loan consolidation

[buntatog]

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This may not be the appropriate location for this thread but I figured since most of us applying for residency will be thinking about starting to chisel away at the crazy loans that we've taken out that someone might be able to give some useful info.

Does anybody know of any good loan consolidation companies?

 

[DO4lifer]

your med school should be providing an "exit" orientation on how/when to consolidate school loans. This should be near the end of the school year.

Unless interest rates have dropped to <4%, no reason to jump on it at the moment. 👍

 

[MTGas2B]

I consolidated my loans with the government (Direct Loans). Granted, when I consolidated rates were sweet. It was easy to set up, I've had no hassles.

 

[DO4lifer]

i think they were about low 4s when i started. i hear from some residents it was in the upper 2s/3s at one point. now paying 6.5%.

paying less interest on my car. 😕

 

[akpete]

our loans, except for M1 year, are fixed at 6.8%. would consolidation even be worthwhile (other than a multi-lender situation perhaps)?

btw, OP, check out the financial aid forum too.

 

[MTGas2B]

Yikes, I was able to lock everything (undergrad and med school) at 2.65%.

 

[DO4lifer]

Yikes, I was able to lock everything (undergrad and med school) at 2.65%.

geez, with those rates, i'd look at the 30 year payback plan.

at 6.5%+, i'm trying to figure out how to give up my residency paychecks to pay off loans and mooch off my wife.

 

[stargirl50]

i think they were about low 4s when i started. i hear from some residents it was in the upper 2s/3s at one point. now paying 6.5%.

paying less interest on my car. 😕

No kidding-- I had to take out that Grad plus loan 3rd year and I think that rate is 8.0 or 8.5%. My CREDIT CARD has a better rate than that. Bleh.

 

[MTGas2B]

geez, with those rates, i'd look at the 30 year payback plan.

at 6.5%+, i'm trying to figure out how to give up my residency paychecks to pay off loans and mooch off my wife.

Unfortunately my loans were so small I could only qualify for 20. If I could have gotten 30 I would have taken it.

Also, if you have enough debt you can probably qualify for deferment through residency, at least for a couple of years. Again, my loans were too small to qualify but a lot of my friends were able to defer paying.

 

[RxBoy]

Unfortunately my loans were so small I could only qualify for 20. If I could have gotten 30 I would have taken it.

Also, if you have enough debt you can probably qualify for deferment through residency, at least for a couple of years. Again, my loans were too small to qualify but a lot of my friends were able to defer paying.

Unfortunately, congress passed a law last year stating residents can no longer defer their loans. You can still enter forbearance in which you don't have to pay them back but interest will accumulate on top of the principle those years.

 

[zmeister22]

I don't know about federal loans, but I have a few loans from undergrad that had to be private and consolidation is no longer offered by either of the companies because my interest rates are "artificially low" at 3.0 and 3.25 percent. They will no longer let people lock in at low rates because they like to stick it to us hard... bastards.

 

[guitarguy09]

My M1 year I consolidated at 4.5% (or whatever it was) and now that they are set at 6.8% wouldn't it be better to NOT consolidate them together (and instead try and pay off the 6.8% loans first)?... Unless, there is some huge drop in rates that can be gained by consolidating, but I thought we wouldn't be able to get anything lower than 6.8% (correct me if I'm wrong)?

 

[maceo]

nobody is offering consolidation anymore. Thing of the past. I locked in at 6.5 percent. i regret it. Im thinking about going over to direct loans to see if i could get a better deal. Student loans are predatory be very careful.

 

[RxBoy]

My M1 year I consolidated at 4.5% (or whatever it was) and now that they are set at 6.8% wouldn't it be better to NOT consolidate them together (and instead try and pay off the 6.8% loans first)?... Unless, there is some huge drop in rates that can be gained by consolidating, but I thought we wouldn't be able to get anything lower than 6.8% (correct me if I'm wrong)?

If you consolidate it can be lower...

The loans before 2006 were variable and adjust every year, (3.2% I believe) and they are still in the 3's this year. Loans after 2006 are 6.8% fixed. So if you consolidated, they have a formula where they weigh each loan with its respective percent and give you a fixed rate. So if you took out a lot in undergrad, the fixed rate would probably be lower 5's (which is still the same in the long run). If most of your debts are in med school it will be near 6%. If you consolidate you can take 20 or 30 years repayment instead of the government standard of 10.

There are no loopholes around around 6.8%. Either you keep them as is or consolidate and the average weighted rate is included in the consolidation anyways even with a lower total rate.

If your loans 200k+, forget paying them back in residency. You won't be able to afford the +2600/month payment. You can do Mandatory Forbearance where you don't pay a cent in residency but they ALL accumulate interest and added to the principal (even direct subsidized).


This is how good people used to have it:
1) Interest rate of 2%
2) Significant lower Medical School tuition and cost of living than today's standards.
3) You could deffer your loans during residency (no interest accumulates on your subsidized loans).


We on the other hand got the short end of the stick with loans, on top of the fact we will have lower salaries. Medicine sucks.

Good News though... if we graduated 5 years ago we probably would of got sucked into the housing bubble buying a 800k house that's currently worth 200k. You win some, you lose some.