Make sure you have a good CREDIT SCORE!

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tucomnvms1

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Hey pre-meds, I am starting med school in 2 weeks.. The best advice I can give you pre-meds is to HAVE GOOD CREDIT!! They don't tell you untill it's too late that you must have no adverse things on your credit report in order to get the grad-plus loan. If your education is going to cost more than $38,000 (tuition, room, board, living expenses) then federal stafford loans won't cover anything past 38k.. You will have to pull out a grad plus loan to fill in the gap.. Example

Tuition $30,000
that leaves only $8000 for books, and living cost for the entire year so you will have to get a grad plus or private loan which means you need good credit!

Good luck everyone!

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great point! This is part of the reason why we suggest you venture over to the financial aid/financial investment forums to ask any financial questions.

This is the ONE class I wish everyone had to take. Personal Banking 101. There is a new name for our generation. Generation debt. There is actually a book out called that. I watched the author on the view describing all the issues that our generation has with financial issues. Credit card debt and misuse of credit is a huge issue.

If you guys have any questions about credit/financial issues, the two forums mentioned above are great resources.

Credit is one of the most important factors to live here in the US. Something you might not learn in college or high school. You might have a job and some money. But without financing, you can get in a jam if you need a new house or a car or even a cellphone.

:luck:

Mushy
 
I have a fried that just got divorced and is getting screwed trying to get loans for this year. It totally sucks. Be careful with your credit.
 
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tucomnvms1 said:
If your education is going to cost more than $38,000 (tuition, room, board, living expenses) then federal stafford loans won't cover anything past 38k.

Not true. We're getting $40,722 from the government for NYCOM. That's $32,222 in federal unsubsidized stafford loans and $8,500 in federal subsidized stafford loans.
 
I am also getting $34,400 unsub stafford and $8,500 sub, and taking an additional $13,700 w/ a plus loan. My credit is not perfect (I do have some debt--car, credit cards) but I was not over 90 days late on any payments and have no bankruptcies which I believe are the main criteria for the Grad PLUS loan, I was approved in a few seconds, actually... this whole fin aid thing has been much easier than I expected, maybe I'm just lucky, I dunno :rolleyes: that's for an 11 month school year
 
JasonUD said:
Not true. We're getting $40,722 from the government for NYCOM. That's $32,222 in federal unsubsidized stafford loans and $8,500 in federal subsidized stafford loans.


Thats because you go to class a month more than everyone else.
 
I just got this PM: I figured I would share with the OP's permission! :D


I went to a site called myfico to get my credit scores--are those scores actually close to what my credit score would be if looked at by a loan department? Second, what is a good credit score? I bought two scores (one from TransUnion and one from Experian) and the two scores were about 10 points apart. I didn't bother buying the third score, I figured I could get a good idea of my credit from 2 scores, but is one score from a certain company (experian, transunion, equifax) looked at more than the others.

myfico is a good site to get an idea. If you only got 2 scores they usually would be from two major companies, right?

Certain companies use all three or two of them and then then might average them. Every company might be different but usually they will take your highest score. One score is not looked upon as more favorable.

To learn about what is good ... you can look here
 
mshheaddoc said:
I just got this PM: I figured I would share with the OP's permission! :D




myfico is a good site to get an idea. If you only got 2 scores they usually would be from two major companies, right?

Certain companies use all three or two of them and then then might average them. Every company might be different but usually they will take your highest score. One score is not looked upon as more favorable.

To learn about what is good ... you can look here


Great information and thanks for the link! :)
 
JonnyG said:
Thats because you go to class a month more than everyone else.


What??? We do? We go from August 22 - May 31...how are most schools?
 
Thank you guys for this information. This is one thing that I had no idea about. My credit is terrible because the only thing that I have on my report is undergrad debt, and a paid collection from when I was 16. My parents forgot to pay a $75 co-pay for an MRI. Isn't that cool that you can get totally screwed before you even know what a credit score is. I did not even know I had a bad score until I got rejected by every credit card application I applied for in college. The worst part of it, my dad is the CEO of a group of banks. :eek:
 
mshheaddoc said:
I just got this PM: I figured I would share with the OP's permission! :D




myfico is a good site to get an idea. If you only got 2 scores they usually would be from two major companies, right?

Certain companies use all three or two of them and then then might average them. Every company might be different but usually they will take your highest score. One score is not looked upon as more favorable.

To learn about what is good ... you can look here
Oh and most americans have credit between 650-750 which is average. From the private loan company that I have dealt with, as long as your credit is above 650 you shouldn't have any problems with private loans. I think maybe even down to 620. Feel free to contact prospective lenders to see what their credit requirements are. If so post on here!
 
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JasonUD said:
What??? We do? We go from August 22 - May 31...how are most schools?


They probably count you as a student for more months then other schools. Next year when I start at school year round, the government allowance goes up to 45000. Its based upon the number of months you are considered a student. While you may not go longer then most schools (in fact shorter then PCOM), the school probably figured out a way to increase your funds
 
strawberryfield said:
...but I was not over 90 days late on any payments and have no bankruptcies which I believe are the main criteria for the Grad PLUS loan...
Just to follow up on this, the criteria for grad plus loans is to have none of these:

• Any current delinquency of 90 days or more

• Any of the following items within the preceding five years of the date of the credit report:

Default, Bankruptcy, Discharge, Foreclosure, Repossession, Tax Lien, Wage Garnishment, Write-off of a Title IV Debt, Open Collection
 
dtrain5 said:
Thank you guys for this information. This is one thing that I had no idea about. My credit is terrible because the only thing that I have on my report is undergrad debt, and a paid collection from when I was 16. My parents forgot to pay a $75 co-pay for an MRI. Isn't that cool that you can get totally screwed before you even know what a credit score is. I did not even know I had a bad score until I got rejected by every credit card application I applied for in college. The worst part of it, my dad is the CEO of a group of banks. :eek:
Wow, I had something very similar happen to me. My parents didn't pay a $50 copay for an ER visit when I was 16. That thing haunted me for years. Make sure you pay it (if you haven't already) and try to get a small credit card. Capitalone has some very low limit cards, and there are several companies that offer secured cards.
 
mshheaddoc said:
That's about normal. You only go about 2-3 longer than OSU-COM

LECOM goes to school August 3 to May 25. Even longer! :eek:
 
(not starting a flame war)

Does anyone know if there's a difference in loans for md vs.do?

Thanks!
 
Which leads me to the following advice

If you do have negatives on your report. Learn how to have them corrected. Peace out!
 
Kubed said:
Wow, I had something very similar happen to me. My parents didn’t pay a $50 copay for an ER visit when I was 16. That thing haunted me for years. Make sure you pay it (if you haven’t already) and try to get a small credit card. Capitalone has some very low limit cards, and there are several companies that offer secured cards.

That's pretty bad. Hospitals will usually send you a 3rd or 4th reminder before turning it over to collections.
 
There are other ways also than the grad plus loan. Personally before I made the decision to trudge down this path it is one thing I had to look at. I am divorced and due to some difficulties with my x-husband primarily pertaining to his lack of responsibility for anything......oh ok another story......I wound up with a bankruptcy and a reposession that went through about 3 weeks before my divorce was final. So I'm screwed on that one. However most of the time if you get turned down for any plus loans, you can still get approved with a co-signer...so there is hope.

Blessings
Jen
 
dtrain5 said:
Thank you guys for this information. This is one thing that I had no idea about. My credit is terrible because the only thing that I have on my report is undergrad debt, and a paid collection from when I was 16. My parents forgot to pay a $75 co-pay for an MRI. Isn't that cool that you can get totally screwed before you even know what a credit score is. I did not even know I had a bad score until I got rejected by every credit card application I applied for in college. The worst part of it, my dad is the CEO of a group of banks. :eek:
Then why would you have to worry if your dad is a CEO of a group a banks. With the money he is banking you dont need credit, a score, or a loan, your lucky enough to have your father's fat wallet just in case....
 
You don't need good credit for a federal loan?
 
dryuja said:
You don't need good credit for a federal loan?
Nope, the fed loans don't look at your credit score. I unfortunately have poor credit due to periods of unemployment a couple years ago but I have no trouble getting the fed loans. My problem is getting private loans. (I still have a couple years of ugrad left though - apparently the private loans are more willing to fund you when you're getting med school loans.) My school has a stupid policy where if you're over 180 credits you can't access fed loans or grants and no appeals process. So I have to fund my ugrad completely on my own and don't have anybody that can co-sign for me so I can't get the private loans. Therefore I will most likely be doing a masters/possibly a phd prior to even thinking about med school because my credit won't be high enough yet in only two years to qualify for a private loan without a co-signer (& the likelihood of not needing a private loan is not very high).
 
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