"Special Circumstances"
The recurring theme since freshman year has been this idea that your parents’ ticket number salary is the overwhelming factor in determining what you get for financial aid. There is a “special circumstances” section on the form, and every year my parents and I write down that even though my dad has a good income right now, my whole life has been a story of him getting a good job, getting laid off, making good money in those jobs but then having savings eaten up by the periods of unemployment. Trying to convey that in however many characters they give you for the “special circumstances” section is difficult. The first couple years I had a really good response; they gave me one package based on what my father was making at the time, but then gave me a totally different package when we told them how different the situation was from how it looked on the tax forms. No one is paying sixty thousand dollars out of their yearly salary; you’re supposed to have savings for your kid to go to college, and those savings that you expect to be there when you see my dad’s salary aren’t actually there. Then in Junior year, it seemed to Yale that my father had been back on his feet for a few years and so they felt they could start paying less attention to the “special circumstances” and more attention to my father’s wage. But my parents still didn’t feel like they could pay what Yale was asking.
So my junior year was the first year I had to take out loans. I took out seventy five hundred dollars – not devastating, and much lower than what a lot of people come out of college with, but still disappointing. The student contribution was a big factor in the decision to take out that loan. The contribution has stopped rising and is even decreasing now, thanks to the work that SUN has done, but it still didn’t feel realistic for me to work to pay the whole thing if I wanted to do any other extra-curriculars. In order to make what I was expected to make, I felt like the student contribution would have to be the only thing I did outside of class. And not everyone can get a summer internship; that was definitely my experience. I want to go to physical therapy school, and there are certain classes I need for that which aren’t offered here; Yale is very ‘liberal arts’ and not that practical in general – so I have to take classes over the summer in order to be prepared for what I want to do, and that means I don’t get paid over the summer. There is a lot of support for people who are pre-med or pre-law, or want to go into engineering or computer science, but for me I couldn’t take classes here that really prepared me for the career I want.
Anyway, at the end of my junior fall I got an email saying that my status as a student had been terminated. My ID was going to stop working and I was going to be withdrawn from my classes. It was a mix up. I thought my loan had gone through to that semester when it had really gone to the next semester; it was more of a clerical error than anything. But then at the end of the semester I got another scary email saying I was going to be withdrawn, and so I had to take out another loan. I don’t necessarily think I’m entitled to leave college without debt. But the way it’s set up is focused too much on your family’s income and not looking below the surface at why you are where you are now.
I’ve been working since freshman year, but never enough to meet the student contribution. I am a senior now, and this is the first semester I haven’t worked. I spent three years doing data entry at the Beinecke and then last semester I worked at the admissions office, but that was only a one semester job. It’s nice not working this semester, since I’m trying to write my thesis. I don’t really have any regrets about working; I don’t look back and think “I wish I had that time to do other things”. But at the same time, I’ve been working as much as I can and it doesn’t come near to the expected amount.
Working at the Beinecke was very simple and very flexible, which was great. It felt like a way to release stress; I would sit behind a computer and enter data, which allowed me to totally space out. It was therapeutic. But it was really just a way of earning money; it wasn’t something I got anything out of career-wise. I worked usually around six hours a week. Last semester at the admissions office, I worked for around ten hours a week. It was quite rewarding; it was taxing to engage with so many prospective students in that interview setting, but at the same time it was life-giving. When I worked at the Beinecke as a freshman, and was trying to settle down in college, I felt like I should have been studying more, but I had to work a certain amount in order to stay at Yale and that took precedence. I settled in much better in the next few semesters. I couldn’t have worked the ten hours a week that I did last semester if I’d been writing my thesis. It didn’t feel like it was making me miss out, but I am glad I have time on my hands now. This semester I’ve had time to record my album, which I just released this week; I wouldn’t have been able to do in a previous semester.
So my junior year was the first year I had to take out loans. I took out seventy five hundred dollars – not devastating, and much lower than what a lot of people come out of college with, but still disappointing. The student contribution was a big factor in the decision to take out that loan. The contribution has stopped rising and is even decreasing now, thanks to the work that SUN has done, but it still didn’t feel realistic for me to work to pay the whole thing if I wanted to do any other extra-curriculars. In order to make what I was expected to make, I felt like the student contribution would have to be the only thing I did outside of class. And not everyone can get a summer internship; that was definitely my experience. I want to go to physical therapy school, and there are certain classes I need for that which aren’t offered here; Yale is very ‘liberal arts’ and not that practical in general – so I have to take classes over the summer in order to be prepared for what I want to do, and that means I don’t get paid over the summer. There is a lot of support for people who are pre-med or pre-law, or want to go into engineering or computer science, but for me I couldn’t take classes here that really prepared me for the career I want.
Anyway, at the end of my junior fall I got an email saying that my status as a student had been terminated. My ID was going to stop working and I was going to be withdrawn from my classes. It was a mix up. I thought my loan had gone through to that semester when it had really gone to the next semester; it was more of a clerical error than anything. But then at the end of the semester I got another scary email saying I was going to be withdrawn, and so I had to take out another loan. I don’t necessarily think I’m entitled to leave college without debt. But the way it’s set up is focused too much on your family’s income and not looking below the surface at why you are where you are now.
I’ve been working since freshman year, but never enough to meet the student contribution. I am a senior now, and this is the first semester I haven’t worked. I spent three years doing data entry at the Beinecke and then last semester I worked at the admissions office, but that was only a one semester job. It’s nice not working this semester, since I’m trying to write my thesis. I don’t really have any regrets about working; I don’t look back and think “I wish I had that time to do other things”. But at the same time, I’ve been working as much as I can and it doesn’t come near to the expected amount.
Working at the Beinecke was very simple and very flexible, which was great. It felt like a way to release stress; I would sit behind a computer and enter data, which allowed me to totally space out. It was therapeutic. But it was really just a way of earning money; it wasn’t something I got anything out of career-wise. I worked usually around six hours a week. Last semester at the admissions office, I worked for around ten hours a week. It was quite rewarding; it was taxing to engage with so many prospective students in that interview setting, but at the same time it was life-giving. When I worked at the Beinecke as a freshman, and was trying to settle down in college, I felt like I should have been studying more, but I had to work a certain amount in order to stay at Yale and that took precedence. I settled in much better in the next few semesters. I couldn’t have worked the ten hours a week that I did last semester if I’d been writing my thesis. It didn’t feel like it was making me miss out, but I am glad I have time on my hands now. This semester I’ve had time to record my album, which I just released this week; I wouldn’t have been able to do in a previous semester.
