Above-the-limit loans

[maksidaa]

quik question, at a recent school orientation some students mentioned that some of them had taken out loans above and beyond the loans appropriated by the school to cover cost of attendance and cost of living. anyone have experience with these? i'm guessing they come with some crappy interest rates so they aren't for everyone, but i'd like to know my options.

p.s. in your responses please refrain from judging others or yourself in your use or lack of use of such loans. some of y'all can be really anal about financial stuff.

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[ItsGavinC]

quik question, at a recent school orientation some students mentioned that some of them had taken out loans above and beyond the loans appropriated by the school to cover cost of attendance and cost of living. anyone have experience with these? i'm guessing they come with some crappy interest rates so they aren't for everyone, but i'd like to know my options.

p.s. in your responses please refrain from judging others or yourself in your use or lack of use of such loans. some of y'all can be really anal about financial stuff.

I was unable to take out any of these loans because I didn't have any source of income. When I would list "full-time student" as my income source, the lender would contact my school to verify my status, and then they would deny my loan because I had already taken out the max through the school (both federal and private).

Other people have told me that haven't ever had an issue with this, but I found it impossible to take out any additional loans.

 

[maksidaa]

Other people have told me that haven't ever had an issue with this, but I found it impossible to take out any additional loans.

i had heard similar stories from others, mostly people married w/ kids and a spouse that stayed home. it makes me worry if i'd be able to afford having kids while in school. one of the people i talked to who had taken out such loans had a spouse that worked full time, so maybe that was why they qualified.

 

[jfitzpat]

I took out a Bank of America Education Maximizer Loan. My wife had to cosign on it because she was the only source of income. Get ready to be drilled on interest rate and fees. I think I was the lowest in each category and it was like a 4% fee and LIBOR plus 3 or 4 points (currently a total of around (9% or 10%). I'm not completely sure about my numbers, but I remember that it sucked.

 

[maksidaa]

I took out a Bank of America Education Maximizer Loan. My wife had to cosign on it because she was the only source of income. Get ready to be drilled on interest rate and fees. I think I was the lowest in each category and it was like a 4% fee and LIBOR plus 3 or 4 points (currently a total of around (9% or 10%). I'm not completely sure about my numbers, but I remember that it sucked.

i read in the financial forum that nelnet.com has similar loans. i think the fees and rates are fairly comparable and you can take out $30k a year, but you only need a co-signer if your credit score is 640 or lower. i hope i don't need $30k a year, but it's nice to know the option is open to me. thanks for the replies.

 

[sumluck]

Some schools indicate that the budgets may be increased or adjusted for certain approved and documented costs... so check with the financial aid advisor at your d-school and see what qualifies. I'm sure they are willing to sit down with you and look at your budget and offer suggestions, possibly even adjust your budget. That is what they are there for.

 

[Lostinbul]

Wells Fargo has a private loan that you can get even if you've maxed out your school budget. They will verify that you are enrolled, but above and beyond that they don't care. The amount you qualify for is dependent on your credit score, and if you don't make at least $12,000 a year you'll need a cosigner. There is no initial fee for accepting the loan, and intrest is prime plus a certain amount that is determined by you/cosigner's credit score. Prime is around 8% and depending on credit score it can go as high as 16%. I just got a little loan from them at 9%, but I'm planning on paying it off over the next year, so the intrest won't hurt too much. The loan is called Education connection.

 

[maksidaa]

Wells Fargo has a private loan that you can get even if you've maxed out your school budget. They will verify that you are enrolled, but above and beyond that they don't care. The amount you qualify for is dependent on your credit score, and if you don't make at least $12,000 a year you'll need a cosigner. There is no initial fee for accepting the loan, and intrest is prime plus a certain amount that is determined by you/cosigner's credit score. Prime is around 8% and depending on credit score it can go as high as 16%. I just got a little loan from them at 9%, but I'm planning on paying it off over the next year, so the intrest won't hurt too much. The loan is called Education connection.

hey, thanks for the info. it seems that there are very few such loans out there and the more i look the more i realize that in the event of some bad luck or the birth of a child (which i would certainly not label "bad luck", but it would be very expensive) there are very few options for professional students as far as additional financing.

 

[Wayne Coronado]

quik question, at a recent school orientation some students mentioned that some of them had taken out loans above and beyond the loans appropriated by the school to cover cost of attendance and cost of living. anyone have experience with these? i'm guessing they come with some crappy interest rates so they aren't for everyone, but i'd like to know my options.

p.s. in your responses please refrain from judging others or yourself in your use or lack of use of such loans. some of y'all can be really anal about financial stuff.

Check out Sallie Mae's DentaLoans program (just started this year). If you need cash beyond COA during dental school, try the DentaLoans Graduate Private Loan. If you have excellent credit, you can get a percentage at .5% less than prime. Not a terrible option at roughly 7.75% (at this point) and it is deferrable while in school and up to 3 years following graduation (assuming you are doing a res); otherwise, 9 months following graduation. I am actually getting an app rolling for the Dental Residency/Relocation Loan (which is essentially the same loan) so I can make my move down south. Here's the link:

http://www.salliemae.com/get_studen...n/grad/med_school_loans/dentaloans/dental.htm

Good Luck!!!

 

[MaxAnn]

The private loan with the cosigner is probably the best way to go. Financial aid is just not a dependable source of income whether you have a family or not. Since nearly all the dental schools treat students the same no matter whether they have dependents, are single, or married with dependents and a non-working spouse.

If you can get the money, but superceding the financial aid office, then do it. It will make your time and bank account work much more efficiently. And we all know there is absolutely no time to waste in dental school.

 

[Veneto]

The student loan people also have one that is not certified by the schools. They will ask for a cosigner if your credit is below a 750, but they do not charge an origination fee and they let you pay the interest balance each month.

 

[maksidaa]

The student loan people also have one that is not certified by the schools. They will ask for a cosigner if your credit is below a 750, but they do not charge an origination fee and they let you pay the interest balance each month.

thanks once again for the info. quick question, what's the difference between loans that must be certified by your school and loans that are not certified through your school? is a certified loan one that the school looks at and says, "well, this is above and beyond the cost of attendance so you don't get it"? if so, does that mean that non-certified loans are the above-the-COA loans to look for?

also, a friend of mine in vet school suggested myrichuncle.com. i don't know much about it but he said it was a good private loan site.

 

[Veneto]

Yes the non-certified loans are the loans that do not call the school to see if you have taken out the limit for the cost of attendence. They merly call the school and verify enrollment, or in some cases they just as for a copy of the acceptance letter, and never contact the school. In my case, I have awife and two kids, I will probably take an aditional 10k out the first two years, and then my wife wants to work part-time the second two. On the extra loan I will pay the interest each month which is about 70-80 dollars a month. During dental school that extra 10k per year works out to about 830 extra dollars a month, and when you're living on 1600-1700 per month the extra is huge. I always take heat from people I know about taking an extra private loan, but in the end 20k more added onto your student loans(about 200,000k) is not really that much at all. Especially if you are going to pay it off immediatley after school like I will by using the equity in my home.

 

[maksidaa]

thanks veneto. i agree with you. lots of people have negative things to say about taking out private loans, but that money now will be worth way more to you than it will be when you pay it back. once you get out of school and have a good income you won't mind paying it back, but not having it now could cause some major issues with your family. i've heard from several dental students that have spouses w/out health insurance or they are living on such low budgets that they worry as much about finances as they do their school work.

 

[Ruprick]

I was unable to take out any of these loans because I didn't have any source of income. When I would list "full-time student" as my income source, the lender would contact my school to verify my status, and then they would deny my loan because I had already taken out the max through the school (both federal and private).

Other people have told me that haven't ever had an issue with this, but I found it impossible to take out any additional loans.

Almost all loans above the cost of education will require either a cosigner or some source of income. There is one that will not require either with decent credit scores, though:

www.tuitionanswer.com

It is a Sallie Mae loan, and as other have mentioned, be prepared to get hammered on the rates. Probably anywhere from 9-15%, depending on credit scores.