Thread: Does this seem fair?

OK community I need your thoughts:

I applied for September and was accepted. I sent in my $500 deposit and all was fine

I applied for my loans and was consequently denied - quickly I contacted MM at SMU Financial Aid in Orlando and we discussed clearing up credit items and co-signers etc. I then deferred to the January class.

I contacted SMU Orlando a few days ago and asked about what happens if this tiem I am also denied my loans. Their response was:
1. I will lose my $500 and will have to send in another $500
2. Another application fee and applixation is needed (although they will keep my transcripts and letter on file.)
3. I am subject to admissions once again.

I am upset because I am applying to medical school, not to FICO University. Is it wrong to think that they should allow a deposit to be "banked" until the student qualifies for the loans?

Thoughts?

Also, I will be doing the MBA as well - this I am all set for. Can I try applying for less than the $65,000 that Financial Aid tells you to put down?

I am really on the fence as to what the heck I am going to do here - any thoughts are welcomed.

Isnt the 500 bucks a seat deposit to hold your place in line ?? its doesnt seem fair that you will have to pay those 500 bucks again. Make sure you make all of the necessary phone calls. Thats not rational to make u pay them 500 bucks again

If I remember correctly it is a NON-REFUNDABLE deposit to reserve your spot in that semester. If you choose to enroll the amount carries over as part of your tuition. If you defer, you lose the privilege. This is pretty standard everywhere, even US schools.

However the other fees shouldn't have to be resubmitted. That doesn't make any sense. You should talk to someone higher up the food-chain for a definitive answer.

It just seems to me that students should apply for LOANS prior to applying to schools.

I have been accepted. Because I could not pay for it immediately, I am now back in the pre-acceptance pool.

How can you apply for loans if you don't know which school you are accepted to? Different schools (especially carib) use different loan companies. It doesn't sound like fun to apply for 8 different loans just in case

I am really bummed. I am in the process of leaving a high-paying job to pursue my dream and all that is stopping me are the loans. Also, I stand to lose $575 because I cannot qualify for the loans in time for the next semester.
IMHO they should keep my deposit and apply it to the May semester (or whenever I qualify for the loans) - they (SMU) has nothing to lose. They even get interest on the $500.

Unfortunately, your only options are to spend the time to play the credit game (creditboards.com) or get a co-signer. Get your credit fixed either way for your own sake. It will follow you wherever you go. It's a shame the Carib med schools cannot use Stafford loans, but there's a lot of power and money keeping federal dollars away from these schools. (Conspiracy theorists feel free to expand upon that one!) As far as the OP's question, no, it doesn't seem fair. Make some calls to the people in Orlando and see if they can't find a way to satisfy a disgruntled customer. I think you will be surprised. Let us know how it goes.

i defered to next semester and will not have to pay the $500 again. My reason however was beacuse i caught a bad case of pneumonia, was hospitalized for two weeks and needed surgery on my right lung. When i called to defer till january there was no mention of pay the seat deposit again.

dont expect anything out of this school when it comes to money, especially yours.. Im sure this is true for most carribean schools, that aside though, if you didnt know if you can pay for tuition and you KNOW you have credit issues, chances are you should of been smart enough not to send the school $500 in the first place till you knew for sure you could go.... my2cents

business is business man.
hopefully you can arrange something w/ the school to transfer that seat deposit, but at the end of the day, SMU is a business. the fact that you couldn't get your health express loan is not the schools fault...have you tried w/ a cosigner? the requirements for acceptance of the Health Express is much lower then the Teri.
might be better to wait a year and clean things up.