Okay, I'm confused and the registrar didn't help much.

I've applied for OSAP and they gave me a nice estimate with half being grants and half being loans. I don't want to take loans at all, I just want the free grant money.

On my payment agreement they say that after my entrance scholarship is subtracted, that OSAP will pay for the rest (given that my estimate stays true). The registrar told me that I don't even need to send in a cheque for the amount before OSAP because they are willing to wait for OSAP to pay for it. However, the only way OSAP could possible pay for my tuition is if they combined all the grants and loans together to be released on september 4th.

How does this work? I though you had to negotiate all your OSAP stuff before it is taken into affect? What should I do?

When you go to 'pick up' your OSAP you 'negotiate' your loans. Theoretically you could refuse the OSAP but I'm not sure how that would affect your bursaries. The registrar's office isn't really the place to call for this but the Financial Aid Office, they deal with all things OSAP.

Also keep in mind that you don't pay interest on the OSAP loan until you finish your undergrad. So if you are going to pay anyways, just put the osap in high interest savings.

I'm not sure if this has been answered before, but can I still change my courses after I've paid my school fees? (Provided the courses aren't full).

Thanks.

Yes Steph you can.

Hello,

I am an international student from India, can anyone suggest me the best and the easiest way to pay the fees???

I don't get it, if we are paying in full then why do we have to send the check by aug 15 when on the payment agreement it says the amount is due sept 1?

yea I don't get that either..this is actually the first I have heard of it..?

Originally Posted by rohit20890

Hello,

I am an international student from India, can anyone suggest me the best and the easiest way to pay the fees???

Hi rohit,

the school prefers telephone/online banking as a payment method. "McMaster University" would be the payee and the account number is your seven digit student ID (08xxxxx). There are more details on this pdf: http://www.mcmaster.ca/bms/student/p..._methods.p df

Originally Posted by lacus1004

I don't get it, if we are paying in full then why do we have to send the check by aug 15 when on the payment agreement it says the amount is due sept 1?

To be honest I've also found this somewhat ambiguous at times, but the way I understand it is that your first fee payment (whether it's in full, installment etc) is due August 15th. You can post-date your payment to September 1st. The payment agreement says September 1st for the initial payment, but I think they're referring to the post-dating date (please correct me if I'm wrong).

Also, according to the registrar's list of dates and deadlines, the first payment must be submitted by August 15th.

I would assume that it is probably two reasons: one they have a hell of a lot of cheques to proccess and two; whenever you give a mass amount of people a due date you should give them at least a week or two before you actually need it.

I must admit, it pisses me off that the registrar says "have this in by Aug 15th" but it's not actually DUE till Sept 1st. Our payments do not have to be in before that date and since they give two dates they confuse the hell out of first years.

That pisses me off too.. they confuse us with two different kinds of dates

Ok so....
I know that first payments are due on September 1, unless you're receiving OSAP, and that if you know you're not going to have all of the money ready by that date, you should choose a more appropriate payment plan than "payment in full".
So let's say I choose the installment plan, because I'm getting an external scholarship, which I won't receive till the first-ish week of September. If I pay off all of my fees before interest starts being calculated (ie. before October), I'm home free, right? Like, I won't be charged any interest? It'll be just like I chose the payment in full plan, only I'm paying a portion of it a week or two later. Does this sound right? I know I have to contact the Accounts&Cashiers office, but I figured I'd get a quicker response this way, especially at this time of year.

I don't see what's wrong with that Sarah. As for OSAP, it gets deducted from your tuition and you have until September 30th to give them the check. Then you get your second check for OSAP at the beginning of term 2 and you can keep it or pay back OSAP.

so since i applied for osap i only pay what ever is left after the amount from osap has been deducted from my entire fee right? and i decided to pay the rest in full then i send the check till aug 15? or aug 30? and also is there like some paper document that my parents and i have to sign? somthing about a loan agreement? that i actually have to go to the university and sign it? am i wrong? correct me if i'm wrong. i thought the only thing i had to sign was that signature declaration from osap.. but i guess i'm wrong?

and also did anyone receieve any amount from osap? does like how much you get appear on the payment agreement? i had some problem with my application so it was on hold, so i was curious to see if anyone got theirs already...

Actually, only 60% of your OSAP entitlement will be released first term, the rest will be released 2nd term. So you have to pay your tuition minus the 60%. In term 2 you get the second part of your entitlement and you can put it back towards OSAP or put it in the bank. When you get your OSAP you'll have to sign a confirmation of enrollment paper which will be given to you at that time. I got entitlement a long time ago, but I also did my OSAP when it was first available.