Yale SOM - Need help exploring financing options with limited savings

Question

Hi all, I just got into Yale SOM's Class of 2023.

Unfortunately, I didn't plan out my finances well and I might not have more than USD 10k in savings by the time I start. I am Pakistani applicant so none of the external scholarships apply to me and I can only finance 80% of the cost of attendance through 'Quorum Federal Credit Union'. Can anyone please guide if there are any other options I can explore to finance the whole cost (tuition + living) for two years. I am estimating it might be somewhere between USD 230-240k. My profile: GMAT: 740 Undergrad GPA: 3.65 (No. 1 business school in Pakistan but not ranked very highly globally) Major: Management Science WE: 4 years as a Management Consultant in McKinsey & Company Gmatclub got me through my GMAT and application process journeys. Counting on this community for support with this as well. Thank you in advance for all your help. Best regards, Bilal Tariq

bb · Answer

Congrats on your admit! 
You are not alone in terms of not planning out your payment and financing strategies ahead of time. Most people take it one step at a time since it gets overwhelming very quickly especially when you come from a country with low salaries.

I have a similar experience though I was able to get a full scholarship for the tuition. Still, the $40,000 I need it for living expenses, was a very steep bill that I have no way of footing.

Have you checked with prodigy? They may be able to finance the shortfall.

Do you know anybody in the United States who could cosign for a loan? Very few people would be able to cosign for a $250,000 loan since it would show up on their credit history and limit their borrowing capacity. However many can sign up for 50,000. In my case, I asked a good friend and my friend was able to ask her cousin on my behalf. He co-signed the loan with me.

Finally, is there any options two borrow locally? Perhaps use real estate as collateral? Many have done this to cover the gap.

Would your employer consider sponsoring you? Even the 20%? Anyway to appeal to one of your bosses to see if they can pull some strings or help come up with creative solutions?

Another consideration is trying for a lower rank school with a scholarship or a beer school with a scholarship.... maybe something you already contemplating...

Posted from my mobile device

bilaltariqakthar · Answer

Thanks a lot for the detailed response bb.

Yes I did check with prodigy. They only cover 80% cost of attendance for Yale SOM. So I will still need some other source for covering the rest of 20% and additional expenditure on top of it. 
I like the co-signing option. Were you able to find multiple sources of loans? Maybe I can 80% from prodigy with a cosigner and separately get a lesser amount from a cosigning option?
Employer sponsorship and local student loans aren't possible in my case. Have already explored these. I am trying to apply for partial external scholarship from a Pakistani philanthropic institution but that's still a 50/50 chance.

bb · Answer

You can apply for most private US student loans with a co-signer. There are several student loan companies that offer it as an option with a co-signer. SOFI, Discover, Earnest, and others. There is a whole slew.

bb · Answer

FYI - just heard from a company who was on GMAT Club pre-COVID and would potentially would be opening up options for students. MPOWER Financing can provide a secondary loan with a co-signer (you will need to check and apply obviously) but they lend up to $50K

bilaltariqakthar · Answer

Thanks a lot for the help bb. I heard MPOWER stopped giving out loans in COVID-19. But will definitely check them out if they are now giving out secondary loans. This would still be helpful since I can get majority of my funding from a primary loan without a co-signer and maybe convince a friend/relative to co-sign a small amount.

bb · Answer

They did because it wasn’t clear how many people were going to school and how it would be impacting everything. Many other student loan providers scaled their operations down.

But everyone seems to be restarting.

Posted from my mobile device

bilaltariqakthar · Answer

Hi bb,

Thanks a lot for helping out so far. So I managed to find a co-signer who will be co-signing my second loan (10-15% of the cost). I am trying to figure out next steps and maybe you have input on the following:

1) Any tools/resources that can help me plan out how much would I have to pay over the course of X years under different loan terms given Y income? (looking for some online tool or even an excel sheet)

2) Names of loan providers (with co-signer) that would be willing to provide a secondary loan (USD 35-40k). My primary loan will be from a provider that has a no-cosigner option (Unfortunately I can't cover all the cost from that option)

3) Do loan providers care whether I am employed at the time of the application? I have had very tough 4 years in consulting and am thinking of resigning and taking a 5-6 months long break before joining MBA. Will this affect my application?

Thanks a lot in advance.

Best regards,

Bilal Tariq

Yale SOM - Need help exploring financing options with limited savings

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