I'm sitting here late at night, utterly depressed and studying for a physics exam.
Where do I start? I'm a naturalized citizen of the USA. I came to this country as a refugee of war from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and I can't express enough gratitude for having been allowed to live here.
When I graduated from high school, I had the opportunity to go to Berkeley. I could not afford this, so I opted to go to a local college here in Utah. I had very little knowledge about the US college system or the European one for that matter. My high school counselor dwelled on the fact that I am from a different country, and helped me apply for a multicultural scholarship at Utah State University. My grades were good, and I had over two years worth of AP and concurent credits. A representative from Utah State came to my high school to specifically talk to us about the scholarship opportunity. It entitled us to 100% free tuition, board, and even books. I talked to the representative to make sure that this was not a minority scholarship based on ethnicity, since I am classified as a Yugoslav, aka Caucasian. He said that I met the criteria and that a young girl from Bosnia had gotten it before. Shortly after I received the scholarship.
Around my graduation from high school, they revoked the scholarship on grounds of my ethnicity. Apparantly the girl received it because she is a woman. I would have understood if I had been rejected initially based on my ethnicity, but to receive it and then have it taken away is just brutal.
I could not go to Utah State now, since it is too far from my home and I could not afford the room and board. So I enrolled at the University of Utah. However, I was told of a scholarship given out by the state of Utah to those students that receive an associates degree by Sep. 1st of the year they graduate from college(50% tuition for 60 credits). All I needed was an arts class and a CIS class(EXCEL,WORD,ETC) to receive an AS from the local community college. I took the art class, but the CIS class was full.
I was told that I could take the CLEP test for the class, and that that would be a whole lot cheaper. So on August 1st, one month before the deadline, I call them to make an appointment the following week. The woman tells me that they're not scheduling until August 28th....On August 28th, I find out that they're booked until September 4th. I asked how this was possible since I called right as they opened, only to be told that they were scheduling all month. So here i was, with some 80 credits that I had sacrificed the supposedly best time of my life for, only to be left in the rain because apparantly I did not have the WORD and EXCEL skills that they required. I tried everything, even went to the dean, but to no avail. No one believed me about the woman that lied to me.
My fafsa was not received the first year, and now they tell me my parents earn too much. I don't understand this, since they both earn less than $10 an hour. I suppose I wouldn't be this upset if I wouldn't see people with worse grades and easier majors than I receive scholarships. A lot of my hispanic friends received full rides, yet they're barely clinging to a 3.0 . My greatest regret is telling my parents about the scholarships, only to tell them that I'll need their financial support later.
I'm sorry for this rant, but writing this actually relieved some stress for me. I guess nothing will be given to me now, I just hope it changes when I start working as an engineer.
Where do I start? I'm a naturalized citizen of the USA. I came to this country as a refugee of war from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and I can't express enough gratitude for having been allowed to live here.
When I graduated from high school, I had the opportunity to go to Berkeley. I could not afford this, so I opted to go to a local college here in Utah. I had very little knowledge about the US college system or the European one for that matter. My high school counselor dwelled on the fact that I am from a different country, and helped me apply for a multicultural scholarship at Utah State University. My grades were good, and I had over two years worth of AP and concurent credits. A representative from Utah State came to my high school to specifically talk to us about the scholarship opportunity. It entitled us to 100% free tuition, board, and even books. I talked to the representative to make sure that this was not a minority scholarship based on ethnicity, since I am classified as a Yugoslav, aka Caucasian. He said that I met the criteria and that a young girl from Bosnia had gotten it before. Shortly after I received the scholarship.
Around my graduation from high school, they revoked the scholarship on grounds of my ethnicity. Apparantly the girl received it because she is a woman. I would have understood if I had been rejected initially based on my ethnicity, but to receive it and then have it taken away is just brutal.
I could not go to Utah State now, since it is too far from my home and I could not afford the room and board. So I enrolled at the University of Utah. However, I was told of a scholarship given out by the state of Utah to those students that receive an associates degree by Sep. 1st of the year they graduate from college(50% tuition for 60 credits). All I needed was an arts class and a CIS class(EXCEL,WORD,ETC) to receive an AS from the local community college. I took the art class, but the CIS class was full.
I was told that I could take the CLEP test for the class, and that that would be a whole lot cheaper. So on August 1st, one month before the deadline, I call them to make an appointment the following week. The woman tells me that they're not scheduling until August 28th....On August 28th, I find out that they're booked until September 4th. I asked how this was possible since I called right as they opened, only to be told that they were scheduling all month. So here i was, with some 80 credits that I had sacrificed the supposedly best time of my life for, only to be left in the rain because apparantly I did not have the WORD and EXCEL skills that they required. I tried everything, even went to the dean, but to no avail. No one believed me about the woman that lied to me.
My fafsa was not received the first year, and now they tell me my parents earn too much. I don't understand this, since they both earn less than $10 an hour. I suppose I wouldn't be this upset if I wouldn't see people with worse grades and easier majors than I receive scholarships. A lot of my hispanic friends received full rides, yet they're barely clinging to a 3.0 . My greatest regret is telling my parents about the scholarships, only to tell them that I'll need their financial support later.
I'm sorry for this rant, but writing this actually relieved some stress for me. I guess nothing will be given to me now, I just hope it changes when I start working as an engineer.