hockeyguy109

Hello everyone, So I was pretty stupid and decided to go to graduate school in Puerto Rico. This is my first semester, working towards my MA. It has been a whirlwind of pain so far. Before I moved here in July, the financial aid office said all my paperwork looks good and I should have financial aid loans coming in at the end of September. Somehow, they misread my FAFSA info and decided I wasn't eligible for loans. I called the Department of Education and FAFSA, and came to the conclusion that I'm eligible for about 128,000 dollars for graduate school. I only need about 10,000-12,000 a year. So this all happened in early September. I went back into the office and they said "now your eligible for 4,000 per year." I asked where they got that number, and if I could see anything in writing, and the head of the financial aid department said "I need to do more research and find out the real number." I went into his office once a week for about 4 weeks, and he still said he's working on it. I don't know what is taking so long, it took me 5 minutes on the phone to figure out the FAFSA issue. About 2 weeks ago, he said "don't come in, I'll call you when I figure it out." I e-mailed a week later asking for an update and still no reply. It's half way through the semester, and there is no word of the reward let alone the loan money. I'm barely surviving week to week, working full time with full time grad school. It's a nightmare. I did the math, and I'll be okay for the semester (barely) but won't be able to continue at this pace for 2 more years. I can't even afford to buy a bed still! I don't know what to do. It cost me thousands to move here and get settled. I'm thinking about applying to transfer to another school in the states that will give me financial aid. I'm more than qualified, I barely took out anything for undergrad school. It's just that this guy is extremely lazy or just doesn't care. I'm thinking about just applying for the Fall 2013 semester and dropping out after this semester. I'm sure the school I transfer into will understand these circumstances. I'm keeping good grades, love my classes, but if there's no money, I just can't do it. And why work 40 hours a week and take on full time classes when I could go somewhere else, get a litlte financial help, and concentrate on my studies? Anyways, does anyone have any advice? The reason I'm so torn up about this situation is that the money is there, it's just one guys negligence that's costing me my education. I'm not even that mad anymore, just trying to figure out a way outta this mess. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! I figure start applying to transfer now or wait a few more months and see if financial aid comes through? I hate to wait till the last minute. Thanks for your help.

Greetings everyone, I'm just curious if anyone has experience as a research assistant? This is my first semester in grad school, and I want to make a good impression - but I don't know what to do about my RA job. My professor is completely nuts. He's very nice, don't get me wrong. Compliments my work.....but he calls me 12-15 times a day. He just spent 1 hour to tell me I need to rewrite something and e-mail the library. That's it. No details or anything, but he just kept repeating each one....then saying something random and unrelated, then repeated again, and again, and again. It's like being the RA of Howard Hughes. In the time spent on the phone, I could have already done it. Anyways, it's only an 18 hour a week job, but it's just torchering me. Has anyone actually backed out of an RA contract with a university? I have no idea what to do. We've got a small department, and the guy is really nice.....but I just can't handle his craziness. I also have another job (private contractor), where I can get more money per hour and more enjoyable. What should I do?

Hi everyone, I'm looking for some advice and also to ask if what I'm going through is normal. I'm starting graduate school on August 15th. I flew out to my new city, got an apartment and I'm in the process of getting settled before school starts. I spent all year saving up money for the move, and figured I had enough to last me till 30 days after school starts. I heard somewhere that financial aid money usually comes to you 30 days after the start date. I just found out that my financial aid money won't be here till 60 days after the start date "probably", so who knows, it could be longer for all I know. Anyways, I have an online job which gives me a little bit of income, but I'm going to move into the red. I did some estimates, and I'll be completely broke by mid-September. Rent and the cost of living in this city are more than I thought, also. I'm able to defer my school payments till financial aid comes in, but my cost of living is a big worry for me. Is a 60 day wait period normal? Why do they do this? Don't they know that students need money before 1/4 of the way through the school year? I don't know what to do. My credit cards are maxed, and I can't get a new one. My parents are broke. I'm up sh#t creek. Any suggestions?

Hello everybody, So I'm moving away to the city I will get my grad degree in. I'm going in June and school starts in August. I have plenty of money saved up for the summer, but I'm quite worried about not knowing the financial aid situation. I have good credit. Is there ever a case when grad students don't get ANY grants or ANY loans (Govt or Private)? I'm just trying to think of the worst case scenarios before I pack up, move a 1,000 miles away just to hear that I can't get any loans or grants for school......any ideas? Hopefully I'll get SOME help from the school, but if not are people usually able to get private loans etc?

Lock yourself in your room with hot pockets, wine and netflix and sit there for a month.

It's weird, right? It's amazing that they could not even contact me. I paid the application fee, doesn't that at least buy me a rejection letter? Anyways, I've e-mailed 4 people (2 in admissions and 2 professors) politely asking what happened. No reply after 2 days. I tried calling the admissions office for the past 2 days, but nobody picks up the phone. Tried calling the department, nobody picks up the phone. It's strange and too bad, I was really counting on this school.

The school I applied to starts at the end of February. I am over qualified for the school, literally. I applied thinking there is no way I wouldn't get in. Anyways, I have been keeping in contact with the school. They kept telling me, "Don't worry, we haven't forgetten about your application, we are working on it." Around early January, they replied again saying not to worry, they'll get me in. Now it's February 7th, and the start date is 3 weeks away. I think it's amazing that they haven't replied. I sent another e-mail to my minder this morning, and they still haven't replied. Even for some reason if I wasn't accepted, I'd think they'd let me know. What's with this? Anyone have a similiar story? Do applicants get "lost"? I have back up schools, but this was my number 1 choice because of location.

Thanks for the reply, LoLu! Are you waiting on them too? Would love to meet someone who is in the same boat I'm in!

Just seeing if anyone is applying or has applied for UPR or Inter American University in San Juan? I'm playing the waiting game and very eager to find out ASAP, because I'm going to have to move all the way from Seattle. If anyone has info on how long they usually take, I would really appreciate it! Thanks!