Trouble with applying for student loan

[cadogan]

Some of the Universities that I have applied to requires an additional Financial Documenation submitted to ensure that the international candidate has enough funds. This is rather easy to fill out comparing the rest of the application; I could go to the bank, get the officer to sign the document and that's it. This ofcourse assumes there is enough money in the bank before applying. Sadly for educational loans, the story is very different.

 

If I were to apply for loans before admission to grad school and if the application gets rejected, the money goes futile. But I have no choice in the matter because of what I've mentioned before. If there was a choice for submitting these documents after admission, it would've made more sense. In that case I could just go to the bank (after grad-admission) apply for the loan and report the funds to the University. I hope you could see my dilemma. I need some advise on this.

 

_{Note: I am applying to Universties in the US. If more information is required about the particulars of these universities' admissions policy I could post links here.}

Edited September 2, 2014 by cadogan

[TakeruK]

Hello!

 

Sorry if this is an over-explanation but I just wanted to make sure you know how the system works in general. I remember being very confused applying to the US as an "international" (even though I have lived within 1 hr of the US border my whole life!) student too.

 

In order to get a student visa, you need to be able to show proof of funds for either 1 year (if you are applying for F-1 status, the standard student status) or the entire length of degree (if you are applying for J-1 status). 

 

For most schools, the whole funding issue is not part of the admission decision, only required for them to issue paperwork for your student visa. So, it is a little strange to me that they would want to see this for sure up front. However, I guess it might be possible that they want to see this ahead of time so that they don't admit an international student who would not have enough funds to get a visa (and thus waste a spot). But first things first--check if you really need to have all of these forms filled out ahead of time. This is because for Physics PhD programs in the US, almost every position is fully funded by the school in form of TA and RA work, so you usually don't even have to provide proof of personal funds. Also, note that for most of the schools I applied to, there was a "financial documents" section but it was optional prior to admission. 

 

If you have checked that you actually do need to provide proof of funds etc. before applying and that the program is not fully funded, then I would recommend that you simply get approved for a loan now. You don't have to actually show the money in your bank account, but a certificate from the lending agency saying that you are approved for a loan for X dollars is usually enough. For example, a loan certificate is listed as one of the possible "proof of funding" documents you can submit to UC Berkeley: http://internationaloffice.berkeley.edu/funding_documentation

[cadogan]

The universities are keen on this point. They do insist these documents to be submitted for processing my application. Still, I haven't checked with the bank about this. If they would issue that "proof of funding" certificate as you've mentioned, everything would be fine. Thank you for your advice. I will ask the bank about this.

Edited September 2, 2014 by cadogan