daughter wants to attend college in in orono (Portland, Lewiston: apartment, rentals)
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I'm moving to Maine in 2 months. My daughter wants to transfer our there for college but our-of-state tuition is ridiculous. So in any event I am going to move out to at least begin to pave her way. At this time I was thinking of Bangor. I will be unemployed with no car. My skills are basically unit clerking in a hospital. I basically feel like I'll be floundering, but as of now we're living in Texas in the valley and we hate it. We're originally from Michigan and never adapted to the weather or the culture.it's also a dangerous place to be,we're about 15 minutes from the border. So I guess I'm asking if I have any chance of making our there. As far as jobs, a place to live or am I making a bad move. Also is it mostly farmland? How are the people .I mean is it like everyone knows everyone or what? Any info would be appreciated. Since I don't have a car Bangor does have mass transit right? I can't help my daughter if I'm living in the streets.
I would start with better planning on your part. More research regarding employment, rentals, mass transit, the cost of the move, housing for your daughter unless she plans on living with you. There is financial aid to help with the cost of tuition and that process should already be started finding out what is needed. After the research is done then decide if you really need to move or if your daughter should just move into the dorms at school and you move at a later time if you want. Do a search online for Bangor, Maine there should be plenty of information to wade through.
I'm moving to Maine in 2 months. My daughter wants to transfer our there for college but our-of-state tuition is ridiculous. So in any event I am going to move out to at least begin to pave her way. At this time I was thinking of Bangor. I will be unemployed with no car. My skills are basically unit clerking in a hospital. I basically feel like I'll be floundering, but as of now we're living in Texas in the valley and we hate it. We're originally from Michigan and never adapted to the weather or the culture.it's also a dangerous place to be,we're about 15 minutes from the border. So I guess I'm asking if I have any chance of making our there. As far as jobs, a place to live or am I making a bad move. Also is it mostly farmland? How are the people .I mean is it like everyone knows everyone or what? Any info would be appreciated. Since I don't have a car Bangor does have mass transit right? I can't help my daughter if I'm living in the streets.
I think it's great that you think it's important for your daughter to go to college; however.....Do you really think it is wise to post online for all the world to see that you are planning on moving to try to avoid paying higher out-of-state tuition? posting online that you are trying to establish residency for tuition purposes without actually being a resident for a year? I am only presuming you are planning on your daughter attending Orono beginning in August(?) How do you plan to be able to rent a house or apartment and pay for your basic needs? Do not move to Maine without a job. Do not move to Maine without a job.
Unless you have several thousand dollars saved up to fall back on, you could end up living on the streets unless you have a job lined up. Maine doesn't need people moving to Maine who don't have a job/ability to pay for the basic necessities of life. At the very least you should have a job lined up. Try the jobs in Maine website and EMMC. Jobs in Maine - search for jobs in Maine Eastern Maine Medical Center - Welcome to the EMMC Career Center
Someone mentioned financial aid. Have you submitted a financial aid form? The deadline has already passed for some locations. The first question on the website: "What is your state of legal residence?" Student Aid Deadlines - FAFSA on the Web - Federal Student Aid Since you haven't yet filed federal or state income tax in Maine, it might be a bit difficult to claim Maine residency when filling out the form.
If you still have family in Michigan, that might be a better choice for both you and your daughter. Maybe you could live with a family member while you look for a job.....or look for jobs and find jobs for you and your daughter before moving, live and work in Maine for a year, then daughter revisits the possibility of college attendance at UMO. I've known students who have taken time off from college and worked for a year to save money before going back to college. Is Maine mostly farmland? That is the least of your concerns.
Based on the little information you've given, I don't believe this is a good idea. without a car almost no one is going to give you a job in Bangor. Public transport is there, but it's not THAT great. Bus service stops at 7p.m. M-F and it doesn't run on Sunday at all. An employer isn't going to see that as "reliable transportation."
So here is another problem, They're not going to hire you from out of state to be a unit clerk in a hospital. So you can't just get a place next to the hospital and walk... because you won't know ahead of time which hospital/medical place you might get hired at...
Even fast-food places won't be willing to give you a chance without at least a car. Your daughter has to be living in Maine for one year before she'll qualify for in-state tuition, even a day short of that 1 year mark and she'll still be paying out of state rates.
There is financial aid available and it's based on your income... I went to Umaine but waited till I was 23 so that my parents income no longer counted towards my eligibility.
When I entered the University I had a net income of $0 and a 3.8 GPA after two years at a community college. I received Grants to finish my degree and the Grants paid 70% of my (in-state) tuition... leaving me with about $800 a semester to pay out of pocket.
So here's the deal, if you're going to do this no matter what and you somehow get to Bangor and are able to get yourself established (will be difficult without a car... i hope you have savings) Have your daughter consider the Umaine Augusta Bangor campus (much cheaper) for a year. With good grades and the help of financial aid you should be able to swing it (maybe)
She can go there fairly cheap, build up gen-ed credits and when the time comes that she's been in Maine for one year, all of her credits will transfer to the University of Maine at Orono and at that time she/you will be paying in-state tuition.
Best of Luck to you.
If you want to go back to Michigan, the West side of the state is starting to see growth in and around Grand Rapids/Holland.
I'm moving to Maine in 2 months. My daughter wants to transfer our there for college but our-of-state tuition is ridiculous. So in any event I am going to move out to at least begin to pave her way. At this time I was thinking of Bangor. I will be unemployed with no car. My skills are basically unit clerking in a hospital. I basically feel like I'll be floundering, but as of now we're living in Texas in the valley and we hate it. We're originally from Michigan and never adapted to the weather or the culture.it's also a dangerous place to be,we're about 15 minutes from the border. So I guess I'm asking if I have any chance of making our there. As far as jobs, a place to live or am I making a bad move. Also is it mostly farmland? How are the people .I mean is it like everyone knows everyone or what? Any info would be appreciated. Since I don't have a car Bangor does have mass transit right? I can't help my daughter if I'm living in the streets.
I'm sorry, but you've just described a recipe for disaster. As already noted, just moving to Maine does not automatically qualify your daughter for in-state tuition at UMaine. Mass transit in Bangor is, well, less than perfect. Do some basic research on the web about Bangor and nearby towns -- bus schedules, available jobs, rental info, a map of the area.
Do NOT move here without a job offer first and enough cash in hand to rent an apartment and pay the bills for at least three or four months. Have you ever been to Maine? If you haven't, come here for a visit first, to look around and get the lay of the land and interview for jobs. Otherwise, the best advice I can give you is, if you absolutely have to move, return to a place you know, Michigan, even if it's a different part of the state with better job prospects.
I generally try to be positive and encouraging [If anything I carry it to a fault when it comes to life in Maine].
After reading your OP: I find that any manner in which I try envision this in a good way fails.
You seem to have a plan, and you want what is best for your child.
Our youngest son is working minimum-wage, a recent room-mate set-up failed, so he is at home with us again. Looking for another room-mate situation. Climbing up from the bottom is slow. The economy in this area is not good.
Are you a member of any fraternity or community clubs? That might have local units that could get you an introduction? Maybe a couch to live on while you get setup?
I do know a few people who live in Orono, and who rent rooms to students. But I can not exactly make much of an introduction, for a poster on a forum, that I have never met.
There are people in that area who do okay without a vehicle.
I did a similar thing, although I had family here. My daughter chose UMaine Orono. I had planned to move from Alabama (origionally from NJ) after she graduated so I focused my search on Maine. I realized there were more jobs in Portland, so I focused my search there. I landed a job in portland, My daughter and I moved moved in August. We paid out of state for a year before we could apply for residency. We both took loans to cover OOS. Residency was denied at 1st and I had to appeal and make a stronger case from my relocation. which was legitimately to be near family, I would have moved here if my daughter chose another college in a different state.
Portland ended up being a good choice for me, cost of living is a bit higher than bangor, but there were more jobs and my daughter loves school she rarely come home and wouldn't if I loved in bangor either.
Portland has better transportation, although bangor's has bus transportation, just not as wide spread.
I think your going to have to focus your work search on the whole state. For Bangor try Eastern Maine medical & Vincents. There are also two hospitals in Waterville about an hour south of bangor. For Portland you have Maine medical center (a huge hospital) and Mercy Hospital. Check out Jobsinme.com and start applying.
Find a way to send your daughter to the college she wants to attend....then put your life on a new road separately, if they converge then Great! Best of luck.
I'm moving to Maine in 2 months. My daughter wants to transfer our there for college but our-of-state tuition is ridiculous. So in any event I am going to move out to at least begin to pave her way. At this time I was thinking of Bangor. I will be unemployed with no car. My skills are basically unit clerking in a hospital. I basically feel like I'll be floundering, but as of now we're living in Texas in the valley and we hate it. We're originally from Michigan and never adapted to the weather or the culture.it's also a dangerous place to be,we're about 15 minutes from the border. So I guess I'm asking if I have any chance of making our there. As far as jobs, a place to live or am I making a bad move. Also is it mostly farmland? How are the people .I mean is it like everyone knows everyone or what? Any info would be appreciated. Since I don't have a car Bangor does have mass transit right? I can't help my daughter if I'm living in the streets.
If your daughter can wait a year after moving, you can get the much cheaper in-state tuition rates.
Bangor is a rather small city by national standards, but fairly large by Maine standards. I believe it is #3 in terms of population, right behind Portland and Lewiston.
Bangor has the BAT busses, and I think there is a shuttle from UMaine to Bangor that is free for students, but don't take that for fact, because I'm not entirely sure. The BATs seem to be about everywhere anytime I go up there, but I'm not a resident, so I can't vouch for quality of service. However, my own personal recommendation is to get your own car as soon as you can afford it. Maine is a large state with a sparse population, and you'll not enjoy the fullness of the state unless you have your own transportation.
You can get about everything you would need in Bangor. I usually head that way once a week or so to do my shopping, and it's a 45 minute drive from my home. The city has the standard big boxes: A Walmart Supercenter, Sam's Club, Target, Home Depot, and I think Lowes. It has a fairly decent downtown area with a few pubs, a nice Indian food restaurant, and a few local shops that are worth checking out. There's also the Bangor Mall, which has J.C. Penny, Sears, Macy's, and some other standard mall stores.
As far as culture, we Mainers are a hardworking bunch, you have to be to survive up here. We are definitely more reserved than our fellow Americans in the south, at least until we get to know you. For the most part, people are people. You have a lot of good ones and a few that leave a bad taste in your mouth, but most people I deal with are pretty polite and cordial.
I would not classify Bangor as a place where "everyone knows everyone else." It's big enough, in my opinion, to be beyond that. Maine is not a fast paced state, despite the fact that I95 north of Old Town has the fastest speed limit on the east coast.
The unemployment situation here is as it is nationwide, but there are places that are hiring. Eastern Maine Medical Center is a fairly large (by Maine standards) hospital, and they are often hiring, so it never hurts to check. Especially if you already have experience working in a hospital.
I would definitely recommend landing a job before moving here. Times are too uncertain to commit to such a big move without some assurance of employment.
Overall, speaking as a native Mainer, I like Bangor. Living in the Midcoast, Bangor is about 45 minutes, Augusta is an hour, Waterville is an hour, and Rockland is about 40 minutes. I go to Bangor more than the rest of them, because it just plain has more to offer.
Ok; I hope I can help. I'm from NH, which is 45 minutes to the border (I lived 1-1/2 hours away). You'd never know that we were that close. I've been here for ONE YEAR and can't believe the difference! Not only that, you'd be surprised how different one place can be from just one or two towns away, although (to me) it feels like everything is soooo far away, no matter how many actual miles are driven. I'm used to everything being w/in a 3-mile radius; here, not so much (actually, the saying "you can't get there from here" takes on a life of it's own).
My son went to Unity College; a small private college about an hour south of Orono. I compared the tuition of in-state and out-of-state costs, extra costs, etc. at Orono, and must agree, that it is definitely worth the wait. I would most definitely NOT move here without a job or a car.
I have neither. I am on disability. (I'm in Biddeford, which is very south of Bangor). We have public transportation, but I can't walk the distance to the bus stop (I'm on disability). Due to medical reasons, I had to forfeit my driver's license (no, not because of any legal issues). Taxi's here start at $4 for the first 1/4 mile~~a normal trip anywhere will cost you $10 each way.
Biddeford is smaller than Bangor, but not by much. The cost of living here is higher, I think. While rent(s) in Bangor are considerably less, and living on campus would probably be more expensive than finding roommates to share a place with, you can't survive without a car or a job and no income.
When I was driving to Unity, I remember driving 3-1/2 miles from NH and then turning off the highway and having to drive 45 minutes "into the center of no where."
When I was in NH, Nashua was voted the #1 place to live by Forbes Magazine (I am a Nashua native). We had people leaving jobs as dishwashers, clerks, etc. packing up everything they had (including young children) and coming to Nashua in hopes of a "miracle" cure to their lifestyles, their salaries, etc.
Whether you are unemployed here or somewhere else for a year, you will earn more Financial Aid because of your status. Also, take the recommendations of seeking (not just from the FAFSA or FASFA (I never get that right)) from Google, for instance, for any possible organization that might offer scholarships. Look for anything you or your daughter may have been involved in, from Girl Scouts to LGBT issues; religious organizations, veterans benefits, go as far as looking for "left handedness" if it applies; you never know what you'll find. The library has HUGE volumes of books that list THOUSANDS of scholarships she might be eligible for.
Also, Orono offers merit scholarships. Unity granted my son $2,000 upon meeting him for the college entrance interview (oh, did I mention he was in Special Ed for 12 years). That's where we qualified for yet another scholarship~~children with Learning Disabilities, etc.
Good luck. Take your time. Research. Research. Research. Even once you apply for financial aid, they might keep contacting you for more information, etc. It seems like a never-ending process; it might take another year just to get her in (then again, it may not). If you are going to have to wait a year anyway, find someplace like Portland where public transportation (bus & train) are a way of life, major hospitals (if you choose to be employed) are accessible, although without a car, you'd still run the risk of "unreliable transportation," and you'd have neighbors instead of no one around (depending on where you found an apt. in Bangor).
Craigslist is just one main listing for apts. It will show you the difference in rent when looking around the state. When I'm looking for myself or others, I start with (in your case) Bangor and have Mapquest open in another window, so I can type in a town to see where it's located. That way, you can see where in the state different places are, and what the rents are. You can also search specific places, such as Bangor.
Last edited by Derp-D-Derp; 10-17-2012 at 01:30 AM..
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