Private loans as a student

I will be a full time grad student this summer onward.
If I need an additional $5000 as a loan to cover living expenses, and federal loans are obviously not possible with DACA, what are the best institutions to ask for loans with low interest rates? My credit score is good.


Thanks

When do you graduate? What I did was, I got a no interest credit card (18 months) and that helped me pay and when it was over I transferred the balance to another no interest credit card and I was able to pay it off with no penalties. It was easier than trying to get a loan.

No interest credit card is your best bet. Otherwise you’re stuck with DACA / international student lenders that charge high interest, like Mpower and Stilt. Traditional lenders require a citizen / permanent resident cosigner for your loan.

I would be graduating from med school in 2024.
The school is giving me some living expenses but I would sadly need extra money to cover what would be very high rent in my city. Can I use a credit line to pay for rent?

Some corporate landlords allow people to pay rent with credit cards (for a fee), but most don’t. If your landlord accepts credit card, the fee they charge would usually be around 3%, which is much lower that DACA student loan rate at 9% or higher. It’s worth asking and looking for a landlord that takes card payment.

My apartment complex lets us, call and ask ahead of time before signing your lease. I feel like because everything is done online, they should. Good luck with your medical school journey! It makes me so happy to see people going for their dreams.

Thank you so much everyone! I hope this works out and Ill take your words of advice in mind

Yeah, unless we have a permanent resident or citizen as a cosigner it is unlikely that we will be able to get a loan by ourselves.

I've been in grad school the last ~4 years and have used the 0% interest credit card method. It has worked out for me so far. You lose the 3% balance transfer fee, but that is not bad at all.

If you do go with the CC method:
Chase has their "Slate" card, Citi has their "Diamond Preferred Card", Amex has a few cards with 1 yr + 0% interest offers. Discover also some, so does BoFA. But, you might want to research a bit first since some credit card issuers can be harder than others to get approved for. For example, Chase has their "5/24" restriction which means that if you have 5 opened cards within the last 24 months, they will automatically deny you.

Best of luck!

If you can’t do it, I remember a family friend got a loan from one main financial and they didn’t ask for co-signer. I would say only use that as your last resort bc the interest rates are ridiculous.

One main financial is a bottom feeder specializing in subprime borrowers, because they charge exorbitant rates. I would call mpower and stilt before contacting OMF.