I was just wondering how long it took your schools to send you financial aid award letters, and if you've picked lenders. Thanks for any help, I'm a bit confused with the whole process.
Financial Aid Help
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does anyone have any recommendations for lenders?
also, i'm a little confused on what to request for unsubsidized loans. scco wants me to put down how much loan money i would like to request. but i have no idea. do i assume i will get other loans as well such as the perkins and the health professions student loans adn work study?
much advice and help is appreciated! thank you!
jennifer
also, i'm a little confused on what to request for unsubsidized loans. scco wants me to put down how much loan money i would like to request. but i have no idea. do i assume i will get other loans as well such as the perkins and the health professions student loans adn work study?
much advice and help is appreciated! thank you!
jennifer
Rosanna can you send me a PM about it too? 
JG777, i'm in the same position as you. So far I've only just sent out my FAFSA. Gotta look through all the other forms and paperwork. Its kinda overwhelming and confusing.
JG777, i'm in the same position as you. So far I've only just sent out my FAFSA. Gotta look through all the other forms and paperwork. Its kinda overwhelming and confusing.
Here's some info I got from rosanna, thanks again rosanna:
Originally Posted by Rosanna
Hi eyedream82:
Here is some additional information if you need it.
- Rosanna
Quote:
Rosanna wrote on 01-27-2004 12:50 AM:
I had somewhat answered this question for another person on the board a few weeks ago. Let me know if you have any other specific questions regarding UCBSO (since that is what you seem to be concerned with).
- Rosanna
Rosanna wrote on 01-10-2004 12:28 AM:
Hi J.opt-
I'm having trouble posting on the message board so I decided to PM you.
First, you should fill out the 2004-2005 FAFSA. If you have your Department of Education PIN, you can fill this out online at: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov
As you probably know, you are automatically considered an independent since you are enrolling into a professional/graduate program. It is up to you if you decide to include your parents' incomes or not. Many financial aid officers told me during interviews that you should only put down your parents' incomes if you think they can qualify for low-income grants or loans.
Once you fill out the FAFSA, the optometry school that you ultimately decide to go to (in other words, the school you send in the final deposit to hold a seat for you) will send out an awards summary to you. This may take some time because the financial aid office has to get a clear number of how many students are attending and how to distribute the loans - so this could be during the summer.
There are a lot of loan programs to help you cover the cost of optometry school. There are the Federal Subsidized and Unsubsidized Stafford Loans, Federal Perkins Loan (PSL), HHS Health Professions Student Loans (HPSL), HHS Loans for Disadvantaged Students (LDS), and Federal Work Study Program (FWS) just to name a FEW. The financial aid office will help you go through all these loans and decide if you qualify.
If you borrowed a Stafford loan previously during your undergraduate studies, you can continue to use the same lender. If the optometry school is not a Direct Loan school (such as SCCO), you will need to decide when lender to borrow from. Again, there are many lenders to choose from: Bank One, Medfunds, ALL Student Loan Corp, BOA Stafford Maximizer, Citibank Student Loans, Wells Fargo MedCap (I only mentioned a FEW) - and each lender offer different incentives (no origination fees, interest reductions after x payments, etc.) Don't worry about this - you'll get a lot of advice from your big sib or mentor and from the financial aid officers if you get stuck.
What you can do now is ask the financial aid office of the school you are considering to go to if they have scholarship rewards for incoming students. Most scholarships are based on GPA, but some you can write an essay to qualify. If you have the time, you can begin to apply for these scholarships now.
Sorry to make this long - so basically, fill out your FAFSA now and submit it to all the schools you are considering attending if you haven?t made your final decision yet.
I have some advice if you have undergraduate loans. If you are still in school, you should make an appointment with your undergraduate financial aid office about an exiting interview. Most schools require an exiting interview before you graduate to ensure you know how to repay your loans and you can ask how to acquire an in-school deferment if you plan to defer your loan payments until the end of the optometry school. Most optometry schools are familiar with the deferment forum, but it wouldn't hurt to fill it out and mail in early.
I'm sorry if I made this confusing for you - believe me, there isn't much to worry about. The Federal Subsidized Stafford Loan amount approved last year was $8,500 and Unsubsidized Stafford was $30,000 if you had no income or assets. Remember to only borrow the amount you need =).
Ok, I hope this helped. Take care!
Best wishes,
Rosanna
Originally Posted by Rosanna
Hi eyedream82:
Here is some additional information if you need it.
- Rosanna
Quote:
Rosanna wrote on 01-27-2004 12:50 AM:
I had somewhat answered this question for another person on the board a few weeks ago. Let me know if you have any other specific questions regarding UCBSO (since that is what you seem to be concerned with).
- Rosanna
Rosanna wrote on 01-10-2004 12:28 AM:
Hi J.opt-
I'm having trouble posting on the message board so I decided to PM you.
First, you should fill out the 2004-2005 FAFSA. If you have your Department of Education PIN, you can fill this out online at: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov
As you probably know, you are automatically considered an independent since you are enrolling into a professional/graduate program. It is up to you if you decide to include your parents' incomes or not. Many financial aid officers told me during interviews that you should only put down your parents' incomes if you think they can qualify for low-income grants or loans.
Once you fill out the FAFSA, the optometry school that you ultimately decide to go to (in other words, the school you send in the final deposit to hold a seat for you) will send out an awards summary to you. This may take some time because the financial aid office has to get a clear number of how many students are attending and how to distribute the loans - so this could be during the summer.
There are a lot of loan programs to help you cover the cost of optometry school. There are the Federal Subsidized and Unsubsidized Stafford Loans, Federal Perkins Loan (PSL), HHS Health Professions Student Loans (HPSL), HHS Loans for Disadvantaged Students (LDS), and Federal Work Study Program (FWS) just to name a FEW. The financial aid office will help you go through all these loans and decide if you qualify.
If you borrowed a Stafford loan previously during your undergraduate studies, you can continue to use the same lender. If the optometry school is not a Direct Loan school (such as SCCO), you will need to decide when lender to borrow from. Again, there are many lenders to choose from: Bank One, Medfunds, ALL Student Loan Corp, BOA Stafford Maximizer, Citibank Student Loans, Wells Fargo MedCap (I only mentioned a FEW) - and each lender offer different incentives (no origination fees, interest reductions after x payments, etc.) Don't worry about this - you'll get a lot of advice from your big sib or mentor and from the financial aid officers if you get stuck.
What you can do now is ask the financial aid office of the school you are considering to go to if they have scholarship rewards for incoming students. Most scholarships are based on GPA, but some you can write an essay to qualify. If you have the time, you can begin to apply for these scholarships now.
Sorry to make this long - so basically, fill out your FAFSA now and submit it to all the schools you are considering attending if you haven?t made your final decision yet.
I have some advice if you have undergraduate loans. If you are still in school, you should make an appointment with your undergraduate financial aid office about an exiting interview. Most schools require an exiting interview before you graduate to ensure you know how to repay your loans and you can ask how to acquire an in-school deferment if you plan to defer your loan payments until the end of the optometry school. Most optometry schools are familiar with the deferment forum, but it wouldn't hurt to fill it out and mail in early.
I'm sorry if I made this confusing for you - believe me, there isn't much to worry about. The Federal Subsidized Stafford Loan amount approved last year was $8,500 and Unsubsidized Stafford was $30,000 if you had no income or assets. Remember to only borrow the amount you need =).
Ok, I hope this helped. Take care!
Best wishes,
Rosanna
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SCCO students:
Try to be patient and wait for the SCCO financial aid packet that will be sent to you during the summer. It includes a great outline of possible lenders including master promissory notes. They will also list the benefits of choosing a specific lender (i.e. After x payments, interest rate is reduced some %, interest rate is reduced if you have a checking account with the same bank).
You can specify the max loan amount so you will at least be approved for that much money. If you do not need all of it, you can then talk to SCCO's financial aid officer (I believe it's still Barbara Breffle - [email protected]) to reduce that amount so you will not have to repay it all.
I would type out the SCCO financial aid handbook but I don't have that much time. So try not to worry right now. Just make sure you have submitted your FAFSA. Everyone receives their financial aid award packet during the same time, so you are all in the same boat.
Good luck,
Rosanna
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I believe the Fed. Sub & Unsub max total is around $30,000, and not $38,500 as I wrote before. Sorry for the confusion, but $30,000 should be plenty enough.
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OK, I just got my 2004-2005 financial aid award notification, and I qualified for $8500 Federal Direct Subsidized and $25046 Federal Direct Unsubsidized for the year. So, I believe those are the max amounts you can qualify for because I have no resources listed.
Try to be patient and wait for the SCCO financial aid packet that will be sent to you during the summer. It includes a great outline of possible lenders including master promissory notes. They will also list the benefits of choosing a specific lender (i.e. After x payments, interest rate is reduced some %, interest rate is reduced if you have a checking account with the same bank).
You can specify the max loan amount so you will at least be approved for that much money. If you do not need all of it, you can then talk to SCCO's financial aid officer (I believe it's still Barbara Breffle - [email protected]) to reduce that amount so you will not have to repay it all.
I would type out the SCCO financial aid handbook but I don't have that much time. So try not to worry right now. Just make sure you have submitted your FAFSA. Everyone receives their financial aid award packet during the same time, so you are all in the same boat.
Good luck,
Rosanna
----------
I believe the Fed. Sub & Unsub max total is around $30,000, and not $38,500 as I wrote before. Sorry for the confusion, but $30,000 should be plenty enough.
----------
OK, I just got my 2004-2005 financial aid award notification, and I qualified for $8500 Federal Direct Subsidized and $25046 Federal Direct Unsubsidized for the year. So, I believe those are the max amounts you can qualify for because I have no resources listed.
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Does anybody have any advice regarding loans etc for a Canadian kid who has NO IDEA what he's supposed to be doing before moving down south? How do banks typically view Canadian loan applicants? Does it help that I can get an American family member to co sign?? Am I better off sticking with CanHelp?
HELP ME!
silverandblack
HELP ME!
silverandblack
I'm very sorry that you're a Canadian student coming to the US to obtain an optometric education. Be prepared to sell your soul and still come up short on funds. Most banks in Canada have some type of line of credit which you can get to fund your education. Drawbacks are that you must pay interest while in school. You will also, of course, use your gov't student loans which will dry up fast. Lastly there are banks in the US that will help. CanHELP is one of those programs. They screw you financially in a lot of ways, though. It can be done. I'm living proof that a Canadian can go to school with no money and graduate deeply in debt. My situation. Moderate family help (mostly with the groceries). Some mild savings (from a car accident), Canadian/Provincial gov't student loans (Maxed out), CIBC professional students line of credit (maxed out), CanHELP three years (maximum allowed without co-signer). I'd look into all of the above but advise that you find a long lost wealthy relative.
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im also a canadian....right now im waiting to recieve my canhelp loan forms.....is it hard to get the cosigner? it can be any family member right?
what about obtaining the I20 form and visa etc...they want bank statements showing that you can pay the 40,000...........so i can just show the loans right?
damn....so im gonna have to get a canhelp loan, bc student loan, and a line of credit? .............i was hoping just one loan.... which would make life easier....gets confusing when you owe money to lots of institutions
what about obtaining the I20 form and visa etc...they want bank statements showing that you can pay the 40,000...........so i can just show the loans right?
damn....so im gonna have to get a canhelp loan, bc student loan, and a line of credit?
.............i was hoping just one loan.... which would make life easier....gets confusing when you owe money to lots of institutions
