Lauren Victoria

I just got accepted to graduate school, and am in the process of figuring out financial aid. I submitted my FAFSA and am waiting for my school to tell me how much I will get. I believe I will probably want to apply for a Grad PLUS loan. My question is about eligibility. I know they don't actually look at your credit score, but they look at things like bankruptcies, liens, delinquencies, accounts in collection, etc. I have a good credit history, except for one small medical bill ($133) that went into collections years ago, and that I didn't even know about until I checked my credit report. It's set to fall off my credit report in May 2013, but I'm worried it will make me ineligible to get a Grad PLUS loan and I start school at the end of January. I have no issue paying the amount if that means it won't be held against me when I apply for the PLUS loan. Has anyone had any experience with this? If I pay it, I'm going to try to get it deleted from my credit profile through the collection agency. But if they refuse to do this, should I pay it anyway as long as "paid in full" appears on my credit report? If it's paid in full but not deleted completely from my report, will I still be able to get the loan?

I am in the process of applying to Johns Hopkins MA in Museums Studies program. All of my application materials will be submitted tomorrow. They have rolling admissions, with a recommendation to have your application submitted two - three months before the start of the semester in which you want to begin, which, for me, would be spring 2013-- start date January 23. Generally, how long does it take for the admissions committee to decide on an application once it is received? If anyone has specific information on JHU, that would be great, but information based on any program with rolling admissions would be helpful. I realize the length of time can vary, but I wondered if there was a usual time-frame. Thanks!