Canadian Students attending Optometry schools in the United States

[OptoMra]

Hello dear Canadians,
Since the cost of education is a bit higher in the US especially for Canadians I was wondering how do you manage the financial costs?
Did you apply for a student line of credit? If so, I will appreciate your advice on that?
I like to know which banks do offer a student line of credit to Canadians who are going to study optometry in the US? What is the maximum amount of their loan? What was their rate of interest? and how is their payback plan?

P S. I know that 5 years ago there was a similar conversation on SDN, but I wish to have some recent information on this subject.

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[mil123]

Studying in the states is costly for Canadians but it is very doable if you plan your money out right. Getting a line of credit is not a problem if your cosigners have stable jobs and good credit history. CIBC gave me the highest amount and best interest ($175k + prime only). I suggest doing a little negotiating with the financial advisors at banks because sometimes they can play around with the interest (that all depends on the cosigners backgrounds and assets). Although $175k is a lot it still is not enough to cover enough for both tuition and living. For me the provincial government only offered a $20k loan with a 12% interest, which i thought was insane so i didn't accept it. So your only way to get extra money to cover all costs is to have some money saved up already or have parents help out (which is what im doing). In my opinion you will most definitely need someone supporting you to cover some costs in one way or another because you dont really have many options (unless you have a bunch of money saved up). In conclusion, you will not get more then $200k from a bank and provincal loans combined and school will cost you more then that so plan accordingly

As in paying back my bank told me it can take between 5-10 years depending on how much I'm willing to pay back after school.

 

[faneyes]

1) if your parents are willing they can remortgage their house to cover the costs
2) national bank gives $160k at prime if you keep good credit (40k/year)
3) student aid in my province gives around $17k per year

I had a total of $57k per year to use and the rest of the money that I needed (10-15k) came from my parents !

 

[OptoMra]

Studying in the states is costly for Canadians but it is very doable if you plan your money out right. Getting a line of credit is not a problem if your cosigners have stable jobs and good credit history. CIBC gave me the highest amount and best interest ($175k + prime only). I suggest doing a little negotiating with the financial advisors at banks because sometimes they can play around with the interest (that all depends on the cosigners backgrounds and assets). Although $175k is a lot it still is not enough to cover enough for both tuition and living. For me the provincial government only offered a $20k loan with a 12% interest, which i thought was insane so i didn't accept it. So your only way to get extra money to cover all costs is to have some money saved up already or have parents help out (which is what im doing). In my opinion you will most definitely need someone supporting you to cover some costs in one way or another because you dont really have many options (unless you have a bunch of money saved up). In conclusion, you will not get more then $200k from a bank and provincal loans combined and school will cost you more then that so plan accordingly

As in paying back my bank told me it can take between 5-10 years depending on how much I'm willing to pay back after school.

Thank you very much for your response, it's very helpful!

 

[OptoMra]

1) if your parents are willing they can remortgage their house to cover the costs
2) national bank gives $160k at prime if you keep good credit (40k/year)
3) student aid in my province gives around $17k per year

I had a total of $57k per year to use and the rest of the money that I needed (10-15k) came from my parents !

Thank you very much for your response, it's very helpful!

 

[OptoMra]

Hi guys,
faneyes
mil123


Just a quick question, for the purpose of line of credit what should I bring to the bank?
Should I just bring the acceptance letter and a proof of the payment of the tuition deposit (Acceptance fee)? or I need to bring them an official letter of enrollment?

 

[mil123]

Hi guys,
faneyes
mil123


Just a quick question, for the purpose of line of credit what should I bring to the bank?
Should I just bring the acceptance letter and a proof of the payment of the tuition deposit (Acceptance fee)? or I need to bring them an official letter of enrollment?

Acceptance letter and proof of payment is enough!

 

[quickmaths]

Just wanted to ask you guys which province are you guys from? Ontario? Because I thought OSAP gave less than $17k loan for students studying abroad

 

[mil123]

Just wanted to ask you guys which province are you guys from? Ontario? Because I thought OSAP gave less than $17k loan for students studying abroad

Alberta

 

[faneyes]

Alberta

 

[OptoMra]

Just wanted to ask you guys which province are you guys from? Ontario? Because I thought OSAP gave less than $17k loan for students studying abroad

Ontario. But I didn't apply for the OSAP yet.

 

[quickmaths]

Thank you for all your responses! @OptoMra if you still need some financial aid, osap would give about 11K