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Sorry to all of those who have PM'd me about the maximizer loan from BoA and still haven't recieved a response, but I have received over 40+ requests for info about the loan and just got back from vacation, and have been packing everything to go to Des Moines TONIGHT!!!!!!!!! 
So needless to say, I haven't had the time to respond to your messages. Sorry. So here is my generic letter I have sent to nearly everyone and their dog. If you read this and still have questions, I'll be glad to assist you further. Needless to say, the BoA Maximizer loan saved my sorry ace. Good luck.
This is my generic response since so many people have been requesting info on this loan. I hope all is well. This is my experience and yours might differ so don't hate me if it sucks for you.
Sorry I didnt get back to you sooner, I work night shifts and was sleeping when you posted. Anyway, the Miximizer loan is fantastic. Let me tell you my situation even though if differs slightly from your own.
I am married with 2 children and my wife wants to stay home and raise the kids (one newborn and one 1 ½ years old). With the budget they give you, it only gave us about $1600 a month to live off of!! Hell no. Thats below poverty level.
I was freaking out and called around to a large number of banks and that is where I found the Bank of America Maximizer loan.
Here is how it works: when you apply, you have the option to use a co-signer or not. If you have one, I would use them because it could lower your interest rate and origination fees (But youll do fine without one).
Origination fees are tiered: The lowest is 6.5% then 10% and tops out at 12 ½%. These can change but will be around that range if you apply soon. Remember, these fees are credit based. I only applied by myself, which was a dumb mistake because had I used my wife as a cosigner, I could have received a 6.5% origination fee but got the 10% applying alone. Oh well.
Anyway, I applied and was given the middle tier interest rate of 10%. Their interest rates are also tiered. 8 ½%, 10% and 12%. You can defer payment for 180 after you complete your residency. Pretty good deal.
Now heres the catch, the loan is credit and income based and they make you apply for it on a yearly basis. The max amount you can take out PER YEAR is $30,000. Which is great and also scary to know you could really go to town if you wanted to. However, because the loan is credit/income based, it would actually hurt you in subsequent years to apply every year (unless you keep fantastic credit and plan on working during med school) because your origination fee/interest rate would be a lot higher. To avoid this, we actually took out the max amount for the year ($30,000) and will spread that out over the next 4 years. This gives us about an additional $625.00 a month. Which we can live off of. We will take what we have budgeted to live off of for the year and put the rest in a high interest yielding CD or Money market (might be going with ING) to offset the interest. So if you get an interest rate on your CD at 5 or 6%, you are only paying about 4% interest on your loan not a bad deal.
Oh yea, I was approved almost instantly and it took about 5 days to get the check. So I have it now when I needed it. Even better, DMU (my med school) was never notified or contacted. So they have no idea how much I have.
Good luck and let me know if I can assist you anymore. (Sorry about the book)
http://www.bankofamerica.com/studentbanking/index.cfm?template=stb_education_maximizer_loans (I called and did it over the phone that way I could ask a million questions and put my mind at ease)
So needless to say, I haven't had the time to respond to your messages. Sorry. So here is my generic letter I have sent to nearly everyone and their dog. If you read this and still have questions, I'll be glad to assist you further. Needless to say, the BoA Maximizer loan saved my sorry ace. Good luck. This is my generic response since so many people have been requesting info on this loan. I hope all is well. This is my experience and yours might differ so don't hate me if it sucks for you.
Sorry I didnt get back to you sooner, I work night shifts and was sleeping when you posted. Anyway, the Miximizer loan is fantastic. Let me tell you my situation even though if differs slightly from your own.
I am married with 2 children and my wife wants to stay home and raise the kids (one newborn and one 1 ½ years old). With the budget they give you, it only gave us about $1600 a month to live off of!! Hell no. Thats below poverty level.
I was freaking out and called around to a large number of banks and that is where I found the Bank of America Maximizer loan.
Here is how it works: when you apply, you have the option to use a co-signer or not. If you have one, I would use them because it could lower your interest rate and origination fees (But youll do fine without one).
Origination fees are tiered: The lowest is 6.5% then 10% and tops out at 12 ½%. These can change but will be around that range if you apply soon. Remember, these fees are credit based. I only applied by myself, which was a dumb mistake because had I used my wife as a cosigner, I could have received a 6.5% origination fee but got the 10% applying alone. Oh well.
Anyway, I applied and was given the middle tier interest rate of 10%. Their interest rates are also tiered. 8 ½%, 10% and 12%. You can defer payment for 180 after you complete your residency. Pretty good deal.
Now heres the catch, the loan is credit and income based and they make you apply for it on a yearly basis. The max amount you can take out PER YEAR is $30,000. Which is great and also scary to know you could really go to town if you wanted to. However, because the loan is credit/income based, it would actually hurt you in subsequent years to apply every year (unless you keep fantastic credit and plan on working during med school) because your origination fee/interest rate would be a lot higher. To avoid this, we actually took out the max amount for the year ($30,000) and will spread that out over the next 4 years. This gives us about an additional $625.00 a month. Which we can live off of. We will take what we have budgeted to live off of for the year and put the rest in a high interest yielding CD or Money market (might be going with ING) to offset the interest. So if you get an interest rate on your CD at 5 or 6%, you are only paying about 4% interest on your loan not a bad deal.
Oh yea, I was approved almost instantly and it took about 5 days to get the check. So I have it now when I needed it. Even better, DMU (my med school) was never notified or contacted. So they have no idea how much I have.
Good luck and let me know if I can assist you anymore. (Sorry about the book)
http://www.bankofamerica.com/studentbanking/index.cfm?template=stb_education_maximizer_loans (I called and did it over the phone that way I could ask a million questions and put my mind at ease)
