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

[JohnP]

3 hours ago, allycm30 said:

I first contacted MD Financial - I know the advisors pretty well. LOC is under Scotia now. In talking with Scotia didn't seem any promos or bonuses upcoming. They feel their overall package is competitive enough. Because of mat leave benefit likely 90% going with them. But I am wit TD and my partner is RBC .....so seems like a lot of effort!

What's the mat leave benefit look like?

[JohnP]

5 hours ago, xiphoid said:

Scotiabank is the only LOC that will automatically add your previous month's interest to your next month's principle. With RBC, you will need to manually transfer the monthly interest for your LOC from your LOC principle. I'm not sure if you'd be able to have monthly credit card bills and overdraft payments automatically drawn from your LOC with RBC, but you'll need to log in monthly anyways to pay your LOC interest. At least that's one less thing to worry about with Scotia. Also just a note, Scotia's overdraft is $5000 a month, while RBC's is $1000. I've never used debit in my life so it doesn't matter to me, but if you're consistently relying on overdraft, it may be something to consider.

If you ask your advisor at Scotia, your limit should be increased to $300k with no hassle. The new limit was only introduced near the end of last summer, and everyone I know who had been approved before then were able to get the new limit with no problems just by emailing their advisor. Also just to note, if you have had any RBC accounts within the past 5 years, you will not qualify for the free iPad offer.

I was not planning on using overdraft at all, but after paying rent last month I forgot to leave enough in my debit for a RBC life insurance monthly debit :/

I wish there was a way to avoid this from happening...automatically

[allycm30]

Their mat leave benefit - no interest accrued or payments required for 1 year (can be residency or medical school).

[Elgar]

On 5/29/2019 at 12:38 PM, xiphoid said:

Scotiabank is the only LOC that will automatically add your previous month's interest to your next month's principle. With RBC, you will need to manually transfer the monthly interest for your LOC from your LOC principle. I'm not sure if you'd be able to have monthly credit card bills and overdraft payments automatically drawn from your LOC with RBC, but you'll need to log in monthly anyways to pay your LOC interest. At least that's one less thing to worry about with Scotia. Also just a note, Scotia's overdraft is $5000 a month, while RBC's is $1000. I've never used debit in my life so it doesn't matter to me, but if you're consistently relying on overdraft, it may be something to consider.

If you ask your advisor at Scotia, your limit should be increased to $300k with no hassle. The new limit was only introduced near the end of last summer, and everyone I know who had been approved before then were able to get the new limit with no problems just by emailing their advisor. Also just to note, if you have had any RBC accounts within the past 5 years, you will not qualify for the free iPad offer.

FYI RBC told me the overdraft was 5000$ as well. Looks like they increased it.

[elephante]

On 7/12/2018 at 4:53 PM, 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. 

Ditto

[elephante]

Ok so it took me 3 weeks, but I read all 69 pages of this thread, and I feel so much more informed about LOCs now, and ready to meet with advisors. Special thanks to rmorelan who has been answering questions on this thread since 2012.

The only question I have left is regarding Scotia’s “Program Limit is reduced by Government Student Loans in excess of $60,000” deal. This was not talked about here much yet. Can someone confirm that Scotia will reduce you LOC limit if you have >60,000 in student loans? I have student loans from undergrad that were originally above that, but I was able to pay them off to well under 60,000$. But that number will go up again if I request student loans for med school. How much is taken off the LOC, and how are previous and future students loans taken into account by Scotia?

Also, last year, Scotia was offering $500 for new clients to sign up with them, has that happened to anyone this year?

[rmorelan]

9 hours ago, elephante said:

Ok so it took me 3 weeks, but I read all 69 pages of this thread, and I feel so much more informed about LOCs now, and ready to meet with advisors. Special thanks to rmorelan who has been answering questions on this thread since 2012.

The only question I have left is regarding Scotia’s “Program Limit is reduced by Government Student Loans in excess of $60,000” deal. This was not talked about here much yet. Can someone confirm that Scotia will reduce you LOC limit if you have >60,000 in student loans? I have student loans from undergrad that were originally above that, but I was able to pay them off to well under 60,000$. But that number will go up again if I request student loans for med school. How much is taken off the LOC, and how are previous and future students loans taken into account by Scotia?

Also, last year, Scotia was offering $500 for new clients to sign up with them, has that happened to anyone this year?

wow this thread really is 69 pages long ha!

I didn't have any number changes based on new OSAP funding during medical school. I haven't heard of that changing. 

 

[Premed_Girl]

Hey everyone! I'm new to this whole LOC thing. I called a small businesses advisor in Scotiabank to go in and talk about LOC, but the guy told me that I have to fill out a form for them to do a credit and background check (which can take 2-3 weeks), and once that is approved I can come in for a signing. He also said that depending on my credit score I may not get approved for the entire amount. Is this usually how it works? Is it true that I can't talk to an advisor for 2-3 weeks until I am approved? If not, does anybody know a good advisor in North York or Toronto in general that I can talk to? Thanks!

 

EDIT: called another advisor and he told me to come in right away to get everything signed. He said he has had experience with medical and dental students. He said that it would take max 1 week for me to access my LOC. Just wanted to let everyone else know to be careful who you speak to!

 

[rmorelan]

1 hour ago, Premed_Girl said:

Hey everyone! I'm new to this whole LOC thing. I called a small businesses advisor in Scotiabank to go in and talk about LOC, but the guy told me that I have to fill out a form for them to do a credit and background check (which can take 2-3 weeks), and once that is approved I can come in for a signing. He also said that depending on my credit score I may not get approved for the entire amount. Is this usually how it works? Is it true that I can't talk to an advisor for 2-3 weeks until I am approved? If not, does anybody know a good advisor in North York or Toronto in general that I can talk to? Thanks!

 

EDIT: called another advisor and he told me to come in right away to get everything signed. He said he has had experience with medical and dental students. He said that it would take max 1 week for me to access my LOC. Just wanted to let everyone else know to be careful who you speak to!

 

classic not having the right person initially - comes up every year but requires repeating - you cannot just walk into your bank and get this done - you need the professional student line of credit person

[Premed_Girl]

13 minutes ago, rmorelan said:

classic not having the right person initially - comes up every year but requires repeating - you cannot just walk into your bank and get this done - you need the professional student line of credit person

I was a little bit confused with regards to who to contact for this. I have seen the list of Scotia advisors attached here on the forum, but there is only one advisor in Toronto, which is fairly far for me. I did seem to find an advisor uptown who seems to know what he is doing. I was wondering, is one week a reasonable amount of time for them to process everything and for me to access my LOC?

[chiynadoll]

1 hour ago, Premed_Girl said:

I was a little bit confused with regards to who to contact for this. I have seen the list of Scotia advisors attached here on the forum, but there is only one advisor in Toronto, which is fairly far for me. I did seem to find an advisor uptown who seems to know what he is doing. I was wondering, is one week a reasonable amount of time for them to process everything and for me to access my LOC?

Can't help with recommendations since I'm not in Toronto, but if you find someone who is experienced with medical student LOCs, yes, they can get it done in around 2 weeks and find you all the perks you qualify for. My guy did it for me through texts and digging through my very very old client file at TD over the weekend. I was approved within one week, access in 10 days. 

They're just not going entirely by the book and know which loopholes to go through. 

[carolynH]

21 minutes ago, chiynadoll said:

Can't help with recommendations since I'm not in Toronto, but if you find someone who is experienced with medical student LOCs, yes, they can get it done in around 2 weeks and find you all the perks you qualify for. My guy did it for me through texts and digging through my very very old client file at TD over the weekend. I was approved within one week, access in 10 days. 

They're just not going entirely by the book and know which loopholes to go through. 

Did they just accept your offer letter as proof and no need to wait for the letter of enrollment in July? Which branch and advisor did you talk to? PM me if needed. Thanks!

[canadianguy7]

17 minutes ago, carolynH said:

Did they just accept your offer letter as proof and no need to wait for the letter of enrollment in July? Which branch and advisor did you talk to? PM me if needed. Thanks!

I emailed my school MD team for the letter of enrollment. Used this http://www.scotiabank.com/ca/common/pdf/personal_banking/Scotiabank_SPSP_representative_English.pdf
 

1 hour ago, Premed_Girl said:

I was a little bit confused with regards to who to contact for this. I have seen the list of Scotia advisors attached here on the forum, but there is only one advisor in Toronto, which is fairly far for me. I did seem to find an advisor uptown who seems to know what he is doing. I was wondering, is one week a reasonable amount of time for them to process everything and for me to access my LOC?

Just call the representative and tell them what location you are from. They can refer you to someone who is experienced with med LOC near you.

[carolynH]

6 minutes ago, canadianguy7 said:

I emailed my school MD team for the letter of enrollment. Used this http://www.scotiabank.com/ca/common/pdf/personal_banking/Scotiabank_SPSP_representative_English.pdf

UBC Med will not give you a letter of enrollment because technically you're not enrolled until you've registered and paid for the courses in July.  Some banks don't consider the offer letter and proof of deposit as proof of enrollment.

[vigilance]

On 5/29/2019 at 12:44 PM, xiphoid said:

I would wait to apply because most offers tend to be announced in early June, but it's not too early to start looking. Advisors will be able to tell you most of the details of their LOC, and will generally tell you whether or not to wait to apply at their institution based on upcoming promos. (I met with RBC last year the week before the iPad offer was announced, and the advisor I met with told me to wait until the following week before applying for a LOC at any institution because there would be an announcement that could influence my decision.) MD Financial is Scotiabank now though, so I'm not sure they will be offering a LOC anymore (because their LOC would be Scotiabank's LOC, whereas MD Financial used to offer LOCs through National Bank). 

TD's campaign for the year is live, $500 Amazon Gift Card and a bunch of other stuff https://www.td.com/ca/en/personal-banking/student-line-of-credit-offer-amazon-gift-card/

[Pakoon]

3 hours ago, vigilance said:

TD's campaign for the year is live, $500 Amazon Gift Card and a bunch of other stuff https://www.td.com/ca/en/personal-banking/student-line-of-credit-offer-amazon-gift-card/

Thanks for the heads up TD representative!

[rmorelan]

On 6/10/2019 at 11:16 AM, Premed_Girl said:

I was a little bit confused with regards to who to contact for this. I have seen the list of Scotia advisors attached here on the forum, but there is only one advisor in Toronto, which is fairly far for me. I did seem to find an advisor uptown who seems to know what he is doing. I was wondering, is one week a reasonable amount of time for them to process everything and for me to access my LOC?

that would depend on the bank but usually if they are allowed to extend it immediately (some want some official paperwork you get after you pay the deposit or tuition etc) 5 business days is enough.

I ask all of them a few simple questions - the most important one being how many professional LOCs do you currently manage. The answer should be dozens ha - my advisor has hundreds. That tells me I have the right person. 

[rmorelan]

On 6/10/2019 at 1:18 PM, carolynH said:

UBC Med will not give you a letter of enrollment because technically you're not enrolled until you've registered and paid for the courses in July.  Some banks don't consider the offer letter and proof of deposit as proof of enrollment.

yeah exactly - some of them are pretty strict with that sort of thing, others that have particular relationships with the school are more forgiving. It can be a bit annoying but I do understand the bank's position on these deals - there have been cases of loss with some of these LOCs with them being liquidated quickly and the person being "hard to reach"

[brady23]

What TD credit cards do you get with the LOC?

Are the fees for both waived year after year?

 

[Instagrammar]

I just called RBC and they said to wait until next week as there is a new promotion coming out for medical students and they could not tell me the details. Has anyone heard of this or have any insight?

[APP2019]

.

[EG slayer]

I see that MD Financial through Scotiabank offered this deal of $500 cash if you joined or switched to their LOC from this past Oct-April. I am currently looking at getting a LOC but now am thinking of waiting until October in the hopes of getting this deal. If I can finance my studies until October, are there any reasons not to wait until October other than the fact that I'd be missing on points from purchases until then?

 

[Instagrammar]

44 minutes ago, EG slayer said:

I see that MD Financial through Scotiabank offered this deal of $500 cash if you joined or switched to their LOC from this past Oct-April. I am currently looking at getting a LOC but now am thinking of waiting until October in the hopes of getting this deal. If I can finance my studies until October, are there any reasons not to wait until October other than the fact that I'd be missing on points from purchases until then?

 

I think last year was when Scotia bought MD financial and so they ran the promotion to get new clients banking with them. I doubt they will offer the same promotion again.

[chiynadoll]

 

 

 

1 hour ago, EG slayer said:

I see that MD Financial through Scotiabank offered this deal of $500 cash if you joined or switched to their LOC from this past Oct-April. I am currently looking at getting a LOC but now am thinking of waiting until October in the hopes of getting this deal. If I can finance my studies until October, are there any reasons not to wait until October other than the fact that I'd be missing on points from purchases until then?

They're currently offering $300 for opening a scotia one chequing account ( which would come with the LOC if you're new to scotia) if you just want cash. 

[Premed_Girl]

Did everybody receive the $300 bonus for opening up an account with Scotia? And also the bonus points for the credit cards if you spend a certain amount within the first 3 months?