Guest Ollie Posted July 7, 2005 Report Share Posted July 7, 2005 You're right there are minimal differences between Royal and MDM. I chose MDM for sort of "personal" reasons. When I went to talk to Royal (I saw the med student LOC specialist guy in Vancouver) I felt like I was being sold something. He just kind of came across like a used car salesman. He didn't explain things very well and used a lot of bank jargon that I was unfamiliar with. I walked out more confused than when I walked in. MDM was the total opposite. I had a 1.5 hour meeting where we went over everything about my finances, including making a budget. She explained everything to me very clearly. MDM itself is non-profit (although the bank you deal with, National Bank, is obviously for-profit), and the MDM consultants are non-commission. So I feel like when it comes time to start paying back and looking into mortgages and what not after graduation I will be more confortable dealing with MDM. There is one more minor thing, and I could be wrong about this due to my confusion about Royal. What I understood is that you have two accounts, the LOC and a chequing account. You need to transfer money from the LOC into the chequing account as you need it. As well, when you are charged interest monthly, you need to transfer money back into the LOC to pay the interest. With MDM, you just have one account, the LOC, which functions like any other bank account. The interest is just added on to your principle each month. In money terms, it works out the same at the end of the day, but it just seemed like a pain to have to do all that transferring back and forth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest uteng Posted July 7, 2005 Report Share Posted July 7, 2005 I can't say for certain, but I'm pretty sure both RBC and MDM's LOC work the same way - i.e. I would be very surprised if you had to transfer money back with RBC. UWOMED2005 had mentioned that at the time he evaluated MDM had the best deal - can you elaborate? Seems to me the only differences are that you have a higher maximum ($200k) with National Bank, and RBC offers slightly more day-to-day services like free money orders. I'm think I'm going with National Bank. I don't plan on using the extra $50K, but you never know what will happen. Residents start in the mid-$40k salary range, not a heck of a lot when you're trying to repay a massive loan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest misersizer Posted July 7, 2005 Report Share Posted July 7, 2005 I think you do have to transfer money into your account from your credit line to make your interest payment. I am with RBC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nextstopmd Posted July 7, 2005 Report Share Posted July 7, 2005 Just a quick tidbit about #4 - the credit cards. Many people with loans from RBC in my class have free Platinum cards. I'm not exactly sure what the difference is between the RBC Gold and Platinum cards in terms of features, so I don't know if that's meaningful or not. In terms of credit card selection, RBC has a bigger variety of cards, so if you're the kind of person that likes getting points of one kind or another for purchases, RBC gives you a bigger range of cards. I just wish we could charge our tuition to a credit card, that would really rack up the points! nextstopmd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest squeegy80 Posted July 7, 2005 Report Share Posted July 7, 2005 There is a big difference between the Gold and Platinum Avion cards at RBC. With the Gold you get no rewards, whereas the Platinum Avion gives you points for travel and shopping rewards, which I think works out to a decent 2% of purchases. The Platinum Avion is listed as an extra $120/yr, if you can't swing a deal. Does anyone have a proven strategy for getting RBC to waive the fee for the Platinum Avion card? I was thinking I would gently threaten to go with MDM, but that if they waived the $120 fee then I would sign that day with them. And I would mention that I know that many other med students had received that treatment. The only problem is that the branch manager I dealt with in my initial info session didn't know jack about the Med LOC so she might be hesitant to give me $150,000 at prime AND a no-fee Platinum Avion card... I've heard at some schools you can pay tuition with credit cards. Does anyone know which schools have this available? (I'm particularly interested in Calgary) Thanks, squeegy (edited to add Avion everywhere... thanks nby) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nby Posted July 7, 2005 Report Share Posted July 7, 2005 a few things 1) MUN allows you to pay by credit card, but you must pay by august 22nd, otherwise your student loans will pay your tuition. If you make a payment by credit card after this, it will be refunded to your credit card and your student loan will still pay it (assuming you get a student loan). Other schools I imagine will have a similar deal. 2) Please make the distiction between a RBC platinum card and a RBC platinum avion card. The RBC platinum card is nothing more than a RBC gold card that is a different colour and is with all the same perks and the same no annual fee. The platinum avion is the one that costs $120/yr. 3) On this, please note that the RBC gold card is no annual fee (ie. free) to anyone in the public who has a limit >= $5k. RBC talks about it like it's a perk for their med students, it is not, you are not getting a deal here. (Goes for no annual fee RBC platinum too, but if someone gets their fee waived on a RBS platinum avion card - you're doin well bud) 4) "transfering money back to the RBC LOC" - yes its true. MDM's LOC is "self-eating", in other words, the interest is just added to the total loan. RBC is different, they expect you to make a payment from external sources to make the interest payment. This means they take the payment (interest) out of your chequing account automatically (i believe automatically). This results in you having to transfer out enough money to cover this payment a few days prior. The banker tried to convince me this was superior because it reminds you just how much you are borrowing and how much you are paying to borrow this, to keep your spending sprees in control. Personally, I think it's just a pain in the ass, but the access to the RBC and their customer service was superior enough to still win me over MDM. Not to mention the flights I'm going to have once I slam a few years tuition on my platinum avion card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hash Posted July 7, 2005 Report Share Posted July 7, 2005 I know that UofA allows you to pay tuition with a credit card. Personally, I think the RBC Avion Platinum is totally worth it for me (and other UofA students) when UofA fees are put on it. The $120 annual fee will be easily made up for in travel rewards. Its especially nice for those who might want to do a foreign elective in third or fourth year as they have no blackout dates and no limitations on which carrier you can use. I'm hoping I can snag it for free as well - but I don't want to sound too cheap when I'm negotiating with them either.:\ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest anatomist Posted July 7, 2005 Report Share Posted July 7, 2005 Any word as to how they treat former loans? i.e. is there a mandate to roll them into the line of credit, or is the total deducted from the total allowable financing for example? I was curious, because even if MDM disbursed $30-40k per year over 4 years, this does not add up to the $200k maximum. I previously thought that RBC included former student loans in the "maximum fundable amount", but previous posts in this thread (or another, not sure it was around the time of the crash) suggested otherwise for recent LOC's. cheers, Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MikeD Posted July 7, 2005 Report Share Posted July 7, 2005 Kevin, My undergrad LOC with Royal was rolled into the new LOC, meaning less than 150 grand of new funds was available to me. The person there assured me this was always the case, but you can never know for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest satsumargirl Posted July 7, 2005 Report Share Posted July 7, 2005 I was curious, because even if MDM disbursed $30-40k per year over 4 years, this does not add up to the $200k maximum. I believe that the 200k includes what you would have access to as a resident in addition to as a med student (so not just 4 years). Personally, I think it is useful to have that extra left over in case paying any OSAP off with the line of credit makes sense at graduation....since principal payments are due 6 months after med school's done with OSAP. (I find it frustrating that the banks seem to be more supportive of us getting our medical education than our own government. Yeah, the banks are making money from us. But the government is getting competent physicians >: ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Don Corleone Posted July 7, 2005 Report Share Posted July 7, 2005 If I was to get my LOC prior to finalizing my student loan application - would it work against me? (i.e. would i no longer get any student loans?) Along the same line, if we sign up for a LOC, does that mean that we can't get any student loans for the other years because of this "available credit"? DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nby Posted July 7, 2005 Report Share Posted July 7, 2005 DC - no, your LOC is not included in your assets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest uteng Posted July 7, 2005 Report Share Posted July 7, 2005 Kevin, I've been approved for $50K this year from National Bank(MDM). National bank will then up your limit $30K every year in med school, and $20K every year in residency up to a maximum of $200K. Though this is not set in stone, and you can increase your max in a given year if you need it. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest flying kumquat Posted July 8, 2005 Report Share Posted July 8, 2005 I have a question about the MDM LOC. I know that you're given $50k first year, then $30k second, third and fourth years. What happens if you don't use all the money in one year? Eg. Use only $25k of $50k in first year - would you have access to $55k second year, or would they only give you an additional $5k to top you up to $30k? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nby Posted July 8, 2005 Report Share Posted July 8, 2005 yeah, they don't actually "give" you the money, they up your limit. So they move the limit to the previous limit + $30k, not to your balance + $30k. In other words if you don't touch it until your last year of your residency, you have access to the full $200k. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Don Corleone Posted July 8, 2005 Report Share Posted July 8, 2005 It would be nice if we could have a poll, to see how many people went with RBC vs MDM vs other DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Steve U of T Posted July 8, 2005 Report Share Posted July 8, 2005 The differences between the banks probably don't matter for the majority of med students. Very few people will actually need $150,000 up front, and very few people will need to borrow a total of $200,000. The interest rates and repayment schedules are all essentially the same, banking fees are nil or negligible. If you have a good credit rating, you can get a good no-fee credit card outside of your LOC (I was preapproved for a Visa with a $7500 limit and a cashback plan before I even mentioned to my bank that I was going to med school). $37,500/year is more than enough for me, as is $150,000 total, so I decided to remain loyal and stick with Scotiabank, who have provided me with good service since I was a kid. CIBC may only offer $125,000 total, but for some people, that will be more than enough. If you already bank with them, there's no reason to switch to RBC or National Bank just because they offer more money that you won't use. If a situation comes up later on where you need the extra money, you can always ask for a limit increase, or approach another bank and switch. In summary, if you don't need a large sum of money up front, or an obscene total loan amount, which should include most of you, go with Scotiabank because I'm a shareholder :b Just kidding. In all seriousness, I don't believe that the perceived benefits of RBC and MDM over the other banks are relevant to the average med student, so people shouldn't be so closed-minded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Shaunabelle Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 squeegy80, i sent you a message to your inbox - could you please reply to me. Thanks for all of your help! Shauna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest anatomist Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 Hi Steve, Just a comment - the max. limit does come into play if you are incorporating previous student loans in a total fundable "ceiling"... (then some of us start to look longinly and dreadingly at the higher caps... but of course you do what you have to...) Cheers, Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Steve U of T Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 You're right, Kevin. The point I was trying to make was that people should look at their financial situation and decide how much money they really need before switching banks. Some people will need the extra credit, I think most won't. From this thread, it looks like everyone is going with either RBC or National Bank, but I somehow doubt that everyone who posted actually has a need for the higher credit limits. I'm sure some people do need the extra credit to cover outstanding debt, and those people should go with RBC or National Bank if their current bank won't negotiate an acceptable deal. However, I'd bet that many people could live comfortably on the $125,000 that CIBC offers. Perhaps I'm traditional, but I believe in remaining loyal to a bank that has served me well in the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest anatomist Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 Hi Steve, That much is certain. Sometimes it is easier to negotiate things when the person sitting across from you takes note of your business for the past 10 or 20 years. Just wanted to throw in my $.02 regarding high-cap LOC's, although hopefully a long term solution (LOWER TUITION FEES) is in the works. Yes, it's wanton fantasy, but one can always dream. Keep cool. Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest squeegy80 Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 Yeah it's too bad I've always dealt with TD, as they told me they will not budge on their Prime+1 policy. So they're pretty much saying they don't want any med students' business... Steve you make a good point, and I have actually recently started to look at CIBC and BMO as other options. Since I'm off to Calgary, I doubt I'll need a huge limit for the 3-year program. I don't know much about these two banks though. Are their med LOCs prime through repayment like RBC (and supposedly National Bank)? Are there any monthly fees for your account? Do they have automatic fund transfer like National Bank? If all these are the same as the "top 2", CIBC might be a good choice since they're known (at least to people I know) to have much better customer service than RBC, and they'd have many more branches than National Bank. I know I sound paranoid about this LOC stuff but when you think about it, it's a ton of money so I want to make sure I'm getting the best deal possible. squeegy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Spazumn Posted July 25, 2005 Report Share Posted July 25, 2005 I just signed my LOC with RBC, but have yet to finalize which VISA card I will get. With the Platinum Preferred card, you pay $110/year, but obtain Avion points that could add up very quickly if I use my VISA to pay tuition. However I received my registration package from UofT today, where it was stated that fees must be paid at a bank. Anyone know whether I can still use my VISA (Plat Pref) to pay these fees at the bank, and still get the Avion points? Otherwise I might as well just get the no-fees Platinum card. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Steve U of T Posted July 26, 2005 Report Share Posted July 26, 2005 Do you gain Avion points on balance transfers? I somehow doubt that you do, but if it's possible, you might be able to pay tuition through your LOC, then transfer the balance to your VISA. Most credit cards give good introductory interest rates on balance transfers for the first 6 months after you sign up for the card, which also saves a bit on interest. However, I suspect you'll only get points from purchases, not balance transfers or cash advances. What sort of credit limit do people generally get on those credit cards that come with a LOC? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest medeng Posted July 26, 2005 Report Share Posted July 26, 2005 I've been wondering about the balance transfers... you can actually pay bills using your visa directly through online banking, although there is a small fee (at RBC), but I don't know if you get points when you do this... If anybody who has the avion card (I don't have mine yet) has tried this, or is willing to try it, please let us know whether it works! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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