Do med schools check your PERSONAL CREDIT ?

[old_one]

I'm in my early thirties. I ALWAYS pay my credit card bill every month on time. Never fail.

However, living as long as I have, I've had a couple of problems with my insurance company (not to go into detail, but I was in a car wreck, and insurance was *supposed* to pay the bill, but didn't. The bill was for less than $200, and it got turned into the Credit Agency. Out of principle, I still won't pay it since that's why I pay for insurance). Also, I think I have an unpaid parking ticket somewhere in my past???

Before a school decides to give you an interview, DO THEY CHECK THIS kind of stuff??? If so, during what stage in the application process do they check it? I'm wondering if I should be prepared to explain during an interview....or won't I get any interviews because of these problems???

I would think that the bank would be the only people that would care and that's no problem since I have very good relations with my bank. I'm just worried that it will affect my school decisions when I apply to them....

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[kimberlicox]

I do not believe schools check this, at least not before offering interviews. However, most will tell you that to qualify for alternative loans (ie, those outside of the governmental loans)you will need good credit because most of those loans are credit-based.

I'd advise you to clear up the matter at hand, especially since it takes awhile to get it reported on all 3 credit agencies and we're talking about $200.00 here, not $20,000.

Hope this helps.

 

[twister]

Some schools do require you to submit a credit report - after you have been accepted. I do not know of any schools that want a credit check before interviewing. Basically, I think they want to make sure you will be able to pay back your loans someday, and they use your credit history as an indicator.

 

[omores]

Scary topic, old one. It's something I've thought about too.

I had an interview at a school that shall remain nameless. In the introductory talk, we were told that they were considering using credit reports as a means of evaluating applicants PRE-INTERVIEW. This school mentioned that there are a few schools that already do this.

The rationale is that a credit report can show an admissions committee the level of maturity and responisbility an applicant has.

I think this is a horrible and misguided idea, particularly since credit reports do not have the reputation of impeccable accuracy. Even when the problems are genuine, the credit report reveals nothing about circumstances. Let's hope this does not become common practice.

[This message has been edited by omores (edited April 05, 2001).]

 

[cg1]

"In the introductory talk, we were told that they were considering using credit reports as a means of evaluating applicants PRE-INTERVIEW. This school mentioned that there are a few schools that already do this."

Is there any way this could be considered an illegal activity by schools? Sort of a discriminatory action??? I agree with you that it is a scary thought, especially since credit reports contain "misunderstandings" as described in the first post, which aren't necessarily a sign of how responsible a person is.

 

[kris]

Just to add another idea here that my med school provided:

Kimberli's right about the credit/loan relationship once you're in med school. But here's a scary twist I never realized went into the equation. It's potential debt.

Suppose you pay every card off every month, and have never been late. You've got great credit overall. Now suppose you have a handful of credit cards, all with 15,000 dollar limits. You carry with you a potential credit card debt of 75,000 dollars, and that (so the fin aid office told me) can be enough to decline you a loan.

During my interview, and ever since, they've emphasized just having one credit card and cutting up the rest. I've followed their advice and canceled the various credit cards I have laying around--the Sears card I used once, the Penny's card, discover, etc.

Just FYI,
--Kris