How much of my financial aid/loans do I accept?

[Futuredpt0333]

I'm starting a program in January and just received my financial aid reward. After registering for the spring 2020 semester, my tuition came out to be a little under $14k. I received $10k subsidized and $12k student plus loans for both spring and summer 2020, totaling to be an award offer of about $44k. My question is how much loans did you guys take and what do you recommend? Thanks in advance.

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[truthseeker]

take only as much as you need. live like a grad student when in grad school so you don't have to live like a grad student when you are OUT of grad school

 

[ya1]

subsidized usually have lower interest rate. so if that is the case in your situation as well,take $10K subsidized first.
Take the rest from Grad Plus. amount will depend on your needs. Calculate how much you need for housing, food, other bills. I myself would take extra $1000 for unexpected expenses but would not touch that unless needed.

 

[Futuredpt0333]

subsidized usually have lower interest rate. so if that is the case in your situation as well,take $10K subsidized first.
Take the rest from Grad Plus. amount will depend on your needs. Calculate how much you need for housing, food, other bills. I myself would take extra $1000 for unexpected expenses but would not touch that unless needed.

Thanks I really appreciate it!


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[topher031888]

I can't tell you exactly how much you will need because we don't know what you need for other expenses besides tuition (rent, foot, etc.) but I can tell you what I did. I would always accept the full amount, pay the tuition then pay calculate and keep whatever other expenses I had (this was often hard to guess) then return the rest. My spouse was working full time so we didn't need nearly as much for cost of living expenses. With federal loans you have something like 30 days to "return" any excess funds. This is usually done at the universities financial aide office. This is preferable to just taking the extra money and making a payment on your loans because they will go and recalculate the fees associated with the loan which will slightly decrease the amount you actually borrow. If there was ever anything left I would just return more the following semester.

As truthseeker said, live like a broke student. I ate mostly variations of beans and rice and lived in subsidized housing. I still had a great time in graduate school despite being completely broke.

 

[kdubz7w7]

I'm starting a program in January and just received my financial aid reward. After registering for the spring 2020 semester, my tuition came out to be a little under $14k. I received $10k subsidized and $12k student plus loans for both spring and summer 2020, totaling to be an award offer of about $44k. My question is how much loans did you guys take and what do you recommend? Thanks in advance.

Depends on what the rest of your finances are like. Every student in my class comes from wealthy families and have varying levels of lots to total support from them. I have zero financial support from my family, so I have to take out the full amount for living expenses, bills etc.
I would take out the bare minimum you need to live, but including money for emergencies (for example last semester I had to drop around $500 for a tooth infection (wasn't covered by my health insurance which I also have to pay for myself out of pocket) and 3 weeks later another $550 for new tires for my car). I'm the only one in my class taking out all the money, but I am also the only one entirely supporting myself.
This totally depends on your personal finances, but side on money being tight for 3 years versus being able to buy new iPhones and eat takeout every night, ya know?