bananapeppers Posted June 25, 2015 I wasn't very fortunate to have parents or a college savings account for undergrad and graduate school. I finished PA school Summer 2013 with $125k, I'm now down to $40k. Just curious as to how everyone else is doing? I'm in ER (fast-track) btw.
Administrator rev ronin Posted June 25, 2015 Administrator You're doing better than most--that's a fantastic paydown rate. Good job!
delco714 Posted June 25, 2015 85k (not factoring accruing interest)? That's seriously impressive. My wife and I each currently pay $1283 a month, now a year and a half into our repayment. Aiming for the 120 payments/10 year forgiveness. Our repayment is actually going to be $800 each now that we got married and re applied under ibr. Currently work is paying the loans but we'll stop that in September to finish our contract in case we want to leave in 2017
bananapeppers Posted June 25, 2015 Author 85k (not factoring accruing interest)? That's seriously impressive. My wife and I each currently pay $1283 a month, now a year and a half into our repayment. Aiming for the 120 payments/10 year forgiveness. Our repayment is actually going to be $800 each now that we got married and re applied under ibr. Currently work is paying the loans but we'll stop that in September to finish our contract in case we want to leave in 2017 That's awsome! Is the hospital you're working for qualify as it? I work for a EM corporate so it doesn't qualify. I'm also single which is why I can put more into loans. I've become OCD about paying off these loans!!
delco714 Posted June 25, 2015 Absolutely! Non profit major system that owns half the state practically. We're 15 months in officially according to my fed loans, which I may add is the worst company I've come across, ever.
delco714 Posted June 25, 2015 Absolutely! Non profit major system that owns half the state practically. We're 15 months in officially according to my fed loans, which I may add is the worst company I've come across, ever.Also yeah...Kind of hard with two PAs I the family with over 130k debt each. Yay nyit, third most expensive program in country apparently.. Paid to move to the wife's home state where they're pulling out all the stops for PAs
Maverick87 Posted June 25, 2015 I wasn't very fortunate to have parents or a college savings account for undergrad and graduate school. I finished PA school Summer 2013 with $125k, I'm now down to $40k. Just curious as to how everyone else is doing? I'm in ER (fast-track) btw. Technically....except I'm paying off my time debt, as opposed to my financial debt. I did the military HPSP in 2012. My actual scholarship commitment will be up in about 3 months.
Moderator ventana Posted June 25, 2015 Moderator Also yeah...Kind of hard with two pas I the family with over 130k debt.Yay nyit, third most expensive program in country apparently.. Paid to move to the wife's home state where they're pulling out all the stops for PAs What state is that? I am a 2002 grad, financed for 20 years, have about $10k left, but only $300/month payment
Moderator ventana Posted June 25, 2015 Moderator Maine :) Hummm Wish my MASS would make it so - we are close, but not there yet....
delco714 Posted June 25, 2015 General consensus is people want to move to Massachusetts.. Maine is still a secret unless you're a native Mainer
BruceBanner Posted June 25, 2015 Seriously, good job on those loans OP. Before I graduated I told myself I wanted to pay all loans off in <10 years....well life happens. Lost a job early, was out of work for a few months, then made peanuts at my last job. I'm on IBR now and working for a private practice. I deemed it would be wiser for me to accumulate 6 months of living expenses in savings before going hard on my loans.
Joelseff Posted June 25, 2015 I only borrowed 68k down to 42k now. Paying 500/mo and extra payments here and there . Graduated 2010. Deferred the 1st yr. Sent from my S5 Active...Like you care...
cinntsp Posted June 26, 2015 I have ~160k between undergrad and PA school. I plan to refi with Sofi/DRB/earnest/etc as soon as I finish my fellowship and am making a full salary. Then it's all about living super frugally, attempting to pick up 3ish shifts on my off weeks(7 on/7 off) and paying them off within 3-4 years.
Acebecker Posted June 26, 2015 Wutthechris: can you clarify who you're refinancing through? I am in dire need of a lower interest rate. Still at a humiliating amount of loans even 3 years out of school. I am not good at money.
cinntsp Posted June 26, 2015 Wutthechris: can you clarify who you're refinancing through? I am in dire need of a lower interest rate. Still at a humiliating amount of loans even 3 years out of school. I am not good at money. Private refinancing of both private and federal student loans is becoming a big thing. There are several companies geared towards high-earning professions(i.e. PAs, MD, MBA, JD, and so on) with excellent rates. Just be aware that refinancing your federal loans means that you lose federal protections and the opportunity for PSLF, so you will need to decide if this is appropriate in your situation. I don't mind doing it because our profession has no shortage of jobs, I don't have any dependents, I can relocate any time(i.e. if I lost a job), and I plan to pay off my loans in a few years. Someone with a wife/husband, three kids, and a mortgage may want to think twice about losing the ability to use benefits like a forbearance. https://www.sofi.com/ https://student.drbank.com/ https://www.meetearnest.com/ http://www.lendkey.com/ https://commonbond.co/refinance-loan
Acebecker Posted June 26, 2015 Thank you! We tried the fed loan consolidation option and it was awful. Basically would benefit me not one iota and would make my loans harder to repay (if I ever got loan repayment). Do you know - if you refinance through any of these guys, does it negate your ability to receive NHSC loan repayment?
cinntsp Posted June 26, 2015 Thank you! We tried the fed loan consolidation option and it was awful. Basically would benefit me not one iota and would make my loans harder to repay (if I ever got loan repayment). Do you know - if you refinance through any of these guys, does it negate your ability to receive NHSC loan repayment? I don't think it would matter since they are still student loans. You can always call them to verify.
bananapeppers Posted June 26, 2015 Author I'd go through SoFi or DRB. When I entered PA school, it was the era where they did not have subsidized loans anymore, so I was shelling out already at 7.9%. I paid that for a year once I got the ER job, but I didn't want to keep paying that high of an interest rate, so I financed with SoFi and took the variable rate of 4.5%. I'm currently trying to refinance through DRB because supposedly, they have better rates (But MUCH harder to get).
CHC*PA Posted June 27, 2015 My husband and I are both PAs and graduated in 2008 No undergrad debt but we went to a spendy (and fantastic) program and had 120k in debt each We both qualified for NHSC loan repayment at the CHC where we work. He has always been full time so his debt was completely paid off in the first 5 years and in all he only paid a very small part of the total. I'm part-time so it's taken a bit longer and we've had to make more payments on my loans, but I was just informed that I was approved for the final 20k to be paid off in the next couple of months in exchange for 2 more years of part-time service. So I'll receive that last payment just shy of 7 years after graduating. We love where we work, salary is competitive with bonuses, but receiving NHSC funds has made it even more worth it. Thank you! We tried the fed loan consolidation option and it was awful. Basically would benefit me not one iota and would make my loans harder to repay (if I ever got loan repayment). Do you know - if you refinance through any of these guys, does it negate your ability to receive NHSC loan repayment? My understanding is that refinancing is a gamble and may disqualify you for the NHSC, especially if you consolidate your loans. You'll definitely want to discuss it with them before making any decisions.
Evolute Posted June 27, 2015 Ace, glad to see you are still around. I looked into this 2-3 years ago and found NHSC has some very strict criteria. The major thing I found was that if you have consolidated your loans prior. EVERY loan that is consolidated must meet their criteria on its own (as it was prior to consolidation). If even one does not, the entire loan(s) is rejected. the other thing I found was that (and I don't remember the details) one of my loans did not qualify b/c I had a cosigner on it at the time of consolidation. if I remember you had to be the only person named on the loan. please, anyone correct me if im mistaken here. Also, as others have said. if you refi. with a private lender you WILL lose some benefits, such as deferment and forbearance. So be sure to due your due diligence. talk with the private lender(s) and the gov. people. get all your questions answered before you decide.
delco714 Posted July 2, 2015 Would just like to say that myfedloans is the worst company ever. Thanks
Acebecker Posted July 2, 2015 Would just like to say that myfedloans is the worst company ever. Thanks Amen.
Colorado Posted February 28, 2018 Reviving this a bit but wanted to share my brief SoFi experience. Student loan debt: 184,000 all federal loans thru Great Lakes servicer (mostly PA school, some undergrad) Credit score: 720 Base salary: 75k Bonus: varies 15-30k/yr but didn' include this in the application just because it varies. Maybe I should have.... Employment history: solid 15 years since age 14. Credit history: on time payments to undergrad loans including some paid off. Two different auto loans paid off in full and on time always. I have one credit card that I use occasionally and pay off each month. No late payments ever. No mortgage history. (For the naysayers that think I spent Willy nilly in school, cost of attendance is at 115k, col was about 20k/yr for just over 2.5yrs, mostly paid my way thru undergrad thru working and getting grants and scholarships. I have no other debt and own my car which is in great condition) Applied (just soft credit pull not full application, just to see their offer) Offer from SoFi: Fixed 6.25% for 10yrs. 2,100 per month. Really not much different than my federal loans. May look at another company but will most likely not refinance right now until I pay down some loans and increase my salary. Will re eval in future. Plan is to pay extra each month on standard payment plan with payoff goal of 5yrs. Not doing PSLF because its a totally unsustainable program in its current state and it makes no sense for the government, dem or gop, to continue to fund it without at least some serious caps on max forgiveness. I just don't want to toss the dice on that. I' rather just pay off what I honestly borrowed as fast as possible to minimize interest gained by the lender/servicer.
Moderator ventana Posted February 28, 2018 Moderator gulp 2002 grad financed my MBA and PA school Will finish paying off in 2022 (principal is now <10k so will likely just pay it off someday)
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