conversation: User (puppleupagus): "I'll be living on my own while going to college for the first time in just a couple of months and I have no idea what to do about my finances. Here are the basics:\n\n-I'll be attending my state school as a second bachelor's student this fall. I already have a degree, but I need to go back in order to finish some prerequisite courses and bring up my GPA before applying to Physician Assistant (PA) school. I'm choosing not to go to community college because I already did that for 3 years straight out of high school and science courses taken at a four-year university are generally more challenging and, therefore, make for a more impressive transcript. Just for reference, the average annual wage for a PA is around $94,000.\n\n-I was awarded $12,500 in federal loans for the 2014-2015 school year. The estimated annual cost for tuition and fees is $9,162 for an in-state student. Cost per credit hour is $317. I am currently registered for 11 credits, but may have to drop a class and only take 8 credits if I can't afford the former.\n\n-I have yet to sign a lease for an apartment, but according to what I've looked at I'm estimating that I will probably pay between $650-750 per month for rent and utilities. I live in an expensive area and $650 would be insanely low. Living with my parents is not an option.\n\n-Bills will be about $330/month for car, car insurance, phone, and gym. Actually, that should be even lower since I'm turning 25 in October and my car insurance is supposed to go down. But I'd rather round up.\n\n-I will have a part-time job (at least 16 hours/week) making around $9.00/hour. It's definitely not the best paying job, but it counts as a "preferred experience" on PA school applications and since my biggest goal right now is to get accepted to a program, it's worth it. I've considered getting an extra part-time job, but I'm worried that my grades would suffer if I do. When I was in school for my first bachelor's degree I worked too much and got more than one F to show for it.\n\n-I currently owe $14,866 in student loans. I've been making monthly payments, but they'll go into deferment once I return to school in the fall.\n\n-I have next to nothing in savings to put towards expenses.\n\nBased on my crude math, I'll be coming up several hundred dollars short every month to cover rent, utilities, bills, and other expenses that I failed to account for above (food, gas, etc). I've considered taking out private loans to make up the difference, but I've read nothing but horror stories about them. However, I've also considered that private loans would give me the ability to focus on school and get good grades so I can actually get accepted to PA school and start making money.\n\nSo, what should I do? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading!"
  Self: "Contact a hiring manager and see if it really matters whether the classes are taken at a community college or four year college. My guess is they don't and that would make it significantly cheaper."
  User (puppleupagus): "There wouldn't be a hiring manager to ask since it's for school applications. Technically could I take them at community college? Yes. Would it be in my best interest in terms of making myself more competitive on the PA school application? No. Honestly I've thought about it a lot, but I'm not interested. I'd rather figure this out with my state university in the equation. Thank you though!"
  