What if I don't decide to use the entrance scholarship as part of the funding for the year. What would happen to the money? I am asking because I'm in a position where I would rather use it for purchasing books.

I don't think that you have to use your entrance award towards your funding. According to the link below (2nd page), they will put it into your student account, and I suppose it is up to your discretion to use it however you want to:

http://sfas.mcmaster.ca/pdf/2009/FAQ_Entrance.pdf

But to be honest, I am not exactly sure.

Originally Posted by Juicebox

What if I don't decide to use the entrance scholarship as part of the funding for the year. What would happen to the money? I am asking because I'm in a position where I would rather use it for purchasing books.

On your payment agreement you can just deselect the option of using your scholarship for paying tuition. It will then go into your student account as previously mentioned and they will mail you a check with the amount.

^^They'll only mail you a check if it sends your student account into a negative balance...

ie.

1) You decide not to select the scholarship as payment, suppose you pay all but $2500 yourself and get a $2000 scholarship. Your account still has a balance of $500 so they don't send you a cheque.

2) You decide not to select the scholarship as payment, suppose you pay all but $32, and get a $2000 scholarship. Your account will have a balance of "-$1968" and they will mail you a cheque for this amount a few weeks after the fact.

Couldn't he just keep the amount on his student account after his tuition is paid and use it for books directly. You can pay for books with your student card so instead him owing for those books he bought with it the money in his student account would automatically pay for books up to the amount of the entrance scholarship.

When you apply for OSAP, your are automatically signed up for the government book money assistance program.

Originally Posted by Bobby66

When you apply for OSAP, your are automatically signed up for the government book money assistance program.

Awesome, you can buy a total of 1 book with that money maybe 2.

Originally Posted by sew12

Couldn't he just keep the amount on his student account after his tuition is paid and use it for books directly. You can pay for books with your student card so instead him owing for those books he bought with it the money in his student account would automatically pay for books up to the amount of the entrance scholarship.

Yes, but as Mowicz said, if there is a positive balance in his student account, the money automatically pays for the positive balance. So in the end if he doesn't pay in full, the scholarship ends up paying for the tuition anyways.

Thanks guys, thats all I needed to hear.
A quick side question, aprox how much does a typical Life Science student spend on books first year? Anyone know the the numbers? New/Used?

Wouldn't it be easier to just use the scholarship as funding towards your tuition, then use whatever money left from your tuition, spend it on books?

Originally Posted by HeatherH

Wouldn't it be easier to just use the scholarship as funding towards your tuition, then use whatever money left from your tuition, spend it on books?

Nope. Thats why I made this thread