Loans while Applying?

[Heal&Teach]

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Hello Fellow SDNers,

I've hit a huge bump in the application process - I'm broke!

A friend of mine suggested taking out a loan for the rest of the process (hey, it's never too late). Since I have not interviewed yet (being very hopeful), and considering that I have many other bills to pay that my full time job isn't seeming to make a dent in, I am looking for loans - not that I truly want to, but I'd rather have good debt than bad debt.

If anyone has any experience with taking out loans for the medical school application process, I would truly appreciate your feedback. If you've used a specific firm, or know anyone who has used one, feel free to e-mail or PM me.

Thanks!
H&T

EDIT: Is there a thread on this somewhere?

 

[ATPase]

I remember a thread on this topic a couple months ago - try doing a search.

From what I remember, people suggested getting a credit card with 0% interest (one of those that will give you zero interest for six months or something like that). Of course, then you'd need to pay it off ASAP or face all that interest accruing.

Or avoid the credit card route and shop around for a good loan. Interviews can get really expensive. You can minimize some of this expense by staying with student hosts whenever possible. I was also able to save money by flying almost everywhere on Southwest Airlines, and after scheduling four round trips, I got a free round-trip ticket, which really helped.

Not sure if this helped or not. Do a search and see if you can find out more from the old thread.

 

[KarateGirl]

I'm in the same boat. I still have several secondaries left to send and no money.

I already took out a personal loan last year while I was finishing school and studying for the MCAT, and with app fees and a recent car tune-up that ended up costing $900, I'm in trouble. And don't even mention Christmas! 🙁

I was looking into borrowing against my 401K. The company that manages it says the interest rate is the prime rate + 1%. Last I checked, the prime rate was 4.99, so that's not too bad.

If I come up with a better idea, I'll make sure to share it with ya.

 

[Heal&Teach]

Thanks guys - this information is helpful. And Karate Girl thank you for the offer to keep me posted.

I will have to work with a loan. I too got a loan for a prep course in the past (waste of money) and I'm already in bad debt (plus my good debt from education loans). Unfortunately, credit cards are not even an option for me since I've already got credit card debt accrued (with lots of interest!).

The good thing is that most of the schools that I applied to are in places where I have friends or where my mom lives (NY), so it won't be too bad. Of course I still have to get there. Yeah, Christmas is a bust in terms of presents for people, but I will surely appreciate the true meaning of Christmas this year in sharing the gift of love. I've also decided to save $90 and the upset of an immediate rejection by eliminating one secondary from my list.

Thanks for your responses and happy holidays! 🙂

Sincerely,
H&T

 

[ATPase]

I feel you on the credit card debt. It sucks something awful.

 

[Heal&Teach]

Yes ATPase... it sucks majorly...

Graduate school did it for me... a combined program would've been sufficient and I wouldn't have had to pay the extra money in loans; plus I was so broke, that even with two jobs, I ran up an additional $3K in credit card debt while trying to sustain myself... so now I've gotta pay. And payback is a bitch!

 

[drdr2010]

i don't know if you guys are still in school or not, but i ran into a serious money problem while applying last year and i went to my school's financial aid office. i explained my situation and they were very helpful. some schools have private donors who offer support for struggling students, but there is no way to apply for it, you just have to speak to a finaid counselor. also, CitiAssist loans are good...you can defer the interest. you can apply through their website too.

 

[Heal&Teach]

Originally posted by drdr2010
i don't know if you guys are still in school or not, but i ran into a serious money problem while applying last year and i went to my school's financial aid office. i explained my situation and they were very helpful. some schools have private donors who offer support for struggling students, but there is no way to apply for it, you just have to speak to a finaid counselor. also, CitiAssist loans are good...you can defer the interest. you can apply through their website too.

Hey drdr2010,

I'm a few years out of undergrad and close to two years out of grad school. I will look into the CitiAssist loans. Thanks for advice. It is really helpful! 🙂

H&T

 

[ewing]

I got a loan from EducationOne.com. It's a semi-educational private loan. The good thing is that they send the check directly to you, and you don't have to be in school (e.g. you can claim you're paying off credit card debt that you accrued in college, or whatever).

The bad thing is their rates are kinda sucky. If you do apply, definitely opt to begin payments immediately, since that gives you a lower interest rate...the payments on a $3000 loan aren't gonna make or break you.

I also got a very good rate quote from MyRichUncle.com; basically the lowest rate they offer to undergrads. The dealbreaker was that they send the money to your school. And I was afraid that my school would reduce my package and consider it outside aid.

Also, it's only a good deal for pre-meds if you can start paying it back while you're a resident, since the payments are linked to your income. They say that if you're in a training program like a residency, you can only make payments if you're making more than the U.S. median income. I don't know how much that is, and whether 10 hours of moonlighting per week would get you there or what.

They're kind of desperate to give good terms now because interest rates are so low. The reason they're an interesting option is that it's not really debt, so if you're approaching borrowing caps, they're a good deal. Also good if you're looking at research, primary care, or what not.

Anyhow, I think I posted about a few private loan companies a while back. EducationOne was the only one I found that sent the money directly to me. I know that CitiAssist requires school certification, and they send the money to your school.

Borrowing against the 401k or life insurance sounds like a plan for those of you who are non-trads. I'm still in undergrad. Also, ask your parents about Home Equity Lines of Credit. The rates are very low (and the interest is tax deductible), and it's a revolving line, so you can pay it off as soon as you get a summer job or a decent FinAid package in med school or whatever.

There...I've said all I have to say about money. Now, back to pre-med angst. 😎

 

[ATPase]

ewing,
Thanks for the info. I didn't know there were banks/companies out there that do this. This is very good to know. Even if the EducationOne rates are sucky, they're probably no worse than the rates on the credit cards... I will have to look into this! Thanks!

 

[ewing]

In the interests of equal time to competing lenders, here's another quasi-educational lender...you can see who gives you a better rate quote:

http://www.cfsedloans.com

This one also has a sliding scale for APR and origination fee, and also uses variable rates based on LIBOR...

 

[Heal&Teach]

Thanks again for your input ewing. This information is very helpful. 😀

 

[mpp]

EducationOne seems like s rip-off to me unless you have no other choice. They charge up to a 10.5% origination fee...that's highway robbery. You can get a cash advance on your citibank visa for a lot less than that. There are fixed-rate credit cards with lower rates than offered by EducationOne with zero or low annual fees (check www.pulaskibank.org or do your own search at www.bankrate.com ). You should never pay an origination fee for a loan for which you will be paying interest unless the rate is lower than competitors such that the fee makes it worth it in the end.