm wearing for the first day of school... I have my school supplies... I'm taking cereal to school to snack on because I can... I feel pumped but at the same time nervous. It's the same nervous feeling I'd get starting a new school as a kid... And I grew up in a family of modern day nomads, so that happened a lot. Will I make any new friends? Will my teachers like me? I actually find my situation adorable.
I also find it comparable. That may be confusing, but I realize that I can compare my experiences with various members of my family. There's my brother who's in the middle in my family who is also a junior in college, but has been in college for like 7 years. There's my youngest brother who started his freshman year of college this year after a four year break from high school. Then there's my cousin who is just fresh out of high school and starting her freshman year in college, hoping to finish in four years. My Van Wilder brother and I were traditional students once upon a time, so it'll be interesting to see if our cousin follows our path or finishes like most traditional students do. It'll also be interesting to see how each of our years are going.
I'm so excited I won't be able to sleep. That's how it always is the last day of summer vacation for me. And it's been five years of summer vacation.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Two Day Crunch
Actually, right now, the only thing I'm sweating is how I'm getting home from school. I guess walk. In excess of fifteen miles. I'm dedicated to my education.
So, besides the little set back of I don't know how I'm getting home from school (if I jog it'll go faster and I might lose some weight), I have almost everything taken care of. I need a student ID and a school email, and that's it.
Okay, and I've been promising to do blogs on financial aid and I never did. Because it is hard and boring to go through all of it. So I'm basically just going to break down the financial aid I managed to receive: federal student loans.
How much money you can borrow from the government is dependent on status (dependent or independent student) and year in school (increases progressively the further in school you are), and there are limits. There are three kinds. There's the Perkins loan, which is for those who need it the most. You are not responsible for the interest on it while you are still in school. Then there's the two Stafford loans. The first one is a subsidized, in which you are not responsible for the interest while you are in school, but it is need based. The second one is the unsubsidized loan, which is not need based, but you are responsible for the interest while in school and it capitalizes. There are no credit checks for government student loans. If it's not enough, you can look into private loans, but they do require a credit check. To apply for the student loans, you have to apply for them on the FAFSA (http://www.fafsa.ed.gov), and then check with your school for any other information they may need.
The other thing I'm going to mention about financial aid is that the FAFSA is the gatekeeper. State aid applications are the keymaster. Yes, I'm referencing Ghostbusters. Get over it. Check with your financial aid office or high school counselor for due dates, but if you want any government money for school... Gotta fill them out.
So, besides the little set back of I don't know how I'm getting home from school (if I jog it'll go faster and I might lose some weight), I have almost everything taken care of. I need a student ID and a school email, and that's it.
Okay, and I've been promising to do blogs on financial aid and I never did. Because it is hard and boring to go through all of it. So I'm basically just going to break down the financial aid I managed to receive: federal student loans.
How much money you can borrow from the government is dependent on status (dependent or independent student) and year in school (increases progressively the further in school you are), and there are limits. There are three kinds. There's the Perkins loan, which is for those who need it the most. You are not responsible for the interest on it while you are still in school. Then there's the two Stafford loans. The first one is a subsidized, in which you are not responsible for the interest while you are in school, but it is need based. The second one is the unsubsidized loan, which is not need based, but you are responsible for the interest while in school and it capitalizes. There are no credit checks for government student loans. If it's not enough, you can look into private loans, but they do require a credit check. To apply for the student loans, you have to apply for them on the FAFSA (http://www.fafsa.ed.gov), and then check with your school for any other information they may need.
The other thing I'm going to mention about financial aid is that the FAFSA is the gatekeeper. State aid applications are the keymaster. Yes, I'm referencing Ghostbusters. Get over it. Check with your financial aid office or high school counselor for due dates, but if you want any government money for school... Gotta fill them out.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Stuff Has Been Accomplished
Okay, somehow, I still don't have a student ID. Or a full time schedule. But I do have the full amount of my student loan approved and a 2009-2011 catalog, which means the school finally put out a catalog.
Actually, there is a lesson to be learned in what happened with my student loan and what caused problems. Make sure you check all the right boxes when you fill out an application for your school. I mistakenly only checked unsubsidized instead of both boxes. But, someone in processing made a mistake too and they did approve the full of the subsidized loan, which I qualified for based on need, but they didn't think to process the unsubsidized loan, too. Either way, when it was all discovered, my loan was processed and approved in 2 minutes instead of the usual 6 to 8 week time frame. Since distribution was today, I just hope it was processed in time for that, especially since school starts in a week and a half.
So remember, when it comes to financial aid, cross all your t's and dot all your i's. It might cost you.
Actually, there is a lesson to be learned in what happened with my student loan and what caused problems. Make sure you check all the right boxes when you fill out an application for your school. I mistakenly only checked unsubsidized instead of both boxes. But, someone in processing made a mistake too and they did approve the full of the subsidized loan, which I qualified for based on need, but they didn't think to process the unsubsidized loan, too. Either way, when it was all discovered, my loan was processed and approved in 2 minutes instead of the usual 6 to 8 week time frame. Since distribution was today, I just hope it was processed in time for that, especially since school starts in a week and a half.
So remember, when it comes to financial aid, cross all your t's and dot all your i's. It might cost you.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Countdown: 12 Days
Okay, special crunch time edition. I am going to to the campus on Monday to try to take care of the following things, which if I can not take care of means I can't go to school:
-Even though last time they told me to my face I should get my unsubsidized (non-need based) loan, it doesn't appear to have been approved.
-Still need a catalogue
-Need one more class to be full time; will get "advisement" as to what that will be, but it needs to be nights or Saturdays.
-Still will end up stranded two nights a week somewhere between school and home.
If I can get the first thing taken care of, I will take care of the next two. The last one can only be taken care of after I receive the funds from the first thing. If I can't get it taken care of, no school this year. And I do mean this year. The school isn't taking students for winter and spring this year, so if you don't start in fall you don't start this year.
-Even though last time they told me to my face I should get my unsubsidized (non-need based) loan, it doesn't appear to have been approved.
-Still need a catalogue
-Need one more class to be full time; will get "advisement" as to what that will be, but it needs to be nights or Saturdays.
-Still will end up stranded two nights a week somewhere between school and home.
If I can get the first thing taken care of, I will take care of the next two. The last one can only be taken care of after I receive the funds from the first thing. If I can't get it taken care of, no school this year. And I do mean this year. The school isn't taking students for winter and spring this year, so if you don't start in fall you don't start this year.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Education Cuts Hurt Somebody-But Who? Non-Financial Aid Edition
I truly believe where there's a will, there's a way and with stick-to-it-iveness, things can be accomplished. But I say that as a girl who's never had a "safety school" and never been rejected from a college she's applied to. I have, in fact, rejected colleges. But with budget cuts, someone is going to feel the hurt. Let's see if we can find who that is and help them out. I do warn that what I say is from a Southern Californian point of view, though I feel my advice would benefit everyone.
Let's start with the most obvious of applicants: high school students. I'm actually more worried about them since the cost to support them all "four" years at a four-year school (four is in quotes because it can be closer to six years) is less than for them to transfer in as a junior. In fact, I've noticed that application dates for any given semester at some colleges has a later cut-off date for transfer students than freshman applicants. The formula for high school students is an easy concept though: get good grades, do well on the SATs, participate in extra-curricular activities, and write a good essay. I took a gamble in high school I don't think many students could afford to do these days, but I will point out I had a weighted 3.8 GPA and leadership roles in extra-curricular activities. I only got a 940 on the SATs. It wasn't exactly an earned 940; my dad and I learned I skipped a line on one of the tests and answered at least 20 questions on the wrong line. But I wasn't willing to sacrifice another $60 and another Saturday at sixteen, and felt a 940 was good enough. I did get into the school I applied to, but I rejected them when I couldn't get sufficient financial aid. With the budget cuts, I would suggest that students put up the money and give up the Saturday to take the test over. But that isn't to say you can't get in if you're not perfect: school's accept whichever students they think will offer their school the most. If you only have a 2.9, leadership in extra-curricular activities can help save you. If you're applying from out of state, I wish you good luck, because you have to stand out even more: everything otherwise equal, schools tend to accept local students first.
I suspect very little can hurt a transfer student...except a kink in their momentum. Say you finish all your requirements to transfer in a Fall semester. Many schools aren't letting students transfer mid-year any more... You would have to take a year off! And trust me, one year turns to five very quickly. Well, how would you like to get more credits out of your way while you wait? It takes 60 semester units to transfer as a junior, but you can transfer up to 72 semester units. That's about an extra semester's worth, so you can continue at your current school in the Spring and transfer it all the next fall. But you don't want to transfer next fall? Try to finish in summer school, then. Or if you're truly inclined...wait a year. My advice for out of state transfer students is the same as out of school high school students: do a lot to make yourself stand out.
So, who do I think that budget cuts are hurting? The out of state kid, the kid who doesn't want to waste time and money to retake a test, the kid who isn't doing extra-curricular activities, and college students who finished their transfer credits in the wrong semester. But who knows, if you write your essay on how you plan to overcome that diversity, you might have a shot.
Let's start with the most obvious of applicants: high school students. I'm actually more worried about them since the cost to support them all "four" years at a four-year school (four is in quotes because it can be closer to six years) is less than for them to transfer in as a junior. In fact, I've noticed that application dates for any given semester at some colleges has a later cut-off date for transfer students than freshman applicants. The formula for high school students is an easy concept though: get good grades, do well on the SATs, participate in extra-curricular activities, and write a good essay. I took a gamble in high school I don't think many students could afford to do these days, but I will point out I had a weighted 3.8 GPA and leadership roles in extra-curricular activities. I only got a 940 on the SATs. It wasn't exactly an earned 940; my dad and I learned I skipped a line on one of the tests and answered at least 20 questions on the wrong line. But I wasn't willing to sacrifice another $60 and another Saturday at sixteen, and felt a 940 was good enough. I did get into the school I applied to, but I rejected them when I couldn't get sufficient financial aid. With the budget cuts, I would suggest that students put up the money and give up the Saturday to take the test over. But that isn't to say you can't get in if you're not perfect: school's accept whichever students they think will offer their school the most. If you only have a 2.9, leadership in extra-curricular activities can help save you. If you're applying from out of state, I wish you good luck, because you have to stand out even more: everything otherwise equal, schools tend to accept local students first.
I suspect very little can hurt a transfer student...except a kink in their momentum. Say you finish all your requirements to transfer in a Fall semester. Many schools aren't letting students transfer mid-year any more... You would have to take a year off! And trust me, one year turns to five very quickly. Well, how would you like to get more credits out of your way while you wait? It takes 60 semester units to transfer as a junior, but you can transfer up to 72 semester units. That's about an extra semester's worth, so you can continue at your current school in the Spring and transfer it all the next fall. But you don't want to transfer next fall? Try to finish in summer school, then. Or if you're truly inclined...wait a year. My advice for out of state transfer students is the same as out of school high school students: do a lot to make yourself stand out.
So, who do I think that budget cuts are hurting? The out of state kid, the kid who doesn't want to waste time and money to retake a test, the kid who isn't doing extra-curricular activities, and college students who finished their transfer credits in the wrong semester. But who knows, if you write your essay on how you plan to overcome that diversity, you might have a shot.
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