who did u consolidate with???

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Dr. J? said:
Unwise move, dude (the part about slaving away to pay your loans off ASAP). You're better off investing that money in the S&P 500 (8-10% rate of return, historically), rather than paying off your loans (which will be at approx. 3 %), as soon as you can. For this same reason, this is why it is important to have our consolidation loans amortized to the full 30 yrs. Paying it off any sooner and you're losing money on the deal (this is assuming you're using the extra money you would pay per month to invest in your 401k). We're already behind the eight-ball for investing in our retirement (since we are starting in our late 20's - early 30's). Your best bet is to consolidate and then make sure your 401k is fully-funded from Day 1 of your residency. Compounding interest is truly the 8th wonder of the world.
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You took my post way out of context. Read the post directly above mine. I will not be consolidating my PRIVATE loan and will be slaving away to pay it off. My PRIVATE loan has a variable rate (prime rate). I know you don't think this, but if you think I can invest this money to beat a variable rate loan, you are niave. Sorry for the confusion.
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i just spoke with someone at AES and have updated information regarding Graduated Leverage's benefits with AES concerning the Perkins loan.

Heres the deal.... GL had negotiated a Perkins rate reduction to the 2.875% Stafford rate with the lender GCO. The lender GCO uses AES as a servicer (does all the paperwork, etc). In addition to AES being GCO's servicer..... AES is also an entirely seperate lender company. So, originally Graduate Leverage had negotiated these benefits with GCO under the assumption that AES would acknowledge the benefits as well.

But, now, AES is saying that they never agreeded to the Perkins rate reduction. AES will still maintain the 1% after 20payments benefit. However, if you have loans owned by AES.... they will not agree to the Perkins rate reduction if you consolidate under the GL/AES/GCO plan.

Basically, if you have loans that are not owned by AES.... you will most likely still get the Perkisn rate reduction by going with GL.

But if you have loans already owned by AES.... you most likely will NOT get the Perkins rate reduction.

Note also, that the benefits promise email sent by GL only describes an 'agreement' made between GL and GCO. AES is not mentioned in those emails.

Given this new info, I'm debating between not including my Perkins into consolidation, or simply going with UHEAA.
 
Help please!

Pretty irresponsibly, I have no idea what the loans I've taken out all amount to. Some have been undergrad Direct Loans, and some have been Sallie Mae medical school loans. Is there a one-top web site or anything I could look at to identify my totals?? I take it I need to call both Sallie Mae and Direct Loans, and tell both to put me into repayment status before I can consolidate, correct??

Thanks in advance for the help.
 
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Another question: I thought Sallie Mae was a Federal instution--or is that wrong? I am confused because of this talk regarding Direct Loans (DLs) coming directly from the federal government--and I thought Sallie Mae doesn't do Direct Loans...or do they??

Thanks!
 
After several months (!) of deliberating, I finally decided to go with Graduate Leverage and just submitted my application. I just felt it was the safest (after the Fed Gov't) with decent incentives and good customer service.
 
kas23 said:
You took my post way out of context. Read the post directly above mine. I will not be consolidating my PRIVATE loan and will be slaving away to pay it off. My PRIVATE loan has a variable rate (prime rate). I know you don't think this, but if you think I can invest this money to beat a variable rate loan, you are niave. Sorry for the confusion.
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Kas,

My bad. I did remove a bit from context. Yes, you are correct, private loans do float. In this situation it is much more difficult to out-invest the interest on your student loan principle (since it gets much closer or exceeds your historical S&P 500 return of 8-10%). Sorry for the misread.
 
Howdy all. I think I saw someone mention on SDN before that by consolidating, their credit score was negatively affected. Has anyone else had an issue like this? I ask because I am in the process of buying a condo and if for whatever reason my credit report gets pulled again, I dont want it to mess up my loan. The GL guy I talked to said this was impossible, but I just want to have peace of mind before submitting my consolidation app. Thanks.
 
I just sent in my application to T.H.E.. I think these guys are the safest way to go. They dont have the best rates, but i feel secure knowing that i will get the rates they promised (they will give you rate reductions (their "bonus") even with late payments. T.H.E has a 95% rate of applicants getting their bonus whereas most other companies only have about 7-10% of applicants getting their rate reductions. Also these guys are SOOOOO easy to deal with. Very easy to get information, get questions answered, etc, etc. Also did some calculations with the T.H.E. vs GL/AES... it turns out if i went with GL i would only end up saving a couple thousand over 30 years (assuming that i did get all of their rate reduction promises).
 
Did anyone else using GL have to consolidate in 2 steps? It just feels kind of weird to me...
 
Hercules said:
Did anyone else using GL have to consolidate in 2 steps? It just feels kind of weird to me...
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Hi,

I consolidated with GL using their 2 step process... it wasn't difficult, and they told me it would just mean more paperwork on their end... Did you do the 2 step process too?
 
i got tired of waiting for access group to get back to me (it's been over 2.5 weeks..grrr).. so i decided to check out GL... their website and presentation was pretty professional.. and when i called them.. i actually got a live person.. not a pre-recorded message :D

anyways.. i just got off the phone with a representative from GL.. and he said you could do everything electronically.. instead of waiting for the paperwork.. which works well with me.. because i'll be changing addresses by next week.. :p
 
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jkl said:
Hi,

I consolidated with GL using their 2 step process... it wasn't difficult, and they told me it would just mean more paperwork on their end... Did you do the 2 step process too?
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Hadn't done it yet, but I plan on completing it tomorrow.
 
Why are you guys so scared about not getting your incentives, esp with direct deposit?

With direct deposit, your payment is automatically paid from your bank account. You don't even have to twitch a muscle. You will NOT be late on your payments ever, unless something crazy happens like your bank account dries up or your bank burns down... Just go with the best rates and whoever you feel comfortable with. And make sure you make that first payment.

Dave
 
somdave2005 said:
Why are you guys so scared about not getting your incentives, esp with direct deposit?

With direct deposit, your payment is automatically paid from your bank account. You don't even have to twitch a muscle. You will NOT be late on your payments ever, unless something crazy happens like your bank account dries up or your bank burns down... Just go with the best rates and whoever you feel comfortable with. And make sure you make that first payment.

Dave
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Because, even if your bank screws up and your payment is late, you lose your benefits. I heard a story of someone who had to change his account number because of identity theft. This caused some delays of his payments (not his fault), which caused him to lose the incentives.

If it was easy to maintain, everyone would be getting these great deals. That's why these companies offer them. They are banking on the fact that you'll screw up.
 
Harrie said:
Because, even if your bank screws up and your payment is late, you lose your benefits. I heard a story of someone who had to change his account number because of identity theft. This caused some delays of his payments (not his fault), which caused him to lose the incentives.

If it was easy to maintain, everyone would be getting these great deals. That's why these companies offer them. They are banking on the fact that you'll screw up.
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How is your bank going to screw up? I thought it's the LENDER that initiates the withdraw from your bank account, not the bank. As for your friend, If you're going to change bank accounts because of identity theft, why not anticipate that there will be some delays in your payment and send in a check or money order as early as possible? btw most lenders today have online payment options now, which is very easy and saves a lot of time. I can see how it was very easy to miss or be late on payments in the old days when you had to actually send in your payment by snail mail.

Dave
 
According to the guys at GL, the most common payment to miss is the very first one. So make sure you get your direct deposit set up early and correctly, otherwise some little error could cause a delay and end up screwing you.
 
I was wondering if anyone has made the call on consolidating the Perkins. I am going with GL and can't decide whether to throw in the Perkins too. I was under the impression that it is reduced to the 2.78% with GL...now it looks like it may not be, as I do have AES loans. But the original email I was sent by GL specifically states that "ALL Perkins loans will be reduced to the Stafford loan rate". I will be checking with GL for confirmation, and will post results.
 
Hey guys,
Thanks for all the helpful information. I'm an MS3 thinking about in-school consolidation. Two issues I'm trying to clear up...

Nelnet has most of my loans, so I was thinking of going with them since they seem to have the same benefits. One question though, I saw at the bottom of one of their pages something about how they reserve the right to change benefits at any time without notification, is that normal? Also, are they a reputable company or should I go with someone like SM?

Second, if I decide to go with another company, like SM, I understand that I must contact my lenders and request repayment status/in-school deferment. After you submit such a request, how long does it take for them to change the status? And do I have to confirm that the status was changed before applying for consolidation with the other company? This seems important since I only have 2.5 weeks left :confused:

Thanks for all your help!
 
I'm consolidating with Direct Loans so I can add my fall disbursement with the pre-July 1 rates. Sweet deal, eh?

I plan on reconsolidating after med school with a lender that has better borrower benefits tho...
 
HA123 said:
Hey guys,
Thanks for all the helpful information. I'm an MS3 thinking about in-school consolidation. Two issues I'm trying to clear up...

Nelnet has most of my loans, so I was thinking of going with them since they seem to have the same benefits. One question though, I saw at the bottom of one of their pages something about how they reserve the right to change benefits at any time without notification, is that normal? Also, are they a reputable company or should I go with someone like SM?
Click to expand...

If you go with SM, you may as well stick to nelnet because it will become SM at some point down the road. Nelnet is very reputible. I would check into some other companies like THE (www.northstar.org) if you have more than 1 lender. Don't forget if you borrowed all your loans from the same lender, you can only consolidate with that lender.

Second, if I decide to go with another company, like SM, I understand that I must contact my lenders and request repayment status/in-school deferment. After you submit such a request, how long does it take for them to change the status? And do I have to confirm that the status was changed before applying for consolidation with the other company? This seems important since I only have 2.5 weeks left :confused:

Thanks for all your help!
Click to expand...

About 3 to 5 days. Most companies will honor the paperwork if you apply before July 1st. Go ahead and apply at the same time as you request payment/deferment status. Don't forget, they are losing a customer when they find out you are not consolidating with them so you will not get the best treatment.
 
MadameLULU said:
I'm consolidating with Direct Loans so I can add my fall disbursement with the pre-July 1 rates. Sweet deal, eh?

I plan on reconsolidating after med school with a lender that has better borrower benefits tho...
Click to expand...
Make sure you get that in writing. I had 2 DL reps tell me what was told to you and 4 other DL reps that said they will average the new rate with the old rate. So, if you are consolidating 6 loans at 2.77 and 1 loan at 4.99, they will do an average and round up to the nearest 1/8th %. When I found this out, I went to a different consolidator.
 
Caverject said:
Make sure you get that in writing. I had 2 DL reps tell me what was told to you and 4 other DL reps that said they will average the new rate with the old rate. So, if you are consolidating 6 loans at 2.77 and 1 loan at 4.99, they will do an average and round up to the nearest 1/8th %. When I found this out, I went to a different consolidator.
Click to expand...

All the major lenders that I talked to (GL, THE, SM) have this policy. Any loans taken out after July 1 can be added to your consolidation loan if they are fully dispersed within 180 days. The new consolidated rate will be a weighted average of all the loans.

If you were able to find a better deal than this, I'd like to hear it.
 
Caverject said:
Make sure you get that in writing. I had 2 DL reps tell me what was told to you and 4 other DL reps that said they will average the new rate with the old rate. So, if you are consolidating 6 loans at 2.77 and 1 loan at 4.99, they will do an average and round up to the nearest 1/8th %. When I found this out, I went to a different consolidator.
Click to expand...

yeah, you're right-- it appears the loans will be at the new rate. I probably won't add them in after all
 
This may be a stupid question... but what do they mean by a weighted average when talking about consolidating two loans together? Is it simply that the bigger loan will have more "weight" when figuring out your final rate compared to a small loan?
 
When filling out the GL application, what does it mean when it says Lender: "US Bank as ELT for Graduate Leverage"? I noticed that nowhere on the application does it mention AES or GCO.
 
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