Lines of Credit for Medical Students (Scotia is the best option)

[PFT22135]

As an incoming M1 with not a penny to my name and existing student debt from undergrad, this is worrisome. Really highlights how those who come from well-off families can be over-represented in healthcare. 

I'm going to live as frugally as I can, but realistically I will be supporting myself almost fully from the LOC so that debt is going to go up regardless of what I do. 

[Organomegaly]

18 hours ago, AM22476 said:

As an incoming M1 with not a penny to my name and existing student debt from undergrad, this is worrisome. Really highlights how those who come from well-off families can be over-represented in healthcare. 

I'm going to live as frugally as I can, but realistically I will be supporting myself almost fully from the LOC so that debt is going to go up regardless of what I do. 

Make sure you are proactive about applying to medical school grants! There are often many hidden gems.

I applied to this relatively hidden bursary which I thought would be for a tiny amount by writing a small one page essay. Ended up getting $20,000 from the bursary. Some colleagues have had similar luck.

[Organomegaly]

18 hours ago, AM22476 said:

As an incoming M1 with not a penny to my name and existing student debt from undergrad, this is worrisome. Really highlights how those who come from well-off families can be over-represented in healthcare. 

I'm going to live as frugally as I can, but realistically I will be supporting myself almost fully from the LOC so that debt is going to go up regardless of what I do. 

Also, when it comes time for electives and CaRMS (a large hidden cost of medical school): use the medical student housing FB page instead of AirBNB. AirBNB can be a rip off...

[Comprehensible]

45 minutes ago, Organomegaly said:

Also, when it comes time for electives and CaRMS (a large hidden cost of medical school): use the medical student housing FB page instead of AirBNB. AirBNB can be a rip off...

I just tried to look for a general Canadian medical student housing FB page so I don't forget in 2 years and didn't see one. Is this school specific?

[Comprehensible]

50 minutes ago, Organomegaly said:

Make sure you are proactive about applying to medical school grants! There are often many hidden gems.

I applied to this relatively hidden bursary which I thought would be for a tiny amount by writing a small one page essay. Ended up getting $20,000 from the bursary. Some colleagues have had similar luck.

Also are you talking about applying for grants through your school, or are there random ones online to apply for too?

[Organomegaly]

9 minutes ago, Comprehensible said:

Also are you talking about applying for grants through your school, or are there random ones online to apply for too?

School. And no, the housing page is not school specific. Ask your classmates/upper years for a link to it.

[LittleDaisy]

4 hours ago, Organomegaly said:

Make sure you are proactive about applying to medical school grants! There are often many hidden gems.

I applied to this relatively hidden bursary which I thought would be for a tiny amount by writing a small one page essay. Ended up getting $20,000 from the bursary. Some colleagues have had similar luck.

I am pretty sure that you worked hard in medical school @OP

For medical school bursaries, it's usually merit-based: either academic or significant volunteering & leadership experience. It's more difficult to stand out in medical school, i.e: how much effort you have to put in to be the top of your medical school compared to being the valedictorian for your undergrad. 

If you want to save money during medical school, I would advise that besides excelling in preclerkship for bursaries, looking for paid research positions within your faculty, it looks good for CaRMS, and more valuable learning experience as a medical student. 

[NeuroD]

1 hour ago, LittleDaisy said:

I am pretty sure that you worked hard in medical school @OP

For medical school bursaries, it's usually merit-based: either academic or significant volunteering & leadership experience. It's more difficult to stand out in medical school, i.e: how much effort you have to put in to be the top of your medical school compared to being the valedictorian for your undergrad. 

If you want to save money during medical school, I would advise that besides excelling in preclerkship for bursaries, looking for paid research positions within your faculty, it looks good for CaRMS, and more valuable learning experience as a medical student. 

A paid position Ontario is a double-edged sword. Unfortunately the way it works out is that pretty much any dollar you make gets subtracted from your OSAP. Of course this depends on how much OSAP was providing for you in the first place, but for the OP and for most people under the current rules I believe this is the case.

So basically you lose time that you could have you spent studying, and you have no net gain to show for it. Sad but true.

[LittleDaisy]

44 minutes ago, PhD2MD said:

A paid position Ontario is a double-edged sword. Unfortunately the way it works out is that pretty much any dollar you make gets subtracted from your OSAP. Of course this depends on how much OSAP was providing for you in the first place, but for the OP and for most people under the current rules I believe this is the case.

So basically you lose time that you could have you spent studying, and you have no net gain to show for it. Sad but true.

I believe that it is the case for all govermental students' bursaries. I think that for medical students who want to work during preclerkship,  I would advise going for the paid or unpaid research positions, it certainly helps for CaRMS. Often, the paid research positions often have a well-defined research project that has already been started, and getting a research bursary makes you stand out as well! 

[indefatigable]

4 hours ago, LittleDaisy said:

I am pretty sure that you worked hard in medical school @OP

For medical school bursaries, it's usually merit-based: either academic or significant volunteering & leadership experience. It's more difficult to stand out in medical school, i.e: how much effort you have to put in to be the top of your medical school compared to being the valedictorian for your undergrad. 

If you want to save money during medical school, I would advise that besides excelling in preclerkship for bursaries, looking for paid research positions within your faculty, it looks good for CaRMS, and more valuable learning experience as a medical student. 

It's not what I've seen of bursaries - a lot are in fact need-based or special qualification .. i.e. fitting the criterion (could be sex, age, region..)

Standing out in med school is much less of a focus of most students, since it's now almost universally P/F.  Even before P/F, I was told med school (outside QC) wasn't considered as gruelling as some pre-med programs, and that many found med school less work than undergrad.

[distressedpremed]

Quick question for the Scotiabank Reps here. @ScotiabankMedsAdvisorLOC

I switched from the old passport gold to the new passport infinite. 

I noticed in the fine print, terms and condition #1: https://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/personal/credit-cards/visa/passport-infinite-card.html (see below). Based on what I've read, I'm not eligible for the bonus points because I switched from an existing card? 

"To be eligible for the 25,000 bonus Scotia Rewards points (the ‘Offer”), you must have at least $1,000 in net purchases (purchases less returns, refunds or other similar credits) posted to your  Scotiabank credit card account (“Account”) in the first 3 months from the Account open date. The bonus points will be credited to the primary cardholder’s Scotia Rewards account within 5 to 10 business days after the first 3 months has passed, provided the Account is open and in good standing.   Offer applies to new Accounts only opened by October 31, 2018 (the “Offer End Date”).  Offer applies only to new Scotiabank credit card accounts approved by the Offer End Date. Former or current Scotiabank credit cardholders that transfer from an existing Scotiabank credit card account or re-open a closed Scotiabank credit card account are excluded from this Offer. Offer may be changed or extended and cannot be combined with any other offer." 

 

[rmorelan]

20 hours ago, tere said:

It's not what I've seen of bursaries - a lot are in fact need-based or special qualification .. i.e. fitting the criterion (could be sex, age, region..)

Standing out in med school is much less of a focus of most students, since it's now almost universally P/F.  Even before P/F, I was told med school (outside QC) wasn't considered as gruelling as some pre-med programs, and that many found med school less work than undergrad.

at my medical school, a ton of them - the vast majority in fact are needs based, and since we all had no income and large tuition payments it wasn't hard to prove need. 

[LittleDaisy]

7 minutes ago, rmorelan said:

at my medical school, a ton of them - the vast majority in fact are needs based, and since we all had no income and large tuition payments it wasn't hard to prove need. 

They aren't that many in Quebec medical schools, mostly merit-based. It could be explained by our cheap tuition.  

[rmorelan]

14 minutes ago, LittleDaisy said:

They aren't that many in Quebec medical schools, mostly merit-based. It could be explained by our cheap tuition.  

ha, hard to prove need I guess

Seriously I got thousands very year when I was in med school - there were merit based ones and I managed to get a couple of those as well but they were for smaller amounts and harder obviously to get. 

[ameltingbanana]

Has anyone been able to ask for a safety deposit box at Scotiabank with their LOC?

[distressedpremed]

On 7/13/2018 at 11:48 PM, distressedpremed said:

Quick question for the Scotiabank Reps here. @ScotiabankMedsAdvisorLOC

I switched from the old passport gold to the new passport infinite. 

I noticed in the fine print, terms and condition #1: https://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/personal/credit-cards/visa/passport-infinite-card.html (see below). Based on what I've read, I'm not eligible for the bonus points because I switched from an existing card? 

"To be eligible for the 25,000 bonus Scotia Rewards points (the ‘Offer”), you must have at least $1,000 in net purchases (purchases less returns, refunds or other similar credits) posted to your  Scotiabank credit card account (“Account”) in the first 3 months from the Account open date. The bonus points will be credited to the primary cardholder’s Scotia Rewards account within 5 to 10 business days after the first 3 months has passed, provided the Account is open and in good standing.   Offer applies to new Accounts only opened by October 31, 2018 (the “Offer End Date”).  Offer applies only to new Scotiabank credit card accounts approved by the Offer End Date. Former or current Scotiabank credit cardholders that transfer from an existing Scotiabank credit card account or re-open a closed Scotiabank credit card account are excluded from this Offer. Offer may be changed or extended and cannot be combined with any other offer." 

 

@ScotiabankMedsAdvisor

[insomnias]

FYI, at least in my case, I wasn't given the full 300k with Scotia. Instead, I was given 300k - x, where x is the value of my student loans - $60k. Funnily enough, my non-Scotia credit cards didn't affect it. Also, for me at least (with AB loans), they included 2018-19 student loans in that, so if you're right at the limit and can wait a bit before applying for your student loan (which isn't even disbursed until September...), then I'd suggest doing so

[casajayo]

On 7/13/2018 at 10:48 PM, distressedpremed said:

Quick question for the Scotiabank Reps here. @ScotiabankMedsAdvisorLOC

I switched from the old passport gold to the new passport infinite. 

I noticed in the fine print, terms and condition #1: https://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/personal/credit-cards/visa/passport-infinite-card.html (see below). Based on what I've read, I'm not eligible for the bonus points because I switched from an existing card? 

"To be eligible for the 25,000 bonus Scotia Rewards points (the ‘Offer”), you must have at least $1,000 in net purchases (purchases less returns, refunds or other similar credits) posted to your  Scotiabank credit card account (“Account”) in the first 3 months from the Account open date. The bonus points will be credited to the primary cardholder’s Scotia Rewards account within 5 to 10 business days after the first 3 months has passed, provided the Account is open and in good standing.   Offer applies to new Accounts only opened by October 31, 2018 (the “Offer End Date”).  Offer applies only to new Scotiabank credit card accounts approved by the Offer End Date. Former or current Scotiabank credit cardholders that transfer from an existing Scotiabank credit card account or re-open a closed Scotiabank credit card account are excluded from this Offer. Offer may be changed or extended and cannot be combined with any other offer." 

 

check with your advisor but I had an existing Scotia Scene Visa and was able to get the bonuses for both cards (passport and amex). I emailed my advisor before to double check because of this but I don't think they had to do  anything special for me

[xiphoid]

Is this correct for the tangible perks offered by both RBC and Scotiabank standard with their LOC? Am I missing anything? Does anyone know if Scotiabank ever does anything similar to what RBC does with the iPad for new clients? I've been banking with RBC for the past 6 years and without the iPad, Scotiabank's better credit cards and higher value in perks makes so much more sense for me to go with them but I want to make sure I'm not missing out on any new client benefits before I sign!

RBC

Visa Platinum Avion - 15,000 welcome points ($350 value) [some advisors will offer the Visa Infinite Avion; welcome points remain the same either way]

9.7" iPad ($450 value) [new RBC clients only]

Scotiabank

Passport Visa Infinite - 25,000 bonus points ($250 value)

Gold American Express - 15,000 bonus points ($150 value)

[hwhit]

9 hours ago, xiphoid said:

Is this correct for the tangible perks offered by both RBC and Scotiabank standard with their LOC? Am I missing anything? Does anyone know if Scotiabank ever does anything similar to what RBC does with the iPad for new clients? I've been banking with RBC for the past 6 years and without the iPad, Scotiabank's better credit cards and higher value in perks makes so much more sense for me to go with them but I want to make sure I'm not missing out on any new client benefits before I sign!

RBC

Visa Platinum Avion - 15,000 welcome points ($350 value) [some advisors will offer the Visa Infinite Avion; welcome points remain the same either way]

9.7" iPad ($450 value) [new RBC clients only]

Scotiabank

Passport Visa Infinite - 25,000 bonus points ($250 value)

Gold American Express - 15,000 bonus points ($150 value)

I didn't get the Gold amex bonus points but I got the visa bonus points 

[jumbocup]

12 hours ago, xiphoid said:

Is this correct for the tangible perks offered by both RBC and Scotiabank standard with their LOC? Am I missing anything? Does anyone know if Scotiabank ever does anything similar to what RBC does with the iPad for new clients? I've been banking with RBC for the past 6 years and without the iPad, Scotiabank's better credit cards and higher value in perks makes so much more sense for me to go with them but I want to make sure I'm not missing out on any new client benefits before I sign!

RBC

Visa Platinum Avion - 15,000 welcome points ($350 value) [some advisors will offer the Visa Infinite Avion; welcome points remain the same either way]

9.7" iPad ($450 value) [new RBC clients only]

Scotiabank

Passport Visa Infinite - 25,000 bonus points ($250 value)

Gold American Express - 15,000 bonus points ($150 value)

I went with RBC and got the iPad + the Visa Platinum Avion with 30,000 points. Value depends on how and what you redeem for, but sure - estimated $700. 

[xiphoid]

12 minutes ago, jumbocup said:

I went with RBC and got the iPad + the Visa Platinum Avion with 30,000 points. Value depends on how and what you redeem for, but sure - estimated $700. 

I remember hearing from some people that the Visa Infinite Avion came with 35,000 bonus points as well, but according to the RBC website, it only says 15,000. http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/credit-cards/travel-credit-cards/infinite-avion.html

Did you have to negotiate for the 30,000 points?

Edited July 18, 2018 by xiphoid
Linked the wrong URL

[Lord Denning]

Why TD is worse than Rbc and Scotia? 

[hwhit]

32 minutes ago, Lord Denning said:

Why TD is worse than Rbc and Scotia? 

When I was looking into it, the person I was speaking to was a generalist and did not have much experience with med LOC (she kept on saying she needed to ask about things that the advisors from the other banks just knew). 

I also recall, that you only got their cards/benefits during med schools as opposed to throughout your residency. 

I also think you do not get a grace period

Personally, I liked that the interest payments with Scotia just add back to the LOC (one less thing to worry about)

 

 

[IMislove]

4 minutes ago, hwhit said:

When I was looking into it, the person I was speaking to was a generalist and did not have much experience with med LOC (she kept on saying she needed to ask about things that the advisors from the other banks just knew). 

I also recall, that you only got their cards/benefits during med schools as opposed to throughout your residency. 

I also think you do not get a grace period

Personally, I liked that the interest payments with Scotia just add back to the LOC (one less thing to worry about)

 

 

To add onto that, the advisor I spoke to at TD thought I needed a co-signer, and actually said I won’t get ANY credit cards. Made it very easy for me to go no thanks see yah later lol.