The situation with my financial aid at school is what is medically known as fucked up. Here is the situation right now.
I have received a confirmed 7,108.00 from finacnial aid. This was all from grants and loans.
My bank account shows that I was initially given 6,794.00. I initially thought this was plus the stipend.
I later received an e-mail saying that they accidentally didn’t charge me tuition in error. Instead, they only charged my international student fee. They had overpaid me by 3,483.95 (so sayeth my bills). I paid it off of course, I still have the money and figured I had the back up loan (although I’d rather not use it). The initial difference was due to my having paid off the study abroad cost (which is apparently $314). Factoring in other things such as the small bit of cash I had on hand when I got here (enough to survive until my loans cleared), I currently have $2710.04 in reserves. This is not enough to pay (all of) my rent off during my time here (and prices will only increase if I make multiple payments, since the bank takes a cut each time).
Here are some complications that show my financial situation shouldn’t be like this
-I have an honors scholarship pending (about 1.7K). I’m not really counting on that one, since I honestly have no idea why I was awarded it (my GPA is awesome, but I never actively applied for it).
-I was promised a $2,000 stipend. I did some digging and e-mailed the people who were behind it. I was told I should have got that in my financial aid. However, even before they made the mistake, I saw no evidence that I had ever received it. This could be the difference between whether or not I take out that backup loan.
It still will be a tight budget. Even with the exchange rates being the strongest for the US dollar versus the Norwegian Kroner in 6 months (it’s been steadily rising too, currently 6.06299451 NOK per 1 USD), my budget after my rent will be roughly $1,700. However, my rent will be paid in full (if there is an overdraft, they will return it. I am making a somewhat generous overestimate to be sure (6 months rent plus potential transfer fees). With this much, I should have enough to get by I think. I am not paying for gas/driving (thank all deities for that), and even if I wanted to head out, and I’ve got all my “one time purchases (I might get a rice pot or pizza tray later though). This means that all I’ll be paying for is food. I think I can get by. If it gets too low (what that is depends on how far along the semester I am) I can always take “option B” that I’ve been avoiding. However, the point now is that I wouldn’t yet HAVE to, provided I get this stipend. If I got the stipend and the scholarship, I would probably be set for the rest of my time here barring anything unexpected (something you should ALWAYS put emergency money aside for if possible). However, it all depends on if the financial people come through. I have the evidence to back up my case.
We’ll see where this goes, I’ve talked to all the people I can talk to. There’s nothing else I can do.
UPDATE (01/17/2012)
After launching an investigation, it had shown that because of the need for an adjustment of my study abroad costs for documentation purposes, they tripped up again. However, they have promised me that all the money in the scholarships I have been awarded (I am told I will receive 1.1K for the fall retroactively and 3,946.25 for the Spring). It should be in the bank in 5 business days (aka 1 week). I will see if this happens. With luck, my tuition is covered (although I should play it safe for the worst case scenario and the honors payment is retroactively retracted). This should be MORE then enough to ensure my continued survival in this nation for the entirety of my stay here (in fact, this was the estimated maximum amount that one loan was supposed to give). I still had paid off my tuition with my credit card and all that. I choose to think of it as being awarded a small boost in my credit score in paying off that purchase as payment for the mixup.
