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Well. I went in to have a talk with my friends (ha!) in the financial aid office today. This is becoming a weekly visit - never a good sign. I was there for over an hour today, and this is what I found out:
- When they said they'd increase my loan amount a week and a half ago, they never did.
- The money that I'm supposed to get to pay my rent, pay for food, utilities, etc... - I won't be getting any of that until July. When in July? They don't know.
- The only way for me to get any money would be to take out a short-term loan from Cornell, which would mean paying interest (at a higher rate) on a loan I'm already paying interest on!
Now, on top of realizing that I don't have any money right now (possibly enough spare stuff lying around in bank accounts and my desk to be 50 dollars, but I doubt it), I've come to the following conclusions:
- Cornell is out to screw me.
- I've been lied to by both the people in the co-op office and the financial aid office. "Financial aid for co-op summer is the same as for a regular semester." "That loan will be disbursing in a matter of days." Ha! on both of them.
Now, don't get me wrong, I understand that there are policies in place, and that since I'm dealing with a about 6 non-related departments, I should cut them a break. But, if someone had been like, well, financial aid doesn't QUITE work the same over the summer - here are the differences (as in there is no pending credit so you get finance charges when your loans don't disburse, and oh yeah, your loans don't disburse), that would have been one thing. I could have weighed my options a bit more realistically. Now it's 3 weeks (going on 4) into the co-op summer, and I find out I'm screwed. I'm living in an apartment where I haven't paid the rent, and feel horribly because it's like I'm taking advantage of a friend. I'm going to have to spend 300 dollars AGAIN on books. I already asked my parents for money, and I'd rather fend for myself (even if it means living off of rice ala Survivor for the rest of the summer) than ask for more. And borrow from the university at the ridiculous interest level they charge? What kind of institution is this?
I'm quite upset right now, as you've probably ascertained. As you may or may not know, I watch my finances like a hawk, and when things go wrong, I get pretty worked up about it. I'm sure I'll figure out a solution, but in the meantime, it would probably be a good idea to try and not screw me over. Is it too much trouble to be told the truth? I mean, seriously, all I ask is for people/departments/whatever to be upfront with me, tell me the circumstances, let me make a decision based on all of the facts. And it's not like I didn't ask questions - I did. But all of the answers I got made everything out to be way different than any of it is. So, so not cool.
- Lizzardie, at 6:35 PM
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