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Loc, Tuition, Months Before Med

HiHopes

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HiHopes Newbie

HiHopes

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Hi everyone once again. I have been entertaining a lot of what-ifs lately. The latest thought was:

 

Say you get accepted.

1)Do you immediately get a line of credit? Will it only be accessible from day 1 of uni?

2) the UofC registrar operates separately from the Cumming school, so tuition is only payable starting in September, correct? Does this mean you only get access to student loans at that point?

3) Could you wonderful people share what you did the couple months before starting? Did you travel? I know I won't be able to due to money concerns, but that'd be very nice before the massive commitment of med. That being said, if the LOC kicks in by mid-may, do people just life off of that until the start of the semester?

4) do you drive or take transit? Any experience with either that is worth mentioning?

 

Thank you :D

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sjc2 Newbie

sjc2

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1) You can get a LOC as soon as you have acceptance to medical school and prove that you are registered at RBC... I'm assuming other banks are the same.

2) I applied for student loans in July... didn't try to get them earlier but I definitely got the money before September. Tuition is due in September.

3) I finished my graduate program, went on a 10 day trip to the East Coast, then moved across the country!

4) I drive. It's a 12 minute drive or a 50 minute bus ride so that's an easy one for me!

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sjc2 Newbie

sjc2

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Sjc2, do you park at lot 6 or is there anything cheaper and relatively equally convenient?

 

People park all over - the cheapest is at Stadium (I think it's $50/month, 15 minute walk). People also rent their spaces in Foothills Village (usually for under $100/month)... parking at the Keg across the street comes to $137 + tax/month, and then there's Lot 6! I have done a combo of Lot 6 and the Keg so far. 

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MSWschnoodle Newbie

MSWschnoodle

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Hi everyone once again. I have been entertaining a lot of what-ifs lately. The latest thought was:

 

Say you get accepted.

1)Do you immediately get a line of credit? Will it only be accessible from day 1 of uni?

2) the UofC registrar operates separately from the Cumming school, so tuition is only payable starting in September, correct? Does this mean you only get access to student loans at that point?

3) Could you wonderful people share what you did the couple months before starting? Did you travel? I know I won't be able to due to money concerns, but that'd be very nice before the massive commitment of med. That being said, if the LOC kicks in by mid-may, do people just life off of that until the start of the semester?

4) do you drive or take transit? Any experience with either that is worth mentioning?

 

Thank you :D

 

 

You've gotten good answers from SJC for most of these already, but I also drive, because I live too far from the university in an area with truly terrible transit. It would take me 2+ hours each way if I took transit. I park at McMahon Stadium and it's $52 per month and it is indeed just shy of a 15 minute walk to campus. I believe you can get parking near Moose McGuires for around $90-$100 a month (unless it went up to Keg rates since it's kind of the same lot). You can put your name on the waitlist for monthly parking at FMC but last I heard people were not getting off that list until they were in clerkship. 

 

I worked right up until medical school started (and I still work now). If I could have taken a break I probably would have, but I had a bunch of contracts + staff positions on the go and had to get rid of at least 2 of them before school got intense. Whether or not you decide to live off your LOC really depends on how comfortable you are with debt and what other opportunities/obligations you have. If you can take at least a short break it's probably worth it.

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sjc2 Newbie

sjc2

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You've gotten good answers from SJC for most of these already, but I also drive, because I live too far from the university in an area with truly terrible transit. It would take me 2+ hours each way if I took transit. I park at McMahon Stadium and it's $52 per month and it is indeed just shy of a 15 minute walk to campus. I believe you can get parking near Moose McGuires for around $90-$100 a month (unless it went up to Keg rates since it's kind of the same lot). You can put your name on the waitlist for monthly parking at FMC but last I heard people were not getting off that list until they were in clerkship. 

 

I worked right up until medical school started (and I still work now). If I could have taken a break I probably would have, but I had a bunch of contracts + staff positions on the go and had to get rid of at least 2 of them before school got intense. Whether or not you decide to live off your LOC really depends on how comfortable you are with debt and what other opportunities/obligations you have. If you can take at least a short break it's probably worth it.

 

Yeah unfortunately that lot has gone up to $125/month + tax.

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HiHopes Newbie

HiHopes

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Thanks for the info everyone!

 

It sounds then like Foothills Village is the best offer while still being reasonably close. If I could stick to just one place I would, that way parking will be one fewer thing to worry about.

MSWschnoodle, it's less the matter of living off it and more the matter of having it as a safety cushion/way for me to get the materials I am sure I will need if I get accepted. I do think that if I manage to get the two weeks before classes off, I will travel a little. How do you manage work with school? I thought it was fairly unheard of for medical students to work.

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MountainAmoeba Newbie

MountainAmoeba

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As someone who has had both student and personal lines of credit, I would give you this piece of knowledge.

 

Both personal and student lines of credit require similar, yet different pieces of supporting documentation, with personal lines of credit being harder to receive, and with less benifets.

 

My recommendation to you is to go to the bank of your choice, and ask to speak to a loan specialist that deals with medical students with a list of your concerns and requirements. It would help to go in and have some things ready. Have a list of any assets you have (like house, rrsp's, etc (not snowboards etc), and also a list of all debts outstanding you owe (credit cards, car loans, student loans etc) Have tax returns for the last 3-4 years, and notice of returns for the same periods. Have proof of employment like 3-4 recent pay stubs. Then find out what the process is for both, and what supporting documentation you are missing for that financial institution.

 

Generally for a student line of credit you will need a letter of acceptance, and a letter prepared from the school detailing the anticipated start and end date of your program, total length of program, degree expected to be conferred at the completion etc. The bank will be very detailed in what the letter must include (I had to go back 3 times to my school haha). The medschool will know exactly what to provide and have a lot of experience in providing these materials to their students.

 

You likely will not be able to get a student line of credit before firm acceptance, and certainly will not be able to access any promised line of credit until the bank has confirmation. This shouldn't be problematic for start up materials for school.

 

If money is really tight, and you are worried about getting things like a new laptop, textbooks, a stethoscope etc, an option is to go to the bank and see if you can get a loan for the amount you think is required say....5000 bucks (realistically less). That would be much easier to get then a personal line of credit for the same amount. Then you can pay that loan off with your line of credit, and close the loan out.

 

A line of credit has something called interest only payments. You only owe money on what you have actually borrowed against, not the total credit available to you. So a line of credit with 100 percent of the credit available costs you nothing to maintain. However, it is included in the total debt you might be able to service, and so the entire amount is used against you when applying for things like car loans, and mortgages.

 

Realistically your costs for starting medschool (before medschool is actually started) should be serviceable (think the deposit). Once your acceptance is firm you should be easily able to get a line of credit that you can use to buy the other things with (computer, books etc). The caveat to all of this is if you are a high risk consumer (think maxed out credit cards, with high limits, poor payment history etc) the bank may be hesitant to provide you a line of credit, or conversely may offer you one with a lower limit until you have a history with them that offsets your financial history. A lender will be able to answer your questions.

 

If your lender is not forthright in answering questions find another one. Do not deal with people that give you the run around, and can't provide a comprehensive perspective on your borrowing capacity, and the banks ability to provide you services. This all seems like a lot, but I promise you, with a good lender the process is painless.

 

My last advice is before you actually apply for any LOC, or loan, shop around for interest rates etc. They can do risk assessments, and profile you without applying. Each time you apply it shows up on your credit score, multiple applications (even if you ultimately turn them down) will impact your score. So shop around, then apply once. Be clear with your lender that you are gathering information, and aren't interested in applying until you know what product you want.

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HiHopes Newbie

HiHopes

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Thanks a lot for the insight MountainAmoeba. I do have a Student LOC that I still need to close, so my credit is not terrible. It is very good, my only problem is the lack of stable income at the moment that makes me wonder if they will be hesitant. I suppose that most future docs won't have stable income (or will have no income source at all) during school anyways, so perhaps this will not be as big a deal as it was for my undergrad line of credit (in which they were more partial to me having an income source). I like Scotia's option of compounding interest on top of the LOC instead of having to transfer funds every month to pay interest like in TD. I never forget payments or anything, but I feel like if there is ever a time I would, it'd be in med school. I will probably consolidate this old LOC into the med school one if(when) as soon as I get the acceptance letter, so I will already have started to accrue interest on it anyways. My logic is that, in this case, might as well start responsibly using it to get the materials and etc that I will need.

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HiHopes Newbie

HiHopes

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No, not mine yet, End Poverty. I asked people to message me once they hear from any university just to keep me informed about the progression of the assessment.

 

Sorry YesIcan55, I thought that perhaps the two would do the same. Guess it wasn't of any help :P

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