Incompetence at the University of York

studentphil

Is it not possible to wait until you are in the UK and then it is easy to sort out? Or do you have to show evidence by a date you will still be out of the country.

The paying the fees should be no harder than a chip and pin card or a bank or personal cheque

Barcode

1. I'm a home student.
2. Yes, HB/IB will continue. I applied as a student last year and was awarded it since I meet the criteria (i.e. being deaf).
3. It's an MA.
4. Once the fees are paid, I do not see the huge problem.

I've been talking to my partner. I think she's going to write a letter explaining she will be supporting me, stating she will be paying my fees. I understand that this is enough for their financial guarantee. Hopefully we'll know more once we call them later.

The information they give is very poor, they do not explain exactly what is needed, what a financial guarantee is, or how to go about paying.

melancholly

Barcode wrote:

You can pay fees at the time of registering. The problem is they are not explaining HOW I can register in the first place! I cannot enrol until evidence of funding is provided. But my partner is paying the fees, so the money won't be in my account (though I can confirm evidence of benefits).

this reminds me of my registering fun - i couldn't register until i could prove evidence of funding, but the funding body would not provide such evidence until I was registered!!! had to get the department to agree to write a letter saying they would guarentee my money so that things could move. by that point i'd registered late and they tried to fine me £50!!!

maybe when you're partner is on the phone to them she can get some answers. i can only say again that it isn't just you, they really do mess around a lot of people! student support are usually the most helpful, but often their actions are tied but what the department does, but welf_man is right, they are usually the most helpful people to speak to/email.

EDIT: just realised this is for an MA - for my (self-funded) MSc, admittedly not at york, i didn't have any of this rubbish - they just sent me an invoice at 3 points in the year and I had to find the money. they didn't ask anything about living costs...sounds very odd to me!

Barcode

This is what worries me. By the time this is sorted out, I may be fined £30. This is money I simply do not have. If they do attempt to do this, I intend on telling them where to go.

I can't do much more today other than wait to see if they reply to more e-mails and I'll call them later. I'll post an update then.

studentphil

Barcode wrote:

This is what worries me. By the time this is sorted out, I may be fined £30. This is money I simply do not have. If they do attempt to do this, I intend on telling them where to go.

I can't do much more today other than wait to see if they reply to more e-mails and I'll call them later. I'll post an update then.

Dont hold your breath as when you want them to email do they heck!
Sods law!!!

Dont let it get you down mate as these places are good at throwing in the treats of fines and in the end they are at fault and you really have ages to sort it out.

Barcode

Well, I've now printed out bank statements (my on-line banking only goes as far back as two months) confirming regular payment of incapacity benefit and housing benefit. I have also printed out a copy of my savings account with £2000 in, explaining this is for 2/3 of the tuition fees. This along with a financial guarantee from my partner to pay the rest should be sufficient (I hope).

I'll either fax it (if they accept that) or get it all in the post first thing tomorrow.

I have done my part, now let's see if they begin to do theirs.

studentphil

Barcode wrote:

Well, I've now printed out bank statements (my on-line banking only goes as far back as two months) confirming regular payment of incapacity benefit and housing benefit. I have also printed out a copy of my savings account with £2000 in, explaining this is for 2/3 of the tuition fees. This along with a financial guarantee from my partner to pay the rest should be sufficient (I hope).

I'll either fax it (if they accept that) or get it all in the post first thing tomorrow.

I have done my part, now let's see if they begin to do theirs.

That is good progress. You must not let them bully you and threaten you with fines as I know they try to bully people and that is wrong

Zziggi

Maybe I am missing something here but... why does the university even want to know that you have funds for living expenses? If you have enough money to pay your fees/have already paid your fees, then surely how much money you have for living expenses and even where that money comes from should be irrelevant - surely?

When I paid for my MSc fees nobody asked me what i was going to live on while studying. As long as i coughed up the fees in full by the correct date then no-one cared about my funds for living expenses.

misskool

Sorry to hear that you've had such a bad time.

First of all, as you're self funded, I think they want to see that you can afford to pay the fees and your living expenses. What you have done should be more than enough.

Can I just check who you're dealing with regards to the admissions? A lot of the times, finance and admissions are not the same people and they get confused over what they want.

If you just want an UNCONDITIONAL offer, check with admissions that the proof you will provide to the finance department should be enough. (The amount of paperwork shuffling amazes me to no end)

As for paying fees, I'm wondering why you're going to pay the whole year's fees when a lot of uni's will split the invoice (at no extra cost) over each semester and you can keep your money in a savings account for a few more months!

Most unis will be happy to take all forms of credit/debit/cheque etc etc so don't worry about paying it until you get here. I think you just need to reassure them that you will pay and you will have enough to live on.

Some unis are a bit sick of people applying for MAs or MSc's then applying for hardship funds when they knew they wouldn't have enough for the whole year. There may be why there's a screening process at york.
Hope you get it sorted soon.

Barcode

That seems to make sense. The big expense is tuition fees. Surely they understand that most people will be supporting themselves throughout the year in the form of jobs, benefits, family etc. It does feel invasive.

Hopefully, this will be closer to being sorted out later this afternoon.