Ok a little background, I am 25 and I am currently a nurse but I am wanting to quit my job in August and go back to school full time and finish my prereqs for medical school. The only thing that concerns me is the money. I have calculated everything out and I have figured out that for the two semesters of undergraduate work that I have left i will need around $30,000. My concern is that I will not be able to get the loans for this. From what I understand the school you attend sets a certain "cost of attendance" and you are not able to get financial aid over this amount unless you go the private loan route. If anyone can give me more information on this, or explain it better for me please do? Or if someone that has been in a situation similiar to mine could give me some advice it would be greatly appreciated. Im also looking for some good private loan lenders if this is the route I will have to take to be able to get the $30,000 I need. Thanks
Question about student loans
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I would talk to your school's financial aid institution about how much money you can get. Unless your school costs over $20K a year I don't see you getting that much in federal aid. Remember that you will have to make your payments for housing, you probably wouldn't be able to pay your credit cards if you are including total amounts in that sum. If you have dependants you might get a little more in federal aid, but yes there are private loans you could take out. I would suggest goign to a school that isn't going to be a burden on your financial budget (I'm taking my pre-reqs at a local county college and my upper level classes at a local university) as well as talking to your financial aid counselors to find out what their max COA is allowed. $30K is alot of money for one year. Are you looking at a post-bacc program? Maybe you can work part-time to help offset the cost during this time if you are doing them on your own.
I agree that $30,000 a lot for on year. I figure that just the house note and and car note together is a $1,000 a month for ten months is $10,000. Another problem that I will have is that I have maxed out all of Junior college credits so I can no longer take classes there, and the nearest univeristiy is 90 miles away. So I figured that I would be spending nearly $500 a month in just gas to get back and forth 5 days a week. This is not a post bacc program because no school in my area offers one so I am actually having to go back and declare a second undergraduate degree. Is going to be possible for me to borrow this much money?
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I think that you would probably have to do private loans, which exist somewhere. I think you're limited to around $8k/year while doing postbacc work, which is probably enough for classes but not much else.
Are you married or do you have other strong ties to where you're at? If no, maybe you could move to the city where your nearest university is at. You could rent your house or sell it. Also, as a nurse, I'm guessing it would be possible to do some work while going to school. If necessary, it wouldn't be the end of the world to go to school parttime and work parttime (or a little more) for the next two years.
Are you married or do you have other strong ties to where you're at? If no, maybe you could move to the city where your nearest university is at. You could rent your house or sell it. Also, as a nurse, I'm guessing it would be possible to do some work while going to school. If necessary, it wouldn't be the end of the world to go to school parttime and work parttime (or a little more) for the next two years.
I am getting married in May and her job is here and it would be next to impossible to move. I might be able to get by with around borrowing $20,000 by saving money until next August and by taking money out of my state retirement fund. The way I look at is $30,000 is a small price to pay if this is what I really want to do, if I can just find someone to lend it to me. The only problem in doing it over two years is that it would put some of my other prereqs out of the ten year window that the medical school requires the prereqs to be completed in.
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Quick question -- have you checked for sure about the ten year window on prereqs? From my experience, most schools really don't have prereqs expire. They do want to see recent coursework, but it's usually okay if you took gen chem 12 years ago or whatever. Of course, you might have already checked with schools, in which case, just ignore my post.
As for the loans, here's an example of a private ugrad loan. I'm sure there are other lenders out there for this, and your school's financial aid office can probably help you with that.
https://www.key.com/html/H-1.32.b1.html#tab
As for the cost of attendance, that's a tricky one. Your school will enter your living costs into that if you're a fulltime student, so they should at least schedule a little more than $1k/month in living expenses. Beyond that, there are other loans, but the terms are probably pretty bad. It might be a better idea to borrow against retirement.
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Can't your wife help your soon to be wife help out a little so you don't need to take all those loans out? You might have a problem finding that much in excess over cost of attendance as well as I would put off the prereqs if this is going to cost you an enormous hardship which it is sounding like it would. Maybe it would be better to pay your car off first or trade in for something cheaper? Also maybe you can find classes that are only 2 days a week to help cuut your travel expenses? I would talk with your financee to see if she could help you bare the brunt of this because that amount in loans is hard to swallow if your COA is no where near there.
Find out what your COA would be then look at some of the private lenders at finaid.org for a list of the private lenders and what they can offer you.
You will only be eligible for federal aid for one additional year (five years total) for undergraduate work so the rest you'd have to take out at a higher variable interest rate which I would recommend limiting as much as possible.
Find out what your COA would be then look at some of the private lenders at finaid.org for a list of the private lenders and what they can offer you.
You will only be eligible for federal aid for one additional year (five years total) for undergraduate work so the rest you'd have to take out at a higher variable interest rate which I would recommend limiting as much as possible.
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Do you mean that you maxed out at the CC for financial aid reasons? Because, and I would check with your CC, if you are paying for your classes (outside of financial aid) that should have no bearing. I know that many community colleges have a maximum number of credits that you can take if you are going towards a specific degree and if you are getting FA, but if you are a non-degree seeking student, that should have no bearing. It won't hurt to check that out.
I know that you would like to quit your job, but is there any chance of your cutting down to part-time and working per diem? As an RN, you can probably take care of your basic needs with just working one or two days a week (12 hr shifts).
Krisss17
I maxed out the number of CC hours that the medical school will take. My wife will be helping out some also. The $30,000 mark is a very generous estimate. I figured with that amount I wouldn't have any thing financially to worry about and could fully concentrate on my studies. I had a meeting with a counselor at the medical school in my state and she is the one that told me about the ten year thing so I know for sure that it is true. Thanks for everyones input so far.
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I think you just might need to make some lifestyle changes and be prepared to live on a budget for a while because if your COA isn't high you will have problems finding that type of money. If you have good credit there is always personal secured/unsecured loans. Good luck.
The COA at the school I am currently looking to go to is only about $16000 and I need a loan for at least $20000. Does anyone know any student loan companies that will loan more than the COA? Also based on my EFC from filling out my FAFSA I will probably not qualify for any kind of federal student aid or loans. Eventhough I will not be working while I am actually in school, I made to much money last year to receive any kind of help.
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The COA at the school I am currently looking to go to is only about $16000 and I need a loan for at least $20000. Does anyone know any student loan companies that will loan more than the COA? Also based on my EFC from filling out my FAFSA I will probably not qualify for any kind of federal student aid or loans. Eventhough I will not be working while I am actually in school, I made to much money last year to receive any kind of help.
It is the school, and not the lender, that sets the criteria for COA. You can go out and borrow $30,000, but if you the loan goes through your school, you will get no more than the COA. Now, you can always request for a budget increase, which has to be done in writing. You also have to provide proof of your bills so they can see in fact you do need more. Most private lenders go through the school; however, while there seem to be a few around that will send the funds directly to you. Again, credit being a factor. Just search the net for private student loan lenders.
Do you know of anyone in this town that's 90 miles away? Would be a huge plus if you could go to school 3-4 days/week, staying in that city with someone you know, and then work the weekends back in your current location. But then again, that may be a big strain on the marriage. Also, check into where you work and see if they provide tuition reimbursement. It would seem the best option is you do as someone previously stated: work while taking a couple of classes a semester. It may take 2 years but at least you'll be stable financially. By then you should hopefully have eliminated your car payment, credit cards or anything else that has a balance. As a friend of mine once told me, 'Financial stability is extremely important. It can either make or break your GPA.'
