Some brief advice on Financial Aid:
Almost everyone gets loans
Many of us get as much as we can. A new fact of your life: You are about to go into massive amounts of debt and it’s okay.
Keep a file of all your papers and financial aid documents
You’re probably going to have so many you need a filing cabinet to store them. Try to stay organized, and it’ll save some headaches later on.
Check out the Financial Aid orientation packet
Everything you need is in there, so we won’t repeat it all here. If you can’t find the answer you’re looking for, swing by the Financial Aid office (4th floor, Ac. Fac.) or drop them an e-mail: Financial_Aid@rush.edu
Don’t forget to include parental information
Don’t ask why, just do it, even if you’re 40 and have three kids. For some unknown reason Rush won’t consider you for institutional loans, grants or scholarships without it. There has been a rumor floated in the past that everyone who supplies parental information will get something…that is a lie. Trust me, I know. If your parent’s have considerable assets and/or you made some money in the “real world”, you will be punished with a much smaller financial aid award. Fill it out the parent’s info anyway and roll the dice, you may get lucky, but you are certainly not guaranteed to get anything beyond your Government Issue $38,500. Can you taste my disdain for this system???
Fill out both FAFSA and the Institutional form
Another one of those anomalies. And you’ll have fill out both again each year you want financial aid.
Emergency Loans
Sometimes we just don’t plan well enough, or something beyond our control (i.e. a late night infomercial) comes and wipes out our bank account before bills are due. In such a case you can get some of your financial aid money a little ahead of time by getting an Emergency Loan. To qualify for an emergency loan, you must already have submitted all of your financial aid paperwork and you must simply be waiting for the funds to arrive at Rush. You must also be a registered student, which means that you cannot get an emergency loan during the summer after your first year at Rush. You apply in the Financial Aid office, but be forewarned that it may take up to two weeks to receive your money.