j023

I'm planning to do it, but only so that I can knock an econ req off my list and allow me to start taking higher level econ courses. Head-start in socializing/Italian are perks, but not worth the money in my opinion. That's a month's rent, a month's living expenses, and 840-1200 or however many euros just to get a leg-up in Italian and start meeting people earlier? Everyone has different priorities, but I wouldn't be able to justify that!

I was attempting to generalize about the distinction between payments on the principle and on interest, as not all people who frequent this forum live/work (or intend to live/work) in the United States, which has specific rules. For the record, your understanding of the student loan interest deduction in the US is factually incorrect. The student loan interest deduction is taken as an adjustment to income (and thus can be claimed even if you do not itemize deductions). It is, as you suggest, subject to a number of restrictions and eligibility rules. For anyone who would like legitimate information regarding student loan interest tax deductions in the United States, I recommend reviewing this publication from the IRS: http://www.irs.gov/publications/p970/ch04.html I also highly recommend speaking with a financial planner before taking out a large debt obligation; marriage, children, buying a home, etc. may seem like a distant and irrelevant factor for some of you, but over the lifetime of your loan (which could be as long as 25 years), there's a good chance your priorities may change.

Little disclaimer: I am not a tax expert and cannot offer professional advice. The claim that student loan payments are made with after-tax money is not an accurate statement, at least not in the United States or Germany. I would like to clarify this issue, as it may be helpful for anyone who is trying to map out their future costs. A student loan payment (like most loans) can be split into two parts: part of it pays back the "principle" of the loan (the amount you initially borrowed), and part of it pays back the interest on your loan. Payments made on the interest of your student loan is tax-deductible (i.e. you do not pay taxes for it), whereas payments made on the principle of the loan (called "amortization") is not tax-deductible (the "after-tax money" referred to by usdenick). The ratio between the two payments is not fixed. Generally speaking, when you start to make loan payments, you are paying more in interest (because the balance of your loan is still so high, so you owe more interest every month). Near the end of the loan, the reverse is true. What does this mean in practical terms? To use the $500 monthly payment example from usdenick, if you have that $500 monthly payment for 10 years, the amount of your payment that you can write-off for tax purposes changes. From a tax perspective, you will be paying less in the beginning of re-payment than in the end. This is helpful if you are taking out a student loan, buying a home, etc. because the burden of your loan payments are lower in the starting years. For the excel-savvy among you, you can use the IPMT function to calculate how much of your monthly payment would be interest payment in any given period in the loan repayment.

I have a sneaking suspicion that they will not release until 5-6pm EST... for which I have no real evidence... but that's gotta be like 5-6 AM in the Philippines!

So they're going to put up results Friday evening and slip out of the office til Monday? Clever bastards

Accepted for MIA! Woohoo! But no scholarship The wording is "Scholarship refused". Somehow that feels harsher than denied. I sorta imagine a Frenchman shaking his head saying "On refuse !"

This week is the big week... in prior years, they started releasing admissions decisions on Tuesday, but that has typically been a later date (12th-15th). Anyone hear back anything? Surprised not to see anyone posting here!