Accepted this cycle? Check your credit!

[iPod765]

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So I just found out that credit checks are a must before sending in financial aid packets! I know anecdotal evidence has to be taken with a grain of salt, but I figured I'd share anyway.

I decided to do a quick check of my credit to be sure I could qualify for loans other than the Stafford loans. I had payed all my bills pretty promptly and even payed off an auto loan, so I thought I'd be in the clear. Turns out I had a credit score in the upper 500s. This makes me a high risk lendee.

The reason was that I had been turned in to a collection agency for a nine dollar bill. Nine bucks, and it trashed my credit. Even more than that, they only sent me one notice that this bill was out. It was for an ER visit I had in a string of them, and it just got lost in the pile of medical bills.

Anyway, I resolved the issue and had it removed from my credit. It improved it by 92 points, enough to put me in a category that was only a moderate risk lendee.

I may have just never caught this until financial aid awards were disbursed if I hadn't randomly thought to do it. It's probably common sense anyway, but I'd definitely recommend checking your credit if you hold an acceptance or a waitlist spot somewhere.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

So I just found out that credit checks are a must before sending in financial aid packets! I know anecdotal evidence has to be taken with a grain of salt, but I figured I'd share anyway.

I decided to do a quick check of my credit to be sure I could qualify for loans other than the Stafford loans. I had payed all my bills pretty promptly and even payed off an auto loan, so I thought I'd be in the clear. Turns out I had a credit score in the upper 500s. This makes me a high risk lendee.

The reason was that I had been turned in to a collection agency for a nine dollar bill. Nine bucks, and it trashed my credit. Even more than that, they only sent me one notice that this bill was out. It was for an ER visit I had in a string of them, and it just got lost in the pile of medical bills.

Anyway, I resolved the issue and had it removed from my credit. It improved it by 92 points, enough to put me in a category that was only a moderate risk lendee.

I may have just never caught this until financial aid awards were disbursed if I hadn't randomly thought to do it. It's probably common sense anyway, but I'd definitely recommend checking your credit if you hold an acceptance or a waitlist spot somewhere.

stafford + gradplus should be more than enough to cover anyone's med school years.

 

[addo]

Thanks for the advice.

Btw, how do you have a $9 ER bill? Ive had 2 and one was $827, and the other one $2000 and i supposedly have insurance. I need to go to the ER youre going.

 

[gravitywave]

stafford + gradplus should be more than enough to cover anyone's med school years.

true enough, but OP's advice is still good. Lots of things associated with starting med school involve a credit check, even if your loans won't (apartment hunting? setting up utilities?)

getting on top of your credit history is a must for any professional adult, and it's free.

 

[acb88]

Every time you check your credit you lose some points. Only check it if you absolutely have to

 

[Long Way to Go]

Every time you check your credit you lose some points. Only check it if you absolutely have to

I thought that was only when someone else checked your credit?

 

[gravitywave]

I thought that was only when someone else checked your credit?

correct. you only take the hit for the check if (a) someone else checks it, and (b) at your explicit request. CC companies make so-called 'soft' checks all the time to identify people to solicit with offers or to alter balance limits on existing lines of credit, but that doesn't change your score, either.

you also only take the hit once for each type of credit request (house, car, CC etc) made within a certain time frame (i believe two weeks). This is so that people don't get penalized for trying to shop around for rates.

 

[Kaustikos]

The reason was that I had been turned in to a collection agency for a nine dollar bill. Nine bucks, and it trashed my credit. Even more than that, they only sent me one notice that this bill was out. It was for an ER visit I had in a string of them, and it just got lost in the pile of medical bills.

Anyway, I resolved the issue and had it removed from my credit. It improved it by 92 points, enough to put me in a category that was only a moderate risk lendee.

You're not telling the whole story....

 

[artemis680]

Great thread. Med school or no, checking your credit is part of being a responsible adult. Everyone is entitled to a free annual report by law now, you have to pay ($5-$10 each) to get your score but your history is free. A lot of credit reporting services try to get you to sign up and pay for reports, but the official government-endorsed site is here: www.annualcreditreport.com

Also, financial aid officers at schools I'm looking at have told me that they check credit, so I'm confident that's the case.

 

[masscrash]

Every time you check your credit you lose some points. Only check it if you absolutely have to

This is incorrect. You can run a personal check without losing points but if you apply to a credit card or loan and they check your credit, you lose points. So do a personal check as often as you want.
From a preliminary google search, I found you will lose about 4-7 points for every credit check done by schools, loans, rentals ect.

 

[addo]

I think checking it once per year at annualcreditreport.com should be sufficient, and its free.

 

[Sans]

You can check your credit score every day if you want to and it will not hurt your score whatsoever.

http://creditkarma.com is a free site where you can get a rough picture of your credit that is updated continuously. You should also check your credit for free through one bureau every four months, rotating through them so that you check at each bureau once per year.

 

[iPod765]

Thanks for the advice.

Btw, how do you have a $9 ER bill? Ive had 2 and one was $827, and the other one $2000 and i supposedly have insurance. I need to go to the ER youre going.

It was really weird. My one ER visit was split into multiple bills. I'm pretty sure it was just a bill for the physician's time (after health insurance of course). I also have pretty good insurance because I'm on my parents' thanks to the Affordable Care Act.

And strangely, that is the full story. I literally just called the collections agency, payed it online, and they took it off my credit immediately. An unpaid, delinquent account is a huge red flag on your credit history. I'm definitely going to stay on top of it now.

One more little piece of wisdom I got from a financial aid advisor is to not cancel credit cards. It is pretty difficult to do so without negatively impacting your credit score, especially being a college student. Just cut them up.

 

[acb88]

Obviously I was misinformed. When I bought my car this year, I was told that ANYONE looking at your credit too much causes a drop in score. Thanks for the info!