student loans

[bluenebula83]

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[this is a copy from the pre-allopathic forum. just hoping u guys can provide some input]

i was just wondering, how easy is it really to get student loans? i mean, i've heard cases where medical students would take out loans and purchase a car or even get a down payment for a house! 😕 i guess purchasing a car with your student loan is not a good idea, but getting a house might not be a bad idea after all, mainly cuz it appreciates in value and you can use it to pay off your loans after a couple years. so ya, what the dealio with student loans? 😎

 

[akpete]

you can only get up to the school's budget. otherwise you gotta get a loan that doesn't go through the school and the interest rate is way higher.

 

[synapse lapse]

You can borrow up to the schools calculated expected cost of attendance (ECA), which is usually higher than actual living cost, probably enough to make a car payment and since paying mortgage is like rent you could do that if you didn't buy a car. You are capped on federal stafford loans at $38,500 so if your ECA is above this you must get institutional aid or private loans.

 

[bluenebula83]

You can borrow up to the schools calculated expected cost of attendance (ECA), which is usually higher than actual living cost, probably enough to make a car payment and since paying mortgage is like rent you could do that if you didn't buy a car. You are capped on federal stafford loans at $38,500 so if your ECA is above this you must get institutional aid or private loans.

just a little clarification. do you mean $38,500 per year or for 4 years? some places in this country, rent is as cheap as $200/mo. and how much is the interest generally going now these days? and wouldn't that interest be still lower than if u took out a non-student loan to purchase a house? thx

 

[synapse lapse]

just a little clarification. do you mean $38,500 per year or for 4 years? some places in this country, rent is as cheap as $200/mo. and how much is the interest generally going now these days? and wouldn't that interest be still lower than if u took out a non-student loan to purchase a house? thx

Rent of $200 a month! Anyhow interest rate is like 5% , and yes that is for all 4 years, but as I said you can only borrow up to ECA, so if they hqaven't budgeted you enough for mortgage payment your SOL.

 

[Cocodrilo]

Rent of $200 a month! Anyhow interest rate is like 5% , and yes that is for all 4 years, but as I said you can only borrow up to ECA, so if they hqaven't budgeted you enough for mortgage payment your SOL.

38,500 PER year,I thought. Assuming that you didn't have astronomical undergrad loans.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

38,500 PER year,I thought. Assuming that you didn't have astronomical undergrad loans.

Yep, $38,500 per year with a lifetime maximum of $189k. Even without astronomical prior loans, it's not that hard to hit the max before graduating.

 

[tigress]

Does the lifetime maximum include prior loans that have been paid off already? I hadn't thought about this before.

I think the federal loan interest is around 4.5% or so. But that $38,500 per year only covers tuition at a private school. You won't have anything left over. The rest will have to be private loans, with an interest of around 7% I think. I'm not sure of the rules, although I think I remember reading that the federal loans can legally only be used for educational expenses. The private loans probably have different rules. Anyway I also responded to this thread in the pre-allo forum, but basically I think you'd be crazy to even try using loans to cover a down payment on a house. Mortgage payments, sure, but you'll need the money for the down payment to begin with.

 

[synapse lapse]

Yep, $38,500 per year with a lifetime maximum of $189k. Even without astronomical prior loans, it's not that hard to hit the max before graduating.

Yeah that's what I meant shouldn't have said it so ambiguously. I meant per year for all 4 years.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Does the lifetime maximum include prior loans that have been paid off already? I hadn't thought about this before.

I think the federal loan interest is around 4.5% or so. But that $38,500 per year only covers tuition at a private school. You won't have anything left over. The rest will have to be private loans, with an interest of around 7% I think. I'm not sure of the rules, although I think I remember reading that the federal loans can legally only be used for educational expenses. The private loans probably have different rules. Anyway I also responded to this thread in the pre-allo forum, but basically I think you'd be crazy to even try using loans to cover a down payment on a house. Mortgage payments, sure, but you'll need the money for the down payment to begin with.

You know, I can't seem to find a clear answer on that one. I do know that my SAR only shows outstanding loans, but national loan database thing has all of them. I'm going to go do some more research. 🙂

As for interest, stupid congress voted to up it to 6.8% for staffords. 😡

 

[Law2Doc]

but getting a house might not be a bad idea after all, mainly cuz it appreciates in value and you can use it to pay off your loans after a couple years.

Bear in mind that there's no rule that says that real estate always must appreciate in value.