Stanford and HBS guarantee International Student Loans without a US Co-signer

A friend of mine, Nitin Rao, forwarded this information to me and it got me all excited. I am sure others reading it would be as happy as well. So what exactly am I talking about? Here you go...

Stanford MBA Admission Blog (Link to the actual post):
International students at the Stanford Graduate School of Business will not be impacted by Citibank’s decision. The GSB Financial Aid Office has a close working relationship with Stanford Federal Credit Union and for the past two years we have made arrangements exclusively through SFCU to provide international students at Stanford the ability to take out private loans without a US co-signer.

HBS MBA Admission Blog (Link to the actual post):
There's been great uncertainty out there about international student loans so we are extremely pleased to be able to make this announcement:International students at HBS will continue to have access to need-based loans without needing to find a US co-signer.While at this time we do not have further details about specific loan programs with private lenders, we are able to make this important - and reassuring - statement about continued accessibility.All students - both international and US citizens - will continue to be eligible for Harvard Business School fellowships - the money you don't pay back. This year HBS will award $22 million in need-based fellowships; the average MBA fellowship is $25k per year.

Hedge fund - a solution for loans without co-signer??

A well-wisher forwarded this piece of information to me. It is from the BusinessWeek forum. I am not sure how true it is. Here is the link.

For those who don't have the patience to click on the above link, here u go...

All those international students who are looking for loans without co-signer, here is a ray of hope for you. Currently all the b-schools who were dependent on CitiAssist for such loans are talking to each other to get a solution to this problem. They all are now planning to set up a hedge fund that can guarantee the loans for you guys. The schools include Chicago, Ross, Harvard, MIT and Wharton. Many more may join it but nothing is for sure. The source of this information is an adcom head from one of the schols mentioned above.

Ross MBA Event

Just got back from the event and my first impression...I am happy that I applied to Ross...the event lived up to my expectations!

There were three people, representing Ross, at the event - Ms. Kelly Kong Rogers (from the adcom. She is also an alumnus) and the alumni (Mr. Gautam Rao and Mr. Vikram Polavarapu) . The event started with a short (15 minutes) presentation on Ross MBA and what it has to offer. The presentation was precise, mostly bullet points with the speaker having to elaborate on the contents. It was ideal as it allowed people to listen to the speaker rather than continuously stare at the screen. Kelly stressed on the importance of teamwork throughout the presentation. It was typical Ross. Matt, if you are reading this - I liked it!

After the presentation, we had the alumni taking questions. As expected, one of the first questions was about the financial crisis and its effect on placements. Its difficult to predict the markets' future but the alumni, going by past trends, sounded optimistic. They felt that the market situation would improve over the next couple of years.

Then, there was the question about the cancellation of the Ross CitiAssist loan. Ross is doing its best to find alternatives for the cancelled CitiAssist loan that didn't require a US co-signer (applicants still have the option of leveraging the UoM CitiAssist loan that requires a US co-signer) Finding a solution for this situation is at the top of the Dean’s priority list. The School is actively exploring loan options to ensure that Ross continues to be financially feasible for high caliber students from around the world. At this time, however, the program also advises international students to explore all sources of funding within their own countries, such as government scholarships and loans, private agencies, and bank loan programs, as well as personal funding sources. It also encourages early applications because a majority of the merit scholarships are available to those who apply in Rounds one and two. Like Darden, Ross too is taking into account its international students' concerns. I am happy!

I had earlier mentioned in the blog that all the adcom members are away conducting information sessions. I was contacted by the adcom this evening and was informed that they have started reviewing the applications. Now that's good news - applicants can hope to hear from Ross in the near future!

To be honest, my interaction with the Ross alumni and a current student, prior to my application submission, had had me amazed. The loyalty within the community is overwhelming! It would be awesome to be a part of such a close knit group.

On this note I'll end my post...its late and time I crashed...

Go blue! :-D

Darden's take on the credit crisis and financial aid for international students....thank you Sara Neher

I have been following Sara's (she is Darden's Director of MBA Admissions) video blog ever since its inception. I really appreciate this initiative because the Admissions Director, in one way or the other, is connecting with her prospective students; providing them with first-hand information that they, otherwise, would have to relentlessly hunt for.

In her latest video blog, she acknowledges the apprehension that international students face due to the cancellation of no-cosigner loans. She admits that the current situation is common across all schools in the US and every school is working tirelessly to come up with other alternatives. They expect to have solutions in place before the deposit deadline (late March for R1). In case of a delay in arriving at a solution, they are willing to extend the deposit deadline!

I have been quietly confident that the schools would take appropriate measures to counter the current crisis. They would not want to miss out on admitting good students, like yours truly ;-D, simply because the students couldn't afford the fees and living expenses. It is for this reason that I stuck to my schedule and boldly went ahead and applied to Darden, Ross, and Stanford - schools that I admire and long to study in.

Here is Sara's video blog...



In other news, I'll be attending Ross's MBA event tomorrow. I look forward to meeting with the adcom members and the alumni. I will post my experience tomorrow evening after the meet.

Also, I am eagerly awaiting the ISB interview invite. The invites are expected to be rolled out before the 25th. Fingers crossed...