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Updated June 8, 2022You’re reading an excerpt of Admitted by Soundarya Balasubramani. Written by an Ivy League graduate from India, this is the proven guide for students worldwide looking to pursue undergraduate or graduate study abroad in the U.S., Canada, or Europe. Purchase for instant access to the guide and other exclusive resources—including sample SOPs, sample resumes, scholarship lists, and a private community with other readers.
We get it. Learning about loans doesn’t sound interesting. You would rather spend time taking an online course or setting up your LinkedIn profile (which you can do in the chapter LinkedIn, Networking, and E-learning).
actionBut before you skip this chapter (and we hope you don’t!), read and re-read the following three principles so you don’t commit a huge mistake later on:
Loans are not the only way to fund oneself. First, try to source as much money as possible from other sources like scholarships, assistantships, and fellowships—as discussed earlier—before resorting to a loan.
Traditional banks in India are not the only sources of loans. We go through three other entities you can look at in this chapter. Also note that you aren’t obligated to take out a loan from a single entity. For example, if you need INR 30,00,000, you can take out a smaller loan of INR 15,00,000 from two sources that offer a lower rate of interest than from a single source offering INR 30,00,000 at a higher rate of interest.
Once you pick the source(s), follow the do’s and don’ts we’ve laid out at the end of the chapter. Everything was written based on stories we’ve witnessed.
If you plan to read ahead, fantastic! We’ve tried to keep the information simple and easy to follow, but if you come across terms you don’t understand, spend a few minutes reading about them online. It’ll be worth it.
Let’s start with the foundational question, how much money do you need?
Instead of guessing based on your tuition fee, let’s go back to our trusted friend, the Dream Tracker. Navigate to the sub-sheet titled Loan Estimation.