| Amy from
Pennsylvania
Dear Karen:
My name is Amy Hribar. I am
originally from Oil City, Pennsylvania. I am a graduate of
Southampton College (in Long Island, NY) and am at present a graduate
student at UC Davis. I am writing to you to tell you about
the financial difficulties I've experienced throughout the past five
years.
Fortunately, I was lucky enough to
receive a full tuition scholarship at Southampton. However, this
scholarship did not include any money for rent, food, books or any other
living expenses.
At first, I lived on campus where room
and board cost me over $1,000 per month. After tacking on another
$300 per semester for books and a few hundred dollars for supplies and
lab fees, I was still accumulating nearly $5,000 per semester.
I looked to the financial aid department
for support but none was to be found. I did not meet the
requirements for any grants or deferred student loans, because of the
income of my parents.
I asked what the income of my parents
had to do with a loan I was taking out, and was told that their income
dictated what "involvement status" they would have. They
were determined to be "highly involved" in supporting me, so
my loan would collect 9.7% interest even while I was still in school.
Ridiculous, right? Luckily my parents
took out a second line of credit to aid me. My
second year, I moved into an apartment which saved me having to get yet
another letter of recommendation from my professors.
As far as my scholarship applications to
UCD, each of my three professors wrote a total of seven letters for me
my last semester. I spent a total of $25.00 to mail all the stuff
to UCD. It was a lot of work, writing and bothering my
professors...and with no payoff. I received absolutely no
aid from the college except a $1,500 one-time scholarship for being an
out-of-state student, even though I graduated magnum cum
laude.
With out-of-state tuition being over
$5,000 per quarter (the quarter system is used here instead of the
semester), you see I'm responsible for an additional $3,500 this quarter
and $5,000 for every other quarter. And this is solely
tuition. My expenses outside of school are about the same as New
York.
Student loans are still a problem
because my parents' income determines my interest rate (which also
increases when you go to grad school) until I'm 24!
I think this website is a great
idea. A lot of students, I believe, are disillusioned by
scholarships. Even if you meet the requirements and receive the
scholarship, it won't pay for everything. Donations are a great
idea, and perhaps the only alternative for some students.
Karen, the website is great. Thank
you so much for taking the time to inform and help us "starving
students!" I'll be making a student ad this weekend.
Thank you,
Amy
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