Loan Advice

Also, great news on the housing for you. It is a major expense and in my part of the country, ATP housing is a good deal compared to renting on your own.

I applied for the 2nd part of the loan with SLMA without a co-signer this morning after waiting for 30 days and got instantly approved. Unfortunately, the interest rate was 2.375% higher for this part of the loan. About $20k more in interest than the first half. I guess I will try to consolidate and lower the rate in later years.

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Kimberly, one bit of advice I can give is IF you have someone that can co-sign, even as a remote possibility, and they have decent credit, ask them to do so. I immigrated here on my own in my teens and I have no relatives that can do that for me. If you have a co-signer not only you can get approval easier, but your rate is likely to be lower. The SLMA range for interest is 4-13%. I got 7 and 9.375 with excellent credit, and a 20+ year credit history. Your mileage may vary…

Hey All,
I am curious what you needed to do to verify income to get the student loans from Sallie Mae. Did they require you to submit taxes or w2?
Thanks in advance!
-Zee

I don’t recall having to submit anything to SLMA like that, but most of such information is available through your SSN.

Was it just a basic online application?

Zee,

I recommend that you talk to the financing department on this one as they are the experts on such things.

Chris

Zee,

It is an unsecured loan for a significant amount of money, they are going to have a lot more than just an online application.

Chris

I’ll give them a call. Thanks a ton!

Congrats Sergey. Ready to make the leap?

I didn’t wait long :joy::joy::joy: Got approval on a Sunday, reserved my date on Monday. ATP was a no-brainer choice.

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I just want to share my experience here about the loan application. This forum is really helpful and I wanted to be able to give back even in the smallest way I can. I applied for the SLM loan yesterday with my mom as a cosigner and I got a notification that they need to speak with me so I called them this morning and spoke with one of their credit underwriters. He interviewed me a bit and asked if I already have a degree and how am I planning to pay the loan if my income as a CFI is not sufficient. I’m an immigrant and just got here early last year so my credit score is not even in the 800’s. I don’t have savings, stable income or sufficient work history here, in fact I just started with my new work last month but I did work for a global bank for 8 years back in my home country. He also asked me what was I doing back then and how much I was earning. I told him if the CFI income is not sufficient, I will supplement it by working part time with the same bank as I didn’t burn bridges. He then put me on hold and came back with an approval. So yeah, I think it really helps if you have a fallback and that they just needed to make sure that you will be able to pay them back if this career don’t work out.

I almost got discouraged seeing how many people are getting declined but with a little encouragement with everything I read here, I gave it a shot.

Thanks @forourspam :slight_smile:

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Michelle,

Great story and I’m glad it worked out. Just know that if you’re instructing for ATP you will not be working part-time to supplement as ATP instructors work full-time and need to be available for their students without restriction. On a positive note Tuition Reimbursement is available if/when you sign with a Regional and that should cover any deficit.

Adam

Hi Adam,

Yes I do know that for a fact and I mentioned to him the tuition reimbursement as well. Told him that as far as I know it will be sufficient because there will be a tuition reimbursement program but I kinda felt that he’s waiting for another answer so I felt that I needed to prove him that yes I will have the ability to pay you and I will do everything in my power to pay you so please approve my loan hahaha and oh yeah, it’s for the full amount!

Hello, my name is Luis.
I’m strongly considering to start a pilot school.

I will like to know if your will be a full time student and you need housing.

How much money will you need to get all your certificates?

Luis,

I recommend you visit the ATP website (www.atpflightschool.com) and our FAQ section (https://airlinepilot.life/c/Ask-your-questions-and-get-real-answers-from-real-pilots/frequently-asked-questions). There you’ll find answers to mist if not all your questions. After that please come back with more specific questions if you have any.

Adam

Hi Michelle,

Do you remember who you spoke with? And was this someone through Sallie Mae?

Hi Marcus,

I don’t remember his name. I called the number listed on my application. After I submitted it, there was a number that I need to call to verify additional information.

If you don’t mind me asking, how much did you apply for? And were you initially denied until you spoke with the underwriter?

I don’t want to give up myself, but I have no luck when I have called them. Maybe I am not speaking with the right people.

I applied for the full amount $99,000ish. I didn’t get denied initially, it just said that I needed to call the number listed on the next step. Hope everything works out for you!