To all those who believe that getting a job is easy if one puts in the time, I wish to interject a good personal experience of mine.
I graduated high school 5 months earlier than my class to work for university because I didn't want the debt. That would mean roughly 7 months of work.
I got my pants tailored, my resume critiqued, and walked in fitting boots (given that my everyday ones for trekking it to school have been labelled the "astronaut boots") up and down various malls, dropping off my resume, shaking hands and filling out applications.
I applied to over 20 Tim Hortons in the general vicinity of my home among several other places.
I got a call back for one; a 11 PM to 7 AM job once a week to help out baking in some remote location.
Oh and an interview for KFC where I didn't land the job.
Edit: And I can't really afford to work unless I do one of those internships where I obtain a substanial amount because I'm barely getting enough
OSAP to cover the costs as is and I can't risk it decreasing irrationally.
Just FYI, my sister worked at the Registrar's office in UTM and handed people out cheques for $300 from
OSAP. $300 for God knows how much in fees. And they just stared at the money and asked how they were supposed to pay their tuition this year.
Is it possible to get a bit screwed? Yes. Few loans ever bring about good things.
Especially when they're handing out 12000 and saying they'll only require $7500 upon graduation. They're going to make up that loss through irrational cutbacks in some area or another.