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Last year (my freshman year) I took out a 3k subsidized loan and an unsubsidized loan for $900. I'm coming up on my sophomore year now and they have offered me a $4,500 loan, and I've decided to take out $1,750 a year. However...they offered me 2,250, which is enough to pay back the unsubsidized loan I took out last year. Should I go for it? Will this look good on my credit report, and are there any potential consequences? sorry if this sounds confusing 
Fatty Patty fucked around with this message at 18:18 on Jun 15, 2009 |
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Jun 15, 2009 18:15
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zoecore posted:I've been advised to cross post this from the small questions thread. Maybe you could set up an account at a place like HSBC that is all over the world?
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Jun 15, 2009 20:05
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TheShadowAvatar, unfortunately for loans they kinda have to take all that into credit. There's a possibility they won't consider it per your petition but they likely will. You eligibility depends partially on what level you're considered so they have to take your grade level into account. DrBouvenstein, let me know if you have any other questions! Sorry you don't qualify but it never hurts to try. zoecore, we deal with this occasionally where I work and the answer is simple - we cannot do the financial conversion needed to take your overseas money. A US student loan company cannot take non-US currency, even in credit. I'm not sure about any other companies but I know that US student loan companies sure can't do it, and they can't take the cash in foreign currencies either. The only solution we ever came up with for these customers was for them to open an account with a US bank and pay from there. You could try one of those online banks, such as ING Direct? Fatty Patty, is that an unsub or subsidized loan they're offering you? If it's subsidized I say go for it! You can pay off your unsub and then have no interest accruing while you're on deferment. Nothin' wrong with that!!! (It will not hurt your credit at all, it will look like one debt paid off and another new debt opened). Aluminum Record, thank you! That was the other bank I was thinking of. A friend of mine has an account with them and loves them to death so I can recommend them with a good feeling, but it has to be an account in US dollars. If it's an account in UK pounds then your student loan company still can't accept the funds.
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Jun 15, 2009 22:27
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I come from a very "pay as you go" family and I just wanted to ask a quick question to quench a curiosity of mine. For this year of college, we're expecting to pay somewhere between 6.5k - 11k cash (grants and stuff accounted for). We're ABLE to pay this, but I also qualify for a Federal Perkins Loan (~3k), and a subsidized Staff. Loan (~3.5k). Since we are capable of paying, should we just do that? I only ask because one of my professors said he actually "made" money due to loans due to inflation increasing faster than the interest rate (or something similar). Thanks!
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Jun 16, 2009 04:46
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I have a question about reducing the interest rate on my private loan. I have one private loan with ~$15k left on it which should be paid off in the next 7 months. The interest rate on it is 8.25% (UGH) , no cosigner, and decent credit. Is there any way to get that rate lower? Can I consolidate and try to get a better rate from Wells Fargo or something? Will they take payment history into account (I'm paying over 120x my minimum payment amount every month) and give me a better deal? I'm with Sallie Mae right now, and I hate them.
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Jun 16, 2009 06:13
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DuWay, the only thing I can think he's talking about is the interest, which is tax deductible for student loans. Like mortgage interest. It will never equal the amount that you actually end up paying. If you guys can afford to pay then just pay, it is SO much better to graduate without debt. Fruxx, do you have multiple loans which you could consolidate or just the one? Private loans are demon spawn and I'm honestly not familiar with any way to get that interest rate down. If you can get that bad boy paid off in seven months then just hit the hell outta it and get it done! I'm jealous of your abilities 
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Jun 17, 2009 00:58
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Wiggy Marie (or anyone else), do you know anything about the rules for Grants, Work-study, and Stafford loans? In my first go-around with college, I took out $7500 in subsidized stafford loans, and I think I had a 1500 work-study grant in my first year. The loans were over a 2.5 year period. I ended up dropping out because of various reasons, but I have made every payment on time. Now I've decided to go back to school, and I'm just wondering how my eligibility will be affected. This time around I'm considered an independent student with a 0 EFC. Will I be able to get the max in terms of grants, work-study, and stafford loans even with my having previous loans on my record? I only owe about 5000 more on the staffords.
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Jun 17, 2009 21:25
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Aluminum Record posted:Wiggy Marie (or anyone else), do you know anything about the rules for Grants, Work-study, and Stafford loans? In my first go-around with college, I took out $7500 in subsidized stafford loans, and I think I had a 1500 work-study grant in my first year. The loans were over a 2.5 year period. I ended up dropping out because of various reasons, but I have made every payment on time. Now I've decided to go back to school, and I'm just wondering how my eligibility will be affected. This time around I'm considered an independent student with a 0 EFC. Will I be able to get the max in terms of grants, work-study, and stafford loans even with my having previous loans on my record? I only owe about 5000 more on the staffords. Outstanding debt does not affect your future eligibility unless you've reached your aggregate limit. You're nowhere near that total so you should be fine
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Jun 17, 2009 22:09
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Fruxx posted:I have a question about reducing the interest rate on my private loan. So you're paying like $2000 a month then? The lowest rate you'll get with Wells Fargo is around 5% (it's all credit based, payment history doesn't matter). If you're capable of paying the thing off in seven months you'll save a whopping $200 in interest. Not worth it.
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Jun 18, 2009 00:40
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Wiggy Marie posted:Outstanding debt does not affect your future eligibility unless you've reached your aggregate limit. You're nowhere near that total so you should be fine Thats good to hear. I was planning on going to community college this year but I'm thinking about going to my top choice engineering school right now as opposed to a year from now. The only problem is of course financial aid. Their "priority deadline" was May 1. With a cost of attendance of $23,000 per year, and an EFC of 0, I'll be relying completely on whatever they can give me. I already added the school code to my FAFSA application yesterday, and I called the financial aid department today and they basically said "you'll just have to wait a few weeks till we can process it." What I'm wondering is if there is going to be anything left for me. I know a lot of the aid is on a "first-come first-served" type of thing. But the fact that my EFC is 0 means I'm eligible for all the good stuff like the Pell Grant, FSEOG Grant, Federal Work-Study, Stafford Loans, Perkins Loan, etc, and all the state aid as well. My question is, do institutions really have a set pool of this money to give out, or does the fact that my EFC is 0 mean I'll be able to get them anyway since the government will be giving them the money. I guess I want to know if the government tells the schools beforehand how much of each they can give out, or if the school just follows guidelines for eligibility and dispersal and then the government reimburses them after the fact. tl;dr Can I still get need-based aid if the "priority deadline" for financial aid has passed?
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Jun 18, 2009 21:27
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Depends on the aid. Some is indeed a set amount (work study, most grants) and others are indefinite (federal loans). The priority deadline most definitely causes the first come first served scenario but stuff like the Pell grant isn't *guaranteed* to be gone just yet.
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Jun 19, 2009 02:32
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I'm having a terrible time finding a loan that will disburse funds directly to me. I'm a film student so my per-semester out of pocket expenses are really loving high and waiting for the balance to be refunded to me will mean waiting until practically Halloween. Which won't work. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
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Jun 22, 2009 21:05
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The only loans I really deal with are federal loans which are disbursed to the school except in extreme cases (such as a foreign exchange student). Even then it's only sent directly to the student at the school's request. The only education-related private loans I know of function the same way. A private loan directly from a bank and having nothing to do with school is the only one I know of that you can get into your own pocket but since it has nothing to do with education you won't have any kind of deferment/forbearance available to you. One question: why Halloween? That's WAY longer than any school I've heard of, unless your semester actually starts mid-October...
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Jun 22, 2009 23:59
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Well gently caress.Wiggy Marie posted:One question: why Halloween? That's WAY longer than any school I've heard of, unless your semester actually starts mid-October... Semester starts two weeks into September. Add / Drop continues for a week. After that ends you can make a request for the cash, but two Fridays need to pass before the check will be ready. Then I have to wait up to ten business days for it to post. So I'll get the cash in mid-to-late October.
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Jun 23, 2009 01:13
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Well that sucks. Honestly I've never heard of registered students having to wait that long but then I don't deal directly with the schools. Sorry man
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Jun 23, 2009 22:40
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If I were to go into an officer training school for the Air Force or Navy and get commissioned as an officer, what, if anything happens to my undergraduate loans? Do you know how the GI Bill factors into it?
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Jun 24, 2009 01:43
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I'm not an expert on the GI Bill at all but I can tell you that there is a military deferment available for those who are active duty (specifically active duty status). You'll need to contact someone at the armed forces office to ask for more details, I can really only tell you what we handle directly
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Jun 24, 2009 02:25
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What can people with a FAFSA score of 999999 and no available cosigner do as far as loans? I'm putting myself through ASU engineering on $8/hr with no parental support and I am literally living on dirt trying to do this.
BlackMK4 fucked around with this message at 06:07 on Jun 24, 2009 |
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Jun 24, 2009 06:02
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I'm not sure what you mean by a FAFSA score of 999999. Can you clarify that for me? Assuming you mean you're not getting loans because your FAFSA reflects a higher income, you can appeal to the financial aid office to see if they'll review your information again. Barring that you're pretty much relegated to private loans. If you have no co-signer you're not guaranteed no loan but it's much MUCH harder.
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Jun 24, 2009 22:16
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When you get the FASFA overview afterwards it scores your finances, 999999 being the max score, meaning you're not getting poo poo. I guess I'll just have to dig more.
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Jun 24, 2009 23:07
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Hey Wiggy, I am looking at a Federal Parent Plus Loan through my college v.s. a Chase Select Loan for myself and my girlfriend. The Fed Plus loan is currently a variable rate at 7.9%, but the government caps it at 9%. Which seems safe to me. The Chase Select loan: http://www.chaseselectloans.com/apr-example.aspx This loan starts at 4.9% and goes up to 13.6% but varies on the addition of the 3-Month LIBOR, which according to the Chase website is 1.32%. I looked up the 3 month LIBOR on other websites and found it at .65%. I called Chase and they told me the LIBOR is changing July 1st from 1.32% to .62%. A little confusing. So in my eyes the Fed Plus just seems like a safer choice. After looking at this historic LIBOR chart: http://www.moneycafe.com/library/3monthlibor.htm - It seems it is hitting rock bottom. But in the past it has hit highs of 7%, and since we will be paying on these for many years, I would be afraid it would hit a higher height. But then again right now its so low. I could potentially get a 6% Rate with Chase compared to an 8% with Fed Plus and save me money now, but then it jump up to 10% because of a big LIBOR increase. Does that all sound about right? What would you advise?
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Jun 25, 2009 20:16
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Well to be frank I'll never advise a private loan over a federal loan. Federal loans are better in pretty much every way. So my advice is to go for the PLUS loan.
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Jun 28, 2009 00:53
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I'm in pretty dire straits right now and I need to consolidate several private student loans (from Sallie Mae, ugh) that total around $95,000 in principal, just so I can lower my monthly payments and get a little bit of headway. Current payments are around $1,000/month. Sallie Mae doesn't allow deferment/forbearance on these types of loans. Sallie Mae also stopped doing private loan consolidation so I missed the boat there. I tried LendingTree.com but they don't approve loans over $30,000. What are my remaining options, if any?
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Jul 2, 2009 13:48
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My fiancee is currently in her grace period for about 30k of public and 15k of private student loans. Do you have a suggested provider with which to consolidate her loans? How do private student loan consolidations work? Also, what are the changes as of 7/1 that were supposed to "help" student loans?
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Jul 2, 2009 15:41
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Will consolidating my loans now end my grace period? I just graduated in May and most of my loans have the standard 6 month grace period (I have two Perkins loans that have a 9 month grace period). Should I just wait a few more months to do this?
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Jul 2, 2009 19:59
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DizzyBum posted:I'm in pretty dire straits right now and I need to consolidate several private student loans (from Sallie Mae, ugh) that total around $95,000 in principal, just so I can lower my monthly payments and get a little bit of headway. What are my remaining options, if any? lord1234 posted:My fiancee is currently in her grace period for about 30k of public and 15k of private student loans. Do you have a suggested provider with which to consolidate her loans? How do private student loan consolidations work? Wells Fargo has the lowest interest rates and no fees for private consolidation, so you're going to get your best deal through them. Chase also offers it with no fees, but has higher rates. Everyone else charges origination fees which make the consolidation not worth it. If you are in your 20s you will very likely need an older cosigner with good credit to get the lowest tier interest rate of 4.75% (the cosigner is freed after 36 payments though). Even Wells Fargo has raised their interest rates (they are the still the lowest though) so it may not even be worth it depending on what your current loans are at. ghost story posted:Will consolidating my loans now end my grace period? I just graduated in May and most of my loans have the standard 6 month grace period (I have two Perkins loans that have a 9 month grace period). Should I just wait a few more months to do this? Yes it will end your grace period. Interest rates are unlikely to move anytime soon so it really doesn't matter. If you can afford to start paying off the loans you might as well start the process.
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Jul 2, 2009 21:33
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Thank you Realjones lord1234, to answer your second question there were no regulations passed which touch private loans (yet). So the regulations which went into effect 7/1/09 don't apply to your case. DizzyBum, Realjones has always recommended Wells Fargo and he seems to be pretty knowledgeable about what they offer. I would just say the same thing, so if you have any other questions let us know! ghost story, to add to what Realjones said you can most likely submit an application that honors your grace period and starts the consolidation when your grace period is done. When we did consolidations we allowed this so Direct might as well, but you'll need to call them to verify that. Basically you can submit your app now and your consolidation wouldn't go through until your 6 months are over.
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Jul 2, 2009 22:41
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My SAR awarded me a Pell Grant, but no other types of federal loans. (Missed the priority deadline, drat.) Can I still apply for a Stafford or Direct Loan anyway? Also, if I reach the aggregate limit for an alternative loan before I graduate, can/should I apply for another private loan? Would it be wiser to just apply for a loan through a lender with a higher aggregate limit?
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Jul 4, 2009 09:44
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Wiggy: What were the regulations affecting PUBLIC loans? She has about 30k of those. Also regarding Wells Fargo: We both have 720's credit scores, and also have good jobs (combined income over 100k). Will we still have issues?
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Jul 6, 2009 13:46
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I am getting married on August 8th, and I'd like to get the finacial aid I would get as an independent. My parents make $110,00+, so I don't get a lot of help right now from the government. Plus I've been living with my fiance for a year and a half now, so bills are piling up having to take care of stuff on my own. Obviously I already filed earlier this year, but can I refile when I get married? If I can, do I need to wait for the day I am married to do so? I'm sure that it would delay me getting my funds, and I can't wait too long for the disbursement.
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Jul 7, 2009 22:56
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Sorry about the wait everyone. I suck at timely responses. Onward... Draconi Ann, when you say you were awarded a Pell Grant, that means you've already filed the FAFSA and that's what the school awarded you from the FAFSA processing? Or have you not received your awards package from the university yet? The FAFSA *is* the application for Stafford loans, so if you've filed that and your school award package didn't include any, they determined that you were ineligible for Staffords. You can always try to appeal the decision if that's the case. lord1234, if she needs to consolidate her federal loans then she'll need to give Direct loans a call. They have a pretty good consolidation program. Rather than list their benefits here I'd rather she call them directly because I don't want to get anything wrong for you guys! As for public loans, one huge change is that the Income Based Repayment plan is now available for all federal loans through all lenders instead of just Direct loans. This means that a person's payment could drop significantly if they have a low income. If anyone is having trouble making their payments, call your servicer and ask about this plan. tishthedish, you can actually modify the FAFSA you previously filed to reflect your new marriage status, however there are some rules and regulations that I'm not 100% familiar with and I'd hate to steer you wrong. Call FAFSA and let them know about your situation, see how they can help you.
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Jul 9, 2009 11:47
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Wiggy Marie, I was wondering if you might have any information about international loans for US citizens looking to attend a college at a different country? I'm specifically planning on attending Vancouver Film School in Canada, however it'll cost me roughly $65k or so after everything is calculated out like living expenses, etc. The financial aid office at the school told me that Sallie Mae is my only option for international student loans. I tried searching for any alternatives but didn't come up with anything. Do you happen to know what I can do to see if there are any other alternatives available? Or how I can best reduce being royally ripped off by Sallie Mae if I decide I have to go through them? Any help is appreciated.
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Jul 9, 2009 19:36
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I went ahead and checked out the school's website, and here's what they had to say about US citizen eligibility (in case you hadn't seen it): "US citizens accepted into a full time program at VFS are eligible to apply for private education loans. " What that means is that US citizens have to apply for whatever private loan(s) the school is participating in, and it sounds like VFS only participates with the Sallie Mae private loan at the moment. Unfortunately the school doesn't seem to have any actual loans listed on their site, making talking to them the only source for additional info. I tried to apply through Sallie Mae's site but they don't have this school listed in the drop down. Sorry
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Jul 9, 2009 22:05
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Sorry if this has already been asked, but with this thread at 29 pages, I read the first 5 and didn't see this asked and answered. I was laid off and was wondering if that qualifies me for a deferment or forbearance? In addition, does this hurt my interest rate? I made my first year or whatever it is of payments on time and had my rate reduced. At least I thought if you made a certain number of payments your rate decreased, but I can't find it online now. So would my rate be affected?
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Jul 11, 2009 09:50
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I have a similar question - my wife and I are both going to start to have our Stafford payments (on about 95k of debt) coming due at the end of this year, as the initial 6 month grace period runs out. Problem is - we are California teachers - and we do not have jobs yet. It is likely only one of us will end up with a job, if at all. Will we qualify for deferments/forebearance/something that will allow us to survive?
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Jul 11, 2009 20:15
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Hi, thanks preemptively for the advice. I am entering a biz/law program and will need pretty sizeable financing. I am taking out both subsidized and unsubsidized Staffords at the max, and then deciding about how to fill the gap. Would you confirm a preference for the GradPlus over private/variable options at places like Chase or Citi? Here are a few questions: 1) Are loans generally given for the whole academic year, or per semester? 2) Am I right to prefer GradPlus over variable private, even though I have good credit? 3) How is interest accrued? Does it compound daily (i.e., interest added to principal and then used for the next day's interest calculation) or is the 8.5% on the GradPlus an effective annual rate (i.e., i will see $108.4 after a year on $100.0). Are there any deals out there for my situation other than then 25 bps break for autodeposit? Thanks for the help and apologies if any of this is duplicative.
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Jul 11, 2009 21:37
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Hey Wiggy Marie, is Sallie Mae really that bad? It's my only options for loans it seems but I've heard mixed reviews with them. I don't really have any other options at this point  Edit: Also, federal loans aren't an option if I'm attending a college in Canada correct?
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Jul 13, 2009 21:44
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Bradf0rd, no worries about repeats! By this point it's inevitable. Anyway, yes it certainly does. There's an unemployment deferment and an economic hardship deferment AND forbearance. Call your servicing agency and they can get you squared away (This doesn't apply to private loans, by the way. Only federal loans.)that one guy, same answer to you. Call call call, they CAN help you. The only thing in your situation is that each of you has to qualify separately for a separate deferment/forbearance but if you have no income it shouldn't be a problem. Yummypuff, yes yes yes, GradPLUS before private loans please god please. Private loans will rape you, there's no easy way to put it. 1. Whole academic year. 2. Yes yes yes yes yes. 3. Daily interest. A simple way to find your daily interest is to take your total principal balance, multiply it by your interest rate (should be 8.5% for a GradPLUS) and divide by 364. Viola, your daily interest accrual! You may pay on this any time, any day, with no penalty. Just fyi, every private loan I'm aware of accrues the same way...but it doesn't matter because you won't be using them. Seriously! Don't do it! As for deals, one thing you could ask about is whether the default fee OR origination fee is covered on your loan. That's pretty much the only "deals" going around with lenders right now. That and the .25% break for automatic debit. ceebee, yes. Yes they are. In this case I'm willing to admit it's more to do with the private loan than the company. And unfortunately yeah, unless you're going as an exchange student through a US school program you're stuck with private loans
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Jul 14, 2009 00:05
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I'll be attending my dream school in Southern California this Fall, after grants, works study ($2,750/yr), Federal Subsidized Stafford loan (4,500/yr), subsubsidized stafford loan (2,000/yr), and Federal Perkins loan (2,000/yr) that my school has provided, which leaves me with $20,088 dollars to cover. I was looking at Chase student loans, took one out with them when I attended another institution. Any recommendations? Thanks so much!
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Jul 14, 2009 01:59
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Congratulations on your dream school I hope all goes well! As for recs, sounds like you've got everything covered! If you've used Chase before and liked them, I see no problem with using them again. The only other private loan that's recommended in this thread is Wells Fargo. I myself am no private loan guru but Chase is a reputable company that you're familiar with, so they sound like a safe enough bet. Even if it is a private loan... Are you sure you can't use a type of PLUS loan?!
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Jul 14, 2009 11:44
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