Where are you getting your Private Loans?

[mrodr043]

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For those of you that plan on obtaining private loans, where are you getting them from? Do you get them from a bank like Wachovia?? When do you intend on applying for them, and does anyone know how long it takes to get the loan; from the time you apply to the time of disbursement??? 😕

 

[deebog01]

For those of you that plan on obtaining private loans, where are you getting them from? Do you get them from a bank like Wachovia?? When do you intend on applying for them, and does anyone know how long it takes to get the loan; from the time you apply to the time of disbursement??? 😕

I would call your financial aid office and ask for advice on special private loans for dental students. San Antonio told me that Chase offers a good loan with intrest rates btwn. 7 -10% Almost like an unsubsidized... and another one from advance america that supposedly beats the pants off of the Chase loan. I'm in San Antonio, so you'd have to check... maybe you have better options in your region.

-Dan

 

[I'mFillingFine]

Calling your school's financial aid office is a good idea because some of them can give you a list of "preferred lenders". These are banks who know and trust the school and will simply "fill your budget". i.e. you type in the entire budget the school recommends for your first year, tell the school how much government aid you're borrowing (Stafford, Perkins, etc.), and they loan you the rest. They will either approve you, deny you, or offer you the chance to apply with a co-signer.

Buffalo does this and I chose one of their preferred lenders who had one of the higher rates but was the ONLY one I could find that had a private loan specifically for dental students. (Bank name is AccessGroup. Check them out! Super friendly). I did this because they will allow for deferment for residency or specialty, whereas other banks usually only do this for medical students since dents don't HAVE to do a residency. (lame lame lame!!! I was so pissed when I found that out).

So depending on your priorities, you may want to look at rates, specificity of the loan (health professional, dental, generic student, etc.), helpfulness of the people who you'll be communicating with for the next 30 years, and how highly the school recommends them.

good luck!