University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law Forum

[Matokah]

If this helps at all, I used THE last year and LOVED them. . .

BUT

I was told through my financial aid office that I would have to choose a new lender for this year, because THE was having some sort of money problems.

I chose NeedAccess and (thus far) haven't had any problems with them.

As for whether you can borrow a different amount than what you'd asked, yes, I believe so. . .for me, I'm borrowing about 3K less than the maximum but if I find out I need more, I can submit another loan request form through the financial aid office. Also, if you've hit your max and need more (or in my case, I wanted to do work study but didn't want to have to pay them back money at the beginning and then earn it all back. . .stupid!), if you have unexpected medical bills or car bills, submit them to financial aid and they will raise your loan amount as much as they can (I was able to get mine raised about $1000 that I earned through work study last term due to both unexpected medical and car bills).

[skylar]

When in doubt, talk to Joe Pincas, the financial aid director. You'll be hard pressed to ever find a nicer guy!

But yes, you can change your loan amounts AND your lender, even if you've already sent in the paperwork. I didn't have the choice of sticking with the same lender because my undergrad loans are directly through the government or something, and grad students aren't eligible. So I'm in completely new water here! Basically, I started the processes with one lender, but it's been nothing but trouble, so I'm saying "screw those guys" (Access Group, btw, so I'm not surprised to hear they're having problems) and taking my loans somewhere else. I talked to Joe about this today, and he said it's as easy as pie that I just cancel the promissory note I signed and do the normal stuff with another company. I'm going in tomorrow to get his help finishing that stuff up.

Of course, it's best to keep all your loans under one lender instead of changing each year. The benefits between lenders is (largely) negligible, particularly the ones on the lender list since they were chosen with the same criteria. But keeping them together with the same lender makes repayment MUCH easier in the long run. Don't overlook customer service, because you're going to be dealing with these companies for at least 5 years, if you're lucky and get the amazing job after graduation Hence why I'm jumping the Access Group boat after getting the early warning signs, lol...

[SFtoSac!]

Thanks for letting me know about Access Group. I almost signed up with them. I submitted my loan request the other day and picked Wachovia, although I'm now thinking of looking into different lenders. Customer service is super important for me too so any suggestions?

[SFtoSac!]

antsinmypants: I totally want to go on the rafting trip but I was waitlisted and recently admitted. Is it too late to sign up? I saw somewhere in the forum that the deadline was June 25-ish.

[Matokah]

SFtoSac!: Contact admissions and ask. At the very least, they should be able to point you to the person with whom you need to speak. Usually it is a student who helps organize the entire thing. I imagine if there's still room, they'd have no problem with you signing up late.

If it's full, we have another raft "race" in late September which is a lot of fun as well

[antsinmypants]

antsinmypants: I totally want to go on the rafting trip but I was waitlisted and recently admitted. Is it too late to sign up? I saw somewhere in the forum that the deadline was June 25-ish.

Congrats on getting off the waitlist, SFtoSac! That's great news! The person you need to contact is Miranda Carrol. Her email is beyondmcgeorge@gmail.com. My guess is that you'll still be able to register, but you should contact her asap. If you PM me your email address I'll scan and send you the forms they sent out to us.

If it's full, we have another raft "race" in late September which is a lot of fun as well

Are you referring to that drift down the river in tubes with copious amounts of "beverages"?

[skylar]

As for the raft races, my roomie told me his group of friends used to tie a couple of rafts together and tied two kegs to the back of one of the rafts, mwahahahaha!

As for business-y things: here's an update on the insidepacific log-ins. They're going to send out letters next week with your log-in information and how to use the InsidePacific website. About the only thing up there right now is the work study forms. If you have a work study job already (and if you don't, there were some really interesting ones on the board outside the FinAid office today, including some for 1Ls), you can go ahead and start filling out the paperwork so it won't get backlogged the first week of school and delay when you can start your job.

[antsinmypants]

saWEEETness! Orientation materals posted!!!

[Chibi]

saWEEETness! Orientation materals posted!!!

I know, so exciting!!! I started reading the sample case brief already. I hate reading on a computer, but printing out 80 pages does cost a fortune

[SFtoSac!]

Congrats on getting off the waitlist, SFtoSac! That's great news! The person you need to contact is Miranda Carrol. Her email is beyondmcgeorge@gmail.com. My guess is that you'll still be able to register, but you should contact her asap. If you PM me your email address I'll scan and send you the forms they sent out to us

Thanks! I'm super excited. I've heard great things about their trial advocacy programs. I'm actually moving in with an attorney who graduated from Boalt two years ago and told me how great their trial team is and how they always kicked Boalts ass in the competitions! Whoohoo!! Go McGeorge!

So I emailed Miranda and I'll just wait for a reply.

If you have a work study job already (and if you don't, there were some really interesting ones on the board outside the FinAid office today, including some for 1Ls),

Skylar, do they have any of that information online? I'm probably not going to visit Sacramento again until I actually move in the week of Orientation.

[SFtoSac!]

Whoohoo! Miranda already replied and they opened a few more spots on the trip so yay!! I'm going!

[skylar]

Work study: As far as I can tell, the work study stuff isn't posted online. However, a lot of the jobs won't start until a week or two (or more) after classes start anyway, so no worries about waiting until you're on campus. They aren't allowed to start until after class do. You can also try calling the financial aid office if you're really set on a job and don't really care what you're doing (like I was). However, there were one or two outside organizations offering positions on the wall, so it would be worth checking those out. I doubt you could apply for those before arriving in person, but they're more lax about on-campus employment. The finaid office told me that it's the norm for people to apply for work study during orientation week or the first week of school, if not much later in the semester or spring! The offerings are less for 1Ls (and they're not terribly glamorous), but there's also a lot less demand.

[stuffedburrito]

Does anyone know when our loan money will be distributed to us? I need money to buy new living essentials (bed, desk, etc) and course books .

[antsinmypants]

Does anyone know when our loan money will be distributed to us? I need money to buy new living essentials (bed, desk, etc) and course books .

It actually isn't going to be until after classes start... possibly even after 9/1.

[Matokah]

Last year we got our loans distributed a few days before 9/1. We were told, however, not to expect them before September.

[stuffedburrito]

Oh no! How do they expect us to buy books =P

[antsinmypants]

Does anyone know where I can hire some "movers"? I drove by the U-Haul on Franklin and Broadway earlier and there was no one hanging out...

Boo: Credit card I guess. I think it's kinda lame, too.

[stuffedburrito]

I just looked at the U-Haul prices...$19.99 my butt. . I'm probably gonna just buy a bed to sleep on until my financial aid arrives.

[SFtoSac!]

[quote="antsinmypants"]Does anyone know where I can hire some "movers"? I drove by the U-Haul on Franklin and Broadway earlier and there was no one hanging out...quote]


You should check craigslist. I've hired movers twice from CL and they've worked out just fine. Make sure they don't have extra charges though (i.e. per stair). Also, make sure they call you when they get there so you can have a record of when they started. I hired movers for two hours and they thought I was dumb and tried to make me pay for 3! I was like "uhh.. I have it in my phone what time you arrived and called me and that was 2 hours ago.. not three". =) Sheesh.

[antsinmypants]

Great suggestion! I'm all over that!!!

[chittychittybangbang]

You can also hire movers from https://www.movinghelp.com/default.aspx. There are movers at all prices and you are able to read reviews of the companies before you pick who to hire.

[stuffedburrito]

Anyone still looking for housing? I officially rented out a 3 bedroom, 2 bath 1,400 square feet house in Midtown (located 2 miles driving distance from McGeorge). You will have your own room (dimensions: ~10x14) and be sharing a bathroom. The house is newly remodeled and includes a refrigerator and laundry unit; street parking with permit; quiet neighborhood. You will be sharing it with 2 males (including myself) who are both incoming 1L McGeorge students. Rent for you: $500/month, including $500 security deposit due at signing. Let's rock 1L =)

[Matokah]

stuffedburrito: Have you contacted Nancy Whalen in housing to check the roommate wanted list? That's how I found my roommate. You might try contacting people via that method. I believe Ann Ross in housing is in official charge of that. Good luck!

[travvo]

Just a note on loan disbursement... I called my lender (sallie mae) and they were able to give me a firm date of Aug 18 when they will release my funds. So if you want a better idea of how long you have to budget pre-loan call your lender and see if they can give you a date.

[Matokah]

Travvo: Keep in mind (if I recall correctly), that is the date that the funds are released to the school, not to you. The school takes the funds and first pays off the portion of tuition you'll need to pay and then at some point in the future, they will disburse the funds to you either via check or direct deposit.