Loans, credit score, credit cards etc...

[HEROWANTABE]

I will start U of R this August and I am getting anxious about finances.

1. Have any of you had problems obtaining loans for medical school? I have fair credit not excellent credit which the financial aid office applies you NEED to have.

2. I do not have a rich uncle like some of my friends. Consequently I have had to charge application fees etc to compliment my personal contribution. Can I take a loan to pay those off while in school? I heard that you cannot take out a loan to pay consumer debt like a personal credit card. Is that true?

Thanks guys/gals

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[fahimaz7]

When you take out loans, you will get a big check at the beginning of the year (possibly twice/semester) and you get to spend it how you see fit.

There's no big brother watching your bank account and making sure that you only pay for school-related expenses with the money that was awarded to you...

 

[dragonfly99]

hero,
you should really try to get some extra hours and/or an extra job the next few months to pay off your credit card bills.
You should be OK for federal student loans even without very good credit...the Stafford, etc. are guaranteed by the feds, so banks will loan to you.

 

[HEROWANTABE]

hero,
you should really try to get some extra hours and/or an extra job the next few months to pay off your credit card bills.
You should be OK for federal student loans even without very good credit...the Stafford, etc. are guaranteed by the feds, so banks will loan to you.

Touche...

I work full time to support myself. I am considering getting a part-time job just to pay off debt but I also want to take it easy before starting medical school...

 

[HEROWANTABE]

How much would I be able to get federally? The school itself is about 40 thousand... I wonder what the private loan options are for medical students...

 

[146233]

You should be able to get more than enough via Stafford/GradPLUS loans without having to take out a ton in private loans. Neither loan has much of a credit check, by the way. They look for things like major defaults and bankruptcies; that's it.

 

[shadowdawg6]

How much would I be able to get federally? The school itself is about 40 thousand... I wonder what the private loan options are for medical students...

I've heard that private loans have ridiculous interest rates and will most likely keep you in debt for a longer period of time. In other words, i was told by our financial aid office to avoid them like the pest. Some of us may not be that lucky but that's the info we were given......

 

[HEROWANTABE]

I've heard that private loans have ridiculous interest rates and will most likely keep you in debt for a longer period of time. In other words, i was told by our financial aid office to avoid them like the pest. Some of us may not be that lucky but that's the info we were given......

Yeah I heard the same. Then someone told me that the max for fed like 38 thousand... That would not even cover my tuition...

 

[fahimaz7]

~8500 subs.. ~38000 in unsubs /year

Then there's grad plus loans.. those are ~1% higher in interest rates and are still federal loans.

 

[146233]

And Grad PLUS has no cap.

 

[TMP-SMX]

Yeah I heard the same. Then someone told me that the max for fed like 38 thousand... That would not even cover my tuition...

Max stafford is $40,500. Grad plus has no limit, but your maximum financial aid per year is only up to your cost of attendance so it depends how generous they want to be with you.