Canadian Students

[lahope17]

Hey guys,

I've been looking into US options for optometry. The tuition is scary. Just quickly looking at student line of credits offered by banks here, the max looks like 125k from RBC. This is probably only enough for 2 years... how do Canadian students pay for all that tuition?

Any insight would be helpful. This is kind of depressing as I will probably have only loans to rely on, not much help from family.

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[Rose Babel]

do you know somebody in the USA that makes good money? American banks give much more if you have an American co-signer!

 

[Artemis2]

I believe the RBC student loan is now at $150,000. In addition you can apply for Canadian student aid which is $10.000 - $16,000 per year. That will give you close to $200,000 for school, so $50,000 a year. With budgeting that should be possible. It is not going to cost you $62,500 a year, assuming you are single and not moving down here with a family.

When looking at schools take cost of living into account. For example SUNY has a high cost of living. Lower cost of living will free up more money in your budget.

Finally Canadians can work on campus, but at least at my school 95% of the jobs are for American work study students. SO I wouldn't count on working on campus.

 

[lahope17]

I believe the RBC student loan is now at $150,000. In addition you can apply for Canadian student aid which is $10.000 - $16,000 per year. That will give you close to $200,000 for school, so $50,000 a year. With budgeting that should be possible. It is not going to cost you $62,500 a year, assuming you are single and not moving down here with a family.

When looking at schools take cost of living into account. For example SUNY has a high cost of living. Lower cost of living will free up more money in your budget.

Finally Canadians can work on campus, but at least at my school 95% of the jobs are for American work study students. SO I wouldn't count on working on campus.

Thanks for the input Artemis2! Are there any particular US schools that are more affordable? I'm applying to waterloo, but if that doesn't work out i'm considering ICO.

 

[Artemis2]

Here is a link to the all the school information, it has tuition for most schools:
http://www.optomcas.org/information-about-schools-colleges/deadlines-and-other-information/

In my opinion most of the US schools have pretty much the same tuition price. Don't chose a school solely based on the tuiton price.

 

[longeye]

not sure what province artemis is from, but in ontario, you only get about 7k per year from OSAP

does anyone know if you can have two line of credits from seperate banks? because with the 115k from RBC, and most other canadian banks giving 80k, that should be enough

 

[kdiddy89]

No, you can't get two separate lines of credit from different banks. I'm from Canada and will be attending WesternU next year. I plan on getting a 125,000 line of credit from RBC probably AND I will be applying for Alberta student aid (since I'm from Alberta)---in Alberta they give you up to 95,000 for optometry, if not more depending on your financial circumstances.

 

[itek2OD]

What artemis and kdiddy89 said. its a balancing act, and don't count on working while you're in the states. you could get TA position, but that's unlikely 1st year. each bank varies their credit line to students and your cosigner credit is a part of that. once you get the ball rolling you''l have the same paperwork to do every year. the earlier you get this out of the way, the better.

good luck!

 

[laizhaomade]

Good.In my opinion most of the US schools have pretty much the same tuition price. Don't chose a school solely based on the tuiton price.

 

[Rain Clouds]

If you're looking into ICO, remember to contact the school's financial aid office. There are currently over a hundred Canadian students here at the school, so financial aid has a LOT of experience with how Canadians can make it work. [email protected]

 

[BrandNewSpaces]

I'll be making an appointment with a financial advisor in January when I am done with school but I thought that I'd ask on here as well in case anyone knows or can provide me with some insight!

I really want to limit how much I need to rely on line of credit as student loans wont have interest apply until finishing school. Now I know that a loan from BC or Canadian student aid wont cover anything, but I am also considering applying for a loan from an American bank as I have possible American co-signers. Does anyone know much about this process? And whether you can have both Canadian and American loans, or whether there are restrictions for things like that?

I honestly don't know a whole lot about finances and how loans and such work (hence the appointment with an advisor), so sorry if these are really dumb questions.

 

[HP.]

Many colleges offer multiple Canadian-only scholarships, like Pacific University. I wonder if the WICHE program works for Canadians as well, something to look into if I were you. May be well worth your time. At interviews, they do offer a lot of financial aid information. Don't be afraid to contact offices of colleges of optometry for that information. They know best!

 

[BrandNewSpaces]

Many colleges offer multiple Canadian-only scholarships, like Pacific University. I wonder if the WICHE program works for Canadians as well, something to look into if I were you. May be well worth your time. At interviews, they do offer a lot of financial aid information. Don't be afraid to contact offices of colleges of optometry for that information. They know best!

Thanks for the tips! So far, the interviews I've attended have mainly geared their financial aid info towards US applicants, although they did briefly discuss some options for Canadian applicants. I'm definitely planning on emailing schools with more specific questions soon.

Do you mind providing some more information on the WICHE program? I've never heard of it before!

 

[HP.]

Okay so WICHE program only offers assistance to specific states in the western US, so nevermind that. Try asking Pacific University, or if you know any Canadian optometrists try asking what they did. Sorry I can't help you much. Good luck though!

-HP

 

[BrandNewSpaces]

Okay so WICHE program only offers assistance to specific states in the western US, so nevermind that. Try asking Pacific University, or if you know any Canadian optometrists try asking what they did. Sorry I can't help you much. Good luck though!

-HP

I have an interview at Pacific coming up, so I'll definitely make sure to ask as many questions as I can. I feel like most people I know are utilizing lines of credit, and most of the Canadian optometrists I know went to school 20 years ago and things have changed a bit since then (like increasing tuition lol). I want to see if I can take advantage of the fact that I have a potential American co-signer, hopefully I can!

Thanks again!

 

[Squint]

Hey guys,

I've been looking into US options for optometry. The tuition is scary. Just quickly looking at student line of credits offered by banks here, the max looks like 125k from RBC. This is probably only enough for 2 years... how do Canadian students pay for all that tuition?

Any insight would be helpful. This is kind of depressing as I will probably have only loans to rely on, not much help from family.

 

[Squint]

You should take a hard look at how much this is going to cost you and how much you will make on graduation. This is a very expensive education for a low paying profession. Consider Waterloo or taking a year off and trying Waterloo again. Much cheaper than the U.S. alternative. Just a word of caution.

 

[futureOD2018]

I wouldn't consider a job that makes $100,000 a year a low income profession. I think many people would be jealous of that kind of profession that also comes with flexibility, low stress levels, and high job satisfaction. Definitely worth the education.