Normal for loans to get disbursed so late?

[McDreamy123]

I am starting school this year--will be M1 at US allo program for reference. Anyways, financial aid office says loans won't disburse until TWO weeks after classes start. Also, this isn't counting the week of orientation that precludes classes starting. So essentially we have to wait 3 weeks before we see any money. I think this is insane. So way back I had to give security deposit to secure a apartment, also had to pay rent for month of July as classes start at end of July, and now I will have to pay month of August. Never mind all the costs of me having to move across the country, furnish apartment, groceries, miscellaneous. I am literally going to end up paying $6k+ out of pocket (which I don't have) before my loans come in. I have had to borrow money from family which I hate. So anyways is this the norm for schools to expect you to just have thousands of dollars laying around, and getting loans 3 weeks after starting classes?

Edit: talked to friend who is M3 and he gets his loans first week of classes. Hmm why the discrepancy, this is all federal loans so should be uniform? I am really bummed about this.

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[MilfordManMD/PHARMD]

I remember the same thing happening in pharmacy school. It's unfortunate. Borrow money from your parents and pay them back as soon as you get the money, which should be very soon.

 

[Kkshake]

Yes it's normal, it's now a requirement for schools to verify that you're attending before they can disperse the loans, same thing happened with undergrad as well. Too many people were abusing the loan system. It sucks.

 

[ortnakas]

Totally normal. Unfortunately.

 

[Lannister]

Yep, normal. Pretty sure my school told us that we would be expected to spend several thousand dollars out of pocket before loans disbursed. And just FYI, it'll be the same issue during the summer between M1/M2, because loans don't cover time that you're not officially in school. So you'll have to find funded research or borrow from your family again, unfortunately. Just something to think about.

Edit: as for your M3 friend getting loans earlier, that's also normal. I'm a rising M2 and my aid will be disbursed before classes even start, but it was much later when I was an M1.

 

[Dr. Death]

They told us something similar and we didn't get any money for over a month after classes started.

 

[cellsaver]

I am really bummed about this.

Congratulations on med school. Few get accepted so relish that salient point.

You are going to owe lots of money, favors, be on bended knees (plural) to everyone and you will be at everyone's mercy to get to your goal for the next 7 years.... no kidding.

Embrace these as your new normal. Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off of the prize.

 

[precisiongraphic]

McDreamy - you might ask your Dean of Students or someone like that to see if they have emergency funds available. I've heard of a few schools that do that for extreme situations.

 

[raiderette]

My loans came just a bit earlier than expected. I donated plasma to get my first months' rent.

 

[neoevolution]

McDreamy - you might ask your Dean of Students or someone like that to see if they have emergency funds available. I've heard of a few schools that do that for extreme situations.

I'd try the head of student FA services. I know they offer emergency advances on loans for this exact situation at my school.

 

[initialize]

Bumping this thread - I’ll be a medical student this fall and I’m wondering how I’m going to afford an apartment when the loans are dispersed a few weeks after enrollment...

What did you guys do/recommend? My parents will be unable to loan me money...

 

[BluegrassBuckeye]

Bumping this thread - I’ll be a medical student this fall and I’m wondering how I’m going to afford an apartment when the loans are dispersed a few weeks after enrollment...

What did you guys do/recommend? My parents will be unable to loan me money...

You could try looking for a house/condo that is being rented out by a private owner and not some giant apartment complex owned by a big company. A private owner might be willing to be flexible with the initial payments as long as you show them the documents guaranteeing that you will in fact have the money whereas big housing companies don't tend to be so kind. Or you could try and find an understanding roommate through your class facebook page who would be willing to front the initial deposit/rent payment knowing that you are obviously also a medical student who will be able to pay them back as soon as the disbursement comes through.

 

[mehc012]

My solution started months ahead of med school. Basically, I ran up my expenses on my credit card without paying them down even though I had the money to do so, so that I'd still have a chunk of cash large enough for rent deposits and other things that can't be done on credit. Moving expenses, gas for travel, etc. I just left on my card. I paid one month's interest waiting for loans to disburse, then was able to pay down the entire balance in one go and it was smooth sailing from there. I still tend to do that around loan disbursement times, because I've had the paperwork get snagged up before and gotten my M2 disbursement late, and it's better to have a reserve. I never have less than 2mo rent in my account, and if paying my credit card (where I put all of my expenses other than rent, and pay it off each month) would bring me down that low, I hold off until things are sorted. Of course, that's easier here where the rent is low. It'd be undoable somewhere like SF.

 

[kamakazi5]

It's, unfortunately, the reality for most places. Mine didn't come until over a month after the second semester started even though we received our first semester disbursement 2 weeks before classes even began. Admittedly, I should have clarified but needing to get a job and going days at a time with less than $5 to my name was rough. I wasn't as lucky to have any friends or family to ask for help.

 

[initialize]

Another silly question, but I can’t seem to find the answer via google... how much money from the loans they give you go into your checking account each month, on average? I’m trying to put together a future budget for how I’m going to pay for rent, food, etc...

 

[sunshinefl]

Another silly question, but I can’t seem to find the answer via google... how much money from the loans they give you go into your checking account each month, on average? I’m trying to put together a future budget for how I’m going to pay for rent, food, etc...

They don’t give you deposits each month. You get one lump sum for the cost of living at the beginning-ish of the semester. It is up to you to budget it to last. The deposit will be the amount of loans you took for the semester minus everything the school takes out (tuition, fees, loan origination fee, +/- health insurance, etc).

 

[initialize]

They don’t give you deposits each month. You get one lump sum for the cost of living at the beginning-ish of the semester. It is up to you to budget it to last. The deposit will be the amount of loans you took for the semester minus everything the school takes out (tuition, fees, loan origination fee, +/- health insurance, etc).

Ah that makes sense. If you could guess, what would be the average deposit amount students at your school get per semester? Even if it varies widely from student to student, could you give me a number a student could live reasonably off of?

 

[sunshinefl]

Ah that makes sense. If you could guess, what would be the average deposit amount students at your school get per semester? Even if it varies widely from student to student, could you give me a number a student could live reasonably off of?

It varies so widely school to school based off full cost of living they build in to full cost of attendance loans. I’m in an expensive area. I think our deposits for fall and spring, if you take max loans, are around $16,000 and for summer around $10,000. Your best info would come from asking students currently at the school. I gave these same figures out in response to questions in the cycle thread for my school. So if you’ve already been accepted try asking in that 2018-2019 school thread.