Question about loans and financial aspect of dentistry in the US for a Canadian student

[ronzroyce97]

Hi I'm currently a 3rd year sciences student in Canada. My plan is to go into dentistry in Canada however the schools here are very competitive so I'm definitely going to be applying to a lot of USA schools as well. I've been looking at the fees for a lot of dental schools and I've seen ranges from $250k all the way up to $500-600k, for other Canadian students who have attended dental schools in the USA how difficult is it to get a loan? Can you even get a loan that's going to pay for $500k-600k? If not how did you fund your dental school fees? Thank you.

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[sobertiger]

I heard Canadians get private loans from Canada. It is next to impossible to get private loans from the US, and flat out impossible to get federal loans.

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[amariesa]

TD bank, Scotiabank, CIBC, BMO, and royal bank all have private loc loans for dental and medical students.

 

[WOWOWOW]

Not possible for Canadians to attend American Schools anymore UNLESS your parents help you out with ~ $250,000.
I attended a US dental school back in 2011~2015 and that was when CAD/USD were 1 to 1 ratio.

There is no cheap American Dental Schools for Canadians (You can apply to Texas dental schools, but if you have the stats to get in to schools in Texas, you can get accepted at U of Toronto or Western in Ontario).

You're looking at $450,000~$500,000 USD (tuition & living expense all together).
Let's assume the total cost will be $450,000 USD.
That is about $565,000 CAD.
ABSOLUTE MAX AMOUNT of Professional School Loan you can get from TD/Scotia/RBC (any major Canadian Banks) is $300,000 CAD. Usually it is only $250,000 CAD.
You also need a STRONG co-signer with excellent credit history since the money is going to the US.
Let's assume you find an eligible co-signer (your parents), and was able to get $300,000 CAD loan.
OSAP gives you about $8000/year for Canadian students attending American dental school. That is $32,000.

If you do the math,

$300,000 (bank) + $32,000 (OSAP) = $332,000 CAD total loan you can get.

$565,000 - $332,000 = $233,000. You still need to figure out where you can get $233,000 CAD.
American dental school was possible when USD:CAD ratio was 1:1. Now it is 0.8:1.

IMO, it is not possible anymore to attend American dental schools for Canadians.

Save your money and just apply to Canadian Schools.

 

[allantois]

If your bank isn’t lending you enough money for a US school, there’s a very good reason for it..

 

[ronzroyce97]

I've heard that you can apply for loans in the USA if you know someone who is living in the USA and cosigns for you? Is this true?

 

[ronzroyce97]

There's no way my parents will be able to get $250k in any way, maybe I should consider other options such as optometry or pharmacy :/

 

[oralcare123]

There's no way my parents will be able to get $250k in any way, maybe I should consider other options such as optometry or pharmacy :/

Your parents can get a house equity loan. Real estate in Canada is very expensive and, assuming your parents purchased a house 10-15 years ago, there should be enough equity there
Or they can borrow from their retirement funds

 

[WOWOWOW]

I've heard that you can apply for loans in the USA if you know someone who is living in the USA and cosigns for you? Is this true?

No. Someone who has US Permanent Residency/American citizenship. Not just anybody who lives in the US. Also, the co-signer must have excellent credit history.
This was what I did, I borrowed $250,000 from one of the Canadian Banks, and rest from US Private Loan (Citibank at the time, now Discover). Good luck finding a co-signer though. You are getting about $150k~175k USD loan.
I do not think anybody that you just "know" will co-sign $150~175k USD student loan. At least it was hard to find one for me.
I have an uncle who is an American citizen, and I know him very well because he raised me when I was little. He still hesitated about co-signing $150k loan. If I miss my monthly loan payment, it affects his credit history as well.
Unless the co-signer is your parents, it is not realistic to find someone that will co-sign a $150k loan for you.

 

[WOWOWOW]

Your parents can get a house equity loan. Real estate in Canada is very expensive and, assuming your parents purchased a house 10-15 years ago, there should be enough equity there
Or they can borrow from their retirement funds

That is such a huge burden on parents...