<p>Hey guys! I'm an international undergraduate student applying to US colleges.
Namely, MSU, WSU, and U of Oklahoma</p>
<p>Here's the thing, how does the financial proof/statement of financial responsibility work with
student loan?
For example, do I write down the student loan company as my sponsor?</p>
<p>What should I do? I'm really confused! </p>
<p>THANK YOU!</p>
<p>you need to email each school’s FA office and ask them.</p>
<p>I doubt they’re going to just accept some name of a loan company because that’s not proof of funds. After all, you may not end up getting the loan.</p>
<p>Schools will want to see that you have the money.</p>
<p>??? how much are you borrowing each year? </p>
<p>WSU? Washington State?</p>
<p>MSU? Mich State?</p>
<p>Thanks for the response!</p>
<p>Yep I’m applying to Michigan State, Washington State, and University of Oklahoma.
I’m borrowing around $42,000 each year for MSU, $41,00 for WSU, and around $32,00 for U of Oklahoma.</p>
<p>So from what you’re saying, the only way to prove I have enough money for the tuition fee, is by providing a bank statement?
Student loans, financial aid won’t do any good?</p>
<p>Also, should I apply for student loan before or after I’m accepted to the colleges?</p>
<p>You will need to have verification that your loans were approved BEFORE you will be issued a visa to study here. You will have to show proof that you have the funds to pay for a full year of your costs here in order to get that visa. This can include APPROVED student loans, and approved student financial aid.</p>
<p>As an aside…borrowing $42,000 a year for four years is a HUGE amount of loans…HUGE. Is there a less expensive option for you for your undergraduate studies.</p>
<p>I’m saying that you can’t just give the name of a bank - which is what you said in your post. You asked if you could name your bank as your “sponsor”. You will have to show funds…either by the money being in an account, or maybe some statement of loan approval.</p>
<p>you need to contact each of your schools and find out what THEY need you to show them. </p>
<p>That aside…WHAT THE HECK are you doing borrowing that much for undergrad? No undergrad is worth anywhere near that much money…and certainly mid-tier schools sure aren’t. </p>
<p>No undergrad should borrow more than about $30k total. </p>
<p>Are your parents contributing ANY costs? If so, how much? </p>
<p>What kind of (crazy) bank would lend this much money for an undergrad? Who is co-signing these loans? </p>
<p>Do you have ANY idea of what your loan repayments will be? </p>
<p>What is your likely career and how much do you think you’ll be earning when you graduate?</p>
<p>Correct me if I’m wrong, most colleges require $30k+ every year/2 semesters.
On top of that, colleges require international students to prove that they have the
money to pay for all these expenses.</p>
<p>Take a look at the following link if you don’t believe me.
<a href=“http://admissions.msu.edu/documents/2010-11_financial_proof_form.pdf[/url]”>http://admissions.msu.edu/documents/2010-11_financial_proof_form.pdf</a></p>
<p>My parents probably can’t contribute that much for my tuition fee…I come from a low-income family.</p>
<p>I completely understand your response. But my biggest question is that since most int student aren’t eligible for financial aid, will a student loan statement be OK for the financial
proof…?</p>
<p>The bigger part of the your issue is that since your family is low income how will they repay all of these loans. What bank in your country is going to be willing to loan then almost $160,000?</p>
<p>How will you get approved for those loans? You have to reapply every year and could be denied in subsequent years. This is absolutely insane.</p>
<p>Hey people, thanks for your concerns.</p>
<p>Honestly, I have no idea how I can attend these schools without loans.
What are you suggesting? Is there another way?</p>
<p>Thanks!!!</p>
<p>The honest truth is you probably can’t attend these schools. The likelihood of getting four years worth of loans for that amount of money without sufficient income or collateral is very small. Loans aren’t guaranteed.</p>
<p>You should be applying to schools that will give you big merit for your stats.</p>
<p>You say that your parents are low income, so HOW are you going to qualify each year to borrow $30k+? I assume that int’l banks aren’t insane, right? They don’t just lend mega amounts to people who have no obvious means to pay the money back. And, it’s doubtful that they lend those amounts to people who don’t have co-signers.</p>
<p>And…don’t you think banks can “do the math,” and figure out that you won’t be earning enough after you graduate to pay back these loans AND pay for your living expenses? Certainly your parents can’t help you pay these loans back.</p>
<p>*Honestly, I have no idea how I can attend these schools without loans.
What are you suggesting? Is there another way?</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>If your stats aren’t high enough for big merit at the schools that give such to int’ls, then you’ll have to go to school in your own country.</p>
<p>Millions of kids want to go to school here. There isn’t some magic way to get the money to do that. If my kids wanted to go to school in YOUR country, I would have to pay the money to make that happen. No bank would just give my kids $160k for my kids to go to undergrad abroad.</p>
<p>you need to stop this train wreck before it happens. Even if you got some bank to let your parents co-sign for the first or second years, you’d be stuck for the later years. Then you’d have no degree and $40k-80k to pay back.</p>
<p>Again…I ask you…how much do you think you’ll be earning after you graduate?</p>
<p>Hmmm good point. I’ll think about it. </p>
<p>Let’s say some how I received a student loan, do the company transfer the money to my bank account? If so, I’ll need to have my bank issue a financial statement to give to colleges, correct?</p>
<p>I can’t tell you how much I’ll earn in my future, because honestly I don’t know for sure.
What I can tell you is that, I wish to become a scientific researcher (lab or field).</p>
<p>“What I can tell you is that, I wish to become a scientific researcher (lab or field).”</p>
<p>That career requires a Ph.D. followed by multiple years (seven isn’t unheard of) of post-doctoral research before you begin to earn a truly living wage. You are much better advised to complete your undergraduate education in your home country (where it is not going to cost you $160,000). Then you can apply to grad school in the US (or elsewhere). If you are a good enough applicant, your Ph.D. program will either be funded by your home government or by the university that admits you. With luck, your post-doc support will pay enough for you to live on and buy a car. There is no way that you can begin to pay down that kind of student loan with a post-doc income.</p>
<p>Happydad is a research biochemist. His Ph.D. program took 6 1/2 years. This was followed by 10 years in underpaid university research staff and post-doc positions before he was hired by a private company. We would not be able to pay our rent if he were paying off a student loan of $160,000. Notice I say rent. On our income we haven’t been able to save for a home yet.</p>
<p>You cannot afford the universities that you want to attend. Accept that. Grieve your loss. Then, move on. </p>
<p>Wishing you all the best.</p>
<p>*Let’s say some how I received a student loan, do the company transfer the money to my bank account? If so, I’ll need to have my bank issue a financial statement to give to colleges, correct?</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>We have no idea how banks do business in your country. Your bank may require that the funds go directly to your school - to ensure that the money is used for education.</p>
<p>Anyway…you seem to only want to consider funding for your first year. That is not wise. You need to understand that you’re not likely going to be able to get loans for every year in college. </p>
<p>You need to go to school in your OWN country…or apply to schools that will give you big merit for your stats.</p>
<p>Most US students get loans from the US government. You won’t be eligible for those. Before you get caught up in wondering how any loans you do get might be recognized for visa purposes, maybe you should go to some banks and find out if you can even get the loans in the first place.</p>
<p>I don’t know how things work in your country, but my guess is you won’t be able to even get the loans.</p>
<p>Jimbo, you simply must reconsider your plans. You can’t get federal loans, which would be small potatoes anyway compared to the costs you’re talking about. For private student loans, you’d need a co-signer who is both credit-worthy and willling to take on this risk. That’s how it works for US students; as 'rentof2 said, that may not even be possible. </p>
<p>There may be other paths to your goal, though. You could get a degree in your own country, work for a few years and save some money, then go to graduate school in the US. Or you could move to the US and work full-time while you go to one of these schools part-time. Yes, either of these courses would require patience, which I sense is a quality you need to work on. 
Or as others have said, maybe you can get admitted to a school which would give you huge merit aid. But this idea of taking on an insane amount of debt for an undergraduate degree – it’s just not an option.</p>
<p>Jimbo, like Happymomof1 said, in order to be a scientific research you’d need a PhD. Also note that scientists don’t necessarily make a lot of money - certainly not enough to pay off $120-$160K in loans. But I will say that lots of international students who have BAs abroad are accepted into PhD programs here in the U.S., especially in the sciences. And once you have a PhD here, you could probably also get a post-doc here (they are competitive but a U.S. PhD would make it easier than an international one, I believe).</p>
<p>It would probably be easier and more cost-effective for you to do your undergraduate studies in your home country and then try to get a PhD here. Also, since most science PhD programs are funded your future university would be your sponsor, and you wouldn’t have to worry so much about where the money was coming from. I’m in a PhD program now and a lot of my classmates are international students.</p>
<p>Jimbo, all of these posters are quite right, and have experience in the financial market. (In US terms, they’re quite financially savvy.) As much as the disappointment may hurt, you should not borrow over 100k for undergrad in the US,and avoid the disappointment of living paycheck to paycheck trying to pay off student loans and generating bad credit.</p>
<p>you should not borrow over 100k for undergrad in the US</p>
<p>Even that amount is toooo high unless - maybe - you’re majoring in Finance, going to to Top 5 B-school and will be working on Wall Street upon graduation. For everyone else, an undergrad needs to keep his total loans well under $50k (maybe some engineers from top schools could go to $50k)</p>
<p>^ true. I feel like the advice my parents gave me was the best –> why go to a school we can’t afford, why not let us pay what we can pay, get an education from that, and go out and achieve your dreams.</p>