I need to rant.

Adn4n

Golden Member
Aug 6, 2004
1,043
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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.
 

Brackis

Banned
Nov 14, 2004
2,863
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I am fortunate to not feel your financial pain, but I can sympathize with you in questioning the worth of my education and if school is where I am supposed to be. Let your life be determined through self-worth and the character of those you love.
-Brad
 

Beev

Diamond Member
Apr 20, 2006
7,775
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FAFSA is a crock of sh!t. My parents make about as much as yours and have 5 kids and I was denied too. Why even have the program if they don't want to give any money away?
 

Kelnoen

Senior member
Sep 20, 2006
409
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I feel for you, nothing worse then having a carrot dangled in front of you then having it taken away and being kicked in the groin. :(
 

BrownTown

Diamond Member
Dec 1, 2005
5,314
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Meh, I also am experiencing a slow decline in academic stance. The first GPA I evar got was in 7th grade and I got straight A's, from that year to this (Junior in college) I have progressively got lower GPAs every single year. I am currently hovering around the 2.5 GPA range and things are going downhill. I also lost my scholarship to college and am having to take it up as debt. The scary thing is that honestly my life has been going down the crapper and I *should* feel depressed, but I don't. I feel perfectly happy, whcih is what really scares me becasue it is so hard to do anything about failing a class when you look down at the 50 you jsut got on the last test and it doesnt make you feel unhappy at all. I'm jsut kinda scared if this keeps up ill be in some crappy job with no way out and then suddenly realise that I fvcked up majorly.

I mean, based how good of a high school high school I went to and my SAT scores, I shoulda been at an Ivy leauge school (twin brother is at MIT). I still managed to go to a top 20 school (according to Princeton Review), but with a 2.5 GPA that ain't gonna look to good. So, when my twin brother graduate from MIT with his 3.7 GPA and I graduate from Vanderbilt with a 2.5 GPA I'm probably gonna end up making half what he is. And I can't even blame it on bad parenting or genetics since we pretty much have the exact same of both!
 

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
41,596
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What seems really ridiculous is that people making 6-digit salaries can still have their kids get financial aid. Why? They know what to look for, or else they can talk to an attorney to get them the aid.
 

j00fek

Diamond Member
Dec 19, 2005
8,099
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i was denied aid from the govt too deal with it, move on and make it better your self.
 

Aharami

Lifer
Aug 31, 2001
21,205
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cant you apply for student loans? You can get enough federal and state loans to get a near full ride. Make up the rest with work study. Or just work during college to pay off the rest of tuition/room and board. Dont despair...in this country, there is ALWAYS a way to help you pay for higher education.

Worse comes to worse, send a letter to your congressman. They have a lot of political clout and might want to help you out...expecially if you have good grades
 

edro

Lifer
Apr 5, 2002
24,326
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Student loans!

The US Department of Education gives student loans out like candy. The interest is next to nothing. (Well, mine is... but that is from 4 years ago)
 

Greenman

Lifer
Oct 15, 1999
21,983
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You know, you don't have to go to collage to make a living. I know a lot of people who never attended, and are doing very well. Around here, an ok handyman charges $85 an hour and is always busy. I also know a fellow who works for a new car dealer, he works 40 hour weeks and makes $85k a year.
 

Trikat

Diamond Member
May 22, 2003
3,384
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Originally posted by: Greenman
You know, you don't have to go to collage to make a living. I know a lot of people who never attended, and are doing very well. Around here, an ok handyman charges $85 an hour and is always busy. I also know a fellow who works for a new car dealer, he works 40 hour weeks and makes $85k a year.

But those are rare cases. Almost everybody wants to go to college these days as it really does give you the nice jump start into the workplace.
I guess taking maybe a year off and then going back to college would be one option and yea student loans would be very helpful in your situation.
 

ngvepforever2

Golden Member
Oct 19, 2003
1,269
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Your situation is unfortunate, however, take it from me I am a senior majoring in CS and I got no full rides, nor financial aid ( same as your case , parents made too much). All I have been doing for the last 3.5 years is work my ass off 35-40 hrs/wk and take a full load of classes. You can still get a job and go to school, it's very doable. GL

<--oh yeah...I am hispanic btw, I guess I should have applied to your school to get a full ride :D

Regards

ng