Additional Loan to pay of CC

[ChessMess]

I'm interested in taking out another 5K+ before my first year to pay off my credit card before entering medschool. I was thinking Gradplus or private loans. Is this an issue I would approach the school with or directly with the lending bank?

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[rgerwin]

an organization that gives uncertified loans

 

[ChessMess]

anyone else want to chime in on this???

 

[rgerwin]

a school isn't going to give you extra money fr credit cards.

 

[blanche]

what is your APR? chances are, horrendous unless you have some good promo offer...so yeah, if you don't think you'll be able to pay that off in the next year or so on left over budget $$$, a loan might be a good idea (let's compare a credit card such as mine w/a 16% APR v an 8% loan...)

if you are moving to a cheap place for medschool, you may end up having more extra $$ than you realize, and may be able to make some headway into that debt. credit card debt is the worst, i'd get rid of it asap.

 

[okbye]

You can use a Grad PLUS loan to pay off your credit card but I would be wary of private loans. The interest rate is always veriable and usually not much better than your credit card. PLUS loans are at 8.5% right now so that's a pretty good idea.

 

[Doctor Chief]

Good idea to do both. I would read up on GradPlus which is most likely the best option for you. Private student loans should be the last option but they have value.
Check out http://www.finaid.org for info on GradPlus loans. For private loan info, try http://www.finaid.org/loans/privatestudentloans.phtml . It has all the rates for companies that are certified. I would suggest Think Financial from previous good experiences but definitely shop around and get the best one for you.
But get GradPlus if you can. Hope this helps.

 

[reecie89]

i'm confused, your school sets what you can take out for gradplus, right? so do you mean, use whatever is leftover to pay off cc or take out more on GradPlus somehow?

 

[okbye]

For a Grad PLUS loan you can take out up to the entire amount of your schooling, which includes tuition, room, board, books, fees, any possible costs incurred by going to school. It can also be used to pay off credit cards or other loans previously taken out for school expenses. There's usually quite a bit of leeway there.