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Financing your MBA - International Students

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ariel
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Financing your MBA - International Students [#permalink] New post   15 Jun 2010, 12:31
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I thought I'd get a thread going where international students can discuss their experiences and share tips on securing (cheap) funds for their education, obtaining a study permit, etc.

This thread is open to all international students studying or wishing to study anywhere in the world. However, please kindly limit all discussions to financing and immigration issues only.

It might also be useful to share school-specific intelligence on requirements to obtain a certificate of eligibility to be presented to the student visa issuing authorities.

As a Canadian accepted at a few US schools, I'm a bit baffled at the stringent regulations international students face as well as the lack of cheap and accessible financing.

For instance, Cornell expects international students to show proof of liquid assets in the amount of $142,404. The most troubling part is that they would not allow a US student loan (such as the one they guarantee to all international students) to be used towards the exorbitant amount required. How have others handled this issue?

On the other hand, other schools, such as Ross, only require proof of living expenses for the first year - a far more palatable $8,251.

What are the requirements of the school you will be attending? How did you get around the financing issue?

I would be particularly interested to hear from other Canadians as well, who might be able to provide specific information on Canadian lenders. After speaking with a few of the big banks (BMO, Scotia, TD), I realize that no Canadian bank would underwrite a loan for a student studying outside of Canada unless they have a Canadian co-signer. Also for those living in Ontario, OSAP is shelling out a whooping $210/week of study in TOTAL (including tuition, all incidental expenses, etc). What did you do? How did you handle that part?

Also, has anyone found any good websites indexing private scholarships or any third party financing opportunities?

Any tips, ideas, suggestions, school-specific info would be greatly appreciated!
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Re: Financing your MBA - International Students [#permalink] New post   16 Jun 2010, 19:57
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That was exactly the reason why I didn't apply to Cornell. While I cannot give you any tips/suggestions, I can share my experience with Kellogg

I think I had it quite easy.

1) Kellogg determined the loan amount I'm eligible to take on the basis of my savings/contribution from family/current salary etc. The amount they sanctioned covered 90% of the student budget

2) They gave me 2 options - Option A US cosignor or Option B non-US cosignor

Along with the I -20( certificate of eligibility for student visa), they sent me the letter which stated that Kellogg guarantees a loan of XXX to you. I showed it during my visa interview and they were perfectly OK with it
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Re: Financing your MBA - International Students [#permalink] New post   17 Jun 2010, 10:47
Thanks for your input, unplugged - it's much appreciated. Wish I knew this about Cornell ahead of time, but I guess I didn't do my homework and have no one to blame but myself. It's good to know though that there are schools like Kellogg out there. Best of luck and congrats on your admit again!
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Re: Financing your MBA - International Students [#permalink] New post   17 Jun 2010, 10:56
Nice initiative. +1
Financial and Visa are the two most daunting issues for international students. It was really nice to hear about Kellogg.
I would request all - including Non -internationals, to share their experiencse regarding financial issues they have faced.
Moreover its equally important to know about the post-MBA prediction for repaying the Loans.

Please shed some light.
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Re: Financing your MBA - International Students [#permalink] New post   17 Jun 2010, 14:49
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Many internationals at Columbia are also having tough time because they don't offer
no-cosigner loan anymore. I had to struggle to find someone to cosign and I applied to Citibank and got a 1yr loan approved for 95000$ which is the amount in my I-20 for 1year expenses including tuition. Interest rate is 9.15% and a loan fee of 3%. All in all, a rip off. But then, I got no choice.

Many other schools, in fact all schools I believe in top 10 offers no cosigner loans and some schools like Darden also offers nocosigner loan, a friend is getting 7% interest rate from Darden. Oh well.

(In order to get my I-20 I requested my cosigner to give me a letter of sponsorship saying I will be funded by this person- of course this was just namesake just get I-20 as I was anyways going to apply for the loan. So may be you could do that too)
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Re: Financing your MBA - International Students [#permalink] New post   21 Jun 2010, 10:16
gurpreetsingh, very glad you're finding this discussion useful.

Praz, I feel your pain. The loan does sound like a rip, but sometimes we don't exactly have a choice, I know. I had no idea that Columbia didn't offer no co-signer loans, so this is a great heads up for future applicants, even though they might secure one next year.

Glad that you got everything sorted out though, I know how stressful this whole experience can get.
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Re: Financing your MBA - International Students [#permalink] New post   24 Jun 2010, 17:05
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I want to go to Carnegie Mellon. While a good GMAT score is essential for getting a scholarship, I would like to know the chances of getting the scholarship. I am looking to enroll in Heinz School of Management, for my Masters in IT field.

Anyone with any experience?

I guess I have seen only one person from CMU here, he got admitted to Tepper School of Business I believe.
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Re: Financing your MBA - International Students [#permalink] New post   24 Jun 2010, 17:35
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Grateful for this wonderful thread. From third party sources I know Chicago and haas offer non- Cosignor loans and so does Ross.
Ariel - that you cannot use school loan to get I-20 is simply incomprehensible. Are you sure you don't want to escalate this to someone in admissions and recheck?

You may want to look at Global Student Loan corporation for loan based on a co-signor in your home country.

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Re: Financing your MBA - International Students [#permalink] New post   25 Jun 2010, 07:02
unplugged wrote:
That was exactly the reason why I didn't apply to Cornell. While I cannot give you any tips/suggestions, I can share my experience with Kellogg

I think I had it quite easy.

1) Kellogg determined the loan amount I'm eligible to take on the basis of my savings/contribution from family/current salary etc. The amount they sanctioned covered 90% of the student budget

2) They gave me 2 options - Option A US cosignor or Option B non-US cosignor

Along with the I -20( certificate of eligibility for student visa), they sent me the letter which stated that Kellogg guarantees a loan of XXX to you. I showed it during my visa interview and they were perfectly OK with it


hi unplugged
I wasn't aware Kellogg had a no co-signor option. They gave me an Option A loan. Did you specifically ask for Option B.?

thanks
wg
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Re: Financing your MBA - International Students [#permalink] New post   25 Jun 2010, 07:52
Hello everyone,
This is a great link for us international students :)
Also thanx about about the info on cornell as it means i wouldn't have to waste my time applying as i need a loan or else i wont be able to go to business school :(
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Re: Financing your MBA - International Students [#permalink] New post   25 Jun 2010, 12:38
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Hi everyone,
I'm an international student going to start my MBA this fall at UNC and I wanted to share my experience with you all. I know this is also true for DUKE international students as well because I was accepted to their program but decided to go to UNC (I won't discuss my reasons for choosing UNC over DUKE).
Both school offer loans without a US cosigner, the process is very simple. As soon as you get your admit letter they tell you that the option is available, the problem was that nothing official about the procedure came until early June. A very simple online form for pre approval, then a 10 page from that you send to your school and in 5 days I had my loan ready and approved.
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Re: Financing your MBA - International Students [#permalink] New post   30 Jun 2010, 10:04
Will thanks for the timeline. I am still awaiting to hear the official stuff from my college so this is really helpful.

willmba2012 wrote:
Hi everyone,
I'm an international student going to start my MBA this fall at UNC and I wanted to share my experience with you all. I know this is also true for DUKE international students as well because I was accepted to their program but decided to go to UNC (I won't discuss my reasons for choosing UNC over DUKE).
Both school offer loans without a US cosigner, the process is very simple. As soon as you get your admit letter they tell you that the option is available, the problem was that nothing official about the procedure came until early June. A very simple online form for pre approval, then a 10 page from that you send to your school and in 5 days I had my loan ready and approved.
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Re: Financing your MBA - International Students [#permalink] New post   30 Jul 2010, 11:43
Hi, I'm an international student for UCLA Anderson.

As most of you, I'm also facing a big obstacle with the nocosignor loans. UCLA apparently hasn't been able to reach an agreement with the credit unions, therefore they are suggesting us to find alternate sources.

Now my question is this, how is it that some schools are able to provide these loans (Kellogg) while others find it much more difficult? Is the school ranking and brand name a factor in all this?

I'm a bit torn because I still have time to hold on to my job and apply for another school next year instead of paying for the first year of my MBA with money out of my pocket.
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Re: Financing your MBA - International Students [#permalink] New post   09 Sep 2010, 05:22
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Re: Financing your MBA - International Students [#permalink] New post   13 Nov 2010, 07:11
Hi all,
Do you know if a private loan with cosigner can be denied? and what could be the reasons?
I am asking that because I may have found a cosigner but he is worry that his current salary and other existing loans won't help me qualify for a private loan with Citibank (although he doesn't have a bad credit history).
I have been admitted to CBS and I will probably have to borrow the full cost+living expenses.
Any insights, advices???
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Re: Financing your MBA - International Students [#permalink] New post   13 Nov 2010, 09:13
Great thread, there's a lot of ambiguity surrounding financing for the top shcools. Does anyone know of a site or link where the schools are listed with their specific financing options?
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ariel
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Re: Financing your MBA - International Students [#permalink] New post   14 Nov 2010, 10:58
nachoa18 wrote:
Hi all,
Do you know if a private loan with cosigner can be denied? and what could be the reasons?
I am asking that because I may have found a cosigner but he is worry that his current salary and other existing loans won't help me qualify for a private loan with Citibank (although he doesn't have a bad credit history).
I have been admitted to CBS and I will probably have to borrow the full cost+living expenses.
Any insights, advices???


You won't know until you apply. It's possible they might not loan you the full amount you're requesting, or more likely they will but under not particularly favorable conditions. It really makes a difference, so I'd go with the most creditworthy co-signer possible, if your situation allows it. Good luck!
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ariel
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Re: Financing your MBA - International Students [#permalink] New post   14 Nov 2010, 11:01
Rux10 wrote:
Great thread, there's a lot of ambiguity surrounding financing for the top shcools. Does anyone know of a site or link where the schools are listed with their specific financing options?


If you mean speficially in the context of international borrowers, I doubt it - hence this thread. Let us know if you find something though. Another way to think about it is also by lender (as opposed to school), since that's a lot easier to categorize and be exhaustive. For instance, Citi, BofA and Fannie Mae will lend to international students. It is also advisable and often easier to get a loan from your home country.
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Re: Financing your MBA - International Students [#permalink] New post   14 Nov 2010, 16:39
Hi ariel, Thanks for the response.
In my case, I'm going to check with some banks (in home country) what kind of options I can get. We'll see...
And good luck to everyone.
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Re: Financing your MBA - International Students [#permalink] New post   23 Nov 2010, 02:42
Hi,
lately i heard about many b-schools that created loan programs for international students with no need for an american co-signer. the rates are not bad and they can cover the tuition (minus any scholarship received). you should probably check with the specific schools you are applying to.
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Re: Financing your MBA - International Students [#permalink]
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