What should incoming Stern students do to best position themselves financially for their MBA experience?
Pay off their [undergraduate] student loans; pay off their credit cards. I think students are not aware that when they come in with a huge credit-card debt, it really does affect whether or not they will be eligible for private loans. As you know, the federal Stafford loan is generous — $18,500. But that doesn’t cover the entire student budget. We help you make up the rest of your budget with private loans, and those are based on either your credit worthiness or credit readiness. That’s determined by looking at your credit records. If you have poor credit records, maybe that’s something to strengthen. If you have a tremendous credit-card debt, that’s something that should be addressed before you come to business school. My final piece of advice is: Apply early. Look at the deadlines. We give priority to those people who apply early for our merit-based scholarships. Federal aid you can apply for as late as December or the following year. Julia, you’ve been in your position for a couple
