Where to apply for LOC?

[momo]

This may be a question asked timeles times before but if you're going to med school in another province, do you apply for the LOC at the local bank (where your Med school is located), or can you apply in your home town before you leave for med school? Thanks! M

[kaymcee]

It doesn't matter when/where you get your LOC. Go with the bank you have your current accounts with, as it's generally easier. Every bank will likely be the same regarding interest rates and repayment terms.

[surgimus]

Yes! Nice work starting this thread momo. I was actually looking for resources on LOC's today. Keep me posted on what you turn up. I heard MD financial is pretty decent, sent an email to Carolyn who deals with med students at u of s. I'll post up what I find out from them.

[reminisce]

anyone else got any advice regarding LOC's?

[Satsuma]

The 2 big ones seem to be RBC and MDM. Other banks still offer med student LOCs, they just don`t seem to try so hard for your business and sometimes the max LOC etc is a little lower (but hopefully you don`t need the max you get from RBC anyway). When I started TD did not have a med student LOC but as of last year I think they have a 100k med student LOC...something to look into if you like TD. I can`t be bothered switching mine at this point.

 

There are old threads on the advantages/disadvantages of MDM vs a bank like RBC.

 

You could set up your LOC at your local home branch or wait until you start school. During orientation week most of the banks are around and they'll get you set up in a matter of a day or so. It doesn`t take long at all.

 

Wherever you decide to do it...make sure you go with a place that has a rep that deals just with medical professionals. I find this really helps alot. They know their product really well and our situation as students and later as working physicians. It is their job just to take care of us, and mine so far does a pretty good job. You might not get such a rep at your local home branch, but probably every place near a med school will have one.

 

For the out of province thing...I was out of province for a bit and had some banking issues come up for which it was a big pain trying to resolve from so far away and no branch nearby that actually wants to help take care of you. So I would suggest getting an account set up near your med school since you will be there for 4 years at least even if you keep your bank account from home.

[blinknoodle]

I completely agree with Satsuma's advice. Find someone who actaully knows about the LOC for medical students. Additionally, Scotia also has jumped into the medical LOC race. Many of my friends switched to them this year. You can always transfer the accounts so from home to your school location, which is a possibility (at least for Scotia, I bet elsewhere as well).

[momo]

Thanks for all the responses - once I have my actual letter in hand I will start going to the banks and seeing what they say. I am actually extremely overwhelmed, but given that I have no family or anyone else who can help with the financing, the loan is the only way to go for me... but it seems like many students did it as well and it worked out! I will keep you updated on my progress:) Thanks again!

 

m

[Satsuma]

Thanks for all the responses - once I have my actual letter in hand I will start going to the banks and seeing what they say. I am actually extremely overwhelmed, but given that I have no family or anyone else who can help with the financing, the loan is the only way to go for me... but it seems like many students did it as well and it worked out! I will keep you updated on my progress:) Thanks again!

 

m

 

I think we all feel that way about our LOCs. It is pretty scary to think you'll be coming out of med school with a debt the size of a small mortgage. But you WILL be able to pay it back...not in residency, but after that!

 

Don't forget to try and get the max student loans!

[007]

I'd just like to agree with the opinion that you should set it up in the city where you'll be going to school if you can wait to do that and to set it up with the bank representative who deals with all the med student loans. That way, you'll have someone you can easily contact about your limit etc and who will actually set up the correct LOC for you.

[surgimus]

I was speaking with my friend today about LOC's. Apparently if you're 22 or older the government does not look at your parents' income before awarding you their loan. I turn 22 in October, so I may be waiting till then unfortunately. The advantage of it, is that you won't have to pay interest on your loan until you are done your MD degree. He also went with RBC for his LOC, but I'm not sure about the particulars of that, 150k at prime.

[momo]

Hey brooksbane...it's sage advice, I WISH I had family members to beg and plead with:) Unfortunately we were refugees to Canada, so I only have my Dad and my sister who lives in the US and is a poor student herself... and my Dad is in no condition to lend money... I guess I'm just going to have to moonlight during my medical education as a...I don't know... a stand up comedienne:) (sorry for my spelling, I just had a total brainfreeze).

 

What frustrates me is that I am ineligible for OSAP apparently, which some of the Ontario students are using, due to having worked for the last year and a bit... but yeah -for those of you from Ontario, consider OSAP! The applications can still be submitted, and it's not an LOC, which is a big plus!

 

I have been searching for any other funding, but I am coming up short - if anyone knows of any scholarships or anything at all, let us know! M

[KennethToronto]

Agree that LOCs aren't the hottest especially if you're being stupid and using them to fund cars (which can often be financed for much cheaper) and other fancy things.

 

Just tossing out some numbers for interest and discussion (and hopefully my math is somewhat correct - feel free to correct me as I just plugged the formula from wikipedia into Excel):

 

• Assuming LOCs compound daily
  
• Current prime rate is 4.75% (very nice) stays the same
  
• Daily interest incurred is paid with the LOC
  
• You take out exactly $20,000 every September (in reality, you would not take out a $20,000 lump sum right away so my math is an over-estimate)

At the end of first year, you will owe $20972.85

At the end of second year: $42965.90

At the end of third year: $66028.75

At the end of fourth year: $90213.44

 

In residency, your monthly interest only payment would be $352/mo (ouch)

 

In conclusion, interest sucks. However, we still have it much better than medical students in the US.

[Satsuma]

What frustrates me is that I am ineligible for OSAP apparently, which some of the Ontario students are using, due to having worked for the last year and a bit... but yeah -for those of you from Ontario, consider OSAP! The applications can still be submitted, and it's not an LOC, which is a big plus!

 

I have been searching for any other funding, but I am coming up short - if anyone knows of any scholarships or anything at all, let us know! M

 

Apply to OSAP! Having worked previously does not make you inelligible...I dont`know where you heard that.

 

I worked full-time for 2 years at a nicely paying job before going to med school, and still got OSAP...not a whole lot, especially after they deducted my car! But I still got SOME which is better than none. And once you qualify for even just something small like a couple hundred dollars you become elligible for other needs based awards from your school.

 

So don`t assume you are not eligible for OSAP. Just apply and see what happens. They don't even look at your income for that entire period....just a few months before your study period begins...I can`t remember how many months now.

 

Also, I don`t know about all schools, but here at Ottawa they have an interest relief bursary for med students. So if you are using an LOC, the school is basically covering your interest for you while you are in school.

[EESH]

The 2 big ones seem to be RBC and MDM. Other banks still offer med student LOCs, they just don`t seem to try so hard for your business and sometimes the max LOC etc is a little lower (but hopefully you don`t need the max you get from RBC anyway). When I started TD did not have a med student LOC but as of last year I think they have a 100k med student LOC...something to look into if you like TD. I can`t be bothered switching mine at this point.

 

There are old threads on the advantages/disadvantages of MDM vs a bank like RBC.

 

You could set up your LOC at your local home branch or wait until you start school. During orientation week most of the banks are around and they'll get you set up in a matter of a day or so. It doesn`t take long at all.

 

Wherever you decide to do it...make sure you go with a place that has a rep that deals just with medical professionals. I find this really helps alot. They know their product really well and our situation as students and later as working physicians. It is their job just to take care of us, and mine so far does a pretty good job. You might not get such a rep at your local home branch, but probably every place near a med school will have one.

 

For the out of province thing...I was out of province for a bit and had some banking issues come up for which it was a big pain trying to resolve from so far away and no branch nearby that actually wants to help take care of you. So I would suggest getting an account set up near your med school since you will be there for 4 years at least even if you keep your bank account from home.

 

a quick correction... RBC does a real half assed job at trying to get med students to take their product. Quite frankly, I don't know how they became so popular given that they offer no perks and poor customer service. I think the big ones are National Bank/MDManagement and Scotia Bank. I've heard good things about CIBC (free aeroplan gold visa), but had a poor experience when I went in to inquire.

[Satsuma]

a quick correction... RBC does a real half assed job at trying to get med students to take their product. Quite frankly, I don't know how they became so popular given that they offer no perks and poor customer service. I think the big ones are National Bank/MDManagement and Scotia Bank. I've heard good things about CIBC (free aeroplan gold visa), but had a poor experience when I went in to inquire.

 

That's too bad you have had a bad experience with RBC.

 

My experience has been really good so far. Free banking, free cheques, a rep that is very accommodating. Twice I've needed to sign things and she's come to me, I didn`t even have to go into a branch. Can't comment on the credit card as I kept the one I already had. But they did offer a VISA gold of some sort when I got my account free, I just declined it.

 

A classmate of mine signed up for an LOC with RBC last year, and the rep came into school to meet her, so she had everything set up and didn`t have to go into a branch either. And they deposited $100 into my account for referring her.

 

RBC sponsors alot of presentations and things at our school. So can`t really say they do a half assed job at encouraging students to use their product. I can`t recall ever seeing ScotiaBank sponsor any of our events.

 

Don`t even get me started with CIBC....that is the bank I grew up with and I had so many problems with them I can`t even count. I finally changed banks, will never go back, and am so happy to be rid of them.

 

In general I've had good experiences with TD, just unfortunately they didn`t have a med student LOC when I started med school or I would have gone with them.

[Sheena815]

Can someone tell me the advantage of using OSAP + LOC instead of just LOC? I can only assume the interest rate on OSAP is lower, since so many people seem to use it (as you can tell, I've never used OSAP before).

 

ETA: also, I AM planning to buy a car (but a cheap, older car that will just get me around the city). If I buy the car after applying for OSAP, are they going to rescind some of my funds?

[KennethToronto]

Can someone tell me the advantage of using OSAP + LOC instead of just LOC? I can only assume the interest rate on OSAP is lower, since so many people seem to use it (as you can tell, I've never used OSAP before).

 

ETA: also, I AM planning to buy a car (but a cheap, older car that will just get me around the city). If I buy the car after applying for OSAP, are they going to rescind some of my funds?

 

OSAP infinitely better than LOCs because while you are in school, they DO NOT accumulate interest, versus LOCs which accumulate interest the moment any money is taken out.

 

Furthermore, after graduation, you can reconsolidate your OSAP with your LOC and pay only at prime.

[Sheena815]

OSAP infinitely better than LOCs because while you are in school, they DO NOT accumulate interest, versus LOCs which accumulate interest the moment any money is taken out.

 

Furthermore, after graduation, you can reconsolidate your OSAP with your LOC and pay only at prime.

 

Oh, excellent! I will definitely apply then... er, is there a deadline for osap applications?

 

And I will definitely have to look into how much the car (however cheap it may be) is going to hurt me.

[EESH]

Hey Sheena,

 

You're allowed upto $5000 for a car. Anything over is deducted from your OSAP entitlement (I've heard a dollar-for-dollar deduction for anything over $5000). I'm not sure if this is true for other universities, but at Ottawa I heard that we can have a car with a $10000 value during clerkship without any deductions.

 

Satsuma - you're right RBC does sponsor a lot of events, along with MD Management. All banks will go to you to sign papers though, that's nothing special. I wanted to go with RBC when I was first started looking around, and they do a good job at selling their products before you go in to sign... but once you go in and realize what it's all about - all they give you is a free checkings account, free checks, free money orders, and $150K at prime - all banks will give you that. The visa gold card you're talking about is free for anyone.

 

As you can see, I put a lot of importance on visa point cards, just because I know it's going to make a difference during CaRMS. What killed it for RBC was the platinum avion card - they should give it for free, like other banks are doing with their visa equivalents.

[Ollie]

My LOC is with MD Management. I have been very happy with them, and I'll soon be meeting with them to discuss repayment, yikes! I've never been a fan of the big banks (life-long credit union member) so I definitely liked the fact that the MD Mgmt consultants are non-commission and that they deal only with doctors, residents and med students. I would definitely recommend them.

[The_B]

My LOC is with MD Management. I have been very happy with them, and I'll soon be meeting with them to discuss repayment, yikes! I've never been a fan of the big banks (life-long credit union member) so I definitely liked the fact that the MD Mgmt consultants are non-commission and that they deal only with doctors, residents and med students. I would definitely recommend them.

 

Not to correct someone on their own banking, but MD management doesn't have a bank. They refer to National Bank. I am with them as well I will say, and they are very good. From what the people at MD management say (which is a branch of the CMA) is that most of them are equally good, they were able to make a deal with National Bank for what we have now. Many other banks offer essentially the same thing. What Buffy Pool wrote in the other thread holds true. Don't accept anything above prime, look for repaying grace periods extending past residency, etc. I like what National bank offers (only through the referral from MDM), but if you can get the same from Royal, etc., then go nuts.

[momo]

Just updating on my LOC adventure - might help someone or at least provide some extra information for dealing with the big banks... geesus... I've gone to RBC and I am unimpressed - the professional student specialist did not quite know what I needed to do to qualify for this credit, and it turned out in the end that although my credit rating is excellent, the LIMITS on my credit cards are too high for them (i.e. it's too much of a risk that I will go and buy a car with my credit card). So the first email was - let me see what I can do, the second was a suggestion to close one of my cards, and the third was a categorical (very imperial) statement that for me to get it I need to close one of my cards... now, I've worked way too hard for my credit to close it.

 

So...to avoid "credit shopping" and lowering my rating I will go to MD Management only and see what they say. I understand that a loan is a give and take between the lender and me, but they make their money of our interest so I think I should try one more avenue.

 

Quick question - has anyone one to TD for an LOC? That's my bank, I've been with them for years... but apparently the LOC for med students is new with them, and I have not heard anything... anyone have any opinions? Thanks!!

 

m

[webshy]

Quick question - has anyone one to TD for an LOC? That's my bank, I've been with them for years... but apparently the LOC for med students is new with them, and I have not heard anything... anyone have any opinions? Thanks!!

 

I will likely go with TD. I have my mortgage with them, and have been told that they do have a specific LOC for medical (and other professional) students. The mortgage is at prime, and I believe for $150K (however, I'm going by memory on the exact amount, so I could be off). Student accounts are free with TD, whether or not you have your LOC with them.

 

All of that said, I will be doing a bit of shopping around. I have equity in my home, and a mortgage that currently sits 0.9% below prime. I'm going to try to get a LOC below prime since it will be secured not only with my education but also with my condo. The RBC specialist who sometimes comments on these forums told me that should be possible, so I may end up with them after all.

 

Elaine

[sdfsdf]

hey elaine did you get a LOC below prime?