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Western/COMP Discussion Thread 2010-2011
Started by Siggy
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As far as I know, if you're a citizen of the United States (and not a felon?) you can borrow as much as COMPs budget says you can. I don't remember the exact number but it's something like $72,000. That's much more than enough for a single person to go to school and live comfortably on. The school can also make exceptions and allow you to borrow over that amount for various reasons (I think).
As a professional/grad student, your EFC is probably 0.
Of course, when paying for school you'd borrow the $46K in Stafford Loans first and then borrow whatever GradPlus loans you need (for other readers, it's because the GradPlus loans have a higher interest rate). You can return any portion of your loan, penalty-free, within the first 120 days of each semester (I think). If you return too much, you can also borrow more, up to the $72K limit. If you need a car, I know of at least one person who has managed to buy a nice used car and still lives comfortably. I will say that a car is a really, really nice thing to have in SoCal, especially when you have limited time to run errands. Everything is spaced apart here.
I'd suggest getting loans from family if possible, especially for the first year when the interest matters the most. Also, apply to scholarships, especially the SDS (Scholarship for Disadvantaged students, should be available through Banweb as a short survey). You'd be surprised at who qualifies as disadvantaged. It's a solid chunk of cash (almost $4K / year) that automatically renews each year unless Federal laws regarding it change.
hey wolverine, I have! but then again, my own case is unique as I live about 15 minutes from Western...so even snail mail would reach me in a day.
Expect a small but slightly packed letter! I expected something big but it was actually just a regular sized envelope.
=)
Expect a small but slightly packed letter! I expected something big but it was actually just a regular sized envelope.
=)
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Yeah, it's a regular envelope, but still kinda chunky.
thats weird cuz I live 15 min away too, but I haven't received anything.
Where are you getting your info? I just submitted a fafsa and got an EFC of about 11000 and it looks like I will only be able to take out just over $20,000 in federal aid. If you aren't making an income now I think you'll have a better chance of getting more unsubsidized Stafford, but according to fafsa grad students are not generally eligible for any subsidized loans.
Looks like I will have to check out some other loan sources, am open to any good suggestions btw!
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Hi everyone! I was accepted but already withdrew. I hope one of you will get my spot! Good luck!!
i think that on the student budget it says we can take out 8500 in subsidized loans and around 37k in unsubsidized stafford loans. i think the lady during the interview talked about it as well. but i'm not sure.
how do you know you can only take out 20k with the stafford? i filled out the fafsa and on the sar it said i could take out about 20k too but i thought that was just general info for graduate students and was adjusted for med students.
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Hmm. I guess I will wait to hear the final word before making any decisions. But I was going off of the info FAFSA gave me once my application was processed. I am sure someone will lend me enough money to get through ;o) I have heard that Western's financial aid department is stellar, here's hoping!
I'm getting my info as an MS-1 who hasn't heard of anybody having issues with getting loans for medical school, at any medical school. You need to call the Financial Aid office - they know their stuff and are really friendly. You shouldn't have to look outside of Stafford and GradPlus for loans... unless something about the loan process has changed dramatically in a single year. I'm not sure how previous income affects the loan amount, but if you only have an EFC of 11K that's not even close to what you'll need to pay for school.
Go here:
http://www.westernu.edu/financial-staff
Start by calling one of the FinAid Counselors.
Can anyone tell me if they've heard info on whether or not COMP is closing down it's interview cycle this month? It seems so early, but I had heard rumor to that effect.
yup, the last interview cycle is in February but they said they'll likely open up another round in April
hey all those of you waiting to hear back from Western! I was deferred last year and spent this year working and applying to some more programs. I only heard back from/interviewed at one of them and am waiting to hear the result in late March. it has been very nice to have this experience - I'll be going to the other program if accepted so my seat at Western will open. Otherwise, I'm looking forward to seeing some of you this August 🙂 Cheers and congrats to you all....
thanks for all your help! that was a lot of useful information. =]
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Accepted! Got my snail mail letter on 2/12 and stared at it for about 3 hrs before opening it. My bf said, "Rejection letters don't come in chunky envelopes!"
Congrats to those who recently received their acceptances too! Super stoked to start this summer! =)
Congrats to those who recently received their acceptances too! Super stoked to start this summer! =)
For those still waiting for news from Western, call and ask if a decision has been made on your app. I was told that I am "eligible to interview" and will be invited if they decide to do open another interview date. Maybe it would be easier to not have that info tho 😕
That's weird. Does that mean they are running out of space?
When I talked to the admissions office (2 weeks ago?) I heard that Feb 24 was the last interview date scheduled and they will need to see how many people they accept from interviews that are already scheduled and also how many people they've offered acceptances to take them up. I'm not too hopeful about interviewing there at this pt and even if offered, I would worry that there were very few seats in the class. Thats just me speculating tho
can anyone explain to me how this deposit works (1k + 1k)? The reason being that I have a good chance at getting off the the waitlist at my state school which is a substantially cheaper and more convenient option for me. My interview is soon, btw (I have not been accepted). Thanks in advance.
You first pay a deposit of 1K and then about two months later you pay another deposit of 1K so a total of 2K. But since it is getting later in the cycle, you may have to put up the whole 2k at once. I know some schools do this later on in the cycle, don't know for sure about Western.
hmm i see. 2k is a lot of money for me, so I hope they won't ask for it all at once.
Once you hear back from the other school, stop payment on the checks to the first one. This is provided they haven't cashed them yet..
At my interview on Feb 10th, the admissions people said that it would be a single deposit of $2,000 if we got in. It's due about 2 weeks after getting your offer letter. I don't know who has that kind of money just laying around anyway... certainly not me! I'll have to find some way to get it to them. I've read on this forum that some people have been able to put in on a credit card if they call the office and do it over the phone.
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Have you tried calling them?
call them to ask about the decision or to see when they sent the mails??
no I have not. now that you said probably will call tomorrow.
Depends where you live its 2x-15x faster. They're meeting next Wednesday to discuss today's interviews 🙂 - great school.
i was accepted a while back and made my first $1000 payment, but i've decided i'm gonna go somewhere else so hopefully one of you gets it. its going to be awkward making that "i'm declining my acceptance" phone call. good luck to everyone waiting!
You probably did not park in a slot that was designed "daily parking permit" you needed to do that. Sorry!
Yeah I almost parked in the wrong spot on my interview day too, its everything to the right of the yellow parking kiosk thingy and not to the left of it.
Thing is...I'll hear back from the other school I'm interested in late March. I already paid via credit card last week. Even if I sent them a check, it will probably be cashed before I find out from the other school.
lol well I parked in the right area. The machine in 2-2 was not functioning. A security guard who worked there directed me and a group of 10 other interviewees to the daily machine in parking lot 2-1 where all of us put in 2 bux and printed out a pass (the pass turned out to be only for 2-1) and put in on our dash.
I came back after the interview and saw that my car and few others were ticketed.
I called to see if they have already sent out the letters for feb10th interviews. They said my file hasn't been reviewed yet. WHY NOT? on the interview day they said we should hear back within 2 weeks and it's been more than 2 weeks now and not even reviewed????? she said committee will meet this Thursday to review your file...wasn't the meeting supposed to be 2 weeks ago??
I can't take this anymore
ok now that I'm calm how's everyone doing??🙂
on the interview day they said we should hear back within 2 weeks and it's been more than 2 weeks now and not even reviewed????? she said committee will meet this Thursday to review your file...wasn't the meeting supposed to be 2 weeks ago??
I can't take this anymore
ok now that I'm calm how's everyone doing??🙂
I know how you feel; I interviewed 10/30 and didn't get my letter until 12/6. if your interview group was as big as mine (~100 ppl) then it's going to take a while until you hear from them.
best of luck!
I know how you feel; I interviewed 10/30 and didn't get my letter until 12/6. if your interview group was as big as mine (~100 ppl) then it's going to take a while until you hear from them.
best of luck!
we were about 70 people and I was the very last person to interview...so I guess I'll be the very last person to get reviewed 🙁
on the interview day they said we should hear back within 2 weeks and it's been more than 2 weeks now and not even reviewed????? she said committee will meet this Thursday to review your file...wasn't the meeting supposed to be 2 weeks ago??
I can't take this anymore
ok now that I'm calm how's everyone doing??🙂
🙁 Sorry to hear that! I know how frustrating the wait can be. Hang in there and hopefully you'll hear good news soon!
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on the interview day they said we should hear back within 2 weeks and it's been more than 2 weeks now and not even reviewed????? she said committee will meet this Thursday to review your file...wasn't the meeting supposed to be 2 weeks ago??
I can't take this anymore
ok now that I'm calm how's everyone doing??🙂
Interesting. I was quoted a time of 4 to 6 weeks during my interview. Best of luck.
on the interview day they said we should hear back within 2 weeks and it's been more than 2 weeks now and not even reviewed????? she said committee will meet this Thursday to review your file...wasn't the meeting supposed to be 2 weeks ago??
It is super frustrating, isn't it? But, be assured: I interviewed 11/20 and didn't get a decision until the week before Christmas. And I called A LOT in the meantime. I was worried that it was taking so long (I wasn't even the last to interview that day), but it turned out that I got accepted. So, keep your head up 😀
It is super frustrating, isn't it? But, be assured: I interviewed 11/20 and didn't get a decision until the week before Christmas. And I called A LOT in the meantime. I was worried that it was taking so long (I wasn't even the last to interview that day), but it turned out that I got accepted. So, keep your head up 😀
thanks guys for great comments!!
I just wish this waiting isn't for nothin. that would suck.
I interviewed on the 10th as well; I was just thinking the letter was taking a little longer to get across the country seeing as I live in NY. However, I called today and was told that the Dean still hasn't been able to sign off on/approve the reviewers recommendations which is why things have been progressing rather slowly... Hope this helps anyone else who has been anxiously checking their mail lol.
Cheers,
Mac
Cheers,
Mac
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