The Wheels Turn Slowly
So today i bought all my text books :-/ $600+ that i really don't have. Of course the "budget" estimates that books for the semester should be like $450.... so before i have even received my refund check... i'm over the budget.
*sigh*
I honestly don't get it. I mean if the school works with a bookseller and the bookseller determines the price, why can't the school better estimate the cost of books? I'm sure they'll rationalize that you don't have to buy "optional" books (although the professors will vehemently disagree) and that you can buy used books. I'll admit i'm a bit of a book snob, but i just can't sort thru someone else's highlights and underlining to determine what i think is important. It's psychological.
I'm also a little bothered that the school budgets for "personal expenses" based on Health Insurance costing $770... the actual cost of health care is $950. I'm sure this seems very nitpicky but when you aren't allowed to work, every bit helps.
My final financial aid rant is this: You can borrow up to an additional $2000 to cover the cost of a laptop... cool. The laptop has to be purchased after 7/1 but before classes start... cool. The school disburses $1000 per semester to cover the costs.... not cool. Lemme show you some numbers so y'all don't think i'm insane:
| Full-time Student | Part-time Student |
Tuition | $30,528 | $21,489* |
Fees -
|
|
|
Housing@ 955 per month | 8,596 | 8,596 |
Board/Food@ 301 per month | 2,709 | 2,709 |
Books** | 915 | 630 |
Transportation | 1,880 | 1,880 |
Personal*** | 2,600 | 2,600 |
Total | $ 47,808 | $ 38,252 |
Living expenses are based on the nine month academic year
Costs by Semester
Tuition and Fees | $15,554 | $10,918.50 |
Books | 457.50 | 315 |
Living/Personal Expenses | $7,892.50 | $7,892.50 |
Total | $23,904 | $19,126 |
Now let's look at a few things off the top... they're budgeting $955 a month for rent... in the DC metro area... yes, it can be done but it is HIGHLY unlikely. Transpo: $1880. If you park that's about $832 leaving you $116 per month for transpo for 9 months. That's great if all you need is gas and you never have to have your car serviced, and you have a small car with good gas milage. Of course with $995 a month for rent you're living nowhere close to campus and you're probably stressed out because you have to drive an hour a day to get to and from class. Yes, you could take metro... but at the least you're spending about $60 a month which leaves you an extra $154 a month. Perhaps that can go towards rent so that you can actually live close enough to only pay $60 a month for metro.
So ok let's look at the charges on my account:
Date | Description | Charge | Credit |
07/26/2004 | Stud Technology Fee | 55.00 | |
07/26/2004 | Activity Fee | 170.00 | |
07/26/2004 | Tuition | 15,264.00 | |
07/26/2004 | Sports Center Fee | 65.00 | |
07/26/2004 | Health Insurance Fee | 950.00 |
hmmm... this equals: $16,449
plus the $600 for text books and we're at $17,049
This brings my rent/personal expenses down to: $6855... that's quite a bit less than the "budget" is it not?
In all fairness, let's add that $1000 for the laptop ($7855) and then drop it down to $6255 since i have to pay for the entire laptop upfront and not $1000 per semester as the school seems to think is appropriate.
Soooo.... I have $6255 or $1563.75 to last me from September to December... and *by law* i am not allowed to work.... anyone see any problems?
Pray for me y'all