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ontariostudent Newbie

ontariostudent

Posted
Posted
they all essentially offer the same thing.

 

150K (or 200 with MD management).

 

All offer prime rate (if they offer more, youre getting screwed)

 

The only difference is some will put limits on how much you can take out per year.

 

Just pick a bank you are comfortable with.

 

I went to RBC and they told me their rate is prime + 1%, and I just found it on their website http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/RBC:SeumQ471A8YAMsBcdgA/products/personalloans/rcl_for_students_pro.html . I'm a bit confused because RBC seems to be really popular, and I've heard from other people that their rate is prime. Maybe this is a recent change?

 

MD Financial seems to be charging prime http://mdm.ca/solutions/banking/students-and-residents/line-of-credit.asp

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mrgreek Newbie

mrgreek

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meds and dents is seen differently tha professional students at rbc (in a good way; less risk)... so they have their rates at prime...

 

http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/RBC:Seul9Y71A8UALgCsb-I/student/medical/plan.html

 

A $150,000 Student Line of Credit* at prime, with no restrictions on how much you can borrow annually.

*im assuming theres some sort of condition... i didnt bother looking at what it is

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ontariostudent Newbie

ontariostudent

Posted
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meds and dents is seen differently tha professional students at rbc (in a good way; less risk)... so they have their rates at prime...

 

http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/RBC:Seul9Y71A8UALgCsb-I/student/medical/plan.html

 

A $150,000 Student Line of Credit* at prime, with no restrictions on how much you can borrow annually.

*im assuming theres some sort of condition... i didnt bother looking at what it is

 

Oh, thanks for posting. That's weird because when I went there in person they definitely said it was prime + 1, but it's definitely possible that the man I spoke to wasn't accustomed to dealing with med students. I had got to TD first and they said their rate was just prime, and when I mentioned that to the man at RBC he made me think I was crazy for saying that. I hate when people advise you and act like they know what they're talking about when they really don't.

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justletmein Newbie

justletmein

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You need to speak to the person specifically in charge of med students for your school. The rate is prime, don't accept anything else.

 

http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/RBC:Seul9Y71A8UALgCsb-I/student/medical/specialists.html

 

 

Second that. I am with RBC.

 

Make sure you get the med student package (not all branches are used to dealing with med students):

 

-Student no limit chequing account (no monthly fee)

-Free Visa Gold

-150K LOC at prime rate

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flying kumquat Newbie

flying kumquat

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I would try to find a med student/resident specialist at RBC if you can. They don't necessarily have to be the one affiliated with your school (e.g. I go to Queen's but my guy is in Ottawa), but you want to talk to, at least at some point, someone who doesn't have to refer to a pamphlet to arrange essential financial services for you.

 

Other things that you should get with your RBC LOC that aren't immediately important to you:

- 12 (I think) free bank drafts/money orders a year (you'll use these for the electives cash grab)

- a fancy gold debit card that indicates your "special" status (otherwise, people don't believe you should get those bank drafts for free - just speaking from personal experience here)

- your LOC remains a student LOC through residency, leading to:

- no payments on the principle required until 1 year after residency

- interest rate remains at prime throughout residency

 

I would advise that you go speak to MD Management advisors as well, mostly because they're free to you. They'll offer you a few things, and even though they're not commissioned, they'll definitely push the National Bank products.

- life and disability insurance through the OMA (if applicable) - advisable to get this as this is pretty much the only time you can get this type of insurance without getting a physical

- power of attorney and will

- RRSP with $18.67 in it (that you then have to report each year for taxes and loan applications)

- budgeting (I didn't do this with MDM as a med student, only going in to residency. I imagine it might be helpful, but I always found budgeting with everything going into the red depressing. Basically, try to keep your LOC at or under $30k/year.)

- MDM's LOC - the MDM people will push this product despite not being commissioned. Even going in as a MS4, they've pushed it as being superior to RBC's because you don't have to make monthly payments for your interest. This can be confusing and make MDM look awesome vs. RBC. Don't be fooled: you might not physically have to have money (or overdraft) for the payment to be taken out of chequing, as with RBC. But any interest you accrue with MDM is just put right on to your LOC balance. It's not like you don't have interest payments. This point always bugged me because MDM was always like, "Oh, RBC, they're evil for doing things the way they do," but really, it's no huge difference. If you have no money of your own as a med student, the interest will be paid off your LOC in either scenario. If you're happy with RBC, don't switch to MDM just for this point.

- also regarding MDM's LOC - you can't get $200k right away. Though I was not meeting the advisor to discuss this, it sounded like you can't get anymore than $30k a year from them while in med school (plus maybe a bit more for 1st year - don't take me as a source of info on this, talk to them). Unlike RBC, they will give you $170k for R1 and ?$190k/200k for R2. So you're not getting that $200k right away.

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justletmein Newbie

justletmein

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all good information, but from my experience you will have to keep 'reminding" them what you are entitled to, specialist or not.

 

Do your homework, know what you are supposed to receive and make sure they dont scre you over.

 

p.s. the gold bank card means absolutely butkiss lol.

 

 

 

 

 

 

oh one last tip if you are going with RBC....

 

they offer a "free" gold visa. It is a good card since it includes travel insurance, car rental insurance etc...

but if you do your homework you will see that the card is FREE FOR EVERYONE. There is no annual fee.

 

 

When I met with another advisor for my student loans she asked me why I don't have a student visa. I said they gave me the gold one i thought that was better. She says no, with the student visa (Classic II with the annual fee waived for students) you get DOUBLE POINTS on all purchases.

 

So bottom line I kept the gold one and replaced my old visa with the student one. My points have been accumulating like crazy and why not get a little something back.

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flying kumquat Newbie

flying kumquat

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p.s. the gold bank card means absolutely butkiss lol.

 

 

I would agree, were it not for the experience I had. I was an RBC customer before med school. Whoever set up my LOC forgot to give me a gold bank card. This didn't cause me any hassle at all until I tried to get free money orders for elective applications. With the "normal" bank card, I had to fight each time to get my free money orders. Once it was switched over to the gold bank card, I had no more issues. I have no idea why they couldn't just somehow encode into my regular bank card that I should get free money orders, but it seemed to be the limiting factor.

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justletmein Newbie

justletmein

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I would agree, were it not for the experience I had. I was an RBC customer before med school. Whoever set up my LOC forgot to give me a gold bank card. This didn't cause me any hassle at all until I tried to get free money orders for elective applications. With the "normal" bank card, I had to fight each time to get my free money orders. Once it was switched over to the gold bank card, I had no more issues. I have no idea why they couldn't just somehow encode into my regular bank card that I should get free money orders, but it seemed to be the limiting factor.

 

I havent needed bank orders yet, but I was also an RBC customer for many years before I began med school and I got the gold bank card in the mail 5 days after I signed for the LOC... strange.

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