Student loan process 2010

I know.  This is a risk I chose to take based on how fast the plane ticket prices were going up.  It's still irritating because if it weren't for this one document, I would have applied for my visa a long time ago.  The loans people at my school said I would have it at the beginning of July, so I figured a month and a half was plenty of time.  It didn't work out that way.  I really cannot afford to buy plane tickets at the last minute so I figured if there was a decent chance I could leave on time, I should take it.

Same here. I can't afford to pay $800+ for a freaking one way ticket, and even more for a round trip.

Yeah.  It just doesn't do any good to say that we shouldn't have bought a ticket, because we knew what was up and we did, and we have to deal with it now.

Yeah.  It just doesn't do any good to say that we shouldn't have bought a ticket, because we knew what was up and we did, and we have to deal with it now.

Yeah, I agree. It's not like we've known that it would take this long to get the letters. Some people got theirs back in mid-July... I thought I'd be getting mine at least by the end of July because I, for one, have been told since the start of July by my uni that the letters would be out "next week." I got that for a month both by email and by phone.  By the time they stopped lying to me (which technically wasn't until last week), I'd already booked my flight weeks before.

I think I'd be less annoyed if this was the last step, you know? We still have to send our applications and hope are visas are issued in a timely fashion too... Who would have thought a freaking letter would cause this much trouble?

I totally agree.  There's no way we would have known it would take this long.  I have so many emails in my inbox from the past two months saying 'Your letter will be mailed tomorrow,' 'It will be mailed next week' &c. &c.  I feel stupid now for actually believing them

I'm paying for the priority service for my visa -- it will be insane if it takes 48 hours for me to receive my visa after waiting for months and months for just the loan letter.  I'd been stressing about the visa for ages, who knew the real thing to stress over was the stupid letter?

I totally agree.  There's no way we would have known it would take this long.  I have so many emails in my inbox from the past two months saying 'Your letter will be mailed tomorrow,' 'It will be mailed next week' &c. &c.  I feel stupid now for actually believing them

I'm paying for the priority service for my visa -- it will be insane if it takes 48 hours for me to receive my visa after waiting for months and months for just the loan letter.  I'd been stressing about the visa for ages, who knew the real thing to stress over was the stupid letter?

I'm doing the priority service too. I just hope it doesn't take long since I'm sending mine to the LA consulate. I'm double and triple checking my application to make sure everything is in order so I can hopefully get it back straight away. 

If you haven't bought your ticket i reccommend STA travel. If you are 26 or younger or a student you get discounted flights. My one way ticket to london is 400 dollars. To change it at any time is just an additional 50 dollars and the tickets are all pretty cheap still. That's why I'm not too worried. I have to change mine bc i made the date too early, the 25th not the 27th and it's very easy to change since I had to do it once already.

Hey I know it has been a while since I wrote but I have now completed my biometrics and have all of my documents and my visa premium appointment is this Thursday in NYC and hopefully flying out on the 16th or 17th. Now I am now just filling out my appendix 8 and am curious what to do with the parts you fill out the money part.  I already paid a deposit towards my fees because I was planning on putting the money I alraeu paid to deduct my maintainence fees...idk what to do because regardless I have my loan that covers all fees plus some but I don't know how to write it to make sure they don't think I am not covered.  Anyone in a similar position?

I hope everyone is moving along smoothly!  It will be nice to just be in classes right?!

Hey I know it has been a while since I wrote but I have now completed my biometrics and have all of my documents and my visa premium appointment is this Thursday in NYC and hopefully flying out on the 16th or 17th. Now I am now just filling out my appendix 8 and am curious what to do with the parts you fill out the money part.  I already paid a deposit towards my fees because I was planning on putting the money I alraeu paid to deduct my maintainence fees...idk what to do because regardless I have my loan that covers all fees plus some but I don't know how to write it to make sure they don't think I am not covered.  Anyone in a similar position?

I hope everyone is moving along smoothly!  It will be nice to just be in classes right?!

What I think you do is one question 6.2 you mark the first answer, then put the amount you paid. Then mark whether it's on the CAS or you have a receipt.  This is the way I filled out the rest (I only used loans and a scholarship):
skipped 6.9-6.11
6.12 NO
6.13 SKIPPED
6.14 YES (for you, if you don't have a scholarship mark NO)
6.15 Second answer
6.16 I put my scholarship amount
6.17 Yes. I filled out the remaining fees minus the scholarship amount (in your case it'll be minus the amount you paid), then maintenance, then total
6.18 YES
6.19 Ticked the last answer.

If you haven't bought your ticket i reccommend STA travel. If you are 26 or younger or a student you get discounted flights. My one way ticket to london is 400 dollars. To change it at any time is just an additional 50 dollars and the tickets are all pretty cheap still. That's why I'm not too worried. I have to change mine bc i made the date too early, the 25th not the 27th and it's very easy to change since I had to do it once already.

I tried finding flights to Edinburgh through STA travel and they were all super expensive to fly from Houston. I couldn't even find any tickets to Dublin for less than 600.  So I went through priceline and found a ticket to Dublin that was less than $500.  I just realized ticket prices haven't gone up to fly into Dublin a few days later so I'll only have to pay $100 to change it instead of the outrageous amount I was thinking. So now I'm slightly relieved.

 So I went through priceline and found a ticket to Dublin that was less than $500.  I just realized ticket prices haven't gone up to fly into Dublin a few days later so I'll only have to pay $100 to change it instead of the outrageous amount I was thinking. So now I'm slightly relieved.

Just to note that if you fly in through Dublin, you will not go through UK immigration (as there is no border control between Ireland and the UK), so your student visa won't be activated upon entry and you may not be able to get it stamped once you arrive in Edinburgh. You should keep all your travel documents (such as tickets/boarding passes) as evidence of the date of your arrival into the UK, and you should also contact an adviser in the International Student office about it when you arrive.

From this pdf document for International Students at Kings College London (http://www.kcl.ac.uk/content/1/c6/06/30/78/EntrythroughIreland270309.pdf):

Entry through Ireland

Student Advice and International Student Support strongly urges Students/Student Visitors not to enter the UK via the Republic of Ireland, for example, by flying direct to Dublin and then flying from Dublin to London.
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If you have secured a visa in your home country and opt to enter the UK via the Republic of Ireland, your visa will not be date stamped upon entry. This means that it will not be activated. If this is the case you should try to present yourself to an immigration official at the airport in the UK and explain that you have come in via Ireland and have not had your visa activated. However, because there are no border controls when travelling within the Common Travel Area, this is not always possible

well feel lucky i was hoping to leave in 3 weeks, but due to having taken out private loans i cant leave until the first disbursement of them which is the 27th of september!!!!

So instead of having a full month to find living getting settled ill have a few days!

Im hoping to hear about my visa today or this week!!! been long few weeks!!

Just to note that if you fly in through Dublin, you will not go through UK immigration (as there is no border control between Ireland and the UK), so your student visa won't be activated upon entry and you may not be able to get it stamped once you arrive in Edinburgh. You should keep all your travel documents (such as tickets/boarding passes) as evidence of the date of your arrival into the UK, and you should also contact an adviser in the International Student office about it when you arrive.

From this pdf document for International Students at Kings College London (http://www.kcl.ac.uk/content/1/c6/06/30/78/EntrythroughIreland270309.pdf):

Yeah, I know. I'm going on a trip to Spain a week after I arrive so it'll be stamped when I come back in.

Thanks for the reply, but I'm not really sure because it isn't a scholarship, it's a loan.  I'm afraid that if I put that I paid my deposit to the school for the fees, and then do all of the next lines showing how much is left and where it goes to, they will see that it has already gone towards tuition fees and that I can't "use" it towards maintainence fees.  Which in the end it doesn't really matter because I do have the FAFSA loan that will cover all expenses, I just don't see where I can write that in...maybe my person for my in person application will be nice and let me explain first....

Thanks for the reply, but I'm not really sure because it isn't a scholarship, it's a loan.  I'm afraid that if I put that I paid my deposit to the school for the fees, and then do all of the next lines showing how much is left and where it goes to, they will see that it has already gone towards tuition fees and that I can't "use" it towards maintainence fees.  Which in the end it doesn't really matter because I do have the FAFSA loan that will cover all expenses, I just don't see where I can write that in...maybe my person for my in person application will be nice and let me explain first....

If it's a loan and you it hasn't been applied to the tuition yet then you just leave the scholarship section blank and don't put that anything has been paid yet. You fill out the rest as I stated and then include your loan information.  Unless you have a separate loan that you used to pay the tuition balance already? Is that the case?

I'm sure it'll be fine.

Hey thanks forth replies and support everyone!  After an intense night and bus rides to NYC I have my visa in hand and my plane ticket leaving this coming monday!  I hope everyone else is doing well and just have all of the documents in a row and it is surprisingly a breeze!

Yeah.  It just doesn't do any good to say that we shouldn't have bought a ticket, because we knew what was up and we did, and we have to deal with it now.

I was tempted to buy a ticket so many times but never did.  Anyway, I am getting a ticket from my friend that works for US Airways.  It will cost under $220 one way but I have to fly standby which is not bad since you only need one seat.  If you have not tried yet, my suggestion is to ask friends who work or may know someone who works for an airline.  You never know.