Need school help.

I figured since I'm unemployed, I might as well try to make my off time useful and do something I've always wanted to do, go to school.

I filled out my FASFA and it said I was eligible to receive assistance. Since I've never done this before, I'm not exactly sure to what to next but it says

(and here comes the stupid question :-o) Now, do I just wait for them to contact me to enroll? or do I have to their respective pages and "enroll" myself?

 

You did this backwards, actually.

You need to contact the school and then register and enroll for classes, and THEN apply for financial aid. The banks won't accept you and the grants aren't possible if you do not declare a major and have a school with you registered.

There is a school code that is used and someone at the school needs to be waiting for it. Otherwise it all gets lost in the shuffle. I tried to do what you did once and never got a call back or anything.

Contact an academic and financial advisor at your school of choice and they will help you through this.

 

Oh, oops.. Off I go to try and fix this. Thanks!

 

Any time

 

So I filled out the form and now just have to wait for someone to contact me.

I'm a little nervous, it's a lot to take on and I'm not quite sure I'm smart enough to handle all the courses. I am a bit of an airhead sometimes :-D

 

I have faith in you.

What are you looking to study?

 

Aww thanks

Computer Forensics.

 

been awhile but i don't think this applies at all to PELL grants. i received mine, been a few moons like i said, and wasn't enrolled yet, let alone declare a major, which i never did. not sure if this is an obvious statement, but you don't pay back anything for any grant you receive - mucho better than a student lone.

only the best of luck to you :wine

 

Things might have changed. The FASFA doesn't even process without a school code and a major these days. An undeclared major and not even enrolled in a school increases the chances of fraud, which I am sure they try to avoid.

 

So I spoke with someone from school today, convo went like this:

Rep: Hi, why don't you tell me what you are interested in and we can go from there.
Me: Well, I was interested in your computer forensics courses you have listed.
Rep: Oh... well, that course has been discontinued.
Me: Really? I was just looking at it on your website.
Rep: Let me check my listings.. Yep, that course has been discontinued and replaced with another course.
Me: are they the same?
Rep: Well, kind of, (she goes on to describe and it's nothing like the course I wanted).
Me: Oh, well, I'll have to think about it. (then she tries to get me to sign up for a completely unrelated course and then I could "switch" to the other course she just told me about).

Thanks but no thanks. http://i800.photobucket.com/albums/yy290/lotzasmilies/dry.gif You call yourself a technical school but you can't even keep your own website up to date on the courses you currently have? http://i800.photobucket.com/albums/yy290/lotzasmilies/brow.gif

Thanks for wasting my time, I am so annoyed.

 

That happens a lot, especially with smaller colleges. I was going to grab some extra programming classes at a local college here, only to find they were cancelled.

 

Yes, being an old fossil, it's been a few decades for me as well, but canceling subjects and entire courses were pretty common for me, too - especially in smaller colleges. Then sometimes they change things entirely, like making a Diploma Course a Degree course and all sorts of stunts like that. That said, once you enroll, in say a Diploma in Applied Science or some such, it stays whatever you enrolled as, but no new enrollments accepted. (I know that's not the problem, a,t,m, but you get the idea).
Usually, the courses I came across, you had to enroll and Major first, as said. But then, like Jimmi said some, usually gifted students get allocated a Grant up front. I was second highest in the school, but no one gave me anything financially, unfortunately - not that I asked. I got some subsidy for books, but nuthin' to live on, so most of us had to work on weekends and after Uni, which did suck majorly.
I have faith in you, also Dy,so keep at it.

 

Good luck Dy!!

 

That wouldn't inspire a lot of confidence in my either. :-D

Have you thought about online universities? That might open up a wider selection of classes for you than what local colleges can offer. Then again, I've heard scary rumors about their rates, so maybe it's not a good option after all...

 

My thoughts exactly. :-D I do have a meeting with a (different school) rep on Monday. It's a fairly large location with several campuses in several states. She told me I could do combination in person/online courses so when I get a job neither would interfere with each other. I guess we will see what happens then!

 

A school that understands the realities of life, and adapts to them? Very nice! Good luck, and let us know how it turns out!

 

So I just got back from my scheduled meeting with the school rep. Everything went well, it seemed to be exactly what I was looking for. We discussed finances but I guess I got kind of confused because the way she explained it to me she showed it to be around $5,300 a year (total about $12-$13K for 2 1/2 years). I guess I was a little naive in thinking this could be the actual cost because I never went to college so I really don't know the cost.

We filled out my application, I spoke (briefly) to a financial adviser, I even took the placement test today in which she said I excelled, except for one spot, and it the part with those kinds of questions like "if Johnny has 5 apples, eats one and give 2 to Susie, How tall is Susie's sister?" :-D which she said I could take again after some (school offered) tutoring.

Then I got home and I really looked at the worksheet, boy, did I surprise myself! It's not $5,300 a year, it's $5,300 a HALF SEMESTER! There are 3 semesters a year. For 2 1/2 years (the length of the course), I would be paying over $85K! (if I did my math right, no guarantees on that one LOL) and no, I didn't factor in grants because at most you can get from the Pell Grant is $5,500 a year and there are no guarantees on even getting grants either. That would only one half semester! I would never be able to pay those loans off.

I'm kind of bummed but in no way am I going to put myself in that kind of debt with no promise of actually getting a job in that field. *sigh

 

Have you considered ITT Tech?

Wait, nevermind.

I clicked the "Computer Forensics" link.

I can't believe they are that expensive...

EDIT:

Found this on Wiki. WTFO...

Controversies

ITT Technical Institute charges among the highest tuition in the industry. It also has the industry's highest rate of loans that go into default within two-years of attendance.[11]

A two-year associate degree at ITT Tech (which requires 96 credit hours, 12 credits per quarter, 3 classes every quarter, and 4 credits per class) costs approximately $47,328 and that cost comes out to $493.00 per credit hour.[when?]

Out of concern that students at ITT Tech and other for-profit Technical Institutes are taking on unsustainable levels of debt, the Department of Education implemented new regulations that restricts students at for-profit Technical Institutes from taking out more debt than their future employment prospects would justify.[12]

Additionally, because of its business and academic practices, ITT Tech has been in the news a few times. Most of the situations reported on are summarized below.
In August 1998, 15 former students alleged misrepresentation, fraud and concealment by ITT arising out of their recruitment and education at ITT campuses. In September 1998, ITT settled all of the claims.[13]
On February 25, 2004, federal agents raided the company's headquarters and ten of its campuses.[14] The investigation negatively affected the company's stock and triggered several class action lawsuits by investors.[15][16]
In October 2005, ITT agreed to pay $730,000 to settle a lawsuit with California in which employees alleged that it inflated students’ grade point averages so they qualified for more financial aid from the State of California.[17]
An investigation by WGBA-TV found evidence of widespread grade inflation. In one instance, a student got 100% on a computer forensics assignment by emailing the professor a noodle recipe. The station believes this to be a way to increase federal student aid funding.[18]
In early March 2011 WTMJ-TV (NBC4, Milwaukee, Wisconsin) ran an investigation finding teachers lying on attendance records so they could get cash bonuses paid by ITT Tech. ITT Tech uses an attendance policy as part of a requirement to get financial aid to show student progress.[19]

 

Actually ITT were the ones who told me they no longer had the course even though it was still on their website. rolleyes

The school I visited today was a different, national college with like 80 locations.

 

University of Phoenix?

If so, run away. It is not for the faint of heart. I am thriving, but most of my classmates flail around hopelessly like fish out of water.

 

Nah. They didn't have the course I wanted.

It was actually this school and class but after doing the math, I just can't fathom spending this much money, or being in that kind of debt. Are all schools this expensive? and why are they so expensive? I could buy a really nice luxury car with almost $80K :-D

 

Schools like that are, yes. Ironically, more expensive than ground colleges and universities.

I pay 1800 bucks every 5 weeks to UoPhx.

 

That's a lot cheaper than DeVry. They want over $5K every two months.

 

The major college in my town charges about $3K per full semester if you're a local resident. It suddenly doesn't sound so bad....