tonsoffun300zx

no imma pee on it!

BoulderZ

Hope you can turn up the right combo of grants, aid packages, and loans!
Here's another link:
www.simpletuition.com

Compared to the current conditions, it was a lot easier to find loans when I was at Virginia Tech. My wife hires a lot of students, and often has to help them with navigating the financial aid maze. It has definitely gotten harder to put together a total package over the last 10 years, between changes in funding and credit availability.

But it can still be done! One thing she's noticed is that you now have to repeatedly "Make The Ask" to your financial aid office. When you first ask, you usually get a less experienced person who may not know all the little tricks and intricacies in finding aid/loans for a student. That's fine for 90% of the people and questions that come in to their office. But, you need a little more help than that. The second or third time you come back and say, "I still can't make this balance" you tend to get more senior people who know how to help you find the funds. Persistence and politeness will take you a long ways with the aid office. They really do want to help you make this work! Stick with 'em.

Another thing you can try: I don't know the details about your situation, but if you're still listed as a dependent in relation to your parents, you may want to consider declaring yourself independent. Otherwise, in assessing your financial need, all of your parents' income, savings, and equity count as resources available to you for paying for college. You'll want to ask the school's financial aid office if this will help you. It does differ somewhat from state to state, but I know it helps a lot in Colorado, and I remember a lot of friends doing it at Virginia Tech for the same reasons. Downsides to this include but are not limited to:
1. Parents may not be able to claim you as a tax deduction anymore (this could really hurt them financially, don't just spring it on them)
2. It may take 3 months to a year to be considered independent from a legal/accounting standpoint, so the benefit may not hit in your first year of school
3. You'll probably have to be living outside of your parents' place year-round (is the cost of rent more than offset by your increased aid/loan total?)
4. Your car will have to be registered in your name, you may need to register to vote at your new address, and all sorts of other paperwork that does take time.

Standard disclaimer: I am not a financial or legal professional in any manner, and as such my comments are not professional advice. I'm just offering up some experience and things I've seen in the hopes that it's helpful to you.

Good luck, and study hard!
Dave

KasbeKZ

thanks a lot! i do believe that i will be giving the financial aid office a few more calls with that in mind!

things loosened up a little today. i got my official report, and i am able to take loans on the standard 3500 subsidised the first year, 5000 the second, and so on in some manner. so that helps a lot. what's really up in the air is if i'll be able to keep any car. possibly the Z, but probably a honduh or something of the sort...