[Darius.M]

Hey everyone. Got a bit decision to make in the next few days here, and I hoped maybe someone can share their opinion or maybe tell about their own experience with something like this.

Here is the situation

I applied for a 2-year European Governance MA course in the University of Kent. I got accepted and everything was fine and dandy up until Wednesday, when i got a rejection from Barclays regarding my PCDL application. In their words, it is due to my credit rating (who has a good credit rating at the age of 23?).

Question: Is there any point appealing to Barclays or giving co-op a shot, since they use the same criteria to asses me?

Now, since £10k just got swept away from me, I am left to bail the course, or take drastic measures. I can't afford to take a big loan, even through my parents, since the total cost of my course, including all the living expenses, will reach around £24k over 2 years. Can you imagine the interest?!

I could just switch to the standard 1-year version of the course, which could mean i just take a smaller 5-7k loan and earn the rest through part-time work etc. Still, that is a big sum when taken directly from a bank, and with a 21.1% APR, it will leave a major hole in the pockets of my family, although it is still more doable than the 2-year version of the course.

So whats left? Part-time...I either do what i want - the initial course i applied for, but it will take 4 years. I could switch to regular version of the course and it will stretch over 2 years. This allows to hold a full time job for most of the year, and should offer a solid income so i can actually complete the darn thing.

I am seriously determined to do the course one way or another. I already spent a year out trying to save up some cash and getting some work experience here and there. Waiting more to get some cash together? I don't think i can afford to wait even more. These "happy" news have thrown me off completely.

So, what are your thoughts about all of this? Have you had a similar experience? What do you think could be the best course of action for me?

[(Bored)]

I can help with the CDL side of things. First of all you need to get a copy of your credit report so you can see why Barclays rejected you. It could be as simple as a mobile phone contract you took out 4 years ago and missed a few payments on. You can get your credit report from any of the 3 credit reference agencies - Equifax, Experian and Callcredit. You can get a statutory report from these for £2, or you can sign up for their 30 day free trials and be able to view your report whenever you like. I will say that if you go for the free trial make sure you cancel it before it expires otherwise you'll end up paying monthly for a pretty useless service. Also, never pay extra for a credit 'score' - these are generated by the credit reference agencies as an indication of how well you have managed you past credit however they are not used by lenders, who use their own individual criteria to decide if they want to lend to you.

So once you have your credit report, and see exactly what is preventing you from being accepted you'll have a better idea of how to appeal to Barclays. There are a few stories on the CDL thread about people being rejected due to failing the credit check and sucessfully appealing so you might want to take a look there.

Since there are only two banks offering CDL, it's always worth applying to the other choice if you get rejected from the first one. Nobody except the banks really know what the acceptance criteria are, and there are people who get rejected from one but accepted by the other who never really understand why.

[Darius.M]

Two points which bother me (especially the first one), and which, I think, will affect the application success rate:

1. I spent 7 months abroad in Lithuania (work experience)

2. I am non-english

Am i being paranoid?

I'm working on the co-op application at the moment. I plan to have it out in the post on Wednesday. Since this application needs a stamp or a letter from uni, i'll have to go to uni in person to get it stamped on the spot, instead of waiting until they send an official letter, so i can save a day or two.

This is becoming an ordeal. I really want to do my MA :/