Michigan 2009

[Biogirl361]

I thought I would start a thread for those of us going to UM in the fall to ask questions and help each other out or get answers from the upperclassmen on here. I will start...
does anyone know if the $1730 health insurance is automatically deducted from your loan check and if so can we waive it if we have coverage from another source?

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[Awara No. 1]

Good luck at Michigan. so you finally decided to go to school next door. It must have been a hard choice for you between case and U of M. Keep us posted on Michigan because I am planning on applying there next year.

 

[mwsung]

hello...

I need some info on housing/residence...

I want a studio /one bed near the dental building... utilities included in monthly rent...
I prefer on-campus housing
I've checked the website but since I don't live there, I don't really get it...

anybody who knows the area well, please give me some advice..

 

[Biogirl361]

I signed a lease today on a one bedroom in a house about a half mile from the dental school... if you don't have a place yet for next year i would really get on it because availability is already pretty picked over out there especially for studios and 1 bedrooms and even more especially for those with parking.

 

[airvent]

Uggh , You move fast. Iwas going to visit Ann Arbor in April to find a place but i may push it up now.

Did you go through a rental agency? WHich one? I need to suck it up and just drive there some weekend. Its about 8- 10 hours from where i live.

 

[Biogirl361]

Uggh , You move fast. Iwas going to visit Ann Arbor in April to find a place but i may push it up now.

Did you go through a rental agency? WHich one? I need to suck it up and just drive there some weekend. Its about 8- 10 hours from where i live.

I am going through CMB management, they have several buildings and houses with 1 bedrooms and studios but i know for sure one of the buildings doesn't offer parking and another one is sold out already. other management companies I talked to during my search were CMI, varsity management, Ann Arbor Realty, Prime student housing and michigan realty management. they were all really nice. Prime has some nice 1-bdrms available at a good price which includes parking and free ethernet, but they were over by the IM building (a good bike ride away from the d-school). they also had some that were close to the school but I didn't like those as much. ann arbor realty, CMI, and michigan realty mostly deal in houses that they have renovated into apartments (like the one i got for next year). many of these are in really good locations near the school and there is plenty of availability, but the conditions of the houses vary. the rent for a unit in a house is cheap compared to a conventional building; if you can find a unit in a house that's in satisfactory condition i would say that's your best option right now as far as 1-bed and studios go. varsity management has a few efficiencies and 1 bedrooms left, but most don't have parking. they have flyers in their office with the current availability listings that would be worth checking out. there are a few other agencies also that i didn't have time to go to. this whole housing thing is so confusing when you don't know the area and you're looking for a place so late in the game. so many different agencies and choices that you don't know where to start and are worried you might miss something perfect, yet when you do find something that seems really good there is no availability or no parking or it is far away from the d school. i'm just glad i'm done with it. if anyone has any more questions about my 3 day apartment search i'll be glad to help

p.s - availability on some very nice 2 bedrooms around town is really good if you can/are willing to find a roommate to split the cost. If you don't have an objection to sharing a room in my opinion that is the absolute best value for your money at this stage in the game where a lot of the nicer 1-bed and efficiencies are already signed for.

 

[Blue Tooth]

the best thing you guys could do, provided you can swing it, is to buy a place. it might be expensive at first but the return on investment on property here is way too good to pass up. i kinda regret not doing it and pissing all that money away on rent.

 

[Biogirl361]

yeah, i was thinking about doing that next year if i can find something that i like close enough to the d school. do you know anyone that drives in? if so where do they park?

 

[Blue Tooth]

well there's no where to park near campus. some people who live off campus drive to commuter lots and take the UM buses onto campus or the ann arbor buses. both bus systems are pretty good so you'd be ok there. some people do have parking passes and park at the school but they're really hard to get (student's normally can't get them) and you'll pay through the nose for them. but there's some condos within walking distance that you can buy and just walk to and from school.

 

[mwsung]

well there's no where to park near campus. some people who live off campus drive to commuter lots and take the UM buses onto campus or the ann arbor buses. both bus systems are pretty good so you'd be ok there. some people do have parking passes and park at the school but they're really hard to get (student's normally can't get them) and you'll pay through the nose for them. but there's some condos within walking distance that you can buy and just walk to and from school.

as an international student, Canadian, am I able to purchase a property in Michigan?
will the US bank allow me to have their mortgages or loans..??
If I purchase, can I apply for the state residency or... US citizenship??
I don't know how these things work these days.... You guys should know better than I do... help~ ^_^

 

[airvent]

Yes you can purchase property in the US.

The Citizenship thing is probaly not that easy. You have to get a greencard and all that other stuff like any foreign national.

 

[Sweeti8286]

Hey there biogirl,
I am planning on living at home next year (in Saline)- I will be driving in. I know there's a commuter lot on State Street that doesn't require you to buy a permit. It's a 7-minute bus ride to campus. However, you can buy an orange?? parking permit and park at other lots and take the bus in. When I get more details, I'll post more. But I'm planning on parking at the State St. commuter lot.

 

[Biogirl361]

hmm... i will probably stick to my apartment within walking/biking distance then... with class starting at 8am i don't want to get up even earlier than i have to to drive and then take the bus gosh that is early... i think the entire time at msu I only had one 8am class and it was only 2 days a week for one semester. and the only reason i even went to those was cause of the pop quizzes

so does anyone know if the health insurance is automatically deducted from the loan check and if so if we can waive it with evidence of existing insurance?

 

[mwsung]

hello there Biogirl

I think somebody asked a question similar to yours during our interview/orientation. Some people also talked about this issue before here in this forum. And , the answer was yes. Your tuition & insurance as well as school fee will be deducted from your loan check, and the difference will be returned to you for your living expenses and etc.

But, since you have another source for insurance, of course, you can waive it.
is it significantly cheaper than what school offers?
If you want to get more convincing explanation, e-mail or call Laura
I find her EXTREMELY USEFUL. I've been e-mailing or calling her everyday regarding student ID, visa etc, she's been very helpful. e-mail reply within 12hrs!

 

[Biogirl361]

the insurance that my parents get through their employer will cover me until I am 24 providing I am still in school, so for the first three years of dental school I will just stay on that and waive the 1,000 student insurance. who is Laura?
since I just got accepted a couple weeks ago, i have not recieved any additional mailings from the school regarding financial aid and all...I'm hoping they'll get more information out to me soon. so far all i have done is add them on my fafsa. do you know if michigan recommends or has arrangements for any particular additional loan to make up for what the federal loans don't cover?

 

[mwsung]

the insurance that my parents get through their employer will cover me until I am 24 providing I am still in school, so for the first three years of dental school I will just stay on that and waive the 1,000 student insurance. who is Laura?
since I just got accepted a couple weeks ago, i have not recieved any additional mailings from the school regarding financial aid and all...I'm hoping they'll get more information out to me soon. so far all i have done is add them on my fafsa. do you know if michigan recommends or has arrangements for any particular additional loan to make up for what the federal loans don't cover?

Laura is the one who sent us the Hepatitis B info.
I just got accepted few weeks ago to Michigan, too. I am sure you received 'welcome" + "Hep-B vaccination" e-mails

Loans, I'm a Canadian, and we, international students, make a deal with our banks...=) damn.....

 

[Sweeti8286]

mwsung,
As far as applying for residency...I moved to the States from Hong Kong. We had to live here at least 5 years in the US before they will let you take the test and do the naturalization thing to become a US citizen.

 

[Biogirl361]

Laura is the one who sent us the Hepatitis B info.
I just got accepted few weeks ago to Michigan, too. I am sure you received 'welcome" + "Hep-B vaccination" e-mails

Loans, I'm a Canadian, and we, international students, make a deal with our banks...=) damn.....

I didn't get any welcome or hepatitis emails... they just got my deposit on monday so maybe sometime soon...

 

[mwsung]

I didn't get any welcome or hepatitis emails... they just got my deposit on monday so maybe sometime soon...

oh I see. Then, since you put your deposit, the admissions staff will soon add you to the class of 2009 mailing list.

 

[Biogirl361]

does anyone know if we get our loan checks as a lump sum at the beginning of the year or is it divided into two checks one per semester?

also, what alternative loan programs if any does the university recommend for making up the portion of the budget that the government loans don't cover?

 

[Blue Tooth]

you get your money at the end of august, december, and april- just before each term starts. as for private loans, i have no idea how any of that works. you'll have to talk to mary gaynor about that.