I applied to Drexel university, PA, and was accepted. the total financing they were willing to give me was 20k, but the school is 47k (for my major) a year. i needed to come up with 27k MORE!!! now, i'm not saying my family's poor, but we don't have much money. we sent a letter to Drexel to see if they could offer us some more in aid, but i just received a letter from them today saying that they couldn't give me anymore. My dad's a financial specialist for Wachovia, and he says that 27k a year with loans would be too much. I'm scrambling like crazy doing scholarships and stuff, but i doubt i could get any of them. i applied for a scholarship for my crohn's disease, but i won't hear back from that one until late June, past the date i am to accept Drexel's offer to enroll; it would be too late. But that scholarship alone wouldn't change the situation. I guess what i'm asking is, does anyone know if there are scholarships for being gay, or are there any other scholarships that may help that you may know of? if not, do you know any ways i can make money...?
Wow. We've had a thread about that before I think... Becky had pointed it out I think. That's a LOT of money! Surely there are other universities that cover the same courses that cost less. I ask, because to a point, the university that you attend will only get you so far... it might get you in some more doors for interviews, but in the end it's what you've accomplished and how you present yourself that will get you a job. And once you have that job, the university you attended means almost nothing. It's how you perform and what you deliver. I would think that ending up in a pile of debt would be very stressful. I would certainly hate to start my working career already loaded up with debt - and would do what I could to limit how much I had to borrow while at school...
Yeah, I'd say it's time to look at other options for college. Don't get too crushed, though. You might look into attending a school nearby - even a state school - and then transfering to a smaller, "better" school after two years. Most early classes are transferable. Lex
I distinctly remember Becky posting a thread about this in the past, but I can't find it right now. You could always try a Fastweb account if you haven't already. As far as I know, it's rather difficult to get picked for a scholarship shown there because there are so many people who use the site as it is. Off the top of my head, some other things that I've seen that may assist to guide you on your search can be found here, here, and here, although I have no idea how reputable or helpful the organizations listed there are. I would seriously consider taking the advice that Jim1454 and Lexington gave, though. Transfering after a couple of years at a less expensive college is always a good possibility because, as I'm sure you've realized, $27,000 per year is a lot of money. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
Well, i'm going for interior design, and Drexel is one of the top ten schools for Interior design in the United States. i have been accepted at a smaller, more cheaper, school, but it is not as accredited. it's kinda late to look for other schools, and i can't go too far away for school. but i'll see what happens...
Still, if the choice is going to Drexel and beggaring your family or going to a less pretigious school... I mean, $47,000/year is pretty insane, especially if it's a 4-year program. I'm not sure what the Ivy Leagues cost now but they certainly weren't that much when I got in. They were still too much and as a Canadian, I didn't really qualify for any financial aid so it was out of the question. It sounds like a pretty sucky situation for you because it's not like you just need $27,000, which would be tricky enough. You need $27,000/year and that's if your financial aid and tuition stays constant. I feel super bad for you; it's really awful when you can't get into your dream school simply because of money. I really had my heart set on Cornell but my family and I just had no proper conception of how expensive it would be--I mean we knew it would be pricey but I think the only way we could have afforded it would have been to get a 2nd mortgage and that's not the kind of thing you do unless there is a very dire need to do it. That being said, I think I turned out okay and it turns out I'm not even that keen on the field I got my degree in, so if my family had paid $80,000 US (at a time when USD were worth quite a bit more than CAD) for me to get the degree, I would feel pretty uber-guilty. As people have pointed out, yes, it sucks, but it doesn't have to be something that ultimately has that negative an impact on your life. That is really good you're looking for scholarships, though. You might want to hit up the grandparents (if you have any and if they have money). They are often good for interest-free loans for grandchildren. (I just checked: going to Cornell would be about $36K a year right now... I think it was $20K or $24K back in my undergraduate days. I'm sure Drexel is a good school but I don't know if it's that good to be worth that much, you know what I mean?)
My daughter is in an interior design program for not nearly that much! However, there are scholarships available for GLBT students. Go to www.pflag.org and search scholarships. They may have already been granted but might be of help in the future. They want to give to people who are active in making a different for GLBT people. Also, there are other organizations. You just have to do some searching.
