USF MSN-CNL non-nurse summer 2017

aposseadesse · Feb 28, 2017

I've been checking my status everyday - half out of the anxiety of waiting and half because I still can't believe I've made it this far. Here's hoping the calls come on the 9th or 10th and not having go through another weekend of nail biting.

Also, I posted a thread about this, are there any specific private loan providers that anyone has had a positive experience with? I'm heavily researching private loan options. My current loan from my undergrad is managed by Navient and I don't particularly want to have to deal with another loan with them. So I'm looking for some suggestions.

aposseadesse · Feb 28, 2017

@afton - About how long did it take for USF to notify you that you were being taken off of the waitlist and would need to reapply for the next cohort?

aftonheistand · Feb 28, 2017

I hate naivent!!! I have half with them and half with Wells Fargo. Love Wells Fargo. But as I'm looking at my options too for student loans for my ELMSN program at Samuel Merritt, it looks like we are able to get a "grad plus" student loan from the department of education? When you apply for fasfa you are also applying for that when you are a grad student from my understanding. We will also get unsubstadized loans from the government and then it sounds like whatever we have left to pay we can get the grad plus loan. If your credit is good you'll be approved right away for it, or they will ask for a co signer. That's my experience so far with looking into options, but I haven't gotten my official award letter yet for SMU.

gabrielcphillips · Feb 28, 2017

i like Fedloan Servicing: no complaints with them and everything has been easily managed completely online. i like that so much that i recently consolidated away from 3-4 other companies that were all nightmarish - requesting paper documents mailed in every few months. it was such a pain to deal with. don't ask me how i ended up with so many companies to deal with - i have no idea how that worked out.

oh...and i'm definitely doing grad plus loans. they'll give you enough to cover full tuition plus cost of attendance, which i assume will be about $30k a year over tuition expense at USF. if you're like me with kids, then there is often an option for increased aid to cover child care expenses associated with lecture and clinical times. grad plus loans do take into consideration your credit, but it's pretty lenient. i think you cannot have any delinquent debts of $2k or more, something like that, no foreclosure and no bankruptcy. if rejected for any reason, though, you can request an exception to the rule without requiring a consigner. i'm not sure how good they are at processing exceptions, i only know there is a process for that.

at any rate, income is not a factor in the calculation of eligibility. you can get maximum aid - tuition plus cost of attendance funded - no matter whether you have any additional income. if you're planning to work with an underserved population after graduation, you can get the total debt forgiven within a few years, so indentured servitude to the man shouldn't be too much of a concern with nursing. i'm not worrying about it...practically anywhere i end up working in fresno county will qualify for the loan forgiveness option.

aposseadesse · Feb 28, 2017

Oh that is great to know. The process of looking into private loans has driven me about as crazy as the application processes. But my unergrad loan managed by Navient is through the department of education too. I hope that doesn't mean the Grad plus and the subsidized loan will be managed with Navient too. They make things so difficult.

aftonheistand · Feb 28, 2017

@Aposs they never actually let me know. I was still on the waitlist on Jan 14th but had to withdraw that application so I could reapply for the summer because I couldn't have 2 apps out at once. They are pretty terrible about keeping waitlisters in the loop. I felt in the dark the entire time and they won't even tell you your waitlist number or how many people are on the waitlist. It was torture.

aftonheistand · Feb 28, 2017

The waitlist stays open until the first day of class, so waitlisters would be notified after that day that they didn't get off the waitlist if they hadn't heard yet! :/ lameeeeee

aposseadesse · Feb 28, 2017

That's unfortunate. You'd think they'd have to notify waitlisters at some point once the program started.

aftonheistand · Feb 28, 2017

Since I withdrew my app to reapply they didn't notify me but I believe they did say that on the program start date they would update the online portal to show the Denial letter, "decision available" letter that people get. Ya being on the waitlist was definitely a difficult situation but in a weird way provided a good lesson in patience for me. I think every life experience makes us who we are, and that experience def taught me some lessons! Lol

aposseadesse · Feb 28, 2017

@gabriel - How does the loan forgiveness work? I had been looking into the Federal Nurse Corp scholarship which covers 100% of your tuition, based on your income, as long as you sign a minimum 2 year contract to work in an underserved area facility.

Based off of what I'm reading on some studentaid sites, isn't it up to the school you're attending on how much you can borrow with the PLUS loan? Or am I interpreting it incorrectly?

gabrielcphillips · Feb 28, 2017

yes...the school attending is who determines the cost of attendance. tuition is always covered by grad plus loans. cost of attendance adjustments are made through the school attending. i'm merely assuming a $30k cost of attendance per year based on 3 semesters a year. probably it'll be a couple grand short of that...i'm assuming...

gabrielcphillips · Feb 28, 2017

loan forgiveness/repayment program is through HRSA. there is some association with a scoring system of need in an area. i cannot recall right now the specific details...something like HIPSA, or something like that. you have to work in a healthcare shortage area...with underserved populations.