Show Me the Money!!

The title made you check out my blog, huh?  Let me introduce myself as the latest guest on the Admissions Blogroll.  My name is Jen Foster, and I am a proud Wolfpacker, through and through.  I graduated in Communication in 2000 and I’m currently working on my Master’s degree.  I had an amazing college experience – camped out for basketball tickets, stayed up all night talking with suitemates in my residence hall, attended theater events, went sledding in the Court of North Carolina.  My hubby even popped the question at the Belltower – yes, NC State is THAT much a part of my life!  So it’s only natural that I want to stay here, helping other students to experience what it means to be part of the Pack.  I am lucky enough to do that through my work as Assistant Director in the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid.  (Wait!  Don’t stop reading!  I promise, Financial Aid is not nearly as boring as it might seem at first glance!) 

Really, Financial Aid gets such a bad rap.  When I tell people where I work, I always get this same look.  You know, it’s that look that means, “You poor soul!  It must be awful to spend all day telling people that they can’t get any help to pay for college.”  But that’s not what I do at all. 

So, what do I do in Financial Aid?  I spend a lot of my time answering questions.  How do I fill out the FAFSA?  Did you get my FAFSA?  Did I do it right?  How do I apply for a loan?  Why do I get an unsubsidized loan instead of a subsidized one?  How can I get money to buy my books?  Where should I look to find scholarships?  My mom lost her job – is there any way I could get more financial aid?  Which meal plan is the best?  (Okay, so my questions are not all Financial Aid related…)

A huge part of my day is helping students and families understand their options.  And there ARE options!  There are many types of aid and many sources of funding so it’s tough to guess what kind of financial aid you might receive until we get your FAFSA.  So, my advice to you?  Fill out that FAFSA!  And fill it out before March 1 (our priority deadline).  Yes, it’s a little intimidating.  With all the acronyms that we use, we sometimes get bogged down in alphabet soup.  We use FAFSA, SAR, ACG and EFC like they are actual words.  We discuss Perkins, Pell, and Stafford like they are our friends.  But they are!  And they can be your friends too.  Applying for aid isn’t really that hard, and we’re always here to help.  Our website has some helpful information.  And if you start to drown in that alphabet soup of acronyms, give us a call. 

Me