A very long, confused cry for help!

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HeatherD

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Hi, I know this will sound kind of stupid but I need information so here goes.. My husband graduated from undergrad last year with a 3.97 GPA. He had decided late that he wanted to go to dental school, but was missing his second semester of physics and organic chemistry when he graduated. We got bad information from his financial aid counselor who said "oh, no problem" when we asked about getting aid after graduation for those courses. Now we have had a very difficult time coming up with the money for them what with two kids, car payment, student loans, etc. We recently heard that the University of Toronto would take applicants without the courses my husband is lacking and so have put our application in for fall. (The timeline for International students is later, we won't get an acceptance letter until June)Now we kind of have our eggs in one basket but we're optimistic because of the good GPA & ok DAT score (20 average for the first part, 20 perceptual)the federal government said we could get the same financial aid there that he could get at a US school.The financial aid office at UofT doesn't want to talk to us until he's accepted, but now other people, like at the ADEA when I wrote requesting scholarship info, are saying he can't get federal aid in Canada.Does anyone know A)if you can get federal aid at a foreign school, or B)of any alternative sources of funding for Dental School, we looked into NHSC but they will only pay for US schools. In case it isn't already appearant, we are VERY economically disadvantaged, having gotten married young and should qualify for any need based program there is. Thanks for bearing with me, I appreciate any help that anyone can provide.

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First off, nothing you have said sounds stupid in the slightest.

I can't help you with the fin aid issues except to say to contact the FAFSA folks to see if the U of T has a code. If they do, they receive US $$$.

Now, if you are in the economic situation you stated, is there any way you can apply for public assistance while your husband is in school? This is what it is best there for--to help people who are improving themselves but need a boost--right?

This would, for example, trim your food and health care costs and enable reallocation of money for tuition to get him through the needed classes and apply here at home.

Also, you might wish to post on the "Everyone" board something like--"US Fin Aid for Canadian School?"--and see what comments turn up.

Best wishes.
 
Just to let you know, I believe it is a requirement that the DAT must be the Canadian version and that they only accept Canadian residents or a permanent resident to their dds program. Double check on this because this is the information I have from the 1999-2000 academic requirements for the U of T program and their adm. requirements may have changed since.

Good luck!
 
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I was accepted at UofT last year and in their package seem to recall getting a paper stating that they had a policy that no student would be denied acceptance due to lack of funds. I am not positive that this applied to International students (I am Canadian), but don't recall seeing any statement to the contrary. Most students here are relying on lines of credit. The banks have programs set up for Professional students whereby they loan somewhere around $25 000 a year (not to exceed $100 000 I think) at prime rate (around 7%). However, with international tuition I suppose that is still insufficient. I will try to find out more, I know a few students from the States.
 
Dear Slater,
I would appreciate that very much. I'm happy to hear you know a few students from the states, we weren't sure how many international students they accept each year, so at least you know of some. I did read that no student would be turned away for lack of funding, but then I read that international students are responsible for obtaining their own funding, so I think international students have a different standard. Anyway thanks for your help, and by the way, are you impressed with U of T
so far? It seems like they have an excellent program.
Thanks Again,
Heather


Originally posted by Slater:
I was accepted at UofT last year and in their package seem to recall getting a paper stating that they had a policy that no student would be denied acceptance due to lack of funds. I am not positive that this applied to International students (I am Canadian), but don't recall seeing any statement to the contrary. Most students here are relying on lines of credit. The banks have programs set up for Professional students whereby they loan somewhere around $25 000 a year (not to exceed $100 000 I think) at prime rate (around 7%). However, with international tuition I suppose that is still insufficient. I will try to find out more, I know a few students from the States.

 
Hi Heather...you mentioned in your last post that U of T had an 'excellent program'. How do you think they compare with other schools in the States (esp. on the East Coast, more specifically the schools in Boston) and what did you and your husband think of the program at Toronto? I understand they don't have interviews (??) but did you go for a visit anyways? Thanks!!!
 
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