paying my credit balance from fedral loan money

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mdtopharm

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hello,

I'm planing to join pharmacy school but I'm now broke and i have about 20k on creditcards. I'm wondering if I'm accepted in pharm school can I get fedral loans enough to pay for the school and pay my credit balance and live on it tell I finish school or they will just give me enough money to pay for the school.
I don't know anything about student loans and how it works please advise me.

thank you

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They won't give you money for your previous debts, they will only give you what your school says it will cost to attend for that given year, including what they think you need for room and board. And then how much you get of that amount is determined by what your FAFSA says you are eligible for.

The FAFSA (free application for federal student aid) is the first step in receiving any federal student aid. When you fill out the FAFSA application and return it to the Department of Education they will determine your aid eligibility. You must provide information about your income as well as your parents if you are still dependant on them. Your EFC (expected family contribution) is subtracted from the total cost of your schooling and that gives you the total amount you are eligible for. From there they issue a SAR (student aid report) to you and your school which will tell you how much and what type of aid you are eligible for.

They won't give you any more than your FAFSA says you can have. For anything beyond that you have to turn to private loans.
 
They won't give you money for your previous debts, they will only give you what your school says it will cost to attend for that given year, including what they think you need for room and board. And then how much you get of that amount is determined by what your FAFSA says you are eligible for.

The FAFSA (free application for federal student aid) is the first step in receiving any federal student aid. When you fill out the FAFSA application and return it to the Department of Education they will determine your aid eligibility. You must provide information about your income as well as your parents if you are still dependant on them. Your EFC (expected family contribution) is subtracted from the total cost of your schooling and that gives you the total amount you are eligible for. From there they issue a SAR (student aid report) to you and your school which will tell you how much and what type of aid you are eligible for.

They won't give you any more than your FAFSA says you can have. For anything beyond that you have to turn to private loans.

thank you so much for the information, I appreciate it.
I think I will be elegible for max loan amount since I don't have income right now and my parents don't live in USA and won't support me.
about the private loans, when I'm supposed to start paying them back, during school or after graduation and having a job?
what are their APR? will they charge me interest as soon as I get the loan?

thanks again
 
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using financial aid to payoff debts? Yep, been there and done that. While many frown on the practice, sometimes its a necessary evil if you know you can't make the 15% interest payments.

You will have to budget wisely though. As yes you will only be eligible for whatever the FASFA grants you. Doesn't make a difference if your parents are in the US or not I believe. At least that is waht I was told by a few international students here.

Private loans - usually if they are med student loans they are deferred through school and if you are doing a residency, some loans will defer through residency. Others will require payment through residency. This might not be a bad way to go if you have good credit as it would consolidate your debt into a more reasonable payment scheme.
 
My grandfather always told me, "You can't rob from Peter to pay Paul." Normally, this is true, but I think using student loan money to pay off credit debt is not a bad idea.

First off, you're not talking about increasing your debt, but rather decreasing the interest rate you will pay on your debt. It doesn't take a financial wizard to realize that makes sense.

Secondly, you are delaying paying on this debt for another 7 to 10 years. Sure, interest will accrue, but as a student you don't have much income, so this is a critical period in which to minimize your monthly costs. Pushing your payment out makes sense at this point, but realize that you will have to pay it eventually. However, that monthly bill will have a lot less sting when you are making a great deal more money to pay it with at the time.

Thirdly, even though interest is accumulating, not only is it at a lower rate (hopefully) but the govornment will even subsidize a portion of it for you. I'm sure your credit card lender will not offer to do that on the $20k you owe them.

Fourthly, there is always the chance that a future employeer may be willing to pay back a portion of your student loans. May not happen, but it isn't unheard of. There is also loan forgiveness if you work in certain areas.

Lots of people believe that student loans are some sort of sacred "gift" that must only be used on tuition, books, school supplies, and things that are intrinsic to an education. That's too narrow-minded a view. Yeah, things can get messy real fast if you borrow too much and try to live like a big shot while in school. But by using student loan debt to replace consumer debt you are effectively lowering the amount of overall debt you have because of the lower interest and government subsidization of the debt.

I guess I would say go for it.
 
I'm a little confused on how this works. I've already accepted the loan package given to me by my school, which consists of sub and unsub Staffords and a loan from the school that cover the estimated cost of attendance. However, I'm interested in securing a private loan to pay off CC debt. Does this have any effect on the loans I already accepted? Do I need to inform my fin aid office before I get the loan? Anyone know of any good lenders for this?
 
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