How to pay for College?

[BPH]

Problem is that I would have to be financially independent of my parents

Don't you have to be 25 years old to be considered independent? It was 23 when I went to college. That's part of why I got married at age 21; they consider you independent at that point. Otherwise, I don't think they care if you are independent in the actual sense of the word.

Yeah apparently you do...so what's another option?

 

[BMX]

Work for the city of Wilmington goverment or county government and they will reimburse you after your grades are in. You need to get at least a "C" to have your courses paid off. Whatever grades you make won't be reported to your parents due to FERPA. Depending on what you major in, they might offer you in-state tuition if the program is not offered in Delaware. The rent was much less in NC, so at the very least you can move and go to community college there to start? Use the online practice license tests before going to the DMV. I only missed the 1st question on the exam and got the next 20 in a row and my license was handed to me.

 

[BPH]

Work for the city of Wilmington goverment or county government and they will reimburse you after your grades are in. You need to get at least a "C" to have your courses paid off. Whatever grades you make won't be reported to your parents due to FERPA. Depending on what you major in, they might offer you in-state tuition if the program is not offered in Delaware. The rent was much less in NC, so at the very least you can move and go to community college there to start? Use the online practice license tests before going to the DMV. I only missed the 1st question on the exam and got the next 20 in a row and my license was handed to me.

How on Earth do I work for the goverment with a high school diploma...

 

[sageproduct]

Honestly OP, pretty much all your options have already been laid out in this thread. If you go to NC the only things you can do are:

1. Keep applying for private/corporate scholarships/other awards
2. Work
3. do ROTC, but ONLY if you're interested in the military
4. High-interest private loans

That's about it. 76k I believe is still considered high income. I say that because you only received the 5.5k loan that everyone can get. You didn't receive other financial aid. You're probably not eligible for Federal Work-Study.

I'll reiterate again: really consider going to that community college that you don't want to go to. Seriously, screw "college" in the sense of getting drunk and partying and all that jazz. It can kind of be a good thing if you're somewhere you don't like - it'll motivate you that much more to do your **** properly so you can get the hell out.

The government will consider you an independent for financial aid purposes if you meet any of the following requirements:
1. You're 24 or older
2. You're a grad student
3. You're married
4. You have a kid
5. You have dependents who live with you and who receive more than half their support from you
6. You're currently serving in the armed forces on active duty
7. You're a veteran
8. Your parents died before you turned 13, and you were a foster child after that
9. You're homeless or at risk of being homeless
10. You're in legal guardianship
11. You're an emancipated minor, as determined by a court in your state of legal residence

Yes, I know a light bulb went on in your head when you read the last one. Believe me, I spent quite a bit of time trying to use that loophole last year. It's for serious stuff - child abuse, etc. No judge will declare you an emancipated minor so that you can get more financial aid. They will have to have a very good reason for emancipating you.

EDIT: Also, it is very unwise to count on getting residency status in the state of NC. Like you said, it would not count the first year, and there are way too many things that could go wrong, such as different ways they could say that your residency doesn't count.

 

[BPH]

Honestly OP, pretty much all your options have already been laid out in this thread. If you go to NC the only things you can do are:

1. Keep applying for private/corporate scholarships/other awards
2. Work
3. do ROTC, but ONLY if you're interested in the military
4. High-interest private loans

That's about it. 76k I believe is still considered high income. I say that because you only received the 5.5k loan that everyone can get. You didn't receive other financial aid. You're probably not eligible for Federal Work-Study.

I'll reiterate again: really consider going to that community college that you don't want to go to. Seriously, screw "college" in the sense of getting drunk and partying and all that jazz. It can kind of be a good thing if you're somewhere you don't like - it'll motivate you that much more to do your **** properly so you can get the hell out.

The government will consider you an independent for financial aid purposes if you meet any of the following requirements:
1. You're 24 or older
2. You're a grad student
3. You're married
4. You have a kid
5. You have dependents who live with you and who receive more than half their support from you
6. You're currently serving in the armed forces on active duty
7. You're a veteran
8. Your parents died before you turned 13, and you were a foster child after that
9. You're homeless or at risk of being homeless
10. You're in legal guardianship
11. You're an emancipated minor, as determined by a court in your state of legal residence

Yes, I know a light bulb went on in your head when you read the last one. Believe me, I spent quite a bit of time trying to use that loophole last year. It's for serious stuff - child abuse, etc. No judge will declare you an emancipated minor so that you can get more financial aid. They will have to have a very good reason for emancipating you.

EDIT: Also, it is very unwise to count on getting residency status in the state of NC. Like you said, it would not count the first year, and there are way too many things that could go wrong, such as different ways they could say that your residency doesn't count.

I hear what you're saying. I'm just really hoping for some kind of grant or scholarship that I can't find to be posted here or something...

I really don't like Delaware that much. I already sent my enrollment deposit to UNCW on May 1st. So at the very least I will be going there for my first year. I really hate Delaware Tech and I'm not crazy about UD.

I want to get out on my own and away from Delaware. I love Wilmington, North Carolina. I love the beach, I love the people, I love that I can live with my cousin while I'm there. I'm simply looking for a way to pay for it.

Of the scholarships I've applied for I haven't received any notification of any sort. A while male with a 3.7 GPA and a 1750 SAT doesn't qualify for much. Coming from a stable household with little to no medical problems...

I'm just hoping I find something that I haven't considered already.

 

[elite7]

The one pic I would never get out of my head is when I saw a ivy league grad with a sign asking where his bailout was go junior college or military apply for grants asap and make sure you do what you love!!

 

[BPH]

The one pic I would never get out of my head is when I saw a ivy league grad with a sign asking where his bailout was go junior college or military apply for grants asap and make sure you do what you love!!

Don't know what junior college is, not going into the military, and I'm researching physical fitness, which I love.

 

[Bible_Belt]

I'm researching physical fitness, which I love.

You could be a personal trainer and not go to college. Or do both. You need a skill that pays cash so that you can make education a hobby.

 

[BPH]

I'm researching physical fitness, which I love.

You could be a personal trainer and not go to college. Or do both. You need a skill that pays cash so that you can make education a hobby.

I want to double major or have my minor in Business Administration. I've love to be a personal trainer, but I'd much rather have the know-how to start my own gym or devise a workout routine similar to Tony Horton's P90X.

But yes, I plan to work at a gym while I attend college.

 

[sageproduct]

You hate staying in Delaware, you love NC. You're young and will pursue what you desire, and nothing will stop you. I can dig that. Just understand one thing: your family is paying 15k-20k more a year so you can go live in NC. Please be grateful for that.

Grant and scholarship opportunities will be thin. Keep looking, though. Chances are, you can win some smaller awards, but I'd be very surprised if you managed to cover a very significant portion of your cost. So thank your family if you really are going to make them pay that much more for you to live in NC.

 

[don't]

Truck driving, OTR, over the road, living in the rig, with your 3rd world woman, will let you save at least 80 k in 3 years, and that will set you up with 2 old houses that you can turn into lots of cheap rooms, creating an income for yourself, right there. Bingo, 4 years and you will be set for life, really. Just keep adding to the number of houses that you rent out. Figure on having at least one room per house full of big double lockers, rented out for $10 a week. Any large room will hold at least a dozen of them and they will stay full. Problem is, you have to maintain a dope dog if you run such a place, have wonderful home insurance, etc.

 

[BPH]

You hate staying in Delaware, you love NC. You're young and will pursue what you desire, and nothing will stop you. I can dig that. Just understand one thing: your family is paying 15k-20k more a year so you can go live in NC. Please be grateful for that.

Grant and scholarship opportunities will be thin. Keep looking, though. Chances are, you can win some smaller awards, but I'd be very surprised if you managed to cover a very significant portion of your cost. So thank your family if you really are going to make them pay that much more for you to live in NC.

I committed to UNCW at the beginning of the month. As much as I want to minimize the cost I don't want to go somewhere with the mindset that I'm going to hate it (Delaware Tech). Still looking for scholarships so that's not a problem.

Also don't, if your method works, why aren't you/other people doing it?

 

[SharinganUser]

Go over seas and teach English for a year or so.

 

[Bible_Belt]

Degrees of Debt, A Generation Hobbled by the Soaring Cost of College:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/b...ighing-down-a-generation-with-heavy-debt.html

 

[BMX]

junior college=community college. What is your damage BPD?

 

[BPH]

junior college=community college. What is your damage BPD?

BPH?

 

[BPH]

This thread is making me rethink my choice to go to a University out of state...I really don't want to but now I'm really considering going to the sh**** community college in my own state...

 

[Bible_Belt]

Good. And if it's that bad of a school, then you have no excuse to make less than straight A's. Do that for two years, transfer out, and no one will know or care that you saved yourself $40,000.

It's hard to see, but after time you will learn that no one really cares where you've been, only where you are now. When you're graduating with a bachelor's, no one will care that you went to junior college. And also keep in mind that when and if you get a graduate degree, no one will care where you got your bachelor's. That's how education works; all that really matters is the degree you got last.

 

[BPH]

Good. And if it's that bad of a school, then you have no excuse to make less than straight A's. Do that for two years, transfer out, and no one will know or care that you saved yourself $40,000.

It's hard to see, but after time you will learn that no one really cares where you've been, only where you are now. When you're graduating with a bachelor's, no one will care that you went to junior college. And also keep in mind that when and if you get a graduate degree, no one will care where you got your bachelor's. That's how education works; all that really matters is the degree you got last.

Well I'm already enrolled at UNCW, so if anything I stay there for 2 years I think.

 

[metoo]

ignorance, laziness, stupidity, apathy, same reason lots of people never do anything.