Financial Docs? Check!

Okay, now I can breathe a little bit easier. I've just sent off my financial docs to my school for the I-20 form. The I-20 form is required for those of us getting an F-1 study visa.

What my packet contained:
1.Proof of financial documentation form from my school
- There's a table in this form that outlines the sources of my tuition and living expenses for the years I'll be studying. Sources as in scholarships, external grants, personal savings, etc. I was so happy to note that the fellowship I got slashes the funds I needed to come up with by half.

2. Bank certificate on my personal savings account
- Ok, I won't pretend here. When I read that I had to provide an official statement from my bank, I thought it meant bank statement. Well, what do you know, it doesn't. An official statement on the bank's stationery translates to a bank certificate, with the bank letterhead and logo. I got mine from BDO, where a bank certificate costs a cool Php 100. For a piece of paper? Yes. It's an official piece of paper, after all. Good thing that copies/reprints of the bank certificate, that are also on bank stationery, are free.
 - Oh -- and for those who want to borrow money to pad their accounts? I advise you to place that money there at least two days before you request for a bank certificate. The bank certificate I got considered my balance from the day before.

3. Bank certificate from my guarantor 
- I have my parents to thank for their amazing network, which contains quite a few potential guarantors. I'm a very lucky, lucky girl indeed to have someone act as my guarantor for a year's worth of expenses. (I'm a 75%-tuition scholar, by the way.) Anyway, schools need this from your parents/sponsor as proof that they have the money to back you up in school.

4. Notarized sponsorship letter
- My school originally said that they needed the sponsor to include the amount of funds he/she was going to make available to me. When I was able to persuade my sponsor to place the amount and the letter was notarized, the school then said that they would accept letters without a specific amount. Why is this such a big deal? Because notarizing that letter would mean that someone else knows that this specific person lives in this specific address and can afford to give this specific amount of money. Who knows what can happen if that piece of paper falls in the wrong hands? I shudder to think of that. I sure pray that nothing bad would happen to my sponsor for helping me. I hope the notary didn't read the letter at all.


I sent the packet off by LBC. According to LBC, it will get to its destination in 3-4 working days. I hope it arrives earlier since it cost me Php 1270. For a measly envelope with four pieces of paper inside.

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I can't stress this enough, but it's really, really, really wise not to depend too much on scholarships or loans. When I told a PAEF adviser that I was considering getting a loan, she almost had a hard attack. Kidding. She was all, "No, No, NO, don't get a loan" that she was practically saying that I shouldn't study in the US if I would rely on loans. Quite a pessimist, but I guess she's met a lot of Filipinos who are too optimistic in terms of school and work prospects in the US. I didn't like her though. But she forced me to think of ways to come up with the money (and scared me off the elite, too-expensive schools in the process).

I think it would have been better if she gave other, more viable options like -- if you lack a (relatively) small amount of money that you think you'd find easy to pay off in the future -- $15K maybe -- you could consider loaning from other people, not lending companies. You could borrow from relatives, friends, classmates or even alumni who are based in the US. As I write this, I know of a school with a lending program funded by alumni, which I think is a genius idea. Of course, this is a good idea if you are a trustworthy, reliable person yourself who wouldn't dream of duping a relative/friend/classmate/schoolmate.

Or, you could probably get a personal or multi-purpose loan in the Philippines (I am relying on the assumption that the interest rates over here are lower) and find a way to send the money to the US. In India, they have a lot of banks and lending companies offering educational loans to graduate students. Here, I can't think of any with attractive terms.

Those are just two crazy ideas I've come up with on my own. It might not work, but it's at least a creative exercise. It's hard to rely on someone offering you free money out of the blue. Maybe you'll come up with another idea. If you do, please share in the comments below.