Sorry guys, I know this topic has been covered a few times already, but i'm still a little lost. I was reading all the other threads and it seems that Bank of America is the best option. My question is, when you get your check from the registrar's office/fin aid, can you deposit your money at Scotia Bank if you have a Bank of America account (since they're affiliated)? Or do you have to mail the check to the U.S. Branch? Thanks...I'd really appreciate it if you guys can clear this up..

mail the check home

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Med-Peds PGY1

official member of the VMD useless crew

currently the most useful "useless member" on vmd

best quote ever - stephew "and no, you may NOT exchange porn or other sexual content in the classifieds."

some swimmer from Ct
the problem with the gene pool is that there are no lifeguards.....and we have been offering swimmies

You need to have an account with Scotia if you're choosing to bank with them. Like Swimguy said, you may want to just fedex your check to your bank back in the states and use the ATMs down here to withdraw cash when you need it.

BTW, noone accepts checks down here...

ALoha,

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Pathology
PGY-1.75

Thanks guys. That helps a lot, guess it will be Bank of America then.

also if you have bank of america you dont get charged for withdrawls from scotia bank.....

its also one of the few real banks on the island.....i dont trust the other ones

keep in mind that fed ex is about 35-40 bucks to send an envelope home.....it has to go next day but wont arrive for a few days after that. you also cant send more than 10,000 without declaring it. I got lucky and sent around 16,000 without knowing and it didnt get seized but other people have had it taken by customs and fined. after that i would send maybe one check home if i needed the money, otherwise i would just hold onto it and bring it home at the end of the semester.....if you take out the max each semester you should have a cushion where you can do that. then when the customs guy asks you if youre travelin with more than 10,000 just look at them and be like im a medical student, i wish i had 10,000. they usually laugh and stamp your thing

__________________
Med-Peds PGY1

official member of the VMD useless crew

currently the most useful "useless member" on vmd

best quote ever - stephew "and no, you may NOT exchange porn or other sexual content in the classifieds."

some swimmer from Ct
the problem with the gene pool is that there are no lifeguards.....and we have been offering swimmies

Gotcha...Well i don't have a bank of america account yet, but i think i'll open one. its good to know that scotia lets you withdraw without any charges. just out of curiousity, about how much money do you get at each disbursement after AUC takes their chunk? And one more thing, there are only two disbursements and three semesters, so are we just supposed to sit on the money and let interest accrue? What did most of you do?

my suggestion is to take out the full amount.....i can never figure out how it works tho.....federal/private.....i just look at what im supposed to get for the semester then sign it, just make sure its right.....

there is federal disbursement per academic year....hence every 2 semesters.....which means sept semester, january semester is year one. may semester starts year 2

im not sure what i'll do now that the interest rates have gone up.....it was better to take the full amount out and sit on it at that point.....ive always lived very comfortably and wouldnt want to deal with only having a few grand in the bank

__________________
Med-Peds PGY1

official member of the VMD useless crew

currently the most useful "useless member" on vmd

best quote ever - stephew "and no, you may NOT exchange porn or other sexual content in the classifieds."

some swimmer from Ct
the problem with the gene pool is that there are no lifeguards.....and we have been offering swimmies

About $12,000 each semester

My husband and I always took out the maximum amount of loans and were careful to save money along the way. You never know how long it might take to start clinicals and you might have to go one semester without financial aid. So, save, save, save!!!

Besides, start-up costs are never cheap when moving to a new place for clinicals. I know that a few of us in Ireland used more than our loan money our first semester there. We found that if you have about $5000 saved you'll be pretty safe.