I know private loans are considered the devil’s work, but I think I’ve reached a place the only way I will feel confident in my ability to secure straight A’s is by freeing up the 25-30 hours of my week currently occupied with earning an income. I have maxed out my 9500 Stafford limit for the year, so it looks like I will have to to turn to a private loan. Thankfully I have excellent credit history, so expect I can secure a low fixed-rate loan. Anyone on here have any wisdom on best resources to compare private loans, or feedback on their own experience with private loans?
I don’t know the particular of your situation but perhaps you could try to keep a lighter activity on both front and maybe avoid private loans altogether? Study a bit less and work a bit less. Now you won’t go as fast as you’d like but that’s the trade off.
It is not just though thrown at you. I did so for 3 years. Need a job, and had to take classes.
Loans at this stage (at least for me) were not an option. That meant night and week-end classes, that meant going slower, that meant going to community college. Not ideal. In the end I am happy. Everything worked out.
Thanks for the feedback redo-it-all. I’ve been struggling wih this decision for a while, but think I’ve determined this is what I need to do to maintain my grades and sanity.
I have been looking at the Sallie Mae Smart Option loan, anyone else have one of these?
My only experience was with discover student loans. It was a bad one. They said their best rate was like 7% or something that was high already, I applied and had ~800 credit score and good income and they said they lowest rate they could give me was 13% (this was when savings accounts were paying like .25%).
I asked them why and they said “that’s proprietary information”. Discover student loans is a scam. I didn’t look too much at what else was out there. If you only need money for a couple years you can get credit card deals with 0% APR. You just have to be very confidant you can pay it back before interest surges.
No experience with private loans but I wanted to say that the 0% APR credit card is an option if you’re disciplined at paying it off. I usually just use my school’s payment plan (3 payments over a semester) but it’s not available in the summer semester. So I’ll be using my credit card and making the 3 payments over the summer to pay it off. (And I’ll get Southwest points!)
As far as comparing private loans, check simpletuition.com and alltuition.com. Also check with your local bank or credit union.
I have private loans. Not what I wanted, but it was necessary for my situation as well. I got decent (albeit variable) rates, but only because I had a co-signer with great credit. They really want a co-signer, from what I understand, no matter how good your own credit is.
On a side note, look VERY carefully at your repayment/deferment options. Some banks are better than others about giving you additional deferments (after you finish school, and before you start medical school).
