Student Loan Help

ethaaan123

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Joined
Nov 19, 2015
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26
I'm attending Auburn next year and doing NROTC navy option. I will have many expenses outside of tuition and fees. Borrowing money is unavoidable at this point. I would like to receive cash from a student loan before it gets processed by the school and they decide what gets refunded to me. Does anyone know if this is possible? Any advice?
 
Most Federal Stafford and Parent PLUS loans are required to disburse funds directly to the institution which in turn issues a check to the student for any overages. There may be private loans available, but these don't have the same advantages as the federal loans do.

Why do you need to get the cash before the college processes the loan?


Reference: https://www.edvisors.com/ask/faq/
 
So I can put a deposit on an apartment, buy a used car, get some new clothes, buy food to survive on , etc. I am looking at a very small family contribution, probably nonexistent. I just want to get money as soon as possible so I can get out of this area and make it on my own.
 
Have you received a NROTC scholarship yet? Also, have you received a financial aid package from Auburn?
 
I have not received any financial aid yet. I'm in the run for the nrotc scholarship. I also have a good chance at getting the full tuition scholarship from auburn since I have a 33 on my act. I have to fill out the fafsa and have it sent to auburn and fill out the Auburn Scholarship Opportunity Manager application before I can be awarded any financial aid through the university.
 
Here are some suggestions:

1. Make sure you get your FAFSA done in JANUARY and no later. Even if your parent's taxes are not done yet, go ahead and estimate them and make a correction later. Early birds get the grants.
2. If you are not working a PT job right now, do so. Build up funds this summer if you can. (Unless you get appointed to USNA).
3. Speak to the Cadre at Auburn. Find out where the cheapest housing is. Find a roommate if you can early.
4. I would challenge whether you REALLY need a car in your freshman year. My DS has gotten by without one in his MS-I year and it actually helps him scholastically by limiting distractions. Everything he needs is on campus. Consider living in the dorms for your first year. It will give you more support.
5. Does Auburn give you a break on room and board for being in NROTC? Find out.
 
I would live in a dorm but Auburn's room and board costs around 10k a year. I am avoiding it all costs. Auburn only offers nrotc special scholarship opportunities to current midshipmen. I would get a pt job if I had a vehicle. I'm in a terrible spot. I need a job to get a car and I need a car to get a job.
 
When do schools usually calculate cost of attendance and issue refunds for overages?
 
My DS received his living expense refund the first week of school (University of Nevada). But each school is different. Call the Auburn cashier/bursars office to find out how they do it.
 
Also, Auburn's Housing department will likely be more patient than an off-campus landlord in terms of waiting for disbursement.
 
The commenters above are correct. Federal student aid, be it grants or loans, is sent directly to the school. Overages shoukd be refunded fairly early each semester, but given what has been happening in Congress I wouldn't count on it. Most require freshman to live in residence halls so you may not have an option to do otherwise. They will also be lenient on paying if they know you have qualified for Stafford loans and the money is on its way.
 
It is also worth noting that room and board for public university averages about $10,138 a year. So $10K is spot on at Auburn, and may be worth it in that you spend less time commuting from an apartment and dealing with cooking your own meals.
 
gokings814 has a point. Keep in mind that the college may offer you a job as part of their aid package which would make the automobile unnecessary.

EDIT: And of course the automobile insurance, gas, and maintenance expenses that go with it!
 
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My DS received his living expense refund the first week of school (University of Nevada). But each school is different. Call the Auburn cashier/bursars office to find out how they do it.

Gokings814 - My daughter visited University of Nevada in the Fall, she loved it! How does your DS like it there? She just completed her application, and is ready to board, Nevada is listed as her second choice.
 
My DS received his living expense refund the first week of school (University of Nevada). But each school is different. Call the Auburn cashier/bursars office to find out how they do it.

Gokings814 - My daughter visited University of Nevada in the Fall, she loved it! How does your DS like it there? She just completed her application, and is ready to board, Nevada is listed as her second choice.

DS has loved it! (University of Nevada Reno for clarity).This was actually plan C but chose it over Plan B (The Citadel) because of the WUE financial package offered by UNR. DS is also a snowboarder and the snow season has been great so far.

The AROTC cadre is terrific. He started as non contract and earned a Three year AD scholarship before fall semester was done. He learned how to fire and clean a M-249 at LDX a few weeks ago and is just having a blast.

He loves his classes and will pull a 3.2 while carrying 19 units this semester.

Beautiful campus, lots of support and three hours from home. Life is good. PM me if you have more UNR questions.

BTW excellent avatar you have!
 
My oldest is a freshman in civilian college (art major, not rotc). She was able to wrap her dorm room and board into student loans. I don't believe you could borrow for off campus housing, but I could be wrong. If you wrap room and board into student loans then you really won't have need for cash or car.
 
Off topic, but on topic.

I would re-think going to Auburn, especially if it means you need NROTC scholarship to attend. I get you THINK you want this life, but you won't really know UNTIL you are there and in the program.
~ ROTC scholarship students get to walk with no obligation up to their 1st day of school their sophomore year. If you look around all of these boards, there are many kids that decide it is not a fit for them. Yes, even kids that were in JROTC. It is a different world in college.

How will you pay for Auburn if you don't want to stay in NROTC? Will it mean you MUST stay so you can graduate from Auburn?
~ Again, I get it, but remember.... college is 30 weeks a year, 21 hrs at tops in a classroom, at a place you decided to go to for 4 yrs., and a major you chose. Navy is 52 weeks, 24/7 a week for 4 years in a career field and at a place where they have final say.
~~ The cliche Service Before Self is not a cliche...it is reality.

As a Mom, with my 3rd in college now. I agree that living off campus, even in the lowest rent areas, we typically spent more money for them to live off campus than on
~ Oldest 2 went to colleges where only freshmen were guaranteed campus housing.
~~ Remember most rental units do not offer leases less than a year. That means if classes end in early May, and you took the lease Mid Aug., you are on the hook for those months between. READ the fine print... it probably says no subletting during the summer. Thus, you are paying not only rent, but also utilities for an empty apt.

Chances are that you might have another issue that you have yet to understand. Rental units will run a credit check. I doubt you have any credit, so now the folks will have to co-sign the least. Utility companies may also ask for a co-signor. Can the folks co-sign, are they willing to co-sign. Anytime anyone co-signs, credit is pulled on them, and because they are guaranteeing that you are good for it, but if not they can go after the co-signor it impacts their credit too.

Kinnem and gokings bring up great points on the big tickets that will add up, but they missed a few from my personal experience that tally up quickly.
1. Live off campus, what will you do for lunch?
~ Most college food (board) offers you basically all you can eat, whenever you want to eat.
~~ Buying food at the dining hall or student union becomes very expensive, very quickly. Are you going to pack a lunch everyday for school?
2. How will you furnish the apt.?
~ I don't care if you use milk crates as end tables and night stands, but unless you are taking your bed from home, or want to sleep on an air mattress for 9 months, you will need furniture. Not even addressing a sofa from Goodwill to sit on while you eat Ramen or do your classwork assignments.
~ Same goes for silly things like dishes, glasses, pots/pans, silverware, etc.
~~ If you intend to take all of this with you...than you are renting a small UHaul tow, and not every used car has a tow hitch, which means renting one that you can drive.
3. The first month and security deposit paid in full before they hand off the keys.

However any way you roll it, there will be an outlay of money up front, even if you could get FAFSA early, which you can't.

If Auburn is like most colleges that I know of, they will also offer a 0% payment plan. As gokings stated earlier...work and save money starting now. Also as kinnem stated they may offer you work study as part of your financial aid package. The 0% payment plan deducts all of the scholarships and FA package, than whatever is left, depending on their payment plan, they will divide it out and charge you monthly.
~ This really varies school to school. They may say that you can pay it over 3 or 4 months and the 1st payment is due before school even starts. They may say it is automatically deducted on X date of every month. Contact the bursar for the details.

Finally, many ROTC units have a social aspect too, and this is a reason you may want to scrap this idea of living off campus. It is not uncommon for ROTC units to have a lounge where they congregate during the day. It is not uncommon to have one night during the week where the GMCs (freshmen and sophs) hang out from 6-9 at night in the lounge. Assume you are not working a PT job that night...are you going to drive back to the school to hang out?
~ If they have that option, and kids take advantage of it, than that means they are bonding together outside of the classroom.

Sorry for the novella, but I think you need to see everything. I get you want to go to Auburn and that $ for R & B is scary, but if your EFC is truly zero, than you should get a good FA package.
 
I go to a university where the majority of students live off campus, and the apartments are much cheaper, in my experience.

Most apartments (around my college at least) come furnished and with utilities included in the rent and are around 600 a month. Mine actually allows subleasing, but I'm not going to since I work up there over summers.

For food you can get frozen chicken breasts, steamfresh vegetables, pb & j etc...and find restaurants with good deals, like I do sometimes. However I will say during my freshman year I had a meal plan, and it was very, very convenient and IMO worth it for freshman year.

Auburn has incredibly good aid packages, so get your app done quick! Have quite a few friends there (they are Out of state students) and they go for free.

I do agree with the sentiment, even with the scholarship, really weight your options. I love my AFROTC detachment and do really well in school, but I made sure to go to a school 2 hours from home, and I got a great deal of scholarships/could afford it without ROTC. Actually paid all of this semester's bills without any loans, and before ROTC money came in. Did this without any help from parents.

So all in all, go wherever is cheapest. Any university that has NROTC is a pretty solid school; really anywhere that has an ROTC unit of any sort is going to be a legit and good school, so you really have no worries. At the end of the day, no one really cares where you went, but loans will follow you forever. Straight A's/good grades at a state school will take you just as far as anywhere else!
 
Not to divert too much, but...
Sorry, but I disagree with you on your final sentence Akrogan.
~ IE In NC you have a lot of different state schools. UNC Chapel Hill or NCST is seen waayyy different than let's say UNC Greensboro or Appalachian. Just like in VA, nobody would say UVA is academically on the same level as GMU. (My DS2 is at GMU, so I am not slamming GMU. DD went to VT, thus, I am not slamming VT either --just acknowledging UVA). DS1 went to UMDCP, Towson is a state college, but if you were going engineering it would not be on par with UMDCP.

Just saying, if the OP wants to do 4 and the door out of ROTC, than YES where they go for undergrad may matter IF they have a flagship college recognized nationally.
~ UMICH, UVA and UNCCH are considered public ivies.

I would also see Auburn like VT, OSU or PSU. There are some colleges that I like to call rabid when it comes to their school loyalty, but for VT and PSU they are not Public Ivies,,,just insanely loyal like UMich, UVA and UNCCH. They have an amazing networking system. Other colleges, well, once you graduate, life goes on, it was just the school you graduated from. IOWS, you don't see a lot of them at 50 still wearing their college rings or school clothing as their go to casual dress.
~ Bullet(51) and my DS(25) are rabid when it comes to UMD football/basketball, but neither wear their college rings or even a baseball cap. OK Bullet wears his cap to mow the lawn! However, when you meet a UVA/UNC/PSU/Clemson/Auburn grad, 10 will get me 20, that they probably have a tie in their interesting school colors, a tee/polo shirt that they wear at least weekly, and probably a license plate bracket for their car too!

A blanket statement, as well as intention as it might be is not necessarily true. Yes, many times it won't matter, but many times it will. JMPO, it will not matter if we are talking 5-10 years out with military experience, and hopefully they will use TA to get their grad degree. However, it can also matter a lot if you intend to leave at 4 because it is now a networking aspect, and some colleges have stronger networks.
~ It can also matter if they want to do ED right out of ROTC.

Would I go to Auburn knowing the little info that the OP posted? NO. The cost is too high, especially if they need that NROTC scholarship to stay.
~ I would agree with you regarding state colleges. I would go IS to UAB...roll tide over Auburn, because they are just as rabid as the other state colleges I posted earlier.
~~ Yet, if they said their IS is U of South Dakota, than yes, I would probably go into debt because of the networking options later on IF I had no intention to return to South Dakota.
 
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