How to get a loan?

Thanks for the response, this calms my nerves. So, once you receive the quotes from your school, you choose a lender? It would be great to amass a list of lenders & rates somewhere on this site (at least for this year). Once I really start looking, I'll get on that. Apparently I need to wait until the school releases their final estimate for next year's tuition & costs.

Does anybody know how (or if) the new Reconciliation Bill will affect us?

I am not taking out any loan for bschool (so Solaris1 or anyone else, correct me if I am wrong), but from what I’ve seen, once the school’s fin aid office has Stafford, GradPlus and other loan apps made available, you have to fill them out. They might ask you to file additional papers for guarantors (if needed) and also if you’ve never taken out a loan before, you have to get a loan counseling or some kinda workshop….

Once that’s all done, your school fin aid office processes the apps and the lender will send the money directly to the school. School will deduct money for tuition and whatever it left over, they send you a check

Most schools recently switched to the Direct Loan Program through which GradPLUS and Stafford loans etc will be offered well...directly by the USG. At my school the will start processing new loans under the Direct program after July 1st, 2010. If you're done with filing a FAFSA already, you should be in good shape.

Last year my loans didn't get approved until like a week or so before I actually matriculated!

Thanks, nink. These are the kind of super-basics I'm looking for. So basically, I can wait until my school has the applications available before I start worrying? I'm so used to worrying, now that my deposit is paid I'm looking for new things to worry about. Speaking of which....



That's frightening! Have you guys ever heard of anyone actually being turned down? Last year, a friend of mine had to postpone grad school entirely because she couldn't get enough loans. Granted, that was for social work, but still...

Don't worry, Financial Aid coordinates with the Bursar's Office and if you're paying your tuition with student loans, you're generally not subject to the same deadlines as students who're paying the Bursar directly. I'm just saying that even a week before classes start is enough time for everything to get processed smoothly. However, don't take that to mean you can just chill and not concern yourself with such things until the very last minute.

Definitely reach out to Financial Aid with any questions - however silly they might seem. They're paid to handle these things for you.

While you certainly can get turned down or offered very high rates for private student loans if your credit history isn't good (at least as long as the People's Republic of America continues to let banks make private student loans), it's highly unlikely you'll be turned down for the Stafford or GradPLUS loans. I don't think there's any credit check for Stafford loans, and I think you essentially need to have defaulted on other student loans or declared bankruptcy in the past to not pass the credit checks for GradPLUS.

Can one of you please explain what this means: "rates of Prime+100bps and 1mLIBOR+450bps "? (Solaris1, I stole that directly from one of your 'Financing your MBA' posts.)

Also, is there some sort of consensus on whether it's best/cheapest/easiest to just go with the GradPLUS loans, or to shop around for private loans? Obviously, everyone's situation is different, but there seems to be a lot of debate on that topic. I'm inclined to do whatever is simplest since I'm so clueless, but I'm definitely interested in learning.

Thanks again, all of you, for your answers. It's reassuring to hear from people who've been through this already.

You'll have to forgive solaris1, after a year at Stern he just assumes everyone talks like a banker. It means the interest rates are variable, based on benchmark rates (either the prime rate or the 1 month LIBOR) plus a certain margin: 100 basis points over prime or 450 basis points over LIBOR (a basis point = 0.01%). So assuming the current prime rate is 3.5% and 1 mo. LIBOR is 1% (I just made those up), these loans would currently charge 4.5% or 5.5%, respectively. You can easily find the current prime and LIBOR on the internet or in the WSJ. As the prime rate or LIBOR increase/decrease, the interest rates on these loans will increase/decrease.



There is a lot of debate on this topic precisely because there is no real consensus. Currently, the rates on GradPLUS are above the rates on many private loans, but are fixed compared to the variable rates of private loans. So people who think that interest rates will remain low for the near to mid-term are generally more in favor of private loans, while people who think that interest rates will go up (like I do) are more in favor of the fixed-rate GradPLUS.

THANK YOU!!! I've been trying to figure this out. I think I may have to just go with Federal aid, right now I have a car loan (plan on selling before school) that will probably make borrowing privately a pain in the a@@, but I too guess I'm confused about timelines - am I supposed to be working on this now? Do I need to wait for my financial aid package from school? Is most of this done in June/July?

Does anyone know of any private loan options for international students WITHOUT a US co-signer, and NOT the school option?

I haven't been able to find any through the school resources or searching online. But I might be missing something...

loans can easily available these day..for business loan you have to show your strength..like how many workers in company, have your own company or have on lease, & what is the total profit you gain from the company...if you have these all things you get business loan easily....

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