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Private student loan questions
delroland
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I'll be attending school this fall and have acquired all of the financial aid and government loans that I can, and I am still short about $8000 a year, so I will need to turn to private student loans (i.e. from banks and other financial institutions) to cover the rest. My questions are thus:
1) Is there an easy way to compare the various APR's offered by various banks/institutions without actually walking in and talking to a bank rep? (Or, on a related note, do you have any specific suggestions as to where to go for the loan?)
2) Should I secure a separate loan for each school year or one large loan to cover all four? I'm concerned that if I do the latter, that I may end up borrowing too much or too little, since I may qualify for further financial aid in later years, or conversely, costs to attend may increase.
3) Is there any other general advice you feel I should know?
1) Is there an easy way to compare the various APR's offered by various banks/institutions without actually walking in and talking to a bank rep? (Or, on a related note, do you have any specific suggestions as to where to go for the loan?)
2) Should I secure a separate loan for each school year or one large loan to cover all four? I'm concerned that if I do the latter, that I may end up borrowing too much or too little, since I may qualify for further financial aid in later years, or conversely, costs to attend may increase.
3) Is there any other general advice you feel I should know?
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"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
delroland on
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This changes a lot if you have a cosigner though, or are actually like 28 years old.
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
More information is always better than less, and given your apparently heavy reliance on financial aid in all forms, I strongly suggest that you get friendly with a competent counselor for this at the school. Visit them at the very least once every quarter / semester, and stay ahead of the typically varying deadlines you'll be dealing with every year. They'll likely know a bit better than we do whether or not you actually do have some better loans available to you - and even may be in a better position to suggest private loans that are student-friendly if you do in fact not qualify for any student loans.
Good luck! And seriously take my advice to heart when it comes to the deadlines and whatnot - there are a ton of little holes your financial aid can fall through every quarter and year (unit requirements, renewed FAFSA stuff, GPA verification for certain grants, etc.) and there usually isn't one set time that all of it needs to be in by. You'll save yourself some serious panic and avoid losing out on some cash if you're disciplined about it.
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
This is a hell of a gotcha when your loans are $20,000 after a few years.