private loans question

highfly413 · May 12, 2005

Can anyone give me any guidance on private loans? I don't know anything about them. I'm not sure yet whether I will need them after the Federal loans, but I want to know how to go about it. which are the good loan companies? and how do they work? thanks.

grant555 · May 13, 2005

highfly413 said:
Can anyone give me any guidance on private loans? I don't know anything about them. I'm not sure yet whether I will need them after the Federal loans, but I want to know how to go about it. which are the good loan companies? and how do they work? thanks.

My school also uses the Federal Direct Loans, but since the need usually outweighs the max Direct Loan amount, there were some private lenders that were suggested. Of them, I think Citibank is the best ( CitiAssist-Health Professions and Residency Loan) , which is what I chose to use. You can apply online at www.studentloan.com Also, there is some good information on this website itself. Just search under "loan consolidation" and a host of good info should be found.

Some other lenders to consider are Alternative DEAL (Dental Education Assistance Loan) www.key.com/educate or The Dental Access Loan at www.accessgroup.org/students or The Sallie Mae Signature Loan at www.salliemae.com/signature Another option may be the Campus Door at www.cfscampusloans.com/campusdoor

Keep in mind that it is up to the school to determine the disbursement rate so another non-educational based loan may be an option if you are trying to gather resources until school starts.

I hope this helps. Take care and GOD Bless.

billiken10 · May 13, 2005

Thats great information, thank you. How long does it take to file a private loan? I've been told my school won't be issuing an aid award letter until about a month before classes start. Will I be in trouble if I wait that long to start inquiring about private loans?

grant555 · May 13, 2005

billiken10 said:
Thats great information, thank you. How long does it take to file a private loan? I've been told my school won't be issuing an aid award letter until about a month before classes start. Will I be in trouble if I wait that long to start inquiring about private loans?

The length of time will vary, but with Citibank the total time is a matter of 60 seconds to 72 hrs depending on if a cosigner is needed. After that, the amount of the loan must be verified with the financial aid department of the respective school, which could take up to 7 business days. Dispersement is the tricky part, since Citibank won't disperse until the the school says so, which is most likely not until school starts. Key and Sallie Mae won't disperse until after school starts at the earliest. I inquired with all the private lenders I mentioned, and I think Citibank is the fastest.

The inherit problem is money now to keep gas in the car until school starts. This will have to come from either a personal loan, family, or savings, etc. As far as school, Citibank is very fast. You can check online or call, and I have done both several times, and they respond pretty quickly.

I wasn't too shy about calling the lenders and asking questions because nearly all of us will have to deal with these lenders or some other lender of the like when it comes time to acquire that all-important private practice. 🙂

I hope this helps. Take care and GOD Bless.

USUaggie · May 13, 2005

For me, the inherent problem is acquiring a vehicle before school starts, putting down a deposite on housing, costs of moving and furnishing an apartment, etc. It could get pretty expensive pretty quickly. These all need to be done before school starts, so are there any private lenders willing to dispurse the loans a couple months early?

grant555 · May 13, 2005

USUaggie said:
For me, the inherent problem is acquiring a vehicle before school starts, putting down a deposite on housing, costs of moving and furnishing an apartment, etc. It could get pretty expensive pretty quickly. These all need to be done before school starts, so are there any private lenders willing to dispurse the loans a couple months early?

This is a great question, but I have no answer. I tried all the lenders I mentioned, and none would disperse the loan money before the respective school stipulated. I am assuming this is because part of the criteria for loan approval was being enrolled or having put down a deposit with the intent to enroll. Once that has been established, it is highly unlikely that any school would (but I could be wrong) would give clearance to disperse earlier than school started. In fact, the letter that the financial aid manager sent out some 45 days ago specifically said that expenses such as those you listed are solely the responsibility of the student.

Assuming that most schools work in this fashion, the main alternative is a personal loan. Nearly all banks offer personal loans, but these can be more difficult to acquire and almost all will have a higher interest rate. However, there is one quick way to see if you could qualify for a personal loan. www.eloan.com

As far as the deposit on a place to stay, we were given a list of off-campus apartments that offered discounts (i.e. accustomed to dealing with students with similar circumstances). But again, each school has its own hierachy and operates differently.

You might also try Bank One or Wachovia but I am not sure. I wish that I had a definite answer because this is surely a problem most first year dental students face. I hope this helps. Take care and GOD Bless.

jiffbedgerson · May 13, 2005

USUaggie said:
For me, the inherent problem is acquiring a vehicle before school starts, putting down a deposite on housing, costs of moving and furnishing an apartment, etc. It could get pretty expensive pretty quickly. These all need to be done before school starts, so are there any private lenders willing to dispurse the loans a couple months early?

I'm in the same spot your in aggie, and i have bad credit, so receiving a non-school affiliated loan will be tough for me and i have a co-signer, like Grant said, you can research personal loans with some of the major american banks, but the interest rates are absolutely ridiculous (even with good credit history) some require a mandatory co-signer and/or collateral, but the disbursement should take very long (maybe 2 weeks), if you have any business major friends or someone working in the financial field (even better) , ask for their expertise as well, you wouldnt want to take out $10,000 just to drive around a 1984 Brown Datsun and live in a studio that looks more like a dorm room than an apartment!

marshall · May 15, 2005

You can use a bit of financial trickery to keep things going. Get a credit card with a limit as high as you'll need (not too high though) and LOAD IT UP with all of your expenses. Once the month rolls around have another card in your back pocket with an introductory 0% APR / no fees on balance transfers for XXX amount of time. You have until then to pay it off. At worst you won't get a card with no fees but if you consider those 'fees' your interest, it is still way better. Depending what kind of relationship you have with your current credit card you can call them and say that you have received offers for 0% balance transfers and are considering consolidating all of your cards onto it... could they match that offer? That will save you from opening another account (you may want to though).

This is an old trick but it works... BE CAREFUL TO BUDGET. It isn't free money and if that balance transfer times out you are going to be screwed with > 22% APR that is sometimes retroactive (read the fine print).

private loans question

highfly413

Senior Member

grant555

billiken10

I hated headgear.

grant555

USUaggie

bringing ugly back

grant555

jiffbedgerson

aka Mr. Oh Yeah

marshall

SDN Donor

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