Resources

It's important to understand your responsibility in financing your education. Here are several resources to assist you in becoming financially literate.

BGSU Financial Aid Office

Counselors are available to assist you by providing resources to finance your professional education.  

National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS)

The NSLDS is the US Department of Education's official loan database. This source will provide federal loan history  as well as information about your loan servicers. You must use your Federal Student Aid PIN to access this website.

StudentLoans.gov Financial Awareness Counseling

The interactive Financial Awareness Counseling tool provides information to help understand financial aid and assistance in managing finances.

FedLoan Servicing

The FedLoan Servicing Publications page assists you in making informed decisions about loans that you have borrowed, loans that you plan to borrow, and how to become eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).

Federal Student Aid

Studentaid.gov is the US Department of Education’s official resource for federal aid information.

This source will provide federal grant and loan history as well as information about your loan servicers. You must use your Federal Student Aid ID and password* to access this website.

  • Federal Student Loans - This page refers to your responsibility as a borrower.
  • Repay Your Loans - Federal loan payment information. Understand how the process works as well as grace periods, repayments, default, and loan cancellation.
  • Repayment Plans -Work with loan officers to determine which plan works best for you. 
  • Forgiveness, Cancellation, and Discharge - Certain situations deem your federal student loan(s) forgivable.  Use this page to learn more about these situations as well as the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program.
FIRST for Medical Education

Financial Information, Resources, Services, and Tools

iGrad

iGrad guides you to become proactive in planning your financial future. The website links to important articles, job search tools, financial literacy information, and videos.

How do you know if you're a good candidate to take a gap year?

There are several reasons why someone would decide to wait a year after their undergraduate studies to apply to professional school. Consider the following:

  1. You need more time to study for your GRE, MCAT, LSAT, PCAT, DAT, etc...
  2. You want to spend more time organizing and preparing your application. If you struggled to find the time to gather letters of recommendation, write a reflective personal statement, research the schools where you find the best "fit", spend adequate time studying for standardized tests, participate in mock interviews, you may be better off waiting and focus on applying next year.
  3. You may need more experience as your studies and commitments on and off campus have limited your ability to expose you to your field. It is important to have participated in activities where you've served your community, maintained leadership roles, performed research, and immersed yourself in the environment to confirm your commitment to the profession.
  4. Your GPA does not meet the standards. You may want to enroll in a post bac program to improve your numbers.
  5. You may want to take part in other experiences before committing to the next step in your journey to professional school. Once you've been accepted to your professional school, it is difficult to take time off. There may be family issues, or financial concerns, or perhaps you have the desire to gain life experience and get involved in other projects before making the commitment. Don't feel pressure to conform to a timeline if it doesn't fit your needs.

Set up an appointment with a Pre Professional Programs advisor to discuss your options.

This research guide identifies scholarly databases, journal articles and a variety of other resources in order to assist students in learning and collecting information regarding professions requiring advanced training.

Updated: 06/11/2021 12:30PM