Ugh, the financial aid department can be so frustrating sometimes. First there's the fact that they can't release your funds until the first day of classes. Then there's the added bonus that sometimes it takes two or three days after they're released to actually show up in the bank account. All their processing is so slooooooow!
But now we have the next chapter in Financial Aid frustration. I was supposed to receive $5700 for the summer. But when the deposit came, it was only $4100. I thought at first they had simply taken out the fees for the program and were going to pay that for me. But a couple days passed and this didn't happen. I got nervous and emailed the department.
In reply I got a letter saying that the loan my parents applied for to help me with the cost was $1600 instead of $3200! I panicked for a moment. That's $1600 of missing money. That's pretty much the entire spending money budget I had for my time in London.
Thankfully I had documentation of how much I was supposed to actually receive. I both had a letter from the department with the amount, signed by the head of Financial Aid, and the award aid letter that came from them. Plus Mom had an invoice from the Direct Loan people stating how much she had taken out in the loan.
I sent back an email (maybe a little terser than I would normally be but I was freaked out and am halfway around the world) that stated everything I had. Thankfully, though it was almost 8 in the evening here, it was only around noon back home. I received an email when i woke up this morning that said the amount had been inadvertently changed during processing and I would receive the remainder of my funds within the next two weeks.
Yes, it sucks that I have to wait two weeks for what was essentially their mistake, but at least I'll have the rest of the money before the end of the program. And I'll be able to pay off the program fees so I don't get irate emails asking why I haven't paid them. Or worse, be dropped from the program and trapped in London with no place to stay.
A big thanks to Loa Semrau and Jenny Herbert who were both a big help in sorting this all out. And to Mom for being flexible on repayment for the plane ticket. Now I have $1300 which means I can do a little shopping and go sightseeing. Hampton Court tomorrow! Today's lesson: Financial Aid is a necessary evil that will screw you over but who you can't hate because they always sound so apologetic. Ciao
I'm glad they figured it out so quickly, even if they can't seem to process anything in a timely manner (two weeks??? really - what on earth takes two weeks to process in this day and age of the computer). Good thing dad and I didn't rush out and buy that replacement recliner. By the way... points for your use of the word "terser" it may not be a big word, but you use it eloquently.
ReplyDeleteLove ya
Thanks. Terse really is a word that doesn't get used a lot. Instead of "he was short with me" people should say "he was terse to me"
ReplyDeletewell ya... unless he really was shorter than you :)
ReplyDelete