MD & DO FAFSA & Loans [Urgent]

[lolomghelp]

Hi, I wasn't sure where to post this question, and therefore, decided to post here.
I am a first year medical student who will be starting at the end of next month. I am not good with understanding loans or anything, and I simply followed instructions that were given by my school, which were to basically fill out the FAFSA application. Therefore, I did that.

But, today, I saw that they had received my FAFSA application, but there were documents missing that I need to do for them to process it:

MPN - Fed Direct Loan
MPN - Fed Direct Graduate PLUS
DL Entrance Counseling Online

I'm not sure what these documents are. They are required, so I would like to know.

If you have the time, please go in detail about what happens after you do the FAFSA application. Right now, I just filled the application and I'm waiting.

EDIT: I wrote [Urgent] as the title, because I start in a month and would like to have this done quick as possible.

Thank you all!

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[DrStephenStrange]

These are required every time you are borrowing money for the first time. They can be found and filled out on www.studentaid.gov
Also, you probably also need to apply for Grad Plus Loan (also on www.studentaid.gov) because FAFSA unsubsidized loan won't cover your whole cost of attendance unless you're gonna be paying the rest out of pocket. Side note you must not have any adverse credit history to qualify for the Grad Plus Loan otherwise you would need to add a cosigner (usually a parent or someone without any adverse credit history).

 

[ismyexistenceamemeyet]

Hi, I wasn't sure where to post this question, and therefore, decided to post here.
I am a first year medical student who will be starting at the end of next month. I am not good with understanding loans or anything, and I simply followed instructions that were given by my school, which were to basically fill out the FAFSA application. Therefore, I did that.

But, today, I saw that they had received my FAFSA application, but there were documents missing that I need to do for them to process it:

MPN - Fed Direct Loan
MPN - Fed Direct Graduate PLUS
DL Entrance Counseling Online

I'm not sure what these documents are. They are required, so I would like to know.

If you have the time, please go in detail about what happens after you do the FAFSA application. Right now, I just filled the application and I'm waiting.

EDIT: I wrote [Urgent] as the title, because I start in a month and would like to have this done quick as possible.

Thank you all!

I don't blame you with not getting all this loan stuff; it's a ton of new terminology if you haven't dealt with undergrad loans (this was my situation so I absolutely relate). MPN refers to "master promissory note." You can consider it like a contract for any federal loans you'll use to fund your med school education. If I recall correctly, it should contain things like repayment terms, interest rates, etc. and constitutes your agreement that you'll pay back these loans.

In med school, you'll deal with two types of loans, the Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans and the Federal Direct GradPLUS loans. You will need to sign separate MPNs for each class of loan (i.e. sign one MPN for Direct Unsubsidized Loan and sign another MPN for GradPLUS loans). Depending on how much your tuition is...take the full amount (what people refer to as "maxing out") your Unsubsidized Loans first (I believe you get up to $40,500 per year), since they have lower interest rates (around 6.08%) than the GradPLUS loans (7.08%). For example, if your COA (cost of attendance) is $45,000/year, take out the full $40,500 in unsubsidized loans, and the remaining 4,500 in GradPLUS loans. It saves you money in the long run.

The first time you have to get any loans, you'll be required to do entrance counseling. It's a crash-course of the different types of loans and loan repayment options you have. Read through it to get a better idea of what the loan process looks like. You're required to complete entrance counseling to have your loans disbursed to your school.

In most cases, your FAFSA helps determine how much you'll need to borrow, and thus, impacts the amounts that go into your MPNs (someone can correct me if I'm wrong on this or anything else I've mentioned here). I would strongly suggest reaching out to your financial aid office and getting a clearer picture of what you need re: loans.

 

[lolomghelp]

I don't blame you with not getting all this loan stuff; it's a ton of new terminology if you haven't dealt with undergrad loans (this was my situation so I absolutely relate). MPN refers to "master promissory note." You can consider it like a contract for any federal loans you'll use to fund your med school education. If I recall correctly, it should contain things like repayment terms, interest rates, etc. and constitutes your agreement that you'll pay back these loans.

In med school, you'll deal with two types of loans, the Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans and the Federal Direct GradPLUS loans. You will need to sign separate MPNs for each class of loan (i.e. sign one MPN for Direct Unsubsidized Loan and sign another MPN for GradPLUS loans). Depending on how much your tuition is...take the full amount (what people refer to as "maxing out") your Unsubsidized Loans first (I believe you get up to $40,500 per year), since they have lower interest rates (around 6.08%) than the GradPLUS loans (7.08%). For example, if your COA (cost of attendance) is $45,000/year, take out the full $40,500 in unsubsidized loans, and the remaining 4,500 in GradPLUS loans. It saves you money in the long run.

The first time you have to get any loans, you'll be required to do entrance counseling. It's a crash-course of the different types of loans and loan repayment options you have. Read through it to get a better idea of what the loan process looks like. You're required to complete entrance counseling to have your loans disbursed to your school.

In most cases, your FAFSA helps determine how much you'll need to borrow, and thus, impacts the amounts that go into your MPNs (someone can correct me if I'm wrong on this or anything else I've mentioned here). I would strongly suggest reaching out to your financial aid office and getting a clearer picture of what you need re: loans.

Wow! Thank you so much for the detailed response.

 

[lolomghelp]

These are required every time you are borrowing money for the first time. They can be found and filled out on www.studentaid.gov
Also, you probably also need to apply for Grad Plus Loan (also on www.studentaid.gov) because FAFSA unsubsidized loan won't cover your whole cost of attendance unless you're gonna be paying the rest out of pocket. Side note you must not have any adverse credit history to qualify for the Grad Plus Loan otherwise you would need to add a cosigner (usually a parent or someone without any adverse credit history).

thank you so much