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Hi guys, hope one of you might know the answer to this question. Basically I have decided that unless I get off the wait list at the school I really want (let's call it School X), I'm going to retake and reapply next fall. That said, I would definitely not be able to swing the cost of attendance at School X without a major Grad PLUS loan. Do I still apply right now even though I am not confirmed as attending LS in the fall? Or do I wait until I have final word from School X (which could be as late as mid-August)?

Part two of this question has to do with Fed Direct loans. School Y, which I have been accepted to, but don't really want to attend, has given me 21,000 in Fed Direct. If I don't go to School Y, do these loans get eviscerated? Or if I get into school X off the wait list, do they get transferred to the fin aid office there?

I guess what I'm saying here is, I have seen threads that address how to transfer over loans/MPNs from a school you are attending to a school you were previously WL'd at, but how do I deal with MPNs and loans when I am not going to know if I'll be enrolled in a school until possibly late in the summer?

Thanks a bunch for any advice you can offer!

you dont need to apply for the loans. fill out fafsa and add the waitlist school to your list of schools. theyll offer you full COA and then take what you need

laxbrah420 wrote:you dont need to apply for the loans. fill out fafsa and add the waitlist school to your list of schools. theyll offer you full COA and then take what you need

Sorry, just to clarify - I do have my WL school on my FAFSA, so I don't need to do anything for the direct loans? Does the not needing to apply thing go for the Grad PLUS as well? Thanks for your reply!

uptowngirl22 wrote:

laxbrah420 wrote:you dont need to apply for the loans. fill out fafsa and add the waitlist school to your list of schools. theyll offer you full COA and then take what you need

Sorry, just to clarify - I do have my WL school on my FAFSA, so I don't need to do anything for the direct loans? Does the not needing to apply thing go for the Grad PLUS as well? Thanks for your reply!

That's not entirely correct. The FAFSA is for the fed stafford loans. It also takes care of GradPlus at some schools but other schools have different requirements. So you definitely want to add them to your FAFSA now and find out what their GradPlus requirements are for the school.

You can get the loans well into the semester despite whatever warnings you've seen.

You have to apply separately for grad plus loans; they use credit scores to determine eligibility. Go to your fafsa account and click the "grad plus request" link. It should take about a day or two before you know if you qualified. They will not send you an email, you'll just have to check back on the sight.

BarcaCrossesTheAlps wrote:You have to apply separately for grad plus loans; they use credit scores to determine eligibility. Go to your fafsa account and click the "grad plus request" link. It should take about a day or two before you know if you qualified. They will not send you an email, you'll just have to check back on the sight site.

you still have to check with your school. Michigan, for example, does not want you to use the one on the Studentloans.gov site and you have to request your GradPlus loans directly through Michigan's site. That's why I say that not all schools are the same and before you end up doing something incorrectly it's best to check with the school.

JoeMo wrote:

BarcaCrossesTheAlps wrote:You have to apply separately for grad plus loans; they use credit scores to determine eligibility. Go to your fafsa account and click the "grad plus request" link. It should take about a day or two before you know if you qualified. They will not send you an email, you'll just have to check back on the sight site.

you still have to check with your school. Michigan, for example, does not want you to use the one on the Studentloans.gov site and you have to request your GradPlus loans directly through Michigan's site. That's why I say that not all schools are the same and before you end up doing something incorrectly it's best to check with the school.

Huh... I filled it out before just to see if I would qualify. Now it shows as potential aid in all my law school aid info, of course I don't have to take it. I wonder how many schools are like UM? But this is definitely great advice.

BarcaCrossesTheAlps wrote:

JoeMo wrote:

BarcaCrossesTheAlps wrote:You have to apply separately for grad plus loans; they use credit scores to determine eligibility. Go to your fafsa account and click the "grad plus request" link. It should take about a day or two before you know if you qualified. They will not send you an email, you'll just have to check back on the sight site.

you still have to check with your school. Michigan, for example, does not want you to use the one on the Studentloans.gov site and you have to request your GradPlus loans directly through Michigan's site. That's why I say that not all schools are the same and before you end up doing something incorrectly it's best to check with the school.

Huh... I filled it out before just to see if I would qualify. Now it shows as potential aid in all my law school aid info, of course I don't have to take it. I wonder how many schools are like UM? But this is definitely great advice.

Yeah, I don't know if it's very many but UM definitely says "do not use the studentloans.gov application for GradPlus loans" So take that for what it's worth. I just take that as an indication that not every school is the same and that the school should be consulted. That being said, I dealt with a few financial aid offices during this cycle and they were all extremely helpful.