Possible to get Credit Union loan for master's study in the UK?

Cellar_Door

Any advice or info would be fantastic. I have about €5,000 euro I could deposit into them tomorrow (I don't have an account with them at the moment). My grades are excellent (though I suspect they don't care much about that), and I have an offer from a very good university.

Please allow me to provide some brief info:

The course does not lead to a specific vocation. I cannot 100% prove to them that I'll be able to immediately pay back the loan (but I am certain I will be able to). I have a good record of employment in the past, and I'm not in any debt. I'm not technically employed at the moment.

I've never taken out any kind of loan before, as I've always paid my way. But I'll need to borrow at least €10,000 from somewhere. None of my family, unfortunately, have an account with the Credit Union - can they still be guarantors?

If anyone has any advice on this, I'd hugely appreciate it. I'm clueless about loans and Credit Unions in general!

kaiser sauze

Especially in these times, I would be shocked in any Credit Union offered you a loan. Credit Unions operate on the principle that you have an established relationship with them and a history of savings. Dropping 5K on them might sound great, but you still have no savings history and no relationship built up.

The bank, where you currently have the 5K, might be your best option.

Cellar_Door

kaiser sauze wrote: »

Especially in these times, I would be shocked in any Credit Union offered you a loan. Credit Unions operate on the principle that you have an established relationship with them and a history of savings. Dropping 5K on them might sound great, but you still have no savings history and no relationship built up.

The bank, where you currently have the 5K, might be your best option.

Ouch, that's a kick in the stones. That makes sense though. What if I start building up a relationship with them? I open an account tomorrow, and for the next 6 months make weekly deposits? That might help my case, expecially if I can bring in a guarantore.

As for the bank option, I've heard they won't give a loan to someone who's going to the UK, i.e. out of the Irish economy

markphillips

I'm in a similar situation to you. I am going to do a masters in Europe in September and will need a loan. To make things more complicated, I'm currently living abroad.

I popped into my local CU over Christmas and chatted with them about it. They said as long as I save regularly between now and August, they should be able to accomodate me when I apply for the loan. So I put in a few hundred and am now depositing 100 a week. I had saved with thekm a few years ago too but the account has been pretty unused since, but regularly saving for 6 months and having someone (preferably a CU member) to be your guarantor should be enough it seems.

I gotta say, in these tough times when banks are turning down loan applications for fun, it has made me realise just how great Credit Unions are.

coylemj

What matters for credit unions is that you have a history of saving. All the banks care about is that you have a history of paying back a loan. No matter how much cash you have in a bank account, it counts for nothing until you take out a loan and pay it back on schedule, that gets you a positive credit history and that's all they care about.

Cellar_Door

Cheers for the replies.

One more question: will they ask me about my employment status? Is there anything else in particular I should be forewarned about?

I'm just wondering if there's much actually involved in setting up an account with them. Do they have any particular selection criteria, for example?

Cellar_Door

One last bump