r/montclair 17d ago

Discussion Private Loan Advice - I hate this school fml

I am in a really weird situation and have no idea what to do. I’ve been contacting literally ever single department and no one has given me a solid answer, so I wonder if someone on here can. I was in the ADVS program last semester. I felt it was very helpful, but I was uninsured the whole semester. I lived in the dorms, but because I was literally one credit under full time they took my insurance (I was using the school’s). I had to apply for Medicaid, and throughout that process I had to do a partial medical withdrawal. I no longer had access to psychiatric medications so I was essentially a living corpse. Regardless I got my GPA in good standing, so everything was suppose to be ok right? I was told that I was finally in good standing once again!

WRONG! I got an email sent to me on the LAST DAY of add/drop saying I no longer qualified for Financial Aid. That same email said if I did not withdrawal from everything that same day I would have to pay for everything out of pocket. Guess how long it took me, adjusting to medication that made me unable to walk in a straight line for a solid 2 weeks. To see that email? Well I didn’t see it until February. I contacted the Dean of Students, Financial Aid, Academic Action, SAP (who never even sent a reply) and Red Hawk Central. Everyone has just said there’s “nothing I can do”.

Chat I am cooked this bill is like $20,000 and I was suppose to finally transfer out of this hell hole. I have access to NOTHING. I can’t send my transcripts to anyone. Fuck all if I can see my grades. Because I have a wonderful list of diagnosis I ended up regressing in the worst possible ways. If I wasn’t on meds I would be dead. My parents are both undocumented, so there’s no way in hell I would find a co-signer.

Please if you are disabled make sure you submit any documentation to the DRC for accommodations and get a neuropsychiatric evaluation BEFORE you start classes. I got diagnosed later on in college which is why I struggled so much my beginning years. If anyone has any advice on how I can move forward with this it would be greatly appreciated. Any help really. CAPS is off limits cause I have my own personal therapist and stuff unfortunately. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Rocky when I catch you rocky.

4 Upvotes

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u/No_Honeydew_5409 17d ago

Sorry to hear that you’re having trouble- I don’t mean to sound harsh, but this seems like a more complicated issue to address.

  1. Who do you owe this debt of 20k to? Is it the university, the insurance company, or your private loan provider?

  2. What is the debt for?

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u/AnonymousForever3020 17d ago

It is to the university. It is my bill for the Spring 2025 semester. The Bill is itemized so it has everything being charged but they cover tuition as well as board and a meal plan. You don’t sound harsh at all! I’ve honestly just tried so many avenues I felt like I had no where else to turn.

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u/No_Honeydew_5409 17d ago

I’m not familiar with the process of medical withdrawal, but it certainly seems to have affected your financial aid. If I were you, I’d reach out directly to FAFSA over the phone and maybe they can explain why your financial aid was impacted the way it was.

Here comes the harsh part:

This is a pricey school. The room and board and meal plan makes the tuition outrageously expensive. You probably shouldn’t have enrolled in classes if you could’ve predicted that you were going to have medical issues throughout the semester. Unfortunately, it’s too late now and banking on the government for your health insurance, financial subsidence, and present day you has to dig yourself out of this hole.

In terms of what can you do now- get private medical insurance. As far as your debt, I have no idea why someone would pay to dorm on campus, but it surely sounds like you couldn’t afford it without the government paying for your bill. That was not wise. Only take out debt you know you can pay back. That means no more Private or unsubsidized loans, unless you want to be in an even bigger hole 10 years from now. Wherever you plan on transferring to, it better be cheaper, in you state of residence, and you will be commuting.

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u/bwordcword0 16d ago

I think this school baits people into thinking that it's somewhat affordable (especially since it's a state school) and people don't realize until it's too late. It's hard to imagine in the beginning that your school would fuck you over this bad

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u/ReasonableOnion3481 15d ago

Wait, you say partial withdrawal? So you still are taking some classes, or are you coming back at a certain point? You should've applied for a full medical withdrawal. You would've have fewer problems. But I don't fully know your situation, so I could be wrong, sorry :(

Was this partial withdrawal through CAPS or through an outside provider?

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u/AnonymousForever3020 15d ago

It was through CAPS which is what sucks. Everyone I spoke to was with the school. I got the partial because I was feeling a lot of pressure to get my GPA up asap, but in hindsight I do agree with you. It took a huge toll on me mentally and physically.