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My brother had success with access group so I decided to stick with them.

I have been searching for the form to waive insurance. I have my own but can't seem to find it anywhere on the bursar's site.

aholmes87 wrote:I have been searching for the form to waive insurance. I have my own but can't seem to find it anywhere on the bursar's site.

The link is up in my ACES page now, along with some new enrollment links. I haven't had time to play around with it yet, but it looks like you can waive/register for insurance now via one of the new links.

It appears that they haven't added our socials/student IDs into the system yet. Somewhere on the site it said an email will be sent out when we are able to waive.

aholmes87 wrote:It appears that they haven't added our socials/student IDs into the system yet. Somewhere on the site it said an email will be sent out when we are able to waive.

I saw that, too, but I figured I'd try to register for the SMIP anyway (since I only have temporary coverage right now, which sucks). It looked like they were going to let me sign up, but it also looked like I would've had to pay now, before I get my loans. I just quit at that point, so I don't know if they'll let you go through with it or not. I think I'll just wait since I won't have the money until August.

At least there's an explanation of the benefits on the site. I briefly read through it, and it doesn't look too bad (at least if you're single and have no dependents, since that's what I was mainly looking at). Prenatal care wasn't so hot, and I remember reading this: "Your actual costs for Covered Medical Expenses may exceed the stated Coinsurance or Copayment amount because actual provider charges may not be used to determine the plan’s and your payment obligations." They don't mention how they actually calculate the benefits, but they do direct you to other documents in other places where those details theoretically should be. I haven't had the time to bother reading through that yet, though. Other than that, my cursory review of the benefits suggests that the SMIP is pretty decent. I also didn't look at the dental plan yet either.

If anyone finds any private coverage that's comparable and cheaper, feel free to let us know.

I need to get really rich. Not so I can buy a big fancy house, a yacht, or my own Island. So that I can pay someone else to deal with al this stuff. Or better yet, not need it.

Bosque wrote:I need to get really rich. Not so I can buy a big fancy house, a yacht, or my own Island. So that I can pay someone else to deal with al this stuff. Or better yet, not need it.

Credited.

I'm still on the "get loans" stage since my links weren't working and I've been working a couple jobs. Argh. Back to work on that in a minute.

dresq wrote:

aholmes87 wrote:My to do list still says I need to do the MPN for my grad plus loans.

Ditto.

Out of curiosity, why didn't you go with CFNC? They have no origination fee or federal default fee, and they have the same 0.25% reduction for automated payments as access group.

I chose Access Group b/c I believe I say they have in-house personnel

This one goes out to you experienced Duke-loan-ACES users who have been provided everyone with great/very helpful info so far:

I completed both my entrance interviews (although it is still on my "To-do" list, why is this?) and chose Access Group as my Stafford lender. While I was on the Access Group website I also filled out the application for GRAD PLUS loans (seemed to be a joint application) and after I was done my account page has both listed. Now, my main question is whether or not I screwed up. I completed my entrance counseling for GRAD PLUS as I said before, but when I went to pick a lender I realized that I already took care of this while doing the other. Is this going to confuse the hell out of Duke? I'm going to call tomorrow morning but was just wondering if any one else ran into this. I am not particularly worried at all, just tired of deal with it all. Personally I found the whole process, particularly the Duke website and its lack of updating, unnecessarily frustrating. (breathe)

Thanks for any comments

frissle wrote:This one goes out to you experienced Duke-loan-ACES users who have been provided everyone with great/very helpful info so far:

I completed both my entrance interviews (although it is still on my "To-do" list, why is this?) and chose Access Group as my Stafford lender. While I was on the Access Group website I also filled out the application for GRAD PLUS loans (seemed to be a joint application) and after I was done my account page has both listed. Now, my main question is whether or not I screwed up. I completed my entrance counseling for GRAD PLUS as I said before, but when I went to pick a lender I realized that I already took care of this while doing the other. Is this going to confuse the hell out of Duke? I'm going to call tomorrow morning but was just wondering if any one else ran into this. I am not particularly worried at all, just tired of deal with it all. Personally I found the whole process, particularly the Duke website and its lack of updating, unnecessarily frustrating. (breathe)

Thanks for any comments

Give it several days. You should be fine. Lots of weird stuff seems to happen on ACES. Once my Staffords went through, my "to do" list told me to do the federal entrance counseling even though I had already done it (it disappeared from the list, then reappeared, then eventually disappeared again). You're probably experiencing something similar.

More to the point, if you did the GradPLUS entrance counseling at any point (i.e. read through it and answered all of the questions correctly) and clicked "Exit" on the confirmation/print page (before going to the page where it asks you to choose a lender), you should be fine.

The "to do" list is starting to feel like a game of whack-a-mole to me, too. Every time I complete one thing, new things show up, and it usually takes a few days to update once it's completed. I just imagine that the financial aid office is blitzed right now with applications. Consider that most students probably have 3 or 4 different loan applications for them to process. I don't envy them.

My Stafford loans are official now. Only problem is that I was loaned twice what I asked for: 2 x $8,500 unsubsidized + 2 x $12,000 unsubsidized!!! Four Staffords in all, not the two it should be. WTF?!! How is this even possible? What's even weirder is that they share the same application number and dispersement schedules (2 x $4,250 + 2 x $6,000 each semester). It's not like I applied twice or anything.

The financial aid fun never ends. My advice to those who haven't started yet: start. You never know what might crop up that you have to deal with.

aer wrote:

prezidentv8 wrote:

aholmes87 wrote:Even with the scholarship the bill is quite large. Has anyone started applying for private loans yet? Are most people planning on using gradplus?

Yes, and ouch on the price. I'm thinkin I can save the most money on transportation and food (eat bike to school, eat less/very basic items, try and get free lunches like they talked about at ASW).

I'm a summer start so I am here already and this city is not very bike friendly. I live at Alexan and am pretty sure that I would be hit by a car by the end of the summer session if I tried to bike to school.

Sorry to re-hash this thread topic from a few pages back, but I'm just starting in on this thread . Anyway, I was hoping to bike to school as well, not everyday and I'm not set on it, but I'm wondering if everyone who's there for summer start has the same opinion on the drivers and roads. Has anyone tried to go from P. Ridge to school or found a set of backroads that work out for biking?

Okkay. Guess I had better sit down and start picking lenders today. It looks like everyone is going with Access Group. I was looking at them, but also College Foundation because they don't charge an origination fee. What's the advantage of in-house loan servicing? Sorry if that's a really dumb question, I don't have much knowledge in this field.

pumpkincrepes wrote:Okkay. Guess I had better sit down and start picking lenders today. It looks like everyone is going with Access Group. I was looking at them, but also College Foundation because they don't charge an origination fee. What's the advantage of in-house loan servicing? Sorry if that's a really dumb question, I don't have much knowledge in this field.

I'm not sure why more people aren't going with CFNC. I would strongly recommend them (aside from the little debacle I mentioned in my last post). They're a non-profit backed by the state and have been doing this since the mid 1960s. My dad used to work for both UNC and Duke in their financial aid offices a few decades ago and worked with CFNC a lot. He agreed wholeheartedly that I should use CFNC. Personally, I saw them as a no-brainer given the terms. Also, CFNC loans are serviced in-house and have never been sold (not that they never will be sold, but they haven't ever done so in 40+ years):

College Foundation has never sold or transferred loans and has a long-term commitment to our borrowers which makes it much easier to get your questions answered.

and

CFI services all the loans we hold, from the time they are made until the time they are paid in full. Our staff is right here in North Carolina, ready to provide excellent customer service.

I think the main benefit of in-house servicing is that you don't have to keep track of who owns your loans and who you need to send checks to if/when those kinds of things change. It just makes things easier since you don't have to learn how to deal with a new company and new people.

pumpkincrepes wrote:Sorry to re-hash this thread topic from a few pages back, but I'm just starting in on this thread . Anyway, I was hoping to bike to school as well, not everyday and I'm not set on it, but I'm wondering if everyone who's there for summer start has the same opinion on the drivers and roads. Has anyone tried to go from P. Ridge to school or found a set of backroads that work out for biking?

I think I mentioned this before, but I actually used to live on Stanford Drive a few years back (just a few blocks from Pinnacle Ridge), and I used to ride down highway 751 and past the law school several times a week on my way to Hillsborough to train. I'm still alive. You can absolutely ride your bike from Pinnacle Ridge to school, but it just depends on how comfortable you are riding with traffic. Of course, I'm a pretty avid cyclist, so I'd tell you that you can ride anywhere except the interstate. Honestly, I don't think that part of 751 is all that bad. I'd say try it once, and see how it goes. Unfortunately, there are not really any backroads for you to take, but it's a straight shot that shouldn't take you any more than 15 minutes or so if you catch all of the lights.

The previous post was also about riding from Alexan. That's a little more sketchy because of the really busy South Square area by University Dr., which is between Alexan and 751.

dresq wrote:

frissle wrote:This one goes out to you experienced Duke-loan-ACES users who have been provided everyone with great/very helpful info so far:

I completed both my entrance interviews (although it is still on my "To-do" list, why is this?) and chose Access Group as my Stafford lender. While I was on the Access Group website I also filled out the application for GRAD PLUS loans (seemed to be a joint application) and after I was done my account page has both listed. Now, my main question is whether or not I screwed up. I completed my entrance counseling for GRAD PLUS as I said before, but when I went to pick a lender I realized that I already took care of this while doing the other. Is this going to confuse the hell out of Duke? I'm going to call tomorrow morning but was just wondering if any one else ran into this. I am not particularly worried at all, just tired of deal with it all. Personally I found the whole process, particularly the Duke website and its lack of updating, unnecessarily frustrating. (breathe)

Thanks for any comments

Give it several days. You should be fine. Lots of weird stuff seems to happen on ACES. Once my Staffords went through, my "to do" list told me to do the federal entrance counseling even though I had already done it (it disappeared from the list, then reappeared, then eventually disappeared again). You're probably experiencing something similar.

More to the point, if you did the GradPLUS entrance counseling at any point (i.e. read through it and answered all of the questions correctly) and clicked "Exit" on the confirmation/print page (before going to the page where it asks you to choose a lender), you should be fine.

The "to do" list is starting to feel like a game of whack-a-mole to me, too. Every time I complete one thing, new things show up, and it usually takes a few days to update once it's completed. I just imagine that the financial aid office is blitzed right now with applications. Consider that most students probably have 3 or 4 different loan applications for them to process. I don't envy them.

Thanks dresq, and I agree with the whack-a-mole comment - seems right on haha. Regardless of all this hoop jumping for financial aid, I am sure it will all work out and I'm so pumped to meet everyone in the fall!

What bank in Durham are you guys planning on opening an account at? I wanted to get that all sorted out so I could get the direct deposit stuff all ready to go as well.

skiridedrive wrote:What bank in Durham are you guys planning on opening an account at? I wanted to get that all sorted out so I could get the direct deposit stuff all ready to go as well.

BB&T (LinkRemoved), Wachovia (LinkRemoved), and Bank of America all are reasonable choices. Personally, I've used BB&T for 15 years or so, and I have no complaints. They also made it through the banking/mortgage debacle unscathed (or as unscathed as possible), which I think speaks well of them.

Thanks for the helpful response!

dresq wrote:

skiridedrive wrote:What bank in Durham are you guys planning on opening an account at? I wanted to get that all sorted out so I could get the direct deposit stuff all ready to go as well.

BB&T (LinkRemoved), Wachovia (LinkRemoved), and Bank of America all are reasonable choices. Personally, I've used BB&T for 15 years or so, and I have no complaints. They also made it through the banking/mortgage debacle unscathed (or as unscathed as possible), which I think speaks well of them.

I think I'm going to go with Bank of America. If BB&T was available in my home state I would chose them, but unfortunately they aren't and I want to go with a bank that I can use both at home and in Durham. It seems like I see Bank of America everywhere so at least I won't have to deal with ATM fees.

Also it looks like we can waive insurance now.

On another note, does anyone have the slightest idea when we might find out what section/our schedules? The 1L classes are loaded up into the ACES database, I'm wondering when we will get placed in them.

I am using USAA. Not everyone can do that though, so that might not be helpful for you.

On another note, does anyone have the slightest idea when we might find out what section/our schedules? The 1L classes are loaded up into the ACES database, I'm wondering when we will get placed in them.[/quote]

I was wondering about this too. Anyone have any guesses?

frissle wrote:On another note, does anyone have the slightest idea when we might find out what section/our schedules? The 1L classes are loaded up into the ACES database, I'm wondering when we will get placed in them.

I'm pretty sure we don't have to register. I am under the impression that we will be assigned schedules/sections during orientation.

dresq wrote:

frissle wrote:On another note, does anyone have the slightest idea when we might find out what section/our schedules? The 1L classes are loaded up into the ACES database, I'm wondering when we will get placed in them.

I'm pretty sure we don't have to register. I am under the impression that we will be assigned schedules/sections during orientation.

You think they will wait until orientation to place us? I was really hoping we would get placed before then so I could try and find my textbooks cheaper than what they will charge at the bookstore.

aholmes87 wrote:

dresq wrote:

frissle wrote:On another note, does anyone have the slightest idea when we might find out what section/our schedules? The 1L classes are loaded up into the ACES database, I'm wondering when we will get placed in them.

I'm pretty sure we don't have to register. I am under the impression that we will be assigned schedules/sections during orientation.

You think they will wait until orientation to place us? I was really hoping we would get placed before then so I could try and find my textbooks cheaper than what they will charge at the bookstore.

I'm just going on what the admitted student website says (below), but I think that's right. Maybe you can still get your books early, though. Try asking some rising 2Ls on this site or Facebook, or maybe some of the summer starters here can weigh in on that.

"First-year students will be automatically registered for courses upon arrival. The mandatory orientation program for summer-entering students will begin on May 28. LEAD Week, the mandatory orientation program for all 1L students, will begin on August 17. Law students attend classes Monday through Friday. The class schedule for fall students will be determined by your small section assignment."

Anyone have an idea of how soon into the semester we will absolutely need our books? Because if we don't need need them until a week or so in, I will probably still get mine online. Cheeper that way, especially since I am not planing on selling them back.