bearpuppy Posted May 12, 2013 Report Share Posted May 12, 2013 Hi all, I know that many Canadian banks will let you borrow between $200-250K to attend a US (or Canadian) medical school. However, often that will really only be enough to cover tuition in the US.. and so you may in fact need closer to $350K. Does anyone have some advice as to how they have gone about financing their US MD degree? Is there the possibility of loaning more than the $250K upper limit if you have a co-signer? Or are there alternatives to getting the remaining funds? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nychila Posted May 12, 2013 Report Share Posted May 12, 2013 To my knowledge, with a co-signer, banks will give Canadians studying medicine abroad a line of credit $150k-225k, depending on the bank. I think all educational lines of credit require co-signers, ie. your parents acting as guarantors. Speaking from personal experience, however, sometimes Canadian banks will not approve certain US MD schools despite the fact that they are established institutions. Most US MD schools will cost less than $300k in total. Some schools will give Canadians generous merit-based or need-based scholarships - usually the wealthier the school, the more the scholarships for US citizens and international students. Canadian federal and provincial loans can cover the rest, up to 100k I believe, depending on the province of your residence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnxiousBoy Posted May 12, 2013 Report Share Posted May 12, 2013 To my knowledge, with a co-signer, banks will give Canadians studying medicine abroad a line of credit $150k-225k, depending on the bank. I think all educational lines of credit require co-signers, ie. your parents acting as guarantors. Speaking from personal experience, however, sometimes Canadian banks will not approve certain US MD schools despite the fact that they are established institutions. Most US MD schools will cost less than $300k in total. Some schools will give Canadians generous merit-based or need-based scholarships - usually the wealthier the school, the more the scholarships for US citizens and international students. Canadian federal and provincial loans can cover the rest, up to 100k I believe, depending on the province of your residence. ^^^^ Some inaccurate information and lots of false sense of security. Private Bank Loan: You can borrow $250K. Co-signer depends on how qualified you are as an applicant. If you have enough financial credibility to get a $250 unsecured loan, then you don't need a co-signer (ie you have a mortgage-free house). Otherwise, you will need a qualified co-signer. That means the co-signer has the ability to secure an additional $250K on top of their existing loans. You may need multiple co-signers if one does not qualify enough. Government Loan: I can't see this topping over 80K over 4 years. The application process is quite tedious as everything has to be done the long way and a lot of liasing between the government and your school all put on your shoulders. I have never gotten a government loan prior to the start of the academic year even in fourth year where I thought I had the process streamlined. Scholarships from school: Few and far between and even less likely for Canadians. Don't count on it as a funding source. Cost of Attendance will certainly surpass 300k. Lets look at some breakdown: - Tuition and ancillary fees: every school accepting canadians i see is 55K-70K/year. - Books and Medical Equipment: ~1000/year - Health Insurance: ~2k-4k/year - USMLE 1, 2CS, 2CK, Travel to 2CS: 3k - Study course/material for USMLE: 2k - ERAS/Carms: 2k-5K - US Immigrations Issues: 500-1000. - Room and Board: 15K/year - Miscellaneous Living Expense: 5K/year - Travel: 1K/year - Interest paid on loans: minimal to start but can hit 8k/year near the end. - US currency conversion: A lot of wildcard here because the currency rate fluctuates 10-20% throughout the course of the year. However, what is sure is that your bank will charge 2-3% in conversion fee. In general, it has been that you will have to pay more Canadian currency (source of your funds) to get less of the US currency (the destination of your funds). Using RBC rate today, you need to budget 4% extra. I'm sure there are other extra expenses but this is minimal. I would estimate costs at around $370K. Plus I would budget an extra 10% because tuition and living expenses only moves in one direction and I guarantee you the financial landscape between pre-1st year and 4th years will be completely different. I'd say $410K for those planning to apply to US now. I realize I haven't addressed the OP's question. All I can say is that financing US education is tough. Getting in is only half the battle. The other is being able to finance it and not everyone is in the position to do so. You'll have to dig deep and reach out to everyone you know, apply to every bursary and scholarships that cross your eyes, and hope for the best that in the end everything will work out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted May 12, 2013 Report Share Posted May 12, 2013 The loan will depend a lot more on the co-signer than on the student in these cases - they are in effect the one carrying the large loan and it will effect the rest of the their credit etc. They have to be secure enough in their assets/income for the bank to agree to this - but if they do then the loan can certainly exceed 350K etc (just like any other loan). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demerp Posted May 12, 2013 Report Share Posted May 12, 2013 Which government loans are you talking about? I'm from Ontario and the province doesn't lend out to students studying in the US, so even when I applied to OSAP i'm only getting the federal portion, which is about 9-10K per year i've talked to several banks in the last months, they do extend the limit given you have proof of costs and most likely a co-signer/guarantor (although some financial reps would say they could try applying without on first and see how that goes..). I do know someone who got 400K from rbc doing dentistry at NYU ^^^^ Some inaccurate information and lots of false sense of security. Private Bank Loan: You can borrow $250K. Co-signer depends on how qualified you are as an applicant. If you have enough financial credibility to get a $250 unsecured loan, then you don't need a co-signer (ie you have a mortgage-free house). Otherwise, you will need a qualified co-signer. That means the co-signer has the ability to secure an additional $250K on top of their existing loans. You may need multiple co-signers if one does not qualify enough. Government Loan: I can't see this topping over 80K over 4 years. The application process is quite tedious as everything has to be done the long way and a lot of liasing between the government and your school all put on your shoulders. I have never gotten a government loan prior to the start of the academic year even in fourth year where I thought I had the process streamlined. Scholarships from school: Few and far between and even less likely for Canadians. Don't count on it as a funding source. Cost of Attendance will certainly surpass 300k. Lets look at some breakdown: - Tuition and ancillary fees: every school accepting canadians i see is 55K-70K/year. - Books and Medical Equipment: ~1000/year - Health Insurance: ~2k-4k/year - USMLE 1, 2CS, 2CK, Travel to 2CS: 3k - Study course/material for USMLE: 2k - ERAS/Carms: 2k-5K - US Immigrations Issues: 500-1000. - Room and Board: 15K/year - Miscellaneous Living Expense: 5K/year - Travel: 1K/year - Interest paid on loans: minimal to start but can hit 8k/year near the end. - US currency conversion: A lot of wildcard here because the currency rate fluctuates 10-20% throughout the course of the year. However, what is sure is that your bank will charge 2-3% in conversion fee. In general, it has been that you will have to pay more Canadian currency (source of your funds) to get less of the US currency (the destination of your funds). Using RBC rate today, you need to budget 4% extra. I'm sure there are other extra expenses but this is minimal. I would estimate costs at around $370K. Plus I would budget an extra 10% because tuition and living expenses only moves in one direction and I guarantee you the financial landscape between pre-1st year and 4th years will be completely different. I'd say $410K for those planning to apply to US now. I realize I haven't addressed the OP's question. All I can say is that financing US education is tough. Getting in is only half the battle. The other is being able to finance it and not everyone is in the position to do so. You'll have to dig deep and reach out to everyone you know, apply to every bursary and scholarships that cross your eyes, and hope for the best that in the end everything will work out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bearpuppy Posted May 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2013 Which government loans are you talking about? I'm from Ontario and the province doesn't lend out to students studying in the US, so even when I applied to OSAP i'm only getting the federal portion, which is about 9-10K per year i've talked to several banks in the last months, they do extend the limit given you have proof of costs and most likely a co-signer/guarantor (although some financial reps would say they could try applying without on first and see how that goes..). I do know someone who got 400K from rbc doing dentistry at NYU I think it depends on the province. I believe BC will allow out of province study, so you might be able to get a max of 50K provincially. The last part of your post is really what I was wanting to know. I have good credit (but no taxable income - grad student finishing up). My parents would be well qualified co-signers - I just wasn't sure if when they say its 250K limit whether that was firm or dependent on credit and co-signer credit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted May 12, 2013 Report Share Posted May 12, 2013 I think it depends on the province. I believe BC will allow out of province study, so you might be able to get a max of 50K provincially. The last part of your post is really what I was wanting to know. I have good credit (but no taxable income - grad student finishing up). My parents would be well qualified co-signers - I just wasn't sure if when they say its 250K limit whether that was firm or dependent on credit and co-signer credit. 250K is just internal to canada alone medical students, that isn't your primary limitation here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnxiousBoy Posted May 12, 2013 Report Share Posted May 12, 2013 Which government loans are you talking about? I'm from Ontario and the province doesn't lend out to students studying in the US, so even when I applied to OSAP i'm only getting the federal portion, which is about 9-10K per year i've talked to several banks in the last months, they do extend the limit given you have proof of costs and most likely a co-signer/guarantor (although some financial reps would say they could try applying without on first and see how that goes..). I do know someone who got 400K from rbc doing dentistry at NYU I got mine from BC. You can get max cap funding which was somewhere around 20k per year. However, this was before it became the integrated BC-Canada student loan so I don't know what the rule is anymore. If you can go over 250K from private banks, it is off the backs of your co-signer's credit history. I am unsure whether you can keep your favorable prime interest rate since non-medical professionals don't get the prime deal. Something to ask your bank rep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nychila Posted May 12, 2013 Report Share Posted May 12, 2013 I can only speak from experience: I went to several banks in the past week for a educational line of credit for my US MD schools: I was outright rejected by TD (bank policy of max 200k) because my US MD school is not on their list of approved schools and CIBC approved me (bank policy of max 225k). A friend (parents have excellent credit) from a said that he was approved at RBC for only 150k. As a student without any full-time income or assets, I needed my parents as co-signers in order to take out an educational loan, which has prime interest. Government loans vary by province, but I think mine has a lifetime max of 100k, although it's about 80k max for an MD. The top 10-20 schools that are friendly to Canadians for admissions are fairly friendly to Canadians for scholarships as well, some schools are merit-based, other schools are need-based but fairly lenient as to what they consider "need". I agree with AnxiousBoy on applicants shouldn't count on this as a funding source. Some US MD schools, especially the state schools, have a tuition of 70k/year, but it's probably best to avoid them if you can. Some private schools that accept Canadians have only 43k/year tuition in a low-cost city. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demerp Posted June 4, 2013 Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 I've been approved from CIBC (with a guarantor) for 225K. I'm thinking of going with CIBC because they seem to have the best repayment schedule/options. I told the financial rep that 225K won't be enough to cover all 4 years, and he told me that if I came back in ~3rd year, I will likely get approved for more money to finish up the degree. How feasible is it to apply for additional an additional loan to finish up the MD while you're a med student, given you're already in 200K+ of debt? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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