Good luck!

Second and even more important to those under 24 who are not getting support:
You can file paperwork with your school to get the aid you need, by declaring yourself an Independent Student. I found out about this one at a find aid class that they used to make you take, and I’m glad they did. It was one of these 4 hour seminars for a half unit, and they run down all the options to pay for school. The Q & A hit home for me, as I stopped attending school due to lack of fin aid after 2 years of working on an art degree. Now going back 12 years later, I find out that I didn’t have to stop attending! I moved out of my Dad’s place after my 18th bday. That’s the moment that my status changed, but it could be argued that it started sooner, as my costs of education have always been paid by my work outside of school. If I had had that simple information: THERE IS A FORM! I could have become a starving artist, instead of a starving student. OK, bad example. That’s why I said I have too many units. All my art, history, and philosophy, and newspaper production, etc = humanities, and I only needed 3 units! But for me, this is the way it had to happen, I suppose. I should have stuck with my first choice major, Nursing.

One last thing about working in an under-served area to pay back loans: I think that it’s a win-win. I get my loans paid back, I get to get to the community, and get paid/experience and hopefully make a difference. That’s the kind of job you get “for now” and end up retiring with a nice plaque or something…

Oh, and good luck whatever you decide!

When I turned 19 years old I was already a mother to a 8 month old baby boy. I decided to go back to school. Planning a school was difficult for it had to be a school nearby. Many university I apply to denied me because of my high school back ground so instead I decided a community college was the best choice. It cost a lot less, and my commune time from the school to my house was only 30 minutes. Also the classes are much smaller than a university and you get more attention from your professors. I already graduated with a degree in honors and got accepted to a university nearby (the same one that rejected me back in high school) because of my academic accomplishment. I have to say going back to school was the second best choice I made- my first best choice ofcourse is having my son.

You may not be able to do anything about it for this year, but start checking in October for scholarships for your second year. Some schools have changed when they offer aid and have accelerated the deadlines, so check early for next year once your school begins. Also stop by the fin aid office to check on things, some of the small scholarships don’t get posted online and your particular school may have it’s own departmental scholarships not posted on the general scholarships page (School of Visual Arts will have art scholarships). I hope you succeed!

In the meantime, I learned to cook, and became very good at it. By the end of that 7 years, I was a classically trained executive chef, making an embarrassing amount of money. But I never wanted to do it in the first place. As soon as I turned 24, I left and started school. Because I’m independent, the government gives me enough money that I don’t have to work, and I can just focus on school. And seven years in the kitchen has given me the discipline and work ethic that I need to truly succeed in college.

As the others have stated, community college is the way to go, it’s saved me a boatload of money rather than going to university. My suggestion is to search for a work study at the community college – could be manning the sign in desk at the college’s gym to doing basic office grunt work. Colleges usually have job openings. I might also add, they usually pay a lot better per hour and you get an ton of cash to go towards paying off college as well. Work Studies for the win.

Another Suggestion I have is this – Make friends, lots of friends in both billing, Financial Aid, Student Life etc (at both colleges). The more friends you have, the more advice and help they are able to get you because they know exactly what your situation is. It works in Businesses – it also works in Real Life.

Check to make sure classes transfer correctly – at least twice by at least two different people at regular intervals while your at the community college to make sure the requirements for the transfers are still the same.

If you can get away with a online class at the 4 year college and get away with starting to transfer classes over as soon as you have done them, I would suggest giving it a go. As long as you are ok with online classes. (Take only classes that aren’t transferable).

To cut down on loans after graduation even more, consider teaching in an underprivileged area (Teach for America) or doing Americorps/Peace Corps. You can get letters of support for forbearance, stipends to go towards tuition/repaying loans and/or part of your loans are forgiven for participating in the program.

Yes, driver’s licenses are expensive, but if you end up commuting to CC (if you can’t invest in a bus pass!) then it could be necessary. If you go to a school that has them, consider doing a car-sharing service like Zipcar if you manage to score an internship or something and the bus isn’t gonna cut it (like in LA! boo Metro). It’s $35/year + whatever the hourly rate is for your car (~$7-9), which includes gas and everything. You don’t need insurance but you DO need a license. At my school, a good number of the work-study jobs are under the student-run nighttime escort service and they pay EXTREMELY well. (Something to consider!)

Since your dad is a cop (making him a city/county?/state? employee), you might be eligible for more sweet scholarships that way. Check with his department perhaps?

Don’t stop looking, and don’t give up! Best of luck!!!! We’re rooting for you!