<p>lol
I’m not filing, but a family member is. She wishes to sort of start over. She wants to get her transcripts from her alma mater (holding them because of 10k debt), do a post baccalaureate program ( I’ve no idea what that entails) and attend med school.
She didn’t do well in college because she had a child young and this interfered with her work. Now she wants to get her life back on track and follow dreams she previously put on the back burner. I posted this is the parent’s forum hoping for some advice on the following: bankruptcy and good post bacc programs for one with a low college GPA (even possible?). I only want to help her in anyway possible.</p>
<p>A lot of student debt can’t be discharged by bankruptcy. It sticks around until it gets paid off.</p>
<p>Whether it is a good idea or not depends on the kind of debt that she has, but it’s likely that at least some of it (and probably most of it) won’t go away.</p>
<p>Before she does this, she needs to find out if her loans can be discharged in bankruptcy. Very few student loans can be. She may go through bankruptcy only to find out that that $10,000 (plus even more interest) is still hanging over her head.</p>
<p>A good post bac program would not be free. Even if she takes the pre-med classes at her local community college they will still cost something. How is she planning to cover those costs?</p>
<p>The way the OP phrased their comment, it sounds like student loans aren’t the main concern, rather $10k owed directly to the school. </p>
<p>The question I have is if you assume amounts directly due to a school might be discharged, would the school be obligated to turnover the transcripts?? (I don’t know for sure if this is the case given the discharge prohibitions related to student loans - is an amount directly owed to the Bursar the same as a student loan?) </p>
<p>While a bankruptcy discharge would prohibit the school from attempting to collect the debt, I don’t know if the school could be forced to release the transcript - since she never did pay for the classes.</p>
<p>She should get a job and pay the $10K she owes. That’s what most people would do rather than try to get out of paying their debts and sticking it to the creditors. This sounds like a young person who just doesn’t feel like paying what she owes. This isn’t a good way to start out in adult life.</p>
<p>I agree that the school would probably not be under any obligation to turn over the transcripts. She used the service and has not paid for it. Even though the bankruptcy might mean she will not have to pay her debt, I doubt that that anything in bankruptcy rules forces a creditor to hand over unpaid for goods/services.</p>
<p>Another thing she should consider is the effect of bankruptcy on her credit score and also the effect it might have on job/college applications. Bankruptcy is held against a person’s record for several years (I’m thinking at least 7?). She would need money to got to college and having a bankruptcy will not look good for professional schools. I believe many jobs also look at it as well. Declaring bankruptcy may have a much more negative impact on her aspirations than she imagines.</p>
<p>Filing bankruptcy just for mere $10K is not a good way start a life after college. As suggest, she should work or borrow from Friends or Family to get her diploma first. So she can work herself out of the situation and try to advance. A bankruptcy(chapter 7) now would set her back for 7 years without credit line, that is a life difficult to handle.</p>
<p>Well, firstly, she isn’t young and attempting to get out of responsibilities. Perhaps I should provide more info.
She’s nearly 40 years old and has been out of school for a while. She owes about 100k in student loans and 10k in other debt (10k to her school that loans couldn’t cover). She has a job, but it isn’t nearly enough to pay back all of her debts. Additionally, because of her age, I suppose she feels as though she has nothing to lose. Her degree is such that it can pretty much only be used to attend med school. She hasn’t found any other field where she can use her degree and it be lucrative.
Also, from her own research, it takes only two years post bankruptcy to build one’s credit…</p>
<p>Wouldn’t the school have to turn over the transcripts by law if the only reason they’re holding them is because of debt? </p>
<p>And she’s paying for any post bacc program out of pocket I believe…not sure. Does anyone know of good ones?</p>
<p>No. The school will have to get paid money owed before they release the transcripts.</p>
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<p>So, if she has enough money to pay for medical school out of pocket, she is not bankrupt. She will have to use that money to pay off creditors, and she’ll exit bankruptcy with no out of pocket money, unless she has hidden the assets but that’s not fraud and she can get jailed for that.</p>
<p>She needs to consult a bankruptcy lawyer in her area. The school may not be obligated to turn over the transcripts regardless of a bankruptcy filing. The student loans will not be discharged by bankruptcy. I understand her desire to further her education but in this case I don’t think it will be possible. There is little to no “free ride” for post bacc degrees that I know of. I have a son in law school and he had to take out loans based on his own credit rating to attend. It doesn’t sound like a good plan at this time. She may have to join the ranks of the under employed and get a job to pay some of those bills down. The student loan companies will work with people on deferrals and minimum payments.</p>
<p>Do encourage her to meet with a debt counselor at her bank or credit union. She needs solid clear-headed advice.</p>
<p>The good post-bac pre med programs are not cheap. If she could afford one of those out of pocket, she would have the money to pay down all of the debt she currently has.</p>
<p>She also needs to speak with someone at the medical schools that she would be applying to. What is the likelihood that she would be able to get accepted in her mid 40’s? If she is accepted, and does graduate, how is she ever going to pay off medical school on top of the $100,000 she currently owes for her undergrad degree? Will that even be possible?</p>
<p>I understand that she feels that this is a goal she has deferred for a long time, however it may not be a goal that is achievable, or even a goal that is now worth attempting to achieve.</p>
It sounds as if paying debts isn’t a priority with this person.</p>
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Your first post sure painted the picture of a young recent college attendee. So, does she plan to somehow pay the 100K but is trying to get out of the 10K? That doesn’t make much sense. If she can manage to pay off the 100K then she can pay off the 10K. Or does she want to wiggle out of paying any of it back?</p>
<p>Realistically looking at it, she’s 40 y/o, at least $110K in debt, is trying to get out of paying back at least some of that debt, has a low college GPA, yet plans to go to medical school. Does she have any idea how difficult and competitive it is to get into medical school? I’d expect her chance of being accepted are extremely low. Yet you say she wants to incur even more debt to do more schooling in order to try to get into med school. That makes no sense at all.</p>
<p>The statement that her degree is only good for med school makes no sense either. Firstly, one could go to med school with any major and secondly, there are many majors that don’t have a directly applicable field of employment for most yet serve as a viable background for employers to view the degree positively (history, sociology, something or other ‘studies’, etc.). People with these types of degrees get jobs not in the major field all the time. I’m sure her degree has some value outside of going to med school which she almost certainly isn’t going to end up doing anyway.</p>
<p>There’s a phrase of ‘throwing good money after bad’ and she needs to consider whether she’s doing that here. She should also not borrow money and not pay it back. </p>
<p>Regardless, she should get a job, or get a second one if she already has one, and pay back her debts. She shouldn’t continue to spend money and take on even more debt (that she doesn’t intend to pay back) on education that’ll likely not get her further ahead. </p>
<p>It really does not make any sense for me. With your description about her low GPA, how can she get into a med school? What is her MCAT? a med school will require at least 3.5 GPA in UG and very high MCAT scores. The 3.5 GPA is just the bare minimum, 3.8 is most likely. I think it is pipe dream for her regardless her debt situation.</p>
<p>I also agree that student loans are not forgiven under Bankruptcy. BTW, there are two types of bankrupcys chapter 11 and chapter 7, if she take the chapter 11 route some of the 10K may not even get off, she has to think twice and need legal advice.</p>
<p>Even getting into other medical fields like respiratory therapy and nursing is very competitive and generally require good recommendations, GPAs, etc. She really needs to sit down with a non-profit debt counselor and go over her options, as well as someone from your local community college about possible career options that she may qualify for.</p>
<p>It’s tough to break into a new field at 40, with poor GPA and lots of debt, it’s even tougher. Bankruptcy can make it much, much worse, without helping her much, especially since it sounds like much of her debt is ed loans which generally are NOT discharged in any case.</p>
<p>Your relative, IMO, is very unrealistic. If she started medical school today, she would be close to 50 years old before completion (med school + residency + fellowship). Additionally, no one in their right mind would loan her money since she’s already proven to be financially irresponsible. Thankfully, student loans are not bankruptable. At her age, it’s time to get busy working hard(er), pay off the debts she agreed to pay, and save for retirement.</p>
<p>I’m going to hold my tongue on the bankruptcy rant that is currently going through my head.</p>
<p>Meh.
Well, thanks for the advice (although many of you sound rather judgmental).
She isn’t some flunky who is unable to manage her finances. In her youth she made a few bad decisions (attending a Christian school that was not affordable as a result of horrid guidance for example), but she is still a good person. Btw she’s 37, I never said she was 40.
She’s been told by a few legal advisers that most of her debt will be discharged and that her alma mater must release her transcripts or she has the right to sue for them.</p>
<p>Also, seeing as how med school may not be in her future, would grad school be a better option? She’s also expressed interest in pursuing a Master’s degree in Public Health. Her final college GPA was a 3.3.</p>
<p>…You said she was nearly 40, generally people will take that to mean 39 but close to her birthday. What a mess. Why is she so desperate for a post-bacc degree?</p>
<p>Because she feels as though she would find better employment with a Master’s degree. I suppose she’s tired of working for scraps and wants to go back to school…</p>
<p>I can sympathize, but realize that any benefit she’ll gain from education will be reduced by a lower time frame to monetize it - someone’s already pointed this out. That’s not to say that education after your 20s is a bad decision, but looking to double an already six-figure debt load combined with that age… not smart.</p>