Credit reporting

[rhettoric]

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Along with most pre-meds, I will probably have to get loans to pay for med school (fingers crossed that I'll have that headache!). On one of my recent interviews, the financial aid rep recommended we get credit reports to see where our credit is and if there were any issues we had before we could get the best rate for our loans. Which is why my ears perked up from a story I heard on NPR.

Apparently TransUnion Corp, one of the three credit reporting agencies is settling a class action lawsuit where they illegally sold credit information to marketing agencies. As a part of this settlement they've agreed to offer free credit reports (including your credit score) to anyone who has applied for credit in the last 20 years.

You can choose to either have 6 months of credit reports, 6 months plus leftover cash, or 9 months. The NPR report said that there is rarely leftover cash, though.

I know it seems like a scam, especially since spetember 24th, today, is the last day you can do it. But I will give you the link to the npr page where you can hear the story for yourself. It seems a weird way to scam people since they'd be checking their identity credit score immediately anyway, or at least be interested in doing so. I suppose, as always, let the buyer beware. But I thought I'd pass on the link anyway in case it might help some of you folks out there that are struggling for cash.

here is the npr story: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94930803

just click on the "settlement web site" link to get to the form. Please listen to the story first so you know what you're signing up for! Also, just fyi I have no links to npr or transunion or any other credit stuff. I just heard the story and thought others here might find it useful.

 

[searun]

Thanks but calm down. Just pay your bills on time and don't run up alot of debt on your credit cards, and you will be fine. Relax.

 

[Jolie South]

this would be better suited to the Financial Aid forum.

 

[Habeed]

The med school advisors are slightly misleading you. It actually doesn't matter how good your credit is, just make sure there are no BAD things on it. Meaning, pay your bills on time and don't declare bankruptcy or get foreclosed on. It's ok to be in a ton of debt, just as long as you make the minimum payments.

So checking your credit report is just a means to make sure there isn't some b$ on it slapped on there by a creditor that claims you owe money when you really don't.

 

[TMP-SMX]

If your CoA is within stafford limits you never have to worry about private loans or grad plus. And even if your credit is not bad you can get fixed grad plus loans. So the rate is irrelevant unless your CoA is high from a private school or you live in an area with high costs.