Screwed

[BigPimpin]

OK folks, check this one out. I'd love to hear from anyone who can give me some direction/insight.

I've had medical school loans for three years now. I found out recently that I'm not going to get any more federal financial aid money because after four years of undergrad, three years of graduate school, and now 3 years of medical school loans at a pretty expensive medical school, I've used up my state/federal allottment. I am about $15000 under my budget for this year.

So, that would lead me to private loans, right? Fine. But my credit sucks, which is my own fault of course. SallieMae and the like have told me I need a cosigner to even maybe be eligible. But, both parents are deceased, and none of my other family members will cosign for the loan. So goodbye, private loans.

I've even started running an ad in the paper asking if anyone would like to cosign for the loan, and I was offering 10% of what I got. I graduate (I'm a fourth-year) soon and I'm consolidating EVERYTHING upon graduation, so even if some stranger cosigned for me, it would be off of their credit in a few months. I guess this smacks too much of impropriety, because so far there have been no takers. Obviously, since the schedule for one's 4th year is fairly hectic, I have no time for a job (trust me, I'd do it if I could), and our school "strongly discourages" students from being employed while enrolled. My financial aid department has no answers.

So, my question is....does ANYONE have any ideas? Yes, this sounds like it's straight out of a Dickens novel. But these are the facts of my current situation. Thanks for reading and maybe responding.

BP

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[tlew12778]

What if you consolidate now? I don't know if consolidation loans count towards your total federal allowance. If it does, then I have no other suggestions, but if it doesn't it would free up your allowance and let you get the $15k. You might have to go with private consolidation and not federal though... not sure if you want to have to deal with those ramifications (can't defer, take forbearance, no grace period, etc).

Go to your Fin Aid office and see what they can do. My undergrad college had a provate loan program through them in addition to federal loans.

I don't supposed you have more than $15k in credit line do you? This is probably the worst solution out there, but it's still a solution.

 

[futuredo32]

My heart truly goes out to you in your very unfortunate situation. Is there maybe an alumni assocation at your school that would be able to arrange a loan for you from its members or an emergency loan fund? Or, if worse came to worse, could you take a one year leave of absence from school and work for that year, while deferring your loans to pay the 15,000? I really hope things work out for you. Good luck.

 

[bryan45876]

If you have had 4 years of undergrad, 3 years of graduate school, and 3 years of medical school surely there must be someone you became close friends with that has graduated and is currently working. I know it sucks to ask for help, but from time to time everyone needs it.

 

[one_notch_down]

Sorry about your situation. I barely made it through my years of med school, but I was told when I first started that Medloans would guarantee my loans for all four years of medical school even if I exceed my maximum.

One thing I just learned was that you can only consolidate federal loans (stafford sub and unsub and perkins). So, this private loan with a cosigner won't qualify for consolidation.

You can try and get a fourth year interview and residency relocation loan. Most major lenders have their own version of it. For Medloans, it's called a Medex loan and you can take out 12,000 while you're still in school. I am over the maximum of $220,000 of aggregate loans, but they said I can just write a letter explaining why I have exceeded my limit and why I still need the loan. They still run a credit check, however, but it's worth a try. Hope this helps!

 

[roady]

Alright BP,

Do you have credit cards? Sorry--time to max them out until residency.

good luck