What happens if I can't get loans?

[The Enchanter]

I've been accepted to two schools this fall - one is a public OOS and the other is in state but private. Both schools have total cost of attendance (tuition + living expenses etc.) of around $60,000/year. It looks like the maximum Stafford loan money I can expect is a little over $40,000. I have terrible credit and don't think I can get a GradPlus loan or a private loan. I have nobody who will co-sign a loan for me. Due to past medical problems, military is not an option.

Bottom line question: should I be worried about having no way of covering the cost of attendance? Do people get accepted to medical school and find themselves not able to attend for financial reasons?

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[red10]

get your credit straightened out. it's not too late!

 

[siliso]

How terrible is terrible? You don't need to have mortgage-quality credit to get a PLUS loan - I know people who can't get a credit card because their credit sucks but still could get a PLUS loan. Recent bankruptcy or default could be a more serious prob. The financial aid/student affairs offices at the schools you're looking at could probably give you a definitive rundown.

 

[The Enchanter]

How terrible is terrible? You don't need to have mortgage-quality credit to get a PLUS loan - I know people who can't get a credit card because their credit sucks but still could get a PLUS loan. Recent bankruptcy or default could be a more serious prob. The financial aid/student affairs offices at the schools you're looking at could probably give you a definitive rundown.

It's pretty bad, but nothing as serious as bankruptcy. I got into some credit card trouble when I was young, dumb and poor and it's still haunting me. I recently found a credit card company willing to extend me a pitifully small line of credit but I've been paying off the full amount on time for several months.

 

[red10]

It's pretty bad, but nothing as serious as bankruptcy. I got into some credit card trouble when I was young, dumb and poor and it's still haunting me. I recently found a credit card company willing to extend me a pitifully small line of credit but I've been paying off the full amount on time for several months.

if you're paying it off in full and paying the minimum on any previous debts you may have, that should help. keeping your spending on the card low (even though you pay it all off at the end of the month) is key too. You might call up the credit card company and ask them to up your credit limit since you've been paying things on time consistantly. This will lower your average credit used to credit available ratio and can help up your score.

 

[deleted74029]

Can't you get unsubsidized loans up to the cost of attendance?

 

[teenmachinery1]

I had 3 ER visits without insurance = ownage. I have crappy credit too. I might be able to scrape up a co-signor or two though



OR, I'll just stick to being PRE-med.

edit: OP, here's my plan- stafford for up to 45k or whatever, then PLUS with cosignor for about 20 or so annually. I think the cosignor just doesn't have to have an adverse credit history:

What is considered to be an adverse credit history?​

You are considered to have an adverse credit history if you are 90 or more
days delinquent on any debt or if, within 5 years of the date of the credit
report, you have been the subject of a default determination, bankruptcy
discharge, foreclosure, repossession, tax lien, wage garnishment, or writeoff
of a Federal Student Aid debt (for example, a Direct Loan or Federal​

Stafford Loan)

 

[MegaProjectile]

I've been accepted to two schools this fall - one is a public OOS and the other is in state but private. Both schools have total cost of attendance (tuition + living expenses etc.) of around $60,000/year. It looks like the maximum Stafford loan money I can expect is a little over $40,000. I have terrible credit and don't think I can get a GradPlus loan or a private loan. I have nobody who will co-sign a loan for me. Due to past medical problems, military is not an option.

Bottom line question: should I be worried about having no way of covering the cost of attendance? Do people get accepted to medical school and find themselves not able to attend for financial reasons?

Yes, but rare. Some schools like Georgetown and MCW do a credit check and rescind acceptance due to poor credit/inability to pay.

Here's what you should do: Ask your parents or siblings to help co-sign for you unless you have a spouse of course. I think that's your best bet. 3 years ago some banks won't have cared much about your credit since MDs have one of the highest loan repayment rate. But with the economic downturn banks are tight even to those with good credit.

 

[235009]

stop wasting your time on SDN and pick up the phone and call the financial aid offices of the schools that accepted you. Or better yet go talk to them in person if they're close by (call first though).

also, if you can't get GradPLUS loans there might be private loans you can get with higher interest rates and lower standards (though that would probably be a bad idea)

 

[The Enchanter]

I have nobody to willing to cosign for me, so that's out. And yes, I'm going to the second look weekend for both schools and I'm going to make some appointments with financial aid advisers, I just thought I'd see if anyone else was having this problem and how they planned to solve it. I've worked so damn hard to get into med school and now that I have, I'm paranoid that something's going to go wrong!

 

[docelh]

stop wasting your time on sdn and pick up the phone and call the financial aid offices of the schools that accepted you. Or better yet go talk to them in person if they're close by (call first though).

+1

 

[Daedra22]

.

 

[VTBuc]

HPSP.

 

[Marcus Brody]

Sling some rock on the side.

or do the military scholarship thing..

I think virtually everyone in a US-allopathic school finds a way to pay for it.

 

[swamprat]

I had 3 ER visits without insurance = ownage. I have crappy credit too. I might be able to scrape up a co-signor or two though



OR, I'll just stick to being PRE-med.

edit: OP, here's my plan- stafford for up to 45k or whatever, then PLUS with cosignor for about 20 or so annually. I think the cosignor just doesn't have to have an adverse credit history:

What is considered to be an adverse credit history?​

You are considered to have an adverse credit history if you are 90 or more
days delinquent on any debt or if, within 5 years of the date of the credit
report, you have been the subject of a default determination, bankruptcy
discharge, foreclosure, repossession, tax lien, wage garnishment, or writeoff
of a Federal Student Aid debt (for example, a Direct Loan or Federal​

Stafford Loan)

Haha idk why I found that so funny, I actually laughed out loud. Must be one of those days..