Thread: $$ getting to school

is anyone as broke as i am?
i am expecting to have very little cash when leaving for school in january, and i am actually planning to arrive 3rd week of december to get settled so i will need something to live off of and from what i have read there are a lot of large one time costs that i will have to pay--apartment deposit, drivers license, internet, phone...---. did anyone take out a loan just to get there and then just pay it off with the student loans that come once school starts (is that even possible?) or is that a bad idea. or could i just pay all that with credit cards and then pay those off.
also, how quick do loans come in...the day school starts if we are lucky?
thanks.

yes--first day of registration you get your loan check---

now that depends if you got your paper work in on time

skipper

I came to AUC right out of college and not a very good job so I didn't have much money saved. I planned ahead and took out extra loan money from my last quarter of undergrad to help cover expenses.

You could run up some bills on credit card, but I don't think alot of landlords accept credit cards. Many stores and merchants do, so you could just plan on using credit wherever possible. You will still have to have a fair amount of cash for expenses that require cash. I used a cash advance on one of my cards and then paid it back as soon as I got my loan money.

Hopefully I've give you some ideas, good luck.

Originally Posted by STBS

is anyone as broke as i am?
i am expecting to have very little cash when leaving for school in january, and i am actually planning to arrive 3rd week of december to get settled so i will need something to live off of and from what i have read there are a lot of large one time costs that i will have to pay--apartment deposit, drivers license, internet, phone...---. did anyone take out a loan just to get there and then just pay it off with the student loans that come once school starts (is that even possible?) or is that a bad idea. or could i just pay all that with credit cards and then pay those off.
also, how quick do loans come in...the day school starts if we are lucky?
thanks.

Yup, just about as broke as u are but I'm working until January to cover some expenses until I get the big loan check...

So how much do we get back per semester?

Some say bout 2000 dollars...
***I actually meant 12,000...***

Originally Posted by marvelmaniac

Some say bout 2000 dollars...

It better be a whole lot more than that. That's not even 3 months of rent.

You shoudl have been able to figure this out by reading old posts.. but its been a while since this has come up so...

I got 12,800 refund check a few days ago for my refund check. Its usually more but they raised tuition $600 on us. You should have plenty of money to make it through the semester.

Getting settled is IMHO a waste of money and time, especially if you're broke (as I was). Come the evening before registration. Charge the remainder of your credit limit for 7-10 days at the Summit hotel. Pick up your check and Fedex it back asap. You can get by with very little money as long as you only buy essentials (like food and that's about it). Use the pooh poohty campus wireless/computer lab to email/chat with home because you won't have a phone (or anything else for that matter) until your check clears. Use the notes server to download (and print, if you brought your own printer) the notes and avoid that waste-of-cash SGA fee. It's certainly unpleasant to be living on this nice island and not being able to enjoy it, but you can get by with a $200 budget if you need to...

The only real problem with this plan is since Admin. seems to want to fill out each new semester with 150+ students, there might be a housing shortage and it might be risky to come without an apt. prearranged. But, you know, there's no fun in that!

Wow! Do I hear sarcasm? =)