Student loan process 2010

KBee my program is a year grad program, and I am receiving three installments Sept, January, and May. The loans are disbursed to the school and then the school disburses them to you.  I hear that it may be best to then mail your check (cheque, if you prefer) back to the US because it can take up to six weeks for the funds to clear in the UK.

ETA: I just submitted my online docs and have a biometric appointment for Friday.  Eeeps!  Fingers crossed for me please.

Just to back this up, I'm in a grad program currently and also had the 3 disbursements. 

It shouldn't take that long to get your money, but I guess every school is different.  With my uni, when I got a disbursement it would be a check for each loan made out to me in $ but sent to my uni.  The loan lady would send me an e-mail and I would go to the office and endorse all three.  This allows them to cash them and take their cut.

A week later she would e-mail me again and I would pick up one check that was made out by the university to me in £, which was whatever was left, usually a between £2500 and £3000 or so.  Depended on the amount of the disbursement and the exchange rate.

I would deposit this in my bank and it usually took about a week to clear.  If this is how your uni does it as well, I wouldn't bother sending it back to the States.

And good luck with your app!   

Thanks NOT, I got the info about sending the check back to the states from my Uni's website.  I hope that it does work the way you described at my school as that would be much easier!   

Well, I guess as long as you get your money, that's all that matters! 

KBee my program is a year grad program, and I am receiving three installments Sept, January, and May. The loans are disbursed to the school and then the school disburses them to you.  I hear that it may be best to then mail your check (cheque, if you prefer) back to the US because it can take up to six weeks for the funds to clear in the UK.

ETA: I just submitted my online docs and have a biometric appointment for Friday.  Eeeps!  Fingers crossed for me please.

congrats i did my online app the other day, i was hoping for a bio appt thur/fri, but nothing was available until monday!!! Just want to send this stuff off now!

Thanks for all of the input!  I'm glad to hear that my school isn't totally off the mark, and that I remember FAFSA loans properly from undergrad.

Now if I could just get them to be certified still...they said they started yesterday and mine had a "problem".  It was supposedly "fixed" even though nothing was actually wrong, and it still isn't certified today.  Lovely department....haha.

Thanks for all of the input!  I'm glad to hear that my school isn't totally off the mark, and that I remember FAFSA loans properly from undergrad.

Now if I could just get them to be certified still...they said they started yesterday and mine had a "problem".  It was supposedly "fixed" even though nothing was actually wrong, and it still isn't certified today.  Lovely department....haha.

Kbee I am so sorry to hear your having such problems. Like i said you might want to get started with other things in mean time so when they figure it out you will already done everything else. Gather your documents, get your photos taken, you can even print out your Appendix 8 form to fill out, gather everything and make copies of things. When you receive your award/federal letter you can then apply online and make your biometrics appt, then mail it off. Best to get everything ready now, you will feel like your still moving forward with this process somewhat at least.

 Keep us posted, hope they come to there senses soon!!

Im still waiting for lcc to certify my loans also. The lady in charge that I've been talking too says she's working on them but there are hundreds so it's taking her time. Im assuming she's doing them alphabetically bc im still waiting and im pretty sure I was one of the first to send her everything. My bf going to kings college london and he is still waiting too. So you aren't alone. 

Hi, well I can say it's "nice" to hear that I'm not the only one left!  haha.  Not really nice that we're all waiting still, but nice to not lose complete faith in my school before I get there! 

I did receive today from the Direct Loans my approval for my direct PLUS loan and how much I am able to receive.  The only thing is, is that the school still needs to finalize it...however my mother (who has been equally or more stressed than I have in this whole situation, plus angry at this woman) told me that she was going to call today because she is tired of hearing all of the lies as well.(My mother is a tiny quiet little woman, and when pushed too far is quite scary...haha)  Regardless, the woman told her that they were actually going to finish tomorrow and send out the papers, because my mother very pointedly said that I have everything here and needs to know when things will actually be done.  We'll see.  The woman seemed a bit nervous....haha.

So, in the end another "tomorrow" will come, and hopefully this time it will be a good one!  I hope everyone else is proceeding smoothly with their visa applications!

Yeah i have everything done, the atas clearance, the approval for plus loan, etc just waiting on the paper that says I'm getting the funds lol. Then i have to do the visa, go down to la, and do biometrics. Sigh. It's gonna be stressful. And expensive. I didn't realize how much visas are!

So I have a new problem now with my school.  They said they were going to originate my loans but first I had to complete the Stafford entrance counseling.  I wrote them back and told them I did the entrance counseling which covered both Stafford and Grad Plus over a month ago.  They now tell me there's some problem where it's only showing up as Grad PLUS for some people.

This is getting ridiculous.  If I had known it was going to be like this I would never have planned to get to London so soon (August 20).  Who knows when I'll ever get this stupid loan letter

I suppose it might be because Kingston is such a damn big school, but they had me send in all the forms and scans at once, and now they're processing them. Theoretically all I have to do now is wait for them to send me the letter saying that the US Govt is covering the cost.

I also contacted the department that handles sending out the CAS, they'll hopefully have it to me sometime next week.

So I assume that I should start planning the visa requirements, yes? I believe the next step is the online application, but can I move forward without the CAS or financial proof?

I also noticed that I need proof of my "itinerary". Does that mean I need to buy my flight now?

And to add to the previous discussions, I apparently will get my money in four installments, the first on October 1st. The only strange thing is that that means that orientation is two weeks before classes start, so I'll have two weeks without classes but also no loan money. Huzzah!

"So I have a new problem now with my school.  They said they were going to originate my loans but first I had to complete the Stafford entrance counseling.  I wrote them back and told them I did the entrance counseling which covered both Stafford and Grad Plus over a month ago.  They now tell me there's some problem where it's only showing up as Grad PLUS for some people."

I actually was told this too, and I called the Direct Loans Services and they said that sometimes this will happen because the sub/unsub loans are meant for more undergraduate students, and sometimes you have to put in that you're doing an undergraduate degree for the sub/unsub entrance counseling.   I asked her why you needed to do this, and she said because sometimes the people aren't clicking on the html to see that it does say completed sub/unsub/PLUS, they are just reading the abbreviation of DLP.  Perhaps tell your student funding office this, because if they do click on it then they will see you did do it.  Also I sent a screen shot to my school as well as telling them.

Hope this helps!

I actually was told this too, and I called the Direct Loans Services and they said that sometimes this will happen because the sub/unsub loans are meant for more undergraduate students, and sometimes you have to put in that you're doing an undergraduate degree for the sub/unsub entrance counseling.   I asked her why you needed to do this, and she said because sometimes the people aren't clicking on the html to see that it does say completed sub/unsub/PLUS, they are just reading the abbreviation of DLP.  Perhaps tell your student funding office this, because if they do click on it then they will see you did do it.  Also I sent a screen shot to my school as well as telling them.

Oh, hmmm.  So does this mean I have to go back and complete the entrance counseling again, but say that I'm an undergraduate at the beginning?  Or should I just tell my school there's a problem with the system?

Thanks for the heads-up, kbee

I did both and actually surprisingly got my loans certified today!  Finally!

So maybe do it again and then just screen shot showing what it says when you click the html and tell them just to cover all bases, and then ask what else you might need.

Good luck!

I did both and actually surprisingly got my loans certified today!  Finally!

So maybe do it again and then just screen shot showing what it says when you click the html and tell them just to cover all bases, and then ask what else you might need.

Good luck!

omg kbee!! congrats!! finally!! i know all u just went through...yay!!!