It’s that time of year again… School’s starting. Which means your tuition is due next week, your books look like they are going to cost about $500, and you can’t find the money to pay for everything. Don’t worry, you will get by.
I just recently got married. I was told not to fill out my FAFSA until after the wedding. Soooo, I filled mine out last week. I have no scholarships, and I’m waiting on my loan from a separate company to come through. How am I going to get by?
First things first, Tuition is due the 13th. But don’t freak out, only 25% HAS to be paid by then. If you think you have any financial aid coming in, go to MyBuffPortal and click on buff adviser. Click on Log In, then on Students at the bottom. Now find the button that says “Accept/Reject My Awards.” Accept anything you have. If you don’t have anything, keep checking. If you were able to accept a grant or loan. You will probably be fine for this first payment. If you didn’t have any rewards to accept (that’s okay, I didn’t get any financial aid my first 2 years) you need to look into getting a loan. Either through WT or an independent company. Canyon has a company called OPI which is great for giving loans to students. Their website is http://www.opportunityplan.com. If your loan isn’t going to be processed in time. WT has emergency loans which are great for this first payment. Go to BuffAdvisor and click the Emergency Loan button and then hit submit. This will get your 25% paid and when aid or a loan comes in, you can pay back your emergency loan and whatever is left on your bill.
DON’T use lack of money as an excuse to drop out. I have had to take out loans every semester. It’s life. Once you have your degree, you can work on paying back that loan, and someday you will be making the big bucks. It’s worth it.
Now to see what books you need and how much they will cost, go to buff adviser and click “Schedule and Reserve/Buy Books.” This will give you a list of all the books you need for your classes. Most books will have a New price and a Used price. Some you can rent through WT for even cheaper. Most of the time you DON’T need a brand new book. As long as its not falling apart, its FINE. Now, if it’s a workbook, it probably needs to be new.
My advice on buying books is to use CampusBooks.com. Some people will tell you to use Chegg.com. And I’ve used them before, they are GREAT! But CampusBooks takes prices from Chegg, Amazon, Ebay, etc. and compares them for you so you can see the honest lowest price. It’s saved me thousands of dollars already. My books last semester were supposed to cost aroun $700, I paid about $200. This IS the way to go (:
I hoped this has helped you. Don’t stress out too much about finances. If there’s a will, there’s a way.
Now, AFTER you have everything paid for, work on your grades! Good grades means more scholarships, which means less worry for money!!!
