Comments | litotease: Dear Flist, I Need Some RL Help

litotease

Dear Flist, I Need Some RL Help

Dec 09, 2009 03:33

My kid is graduating from Berkeley this year. (Woo-HOO!!!)

My mission is complete. Which means I need a new mission, because getting her to the point she's at has been my reason for getting up and going to my shitty job for a couple of decades. It's getting harder and harder to get up and go.

( So I'm going to try and get my butt back in school. )

my flist is wise, rl, college

Comments 3

topaz119 December 9 2009, 17:02:07 UTC

Oh, hah, I am so OVER schooling (made it to the MA, and then breathed a sigh of relief and said DONEDONEDONE) but Mills looks positively droolworthy. I'm excited for you, that you found this program! (and even just excited that you're going back to finish. and how can your daughter be done already?! time is doing that flying thing again ( ... )

litotease December 10 2009, 11:58:39 UTC

Mills says their average financial aid award is $30,835. I should qualify for more than that. I'll get Federal and State grants, and then Mills has merit scholarship money, and transfer scholarship money, and Community College Honor Society scholarship money (I'm taking a part-time load at my Community College this Spring just so I can join the Honor Societies and make those awards a possibility). I should qualify for work-study, too. But whatever the difference is between all of that and tuition + living expenses they'll offer in loans. And since I'll be-- ::calculates:: 57 when I'm done there, I really don't want to be carrying a shit-ton (that's the official unit of measure) of loan debt when I get out. (The woman I interviewed with was almost apologetic that they don't do full rides anymore -- something I didn't even ask about, she just volunteered ( ... )

topaz119 December 12 2009, 16:46:08 UTC

Well, the other thing to keep in mind is that you've been out in the work force for lo, these many years, and--how can I put this delicately--can almost certainly manage your time more effectively than most 20-somethings, so the very real possibility exists that you can a) take more classes than usual, or b) find additional work beyond work/study to stack up against the loans. (Or c) all of the above.)

I would definitely stay in touch with the financial aid officer at Mills--they're plugged into that world and might be able to toss a heads-up your way for a few obscure grants. (I think I got a couple thousand each year from the Catholic Daughters, of all groups. Who knew?)