Creditworthiness

Since some financial aid programs require you to be creditworthy, it is strongly recommended that you request and review your credit history for accuracy and completeness, and correct any errors as quickly as possible.

The best time to check your credit history is before you need a loan—ideally, this process should be done before you start medical school.

If any corrections need to be made, you would have plenty of time to straighten out things.

We suggest obtaining a credit report annually. A credit report can be requested free of charge at Annual Credit Report.com.

How your credit score is calculated

The "credit score" is a snapshot that focuses on individual borrower behavior using the following factors:

  • Promptness in paying bills
  • Number of credit cards
  • Total credit limit
  • Amount owed on accounts
  • Other information in the credit report

Things that negatively affect credit scores

  • Serious delinquency, derogatory public records, or collection accounts
  • The proportion of revolving balances to revolving credit limits is too high
  • The proportion of loan balances to loan amounts is too high
  • Too many new accounts
  • Too many accounts with balances
  • Insufficient time since account was established
  • Too many credit inquiries in the past 12 months
  • Too many finance accounts

Request your credit file

You are allowed to receive one free comprehensive disclosure of all the information in your credit file from each of the three national credit reporting companies once every 12 months through Annual Credit Report.com, or call 1-877-322-8228.

Credit reporting companies:

TransUnion
Phone: 1-800-888-4213
www.transunion.com

Experian
Phone: 1-888-397-3742
www.experian.com

Equifax
Phone: 1-800-685-1111
www.equifax.com

If you wish, you can request a free credit history report every four months (e.g., TransUnion in January, Experian in May, and Equifax in September) in order to keep abreast of your credit history throughout the year.