LOAN FOR UK STUDENT IN NYC????

[halloweenhead]

Hey guys!

I'm from Northern Ireland.

I've been accepted into the MFA Photography program in NYC with a scholarship. The program starts in June 2011.

I am having a lot of trouble obtaining a loan to help me with the rest of the costs. I have tried GLSC and apparently individuals from the UK do not qualify!

- I cannot take out a loan in the US because I do not have a US co signer.

What I would ideally need is a loan which will cover all of my costs for study and one which I do not have to repay until I finish the course (in 2013).

Can anyone suggest any avenues I can go down to take out a loan without immediate repayments?

I hope someone can help!

Thanks

[fenderpete]

As far as I know, http://internationalstudentloans.com/ are the only place that do loans for non-US students - you don't know any family friends or anyone who could cosign?

I'll be in a similar position next year, so I can certainly sympathise. We seem to get a raw deal on both ends - no loans for grad school in the UK, and tough to get loans to study elsewhere. I'm also from NI, so feel free to give me a shout if you need any more help.

[halloweenhead]

Thank you for replying, I really appreciate it!

In regards to what I now know since posting my first message, we can take out a Professional and Business Career Loan. Only two banks do this, Barclays and Co-op. You can only apply to one or the other.

The only issue with this is that you can only get up to £10k.

It's quite good news for me, but I still need to find another 2 grand.

And yes, you're right. It's very unfair that there is hardly any help... Everyone keeps telling me it's a lot easier once you are in the chosen country.

[fenderpete]

I'm glad to hear that you managed to find somewhere else that offers loans. When I originally researched it, I thought we weren't eligible for Career Development Loans, but I'm guessing that the rules must be a bit different with Barclays/Coop. One thing that I did when I got my J-1 visa for an internship in the USA was declare my overdraft as part of the funds available to me, which they allowed. Obviously that's not ideal, but if you're really stuck it could help you get that last £2k. Then you could hopefully get some work on campus as part of your F-1 visa once you're there to make some extra cash.

[christophinoz]

In exactly the same boat here - MFA Photo in NYC and looking for $$. Ok for 1st year but after that...

Do you know if we are eligible for any US loans when in-country?

Ta.

[halloweenhead]

Hi, sorry for the late reply.

I have a friend in NYC from UK and she told me it is easier to gain funding while in the country. I think she meant more scholarships and things like that, rather than loans. It seems the only way to get loans in the states is if we get a US co-signer or sponsor.

Christophinoz, did you have any luck finding funding for your second year? I was not able to take up my placement in the MFA program this year because I couldn't get together the funding to come. Very frustrating! But planning to begin in 2012.

[christophinoz]

That's what I thought.

No luck on 2nd year funding yet - backpacking in Africa so bit difficult to sort it out. Something will come up...

Maybe it's time to find a rich, single, hot American gal

Good luck with the 2012 applications & feel free to ping any questions my way.