Polopiach LoanQueries Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2004 1:42 am

Enough of this bug vs rodents stuff! I have a burning question...I was told by admissions that I have to wait till around Nov 2004 to apply for the TERI loans (a form of which I was sent) so that I can send the first instalment of the tuition fees from my pockets (will be refunded when they receive money from the TERI), now my question is that if it takes about 2 months for TERI to approve these loan applications, why not apply for the loans ealier when you can so that by the matriculation time (Jan 2005) one does not have to empty all his personal finances upfront for tuition? This beats logic completely because they say that even if I send the completed TERI loan application form to them, they'll hold it till Nov 2004 to submit it to TERI...so I wonder whether this is the policy and why?

If this is the policy, how about if one applies for a loan through MedAchiever whose application form was never sent by Saba at all, and therefore I assuem they do not have to "inspect" before sending it to MedAchiever on a student's behalf?

Please voice up your experiences in this area! I need to know this because I must make this decision soonest. I have already filled in the TERI forms but considering applying through teh MedAcheiver program instead.

Thanks...let's go!

Polo

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Ferrarijp Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2004 2:21 am

I am attending SABA this September and faced similar questions. Personally, I chose the Medachiever loan, but I’ll try to answer questions on both loans the best I can.

My Medachiever application was completed online. Within seconds, I received a credit a decision and was able to print out my promisary papers. The website instructed to sign and date the papers and send them to SABA’s financial aid office for school verification. All this needs to be done in a timely manner… some of the below advice will probably apply to Teri loans.

Number one, do a credit check and dispute any wrong data to get the best score possible. Second, SABA won’t forward your papers to Medachiever until they have received payment for the first semester’s tuition, so find some cash somewhere. Lastly, SABA does not want you to apply for a Medachiever loan until 90 days before expected disbursement. Disbursement is set for 30 days after matriculation, so you can send in your paper work roughly 60 days before you set foot on the rock. Why do they do this? I am not quite sure, but the lady at SABA’s finance office was pretty perturbed when I questioned why… I believe the answer was something to the effect of avoiding overlapping approval between different semesters—whatever that means?

As for Teri loans, let me concisely piece together quotes from Saba’s instruction sheet.

“Once you have completed the loan application, please return it to the Gardner office for verification. Please retain the yellow copy for your records and send the lender’s copy to <Saba address>”
“…applications will be submitted for process once your tuition has been paid in full…” “…process takes approximately three weeks for the final decision…”
“…disbursement date will be scheduled 30 days after matriculation.”

Sorry, I didn’t read anything that mentioned exact times to send in paperwork... I would call Teri customer service to get their opinion on the matter.

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ducman Great info Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2004 3:58 pm

Ferrari,
You provided some great information... I believe a new topic should be started so you can post this messages on there along with Polo's question...

This is hidden deep inside this discussion...

Thanks,
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Ducman
SABA SOM January 2005

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Polopiach Loan Queries Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 12:07 am

Ferrarijp,
Thanks comrade for the info regarding your experience with the loan. This was a big bottleneck for me because I was just wondering how I was going to solve the issue. Thanks for the relevant and timely information. Isn't that the reason why such a forum is important! I shall actually apply to MedAchiever loans first. I have checked my credit from equifax and it is fine. Thanks again Ferrari.

Polo


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Polopiach Post subject: Thanks Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 12:15 am

I am in total agreement with you Ducman...these valuable pieces of info are so hidden and may not be easily accessible to others in similar circumstances. Let's start another string. Thanks to all of you have kept this alive though.
Ducman, we need to connect when you come back from SABA. Let me know when you'll be travelling to the States from visit to Saba so that I can arrange a small meeting with you in Atlanta. I shall actually be visiting some of my friends in Atlanta isometimes n Aug but no date has been fixed yet, hence this proposal. Let me know what your plans are after the Saba trip.

Thanks a lot.

Polo

With all the accolades, I felt compelled to make something happen.

Some other info that may be of benefit: When applying for the Medachiever loan online, you have to select your school. SUSOM is found under the state of Massachusetts. Second, they also ask for the total amount requested... The Gardner office told me to total the tuition and cost of living for semesters 1-3 (one year). I believe the total was near 40k, but please double check for yourself before completing your application. I would hate for you all to short yourselves from money because of something said on this forum.

Here’s something we should contribute… Pro’s and Con’s of the two loans.

Thanks Ferrari... I think we should also try to acquire some more information as to which one of these loans offers the better repayment options... and any other details that may be relevant down the line (money for travel during rotations, etc...)

__________________
Ducman
Saba University School of Medicine

I didn't have any particular reason for going with the TERI, other than I knew nothing about loans when I started and I mistakenly thought you could get more $$ with the TERI than with MedAchiever. Oops. However I'm glad I'm with TERI instead because then I'm not tempted to take out even more money and get myself even further in debt. I'm taking out the max on TERI right now and doing just fine on it - still eating, I can wash my clothes, etc. :P

Other than that I'm not much help - like I said I know next to nothing about loans.

~SID 8)

I chose Medachiever because I have a family and I could get more money. The terms seemed about the same on both. I didn't need a cosigner and had no problems with any part of the app. Of course, see me again in about five years to see how much I am enjoying loan payments .

Actually, I'm happy with the program so far. Give Gardner a call if you have specific questions. They were very helpful when I was trying to figure out what to do.

Best of Luck!

I made out a budget for a family of four, and came up with a figure of roughly $46,000 for the first calendar year at Saba. This includes health insurance from ISI. It's way cheaper than the ACE insurance that Saba markets, I think it offers about the same coverage. For living costs, I used averages previously quoted on this forum for rent and utilities.

Cost of First Year at Saba for Family of Four:

• Semester 1: $6,060
  Semester 2: $6,160
  Semester 3: $6,380
  Plus books: $1200 ($400 X 3 semesters)
  Rent: $8,400 ($700 X 12 months)
  Phone Deposit: $500
  Phone Bill: $300 ($25 x 12 months)
  Electricity: $720 ($60 x 12 months)
  Cable: $420 ($35 x 12 months)
  Internet: $360 ($30 x 12 months)
  Decent Car: $2,500
  Gasoline: $336 ($28 x 12 months)
  Propane for cooking: $100
  Food: $3,000 ($250 x 12 months)
  One Plane visit home, roundtrip for 4: $3,000
  ISI Global Basic Insurance: $2,151
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  Subtotal: $38,587
  
  Plus Regular Bills: (credit card bills, spouse’s school loan bill, etc.)
  
  Subtotal: $7434.24
  
  Total: $46,021.24
  

I hope that's helpful to somebody! Let me know if you see anything I should include, or any errors.
Good luck!

New addition: Found out that tuition is $50/year per student at Sacred Heart, the primary school.

Also new: Realized that I didn't include costs for car insurance, licensing, etc.

__________________
Saba Forum Moderator
Saba University School of Medicine, MSIV
Interests: Pediatrics, Psychiatry

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Thanks guys. I am just wondering because I have a family of 4 too, but they'll be remaining back in the States for the 5 semesters I'll be on the Rock . I shall be flying back and forth end of each semester if possible, and I wonder whether the $46K would be sufficient for myself and the family back in the States. Anybody having similar circumstances? Let's put our heads together, I would like to hear how you are planning on handling this issue . Thanks.

Polo

Hey, Island! First, I want to thank you for your support and honest critique!

My stuff back home will be stored in my parent's garage, so no problem there. I'm going to sell much of it in a big garage sale, including the two vehicles, I think.

Right now the plan is to pay the insurance quarterly, to spread out the damage, though that costs about $200 more for the year. That was included in my insurance figure.

Cost for schooling for the kids: yikes! Hadn't even thought about that. I'll have a 2 year old and a 4 year old, the 4 year old will want to be in Kindergarten. Have no idea what that costs. My wife is a Kindergarten-6th grade teacher, so she can set up a home-school. She may apply for a job at the school on Saba, but we're not counting on that working out, of course.

Doing away with cable would probably have to be a last resort, I think cable would make life more comfortable on the wife, though she is being a real trooper and saying it's ok to not have it.

If internet can be had at the library at least a few times a week, I may look into cell phones, and do away with the land line and it's huge deposit.

It would be much less expensive for us if the family stayed in the U.S. for the first five semesters, but we decided that would be very tough to do.

Regarding groceries, I'll definitely rethink that one...what do think would be a more reasonable ball-park figure?

__________________
Saba Forum Moderator
Saba University School of Medicine, MSIV
Interests: Pediatrics, Psychiatry

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