Extra Money for medical school

[Ryu]

Even though the financial aid package I got cover all the budget, I am still in need to borrow a little extra more from some banks. Does anybody know which banks have special loans for medical students. The ones I am interested in is the one that lend you extra money, not the one that lend you the amount of the cost of attendance minus aid. Thanks.

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[lilycat]

Most major banks have med student loan programs (ie, Wells Fargo, Citibank, Bank of America, etc.). The problem is that they need to get approval from your financial aid office first. Your financial aid office will probably approve you for loans to cover the estimated budget for the year (tuition, books, fees, housing costs, etc.). However, if you feel like the budget is unrealistic, and thus you need more money on top of that, most banks will not be able to help you, because your FAO will most likely say no. The one program I have found that does not need approval from your FAO is P.L.U.S. -- keep in mind that their interest rate is fairly high as are the associated fees, and you may also need a co-signer. (All this info. is based on my dealings with UCSD).

I think I recall you posting that you are going to a UC -- Fiatslug (UCI) had some luck with her FAO by saving ALL her receipts and thus managed to get extra loans to reimburse moving expenses, apartment start-up costs (lamps, etc.), drug co-pays, health insurance fees, etc. If you are at UCI, you might want to try emailing her for advice.

 

[Ryu]

Thanks. What is P.L.U.S? And what is their website? Thanks again. Lilycat.

 

[lilycat]

Sorry -- got my loans wrong. P.L.A.T.O. is actually the loan I meant to refer you to. The website is www.plato.org. Good luck.

 

[Ryu]

Hi, Lilycat,
Thanks for the info. Unforntunately I have visited their website but could not find any info that says the loan does not need certification from the school. Anyway, are you interested in PLATO loan too?

 

[pcl]

I actually was sent thier packet and since they do not request certification, this means you can borrow above and beyond the FAO's limits. I also asked my FAO about this and they said that whihle they do not generally recommend PLATO, there are some student who have no other options, and this is where they refer them. You just have to be credit worthy, and you have to realize that thier money is very expensive, there is a high origination fee, and thier interest is almost as high as you can get on some credit cards. Add all the fees together and you might be as high as many credit cards. The benefit is that you can defer payment for up to four years.

Good Luck.

 

[lilycat]

I actually called the 800-number to verify they wouldn't need approval from my FAO. I haven't seen my new financial aid package, so I'm not sure to what extent I'll need extra money, but right now I'm trying to explore every available option besides PLATO, mostly for the reasons that pcl mentioned. I'm not expecting any help from my family, but I've decided that I'm not above asking them for loans at a reasonable interest rate (and hopefully no fees!). I'm also planning on saving all receipts (starting with my move) and then hassling the FAO for more money a la Fiatslug. For the extra $3000 I might *need*, I just don't think PLATO is worth it, but that's just my opinion.

 

[Ryu]

I have found the details for the grauduate PLATO loan. It's http://www.plato.org/loans/gradterm.htm. It's 20 years repayment. The APR is 11.83% which is still much better than most of credit cards. And there is no penality for pre-payment which means when we start to earn our physician salary, we can pay them back in chunck.
But I totally agree that there are some catch with this loan, like 8.9% original fee, and the somewhat high APR.
I am still looking around on the internet, when I find something I'll let you know. Hope to hear from you guys soon.