Scholarships loans and grants

[Berburr]

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Hello, I never thankfully have to apply for loans or grants or any financial aid up until now. I always had veterans GI bill. Now I have to apply.. So I had a question...well questions.

1: I read that federal loans are better than private, is this true? Also, where do you go for federal or private loans.

2: Where is the best place to search or scholarships and grants for graduate school? For example I found petersons.com. Is this a legit site?

3: In terms of timing, should I get scholarships or loans first, and when should I start the loan process?

Thank you so much for your time reading this and for those who attempt to help or successfully help me, haha.

 

[starrsgirl]

Are you headed to PT school next year? Or still in undergrad? Is your GI Bill used up? If you are headed to school, you should have received or will receive info from your school on the financial aid process. (we had to watch a video on all this stuff too for pre orientation). But generally, your first step is to fill out the FAFSA. Also, usually if there are scholarships, the schools will notify you at the time of your acceptance. You could certainly call the school to double check but there aren't many.

 

[Berburr]

I am just finishing my pre-requisites this semester, I had my Bachelor's already. My GI bill runs up this November and I start school this fall for the DPT. I heard they may do a pro-rated (I think) rate or may cover the first semester but I have to call after this semester. After that I have nothing from the GI bill.

I found scholarships on petersons.com, didn't have to pay for the site to search for graduate school scholarships. And my packet got mailed out Monday (I was told) so it should be here soon.

FASFA is the general government loan place even for graduate school?

 

[Berburr]

Also, is it true federal are better than private?

 

[starrsgirl]

Yep, FAFSA is your place! Have you called over to your DPT school's financial aid department? Have they sent out anything yet? I'm surprised if they haven't. I just think because you know where you are going, you should start with them directly and their process. I'm sure they have a process laid out as most PT students are without money for school.

There are certainly exceptions. I am NOT a loan expert, but often private loans may have a higher interest rate and will not qualify under any loan forgiveness program you might want to use in the future. But get more information on that one, please. You might end up with a combo of loans, but your school will know those numbers for sure based on their tuition and working with other students who have attended.

I'm surprised you found any scholarships on Petersons? Generally, there are no PT scholarships except a few directly through the schools which you would already know about (i'm sure there are exceptions to this too, but I'm not sure a general website will have any promising leads).

 

[Berburr]

Well they were not specific to PT, I have to dive in deeper and read. I wanted to know if it was a legit site first. The requirements weren't very specific, some were sciences or health care scholarships. Honestly I waited to see if anyone heard of this site or any other places to search.


The packet they said should be here soon, I didn't know they gave you a process for loans. I never used the schools before like that. Thank you. I will look deeper into these scholarships and requirements. Even if they aren't specific to PT school they may be some more general ones out there that still apply to me.

 

[DesertPT]

Also, is it true federal are better than private?

Yes.

Also, there are very few grants/scholarships for professional students. Those that do exist are generally only a couple thousand.

This has been discussed quite a lot in past threads. You'll find lot of helpful info with a search of the forums. There is also an entire forum dedicated to financial aid info here on SDN. It is mostly med students there but the info is all still relevant for the most part.

 

[Berburr]

Yes.

Also, there are very few grants/scholarships for professional students. Those that do exist are generally only a couple thousand.

This has been discussed quite a lot in past threads. You'll find lot of helpful info with a search of the forums. There is also an entire forum dedicated to financial aid info here on SDN. It is mostly med students there but the info is all still relevant for the most part.

Thank you, I tried looking but I wasn't stumbling on threads specifically for scholarships and grants which was a bigger interest. However I did go to the APTA and they had a lot of useful links for scholarship searches, grants and loan information.


As for only a couple thousand, that still sounds awesome! Any little bit helps, my job has offered to help as well. Which is amazing for me. Little stuff adds up, the less I can take out in loans the better.

I will look for the financial aid section, I was looking on my phone, didn't see it initially. Thank you!