Funding?

[kota315]

Question to all who may read....

I have been accepted to medical school after many many moons....With that joy aside, here is my question, or should I say questions.....Now I have read a lot of literature on the funding of medical school, however, when I ask the fin aid guy at my school about getting additional funding (beyond the school limit) he says it is a no go.....I was under the impression that I could borrow additional funding to pay for outside expenses such as child support and daycare expenses (per literature provided by amcas). As a divorced father of 2, I want to live up to my responsibility to my children, alas, I also want to go to Medical school. Every search I do indicates that "some lenders will let you borrow more....like Nellie Mae" yet when I go to their site they make no mention of this....Is this something that no longer goes on, I mean, where do non traditional students that don't have the rich parents or the family fortune to fund their schooling get the access to the funds. I ask all the doc's I work with now, and they say just borrow, borrow, borrow....I would if someone would lend, lend, lend......Anyone know what I can do to get more information and funding.....

Thanks for any insight and help you have to offer.

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[EvilNewbie]

You can take outside loans but the outside loans more than likely cannot be consolidated with your federal loans. The problem with outside loans is their interest rates as they are the same loans as you would take for any other reason other than school. Say you take a loan to buy a diamond ring or something, it's basically the same loan except you don't have to pay while you are in school (but the interests accrues). AND as I said before, most places won't consolidate your private loans meaning you have to pay it back soon after graduation (unless you qualify for economic hardship/forebearance). I wouldn't take a private unless I really have to and it seems like you really have to but just take note of the higher interest rates and the difficulty in consolidating the loan...

 

[kota315]

You can take outside loans...

Thank you for your insight.....do you have some direction? how do I apply for an "outside loan" do you know of any lenders I may contact for additional information?

Thanks again for your help

 

[iatrosB]

Thank you for your insight.....do you have some direction? how do I apply for an "outside loan" do you know of any lenders I may contact for additional information?

Thanks again for your help

This is the site for Bank One's loan. Remember though, it has unfavorable terms and it is credit based. Good luck.

http://www.educationone.com/foryou/graduate.html

 

[cytoborg]

Yeah, you can apply for personal loans and the like. Try your bank or credit union. Your financial aid people are talking about the limit on educational borrowing which is capped at the "cost of your education" which is that crappy $50,000-some-odd pricetag that the school has computed, including cost of living.

Under some circumstances, the school can adjust the cost of living for you to allow you to borrow more. I take it they can't do that for you.

 

[kota315]

Under some circumstances, the school can adjust the cost of living for you to allow you to borrow more. I take it they can't do that for you.

Yeah, when I asked.....he was like "we haven't done it since the inception of the school.....so don't ask".....Not a whole lot of help there. Thanks for the input, I will look into it further....Your insight is most appreciated.

 

[wannabeapharm]

Do you people think it is a good thing to go to college out of state and pay more which is like double tuition? Has anyone been to school out of state and encountered large loads of loans?

 

[mpp]

kota315,
Try asking for an increase based on child care expenses. Most schools offer this. It usually isn't much but they should give you at least something more. If the financial aid office is uncooperative, go to the dean of the school and talk about your financial situation. They may be able to put some pressure on the financial aid office.

wannabeapharm,
Most medical students borrow more than $100,000 during their medical school career and an increasing number borrow more than $200,000. Borrowing that much is a personal decision, if you have the choice between going to a less expensive school and a more expensive school. If it worries you that much then try to go to the least expensive school possible. I don't know what the average debt is for recent pharmacy school graduate but perhaps that is something you can ask the various schools you are interested in attending.