<p>Here's the thing- I'm a foreign citizen who's looking for an international loan to be able to afford college. Since there is no guarantee of my loan application being approved, I was meaning to apply for my student visa only after securing a loan source. I was considering applying for the Sallie Mae Smart Option Student Loan plan, but the application itself there, however, requires me to submit a copy of my student visa or CIS form. Now, there's no point of getting a student visa if I'm not even sure if I'm going to get the loan, and for another I have no idea what a CIS form is.
What do I do, help please?! :(</p>
<p>(For those of you who have read my previous thread, this is kind of a subset of that)</p>
<p>Thanks, once again.</p>
<p><a href="mailto:niyonta.nch@gmail.com">niyonta.nch@gmail.com</a></p>
<p>Do you have an American or green card resident relative who will co-sign your loans each year? Can they qualify for each year’s loan (each year they co-sign will be a negative to their credit rating and each year that a loan is taken out, that co-signer has to get approved based on the past loans that are still outstanding).</p>
<p>Will you be able to afford the monthly interest payments that must be made while in college? Those interest payments will get bigger each year as you continue to borrow more money.</p>
<p>How much are thinking of borrowing each year? How much for a total of 4 years?</p>
<p>You can’t get a student visa without being able to demonstrate that you have funds for at least one year of studies. Can you do that?</p>
<p>Have you asked this question in the International Students Form? Click on “Discussion Home” in the upper-left of this screen and scroll down to find it. The people who post there might have some ideas for you.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids- Thanks for replying. Yes, I do have an eligible cosigner- he’s a non citizen permanent resident- a former student of my father. His yearly income is quite a lot and he has good transaction records and no history of taking a loan himself up till now.
I intend to work as much as I can, while keeping up my studies, in order to keep the outstanding loans at a safe amount. I don’t know what the monthly interest rates are going to be yet. Starting from 4.25% they can go up to 13.75%. I’m hoping it would stay within 8%.
Well, the college where I got accepted, Sarah Lawrence (New York), has given me a combined aid and scholarship package of $37,000 yearly. Since the total cost of SLC is $57,000 per year that leaves me with the responsibility of the remaining $20,000. My father has agreed to give $9000, which means I have to take a loan of $11,000 each year. For a total of four years that would be $44,000.</p>
<p>@happymomof1- Thanks for the reply. Actually, no I can’t… I depend on Sallie Mae to cover a majority of the cost. The application at Sallie Mae requires the student visa…and processing the student visa requires an adequate source of funds, so I guess the paradox remains. I’m also wait listed at two other colleges (Bryn Mawr and Mount Holyoke) and hope to transfer there if I eventually get a positive response from them. Thanks a lot for suggesting the International Students Forum. Since I’m new and joined only to get a fast solution to this problem, I hadn’t really looked around much. I posted the question there just now!</p>
<p>-Do you guys think it’s financially wise to take the burden of a loan of that amount? I really want to go to college this year, it’s an almost necessity, I can’t take a year off and re-apply. But then again, I’m not sure how high the interest rate is going to be or if I can manage a part time job that pays well enough. Moreover, I might have to take a year or two off after finishing college to pay off the loan, before going to university…
Everything is contingent upon the interest rate. If it stays within 8%, I’m willing to take it up. I just hope it doesn’t rise beyond that.</p>
<p>I intend to work as much as I can, while keeping up my studies, in order to keep the outstanding loans at a safe amount. I don’t know what the monthly interest rates are going to be yet. Starting from 4.25% they can go up to 13.75%. I’m hoping it would stay within 8%.</p>
<p>What kind of jobs can int’ls with student visas get? I thought they can only do campus jobs - which won’t pay a lot. But maybe I’m wrong.</p>
<p>Won’t you have to make monthly interest payments with Sallie Mae while you’re in college? I may be mistaken, but I don’t think you can defer those anymore (like you could before the banking crisis).</p>
<p>“Actually, no I can’t… I depend on Sallie Mae to cover a majority of the cost.”</p>
<p>Without the paperwork demonstrating that you have the money for your studies there will be no student visa. Period.</p>
<p>What was your back-up plan if you didn’t get into a college in the US? You need to take another look at options in your home country.</p>
<p>Yes, interest payments must be made each month. Everyone I know is discouraging me against taking this loan…
The colleges where I’m waitlisted are actually my back up plans. Other than that, I plan on applying for the January sessions to colleges in Canada and Australia, once I’m done with my A levels, which will be at the end of June.</p>
<p>Niyonta,</p>
<p>Clearly you have been very ill-advised in this process. Every applicant needs at least one rock-solid admissions and financial safety on their list of colleges/universities. This is a place that you can afford out of pocket without any scholarships or loans, and is a place where you know without a doubt that you can be admitted based on your grades and test scores. Unless you know that one of the Canadian and/or Australian universities falls into this category, you need to keep looking until you find one. Failing that, you need to come up with a plan for what you will do if you are not studying at any college/university next January.</p>