international house: Its been really hard all my life on finding out what to do and how to do it and figuring out everything on my own. I dont know where to start where it come to getting money for college, my parents were born in another country so ive been on my own since beggining of high school. I been told you can get like pell grants from fafsa? like free college money?? are there any kind of scholarships i can look for?? or student loans i can get? i really would like to attend a univeristy, im 20 now and graduated high school 2 years ago, i really dont want to end up working as a assistant manager at a mcdonalds and goto school when im 35.... someone please please help me with ANY information|||Yes you can go to school!!! Do just as the other person suggested... go to www.fafsa.ed.gov and apply for federal financial aid. Even if you don't qualify for grants, they will offer you student loans to help cover the costs of school. Are your parents in this country now? Depending on your circumstances and because of your age, you will probably have to put your parents income on your fafsa application. If your parents are in another country, there may be exceptions, I've never run across this actually so call the financial aid office of your school or call 1-800-4FED AID if this is the case. One more note about loans: I always discourage people from taking out student loans unless they absolutely have to. And then I only recommend doing it the last two years of your bachelor's degree. By then, you know you are serious and will actually graduate. But if its a choice between not going or taking out the loan... take out the loan, and remember you MUST FINISH YOUR DEGREE... or you'll wind up still working at McDonalds as an assistant manager, just with an added burden of a student loan. Spend a ton of time on the internet looking for scholarships, (it's too late for the fall semester for scholarships - most of these deadlines were up in March or April) but it's never too early to look for next year) you will have the best luck at the school you are going to attend. The scholarship search websites are okay, and I think you should still invest time in searching for them, but who knows how many thousands of people apply. I worked at McDonalds for three years, and my mother was a store manager for years... I saw her work her a*** off with crappy and long hours. We went back to college together and both of us graduated. I wouldn't give up my time there, Honestly - I had a blast working there as a kid... but I knew I couldn't have the lifestyle or car I wanted on those wages. Would you like fries with that at $3.35 an hour? Good Luck!!|||First of all, I would like to commend you on your pursuit of education. It takes a lot of ambition to figure out how to fund college by yourself. Financial aid is the overall, general term for all the avenues in which you can receive money towards your college education. First, you鈥檝e got Scholarships. This is money awarded to you based on merit that will not have to be paid back. You can qualify for scholarships while you鈥檙e still in high school by putting in a little research. This may include talking to a guidance counselor, friends, family, or affiliated organizations. The web is also an incredible resource for finding scholarships that closely match your qualifications. Either way, apply early and don鈥檛 be afraid to ask for what you want. Remember, many scholarships go unused every year! The next step in financial aid is Federal Grants. Grants differ from scholarships because they are awarded based on need, but are also similar in that grants do not have to be paid back. There are two types of federal grants: Pell Grants and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants. In order to find out if you qualify for one of these grants, you must fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid Form, or FAFSA. Once again, the earlier the better. We鈥檙e talking any time after the first of the year, as these grants are awarded on a first-come first-served basis. Right now, the Pell Grant awards up to $4,050 a year, and the FSEOG awards up to $4,000 a year. After you have added scholarships and grants up against your college鈥檚 tuition, there may still be a need for more financial aid. The best loan options are always Federal Loans. After you fill out a FAFSA form, the government will assess your need and send you an awards letter of the loans that are available to you. The Stafford Loan and Perkins Loan come with a multitude of benefits and safeguards for students to create an easier and more affordable college experience. For more information on Financial Aid, please visit the source below. Good luck, I hope this helps!|||I sympathize with you because I was raised by a mom who was not from this country so I had to learn how to do everything on my own, including paying for college. The best thing you can do is to apply for a federal government loan. Here's what you need to do: 1) Fill out the FAFSA. This will determine if you are eligible for financial aid. Go here: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ 2) Once you are eligible for aid, choose a government-based student loan. The best loan to get is a Federal Perkins Loan. These have low interest rates and the government will help you pay it back as long as you stay enrolled in school. You also don't need a cosigner or good credit for it. For more info go here: http://www.studentfinancedomain.com/stud鈥?/a> 3) The next best loan to get is a Subsidized Stafford Loan. This has many of the same benefits as a Perkins Loan. Learn more here: http://www.studentfinancedomain.com/stud鈥?/a> There are also tons of grants and scholarships available to help you pay for tuition. The best thing about these are that they are free sources of money that you don't have to pay back. You can read about them here: http://www.studentfinancedomain.com/fina鈥?/a> And here are some sites that offer grants and scholarships: http://www.fedmoney.org/ http://www.findtuition.com/scholarships/ http://apps.collegeboard.com/cbsearch_ss鈥?/a> http://www.freegovmoney.net/ http://www.educationplanner.com/educatio鈥?/a> http://www.studentawards.com/ http://www.college-scholarships.com/ I wish you the best of luck!|||Hi You can apply for financial aid by going to this website to fill out your FAFSA: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ Before you do this, you will need to get a PIN for your FAFSA. You can apply for it here: http://www.pin.ed.gov/PINWebApp/pinindex鈥?/a> When you are awarded financial aid, you may receive Pell Grants and/or loans. You do not have to pay back Pell grants. It will take a few days for you to get your PIN, maybe 3 - 5 days. I'm not really sure when you can find good information about scholarships because I have always received Pell grants. I did search on Google, and hopefully these websites will help you: http://www.finaid.org/scholarships/ http://www.scholarships.com/ http://www.fastweb.com/ http://www.salliemae.com/before_college/鈥?/a> http://www.scholarshipexperts.com/ When you are looking for scholarships, please be aware of any signs that an organization/business may be a fraud. These websites might help you: http://www.finaid.org/scholarships/prote鈥?/a> http://www.fastweb.com/fastweb/resources鈥?/a> http://school.familyeducation.com/colleg鈥?/a> http://scholarship.lifetips.com/cat/6163鈥?/a> You should also contact the schools you are interested in to check out their financial aid packages.|||You post your profile on this webiste and then lenders come to you. I recommend trying http://www.creditloansonline.com|||The FAFSA is only a screening tool for all financial aid programs in the USA. What you may or not qualify for depends on the college, university and state you are living in and how much it costs to attend that school. Your parents must fill out a section on their incomes as well. Under age 25 it's more difficult to qualify FAFSA forms are available online in January each year. Most schools require applications plus aid applications are all submitted at least 1-2 semesters in advance of when you plan to attend school. Begin by taking SAT or ACT admissions tests and applying to local college of your choice.|||I completely understand. I did everything on my own and I am at a great university. I'm going to assume you have already applied and been accepted to the school of your choice. First apply for the fafsa. This will give you much needed aid such as Grants (which you don't pay back) and Federal Stafford and Perkins Loans (which offer a nonvariable interest rate after your done with school no interest accumulates while your in school full-time). You can also get private loans which you pay back after you get out of school. If your interested in scholarships go to fastweb.com. Also keep in mind that many schools offer their own scholarships to new students or transfer students. There is also the option of starting at a community college and then transferring. Contact the financial aid dept. of your school if you need additional info. Hope this helps!|||"SCAM ALERT" BEWARE OF THE ADVANCE FEE SCAM!! 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