International students: No US co-signor & little/no funding?! What are your options?

[EspressoDoble]

I'm an international student with an HKS admit, but no funding (FML, I know). So that's slightly north of $170,000 over two years. Is that bonkers?

Right now, I can't even find an educational loan company willing to fund me the entire sum, even through I've lived in the US for 15 years and have excellent credit. 

What are you all doing about this? Selling your organs, or perhaps, your unruly kid sibling ? ? (joking, don't actually do this...it's not worth it, probably). 

 

Edit: @JonathanL96 and @Catam - any thoughts here? 

Edited March 28, 2020 by EspressoDoble
Pinging two other forum members

[JonathanL96]

9 hours ago, EspressoDoble said:

I'm an international student with an HKS admit, but no funding (FML, I know). So that's slightly north of $170,000 over two years. Is that bonkers?

Right now, I can't even find an educational loan company willing to fund me the entire sum, even through I've lived in the US for 15 years and have excellent credit. 

What are you all doing about this? Selling your organs, or perhaps, your unruly kid sibling ? ? (joking, don't actually do this...it's not worth it, probably). 

 

Edit: @JonathanL96 and @Catam - any thoughts here? 

i may choose another school over HKS.

[EspressoDoble]

9 hours ago, JonathanL96 said:

i may choose another school over HKS.

I noticed that you're getting 80k from SAIS over two years, and nothing from HKS.... Yeah, in your case, SAIS definitely sounds like a good option. 

[JonathanL96]

7 hours ago, EspressoDoble said:

I noticed that you're getting 80k from SAIS over two years, and nothing from HKS.... Yeah, in your case, SAIS definitely sounds like a good option. 

Yah...I also got 60k from SIPA and am negotiating with Harris to get a bump in scholarship. HKS is too stingy. Despite the brand name I don't think it is worth 60K more than the rest of the schools that accepted me

Edited March 29, 2020 by JonathanL96

[Catam]

On 3/28/2020 at 1:15 AM, EspressoDoble said:

I'm an international student with an HKS admit, but no funding (FML, I know). So that's slightly north of $170,000 over two years. Is that bonkers?

Right now, I can't even find an educational loan company willing to fund me the entire sum, even through I've lived in the US for 15 years and have excellent credit. 

What are you all doing about this? Selling your organs, or perhaps, your unruly kid sibling ? ? (joking, don't actually do this...it's not worth it, probably). 

I am still trying to decide what way to go...

In my country, the government offers heavily subsidized loans with repayments that are linked to income. That means that I would only have to pay back a small percentage of my income each year so I would not be in trouble paying them back even if I had a very low-paying job. I could cover the rest of the costs with savings and some smaller competitive national scholarships (assuming I would receive some - the Harvard brand would probably help with that). 

When I spoke to HKS financial services, they told me about two types of loans, one of them being offered by a company based in London I think. If you haven't, you could contact them and ask them about it. 

Ofcourse, you have to do what you feel is right for you. These are two years of your life - a huge investment. For me, I would say that it is important that you can see a way where the repayments of the loans do not hinder your ability to pursue the career that you want to after graduation. 

 

[EspressoDoble]

2 hours ago, Catam said:

When I spoke to HKS financial services, they told me about two types of loans, one of them being offered by a company based in London I think. If you haven't, you could contact them and ask them about it. 

Yeah, I've been told about Prodigy Finance (not sure if they are located in London). Most likely, I'm taking a loan through them though I am strongly tempted to defer my admittance by one year, and save up more money over this time. All said, you are right - these are two valuable years of my life, and I want to make the best of this decision. 

That said, I expect the economy to take a massive hit now and then start on an upward trend sometime between late this year (optimistic projection, if social distancing really helps) or mid 2021 (pessimistic, if only a vaccine can help us). So by the time we graduate in 2022, things should have bounced back. In fact, Ben Bernanke mentioned that he believed all the economic damage of this pandemic is front-loaded, and the US will experience it during Q1 and Q2 of this year. 

Also, check this out: https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2020/03/coronavirus-social-distancing-over-back-to-normal/608752/

All that said, I am tempted to defer by one year, if only because HKS has given me $0 in funding. Still on the fence about this.