w.t.f.

As I think I mentioned before, I received an email last week from Temple's IT department, giving me access to their online services. Of course, the first thing I did was to check my financial aid status online. Then my jaw dropped. I had been awarded the Pell grant for two semesters, totaling about $4500. That was pretty awesome. However, there was no note of anything else. No loans, subsidized or otherwise, showed up on my account.

Now, it's very possible the loan paperwork hasn't even gone through yet. I do still have to finish this semester and Summer term. That's not only possible, it's highly likely. However, I am a professional worrier, so I fired off an email to the bursar's office asking for answers. From there, I was directed to Financial Services at the main campus. No answer. I finally hunted down the email address for Financial Services at the Japan campus (neither email address is easy to find on the website), then I emailed them, too. No reply.

I'm not even looking for a definitive answer here; a simple "we don't know yet" will suffice to keep me from worrying for another week or two. The complete lack of a response, however, was beyond freaking me out. I finally ended up emailing my contact in the Office of Student Services. He has nothing to do with financial aid, but has thus far done a great job getting answers to my inane questions, so I hoped he would have better luck than I have with these questions. Sure enough, I received an answer a day later:

Regarding financial aid: I will get an estimate of your financial aid eligibility based on your 2010-2011 FAFSA from Student Financial Services (SFS) in Temple main campus before June 1. I will inform you of this amount, and it will be automatically deducted from your advance payment.

Okay. Whew. That's one load off my mind, but now there's another. I was aware that the tuition had to be paid in full before they would issue my visa (weird, but okay...), and I wasn't too concerned, as my financial aid usually covers everrything. Then I read this:

Actual financial aid will be determined after you arrive at TUJ, register for classes and complete your Master Promissory Note & Entrance Interview online.

Federal financial aid alone is generally not enough to cover the entire advance payment unfortunately. If you are relying solely on financial aid for this, then I recommend you look for an alternative private loan.

Seriously? Why not? This is not only strange, but completely unacceptable. It's like saying, "We won't give you a visa to enter Japan until you pay in advance. To pay in advance, you can use financial aid, but we can't tell you how much you are awarded until you get to Japan. To enter Japan..."

If it's only a matter of a few hundred dollars, that's not too big of a deal. If it's only a couple thousand dollars, i might be able to swing that, too. But what if it's more than that? This is really only the latest in a long string of strange behavior from this place. I just sent them 20,000¥ for Jarrett's visa application (about $240) and previously sent 10,000¥ for the application to attend. Then I found out I still owe 52,000¥ (almost $570 -- 20,000¥ for my visa application and an additional 32,000¥ for the application to attend). Jesus, Mary and Joseph! I understand the separate fees to apply for a foreign visa, but over 400 bucks just to apply? I really should have read the fine print. Ivy League schools don't charge that much!

Yeah, so, uhm...I guess I just need to be positive. I need to wait and see how all this pans out. Many other aspects of this process, which seemed tragic at the time, have turned around in my favor. I need to keep reminding myself of that. I'm trying, I really am. I know I need to try harder.

I'm also going to need one kick-ass garage sale.