Columbia Law Class of 2015 Forum

[lovefoolosophy]

Hi guys,

I am kinda in an unusual situation, so could you guys help me clarify something regarding loans?

I am currently in limbo where my parents MIGHT be able to support most of my 1L year, but we don't get to find out for sure until June.
So I plan to just go ahead and ask for about $40k in GradPlus loans.
If my parents' funding does become available and I no longer need to take out any loans, can I cancel the full amount ($40000) without having to pay/lose the origination fee of 4%? (assuming this cancellation occurs well before the actual disbursement in August)
Or would I still have to pay the 4% origination fee ($1600 in my case), even though I won't use ANY loans?

The whole loan situation is a bit overwhelming and I feel so lost... Please help!

[blue_c]

I would request the higher amount and then refuse the extra if things work out.

What's the consensus?

[Bronck]

I'm not sure. But that would be well before loans are disbursed. So it seems like you could contact the financial aid office to amend your amounts and avoid the fee. I could be wrong, but that's my feeling.

[lovefoolosophy]

I think I will call the FinAid office tomorrow and try to figure it out.
I will let you guys know what he/she says!

[Elliott_Smith]

Yeah, for something like I this I would definitely recommend calling in to be sure. No use wasting money.

But everything I've read is in agreement with the above statements, you should be fine.

[Cav3d]

Just got my housing assignment, submitted right before the deadline (but for couple's housing, so maybe there were fewer to process).

[Elliott_Smith]

Has anyone checked whether the 600 deposit is applied to tuition automatically? I know some schools are weird and make you fill something out. I deducted it from my loan amount, so would be good to know.

[Tiago Splitter]

Just got my housing assignment, submitted right before the deadline (but for couple's housing, so maybe there were fewer to process).

Got my couples housing assignment too. Looks good.

[gossipgirl]

Has anyone checked whether the 600 deposit is applied to tuition automatically? I know some schools are weird and make you fill something out. I deducted it from my loan amount, so would be good to know.

I'm curious about this as well. My impression was that only part of the 600 is applied toward tuition ($400 I believe).

[Boston_NYG2245]

Has anyone checked whether the 600 deposit is applied to tuition automatically? I know some schools are weird and make you fill something out. I deducted it from my loan amount, so would be good to know.

I'm curious about this as well. My impression was that only part of the 600 is applied toward tuition ($400 I believe).

I think it's all applied to tuition. $400 is the amount that's refundable.

[lovefoolosophy]

I just called the financial office and they told me that if we cancel the loans (I specifically asked about Grad Plus) about 2 weeks ahead of time (before disbursement), we wouldn't have to pay any interest/fees.
She also said we might be able to cancel within 10 days of disbursement without incurring any fees, but she wasn't 100% sure about that.
It looks like I will just go ahead and file for Grad Plus loans, just to be safe!

[Bronck]

Housing request still in process. Y U take so long ?!?!

[Elliott_Smith]

Finally got my FA info done.

Could it possibly be time to relax?

Ready to hear back about housing now.

[icedflames]

Housing request still in process. Y U take so long ?!?!

Samee, I keep reading about people on TLS and facebook getting housing assignments.

I WANT MAH HOUSING (mostly so I can calculate the cost)

[Boston_NYG2245]

Housing request still in process. Y U take so long ?!?!

Same here. I really hope I don't get screwed on this.

[Bronck]

Housing request still in process. Y U take so long ?!?!

Samee, I keep reading about people on TLS and facebook getting housing assignments.

I WANT MAH HOUSING (mostly so I can calculate the cost)

Hahaha yeah. Calculate cost + I'm just super eager to find out where I'll be living in <3 months.

[icedflames]

Housing request still in process. Y U take so long ?!?!

Samee, I keep reading about people on TLS and facebook getting housing assignments.

I WANT MAH HOUSING (mostly so I can calculate the cost)

Hahaha yeah. Calculate cost + I'm just super eager to find out where I'll be living in <3 months.

I looked at that and thought, "what the hell is heart months?" hah

Just way too tired today

[Elliott_Smith]

Anyone know whether Columbia prefers the loan request form by email or owl post?

[theboywiththebread87]

Hey guys. Long time lurker, first time poster. Very excited to have deposited at Columbia and am looking forward to meeting most of you in August.

I just got the email to activate my Columbia email address and had a question about it. Does anyone know how to activate their firstname.lastname@law.columbia.edu address in addition to the UNI one? I don't have any objection to having an email address consisting of just my initials and a set of arbitrarily chosen numbers, but I think the @law address is more professional/ makes it way easier to communicate with classmates.

Any knowledge about how to do this would be greatly appreciated. I tried (and failed) to successfully navigate cub mail and lion mail this afternoon.

[icedflames]

Hey guys. Long time lurker, first time poster. Very excited to have deposited at Columbia and am looking forward to meeting most of you in August.

I just got the email to activate my Columbia email address and had a question about it. Does anyone know how to activate their firstname.lastname@law.columbia.edu address in addition to the UNI one? I don't have any objection to having an email address consisting of just my initials and a set of arbitrarily chosen numbers, but I think the @law address is more professional/ makes it way easier to communicate with classmates.

Any knowledge about how to do this would be greatly appreciated. I tried (and failed) to successfully navigate cub mail and lion mail this afternoon.

Do we even get an email like that? I was under the impression that the UNI email was our only one.

Also, I thought that using our school email for professional correspondence was a no-go since we may lose it after we graduate (depending on the school).

[isaiah53]

.

[Elliott_Smith]

I didn't think we got a fancy email, I didn't see that anywhere. That would be awesome though.

I know some schools will let you keep your email post graduation. My undergrad didn't. No idea on Columbia's policy.

[kwais]

you do get a fancy @law.columbia.edu and it goes away at graduation

[Boston_NYG2245]

Just got my housing info around 9, which was kind of strange, but I'm happy with it. Does anyone know if it's possible to keep the room furnished except for the bed? I really don't want to sleep on a twin. Also, better to move in on a weekday or weekend?

[Bronck]

Just got my housing info around 9, which was kind of strange, but I'm happy with it. Does anyone know if it's possible to keep the room furnished except for the bed? I really don't want to sleep on a twin. Also, better to move in on a weekday or weekend?

That would be cool if we can work with them to use only some of the furniture. It seems like they'd have a storage place somewhere...

Honestly, probably doesn't matter. I'll probably move in the earliest day possible / cheapest flight possible. I'll have to fly in redeye since you need to get to the office by what 3-330pm ?