Private College Student Loan

I'm completely stupid about college, HEEEELLPPPP?????!!!!?

Okay, I'm a junior in high school and my school is an extremely small, church-run (Protestant Christian, not Catholic) and we don't have a course that preps us for college. Most students from our school don't even go on to higher education; if we decide to, we have to do it on our own. I'm from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and I'm looking into colleges in my area, particularly Temple University. I want to get a degree in special education, but my financial situation is not so good. I come from a big family - 8 kids, I'm the second oldest and neither my parents, my older sister, or pretty much anyone in my extended family has ever gone to college - and my dad is the sole supporter, but his job isn't extremely high-paying. All that is to say, I won't be getting any financial help from my parents. Like, at all. So I have a few questions about college that I would really appreciate you guys answering - and don't be afraid to talk to me like a 3-year-old, like I said, I'm clueless. I want to be a special ed teacher sooooooo badly, as I have two younger brothers who are autistic and would do anything to help them and kids like them. I'm really smart - I have a 4.0 GPA and have been consistently on the honor roll since middle school. Here goes: Do I apply for a scholarship before or after I apply for a college? Do I have to get accepted into college before I can get a scholarship? I may put off college until I'm 20+ so I can save up as much money as possible. Can I still get a scholarship? Can I get a scholarship and federal financial aid? What's the difference between a loan and a grant? Do you still have to pay a grant back? Over what period of time do you usually have to pay a loan back? And what about interest? http://www.temple.edu/bursar/about/tuitionrates.htm This page confuses the heck out of me. What are credits or credit hours? I know it depends on a lot of things, but what's my estimated tuition? Do you have to pay tuition up front? And are the numbers they have here for just one semester, or more? http://www.temple.edu/education/teach/programs/specialed.html What does this page mean? I know, I know, there's a TON of stuff here, but I'd be ETERNALLY grateful to anyone who can answer most/all of them. Thanks so much Yahoo community!

Public Comments

1. Wow...that is a lot of questions! My best advice for you is to arrange to visit the university and talk with someone in the financial aid office. They will be able to answer all your questions and if you don't understand their answers, tell them and have it explained until you do understand. I would also suggest talking to an academic adviser. The will be able to look at the classes you have taken and suggest classes to take in order to be more prepared for college classes. I would also suggest looking into a community college as well. They are generally less expensive and you would be able to take your basic education classes (english, math, science, etc). If you do this, make sure the credits would transfer to a university. I wish you much success...your goal is a good one and it seems you would have a passion for it...kids with special needs need people like you to help them!
2. Yes, you can apply for scholarships before you get into schools. Most scholarships aren't through particular schools, and can apply to any school. Yes, you can still get scholarships if you don't go to college right away. Yes, you can still get financial aid. A loan you have to pay back; a grant you don't. Loans you'd start paying back 6 months after you graduate from college (if you go to grad school, you can put them off until you're done with college entirely). If you choose a small payment every month, as most people do since your first job typically doesn't pay a lot, you'll end up paying back almost twice what you took out (or even more). So keep that in mind. Every class is worth a certain number of credits, and you need a minimum number of credits to graduate. Every class is worth that many for a one semester class. Special ed teachers deal with students who have disabilities.