[lilpingki]

did any of you guys had to take out money for your college or university?

if so...how much? and where did u get it from?

[blueangel15]

so far about 25k, got mine from mefa

[insideMYheart]

Aside from the Federal Stafford Loan, I have a health professions loan from my college for like $3,000 each year and a private loan for $20,000 each year... killer, I will have a lot to pay off.

[t0kki]

I filed a FAFSA so I have the Stafford loans, and TAP and I don't get a lot from both of them. Stafford gave me around 2.3k and TAP gave $250 =.=;; I had to take out a private loan from Citibank (www.studentloan.com) for 30k. I am going to drown in debt.

[-xl0velii-]

the only loan i have so far is a subsidized loan from citibank for about 3k.

[msjang]

I haven't taken any loans yet, but i will definitely for my professional school after I graduate from undergrad.
professional schools cost about 30,000 per yr, so will probably need 15,000 per year from loan, so after 4 years, I'll be in a debt of 60,000 X.X

[brandonbkim]

hey guys, I was reading ur posts about loans and i thought i'd drop by and give me 2 cents in. I'm currently working as a financial aid administrator for a college so I work with fafsa, Federal loans(sub, unsub, PLUS), and even private loans(Bank = worse than credit card). Just letting you guys know, when you renew ur fafsa, just couple things to watch out for. Where it says "checkings/savings", unless you have more than like 30k or something, just keep it as 0. It will not effect anything. The name of the game for FAFSA is to get your EFC(expected family contribution to as low as possible). If you go to page 2, you will see the Yes/No questions. If you can answer yes to at least one of them, you're considered an independant student. which should drop your EFC to 0, which means CHA CHING!!!! Grants Grants Grants!!

REMEMBER!!! if the fafsa is not signed, they will not process it. If you are dependant your parent must sign as well

One other part you should definately watch out for. Last question on the first page of the fafsa asks about the drug questions. Make sure you mark down NO. Every other yes or no question shows yes as the primary choice and no as secondary EXCEPT for this one. I have too many students that put yes this (which says they're either caught possessing or selling illegal drugs).

Part 2 LOAAAAANS!

Always maximize on the stafford loans as much as possible.
For dependants you should be able to get subsidized only, which is not too much. $2625 for the 1st year, 3500 next year, 5500 jr year and so on. Independants are allowed to receive unsubsidized loans as well.
Subsidized means that there is no interest while you are in school, unsubsidized means there are interest while you're in school but it's usually not too much. Good part about these loans are you dont have to pay for them while you are in school, and they give you 6 month grace period afterwards.

Also, CONSOLIDATE YOUR LOANS NOW!!!!! rates are going up. But you can lock in the current rate of 4.7%. Last year would've been the best cause it was 2.8? but it's going up again. One thing to keep in mind. If you lock the rates and the interest drops, ur stuck with the higher rate. But i dont think it's gonna drop unless another 9/11 hits.

**For former students: The worst thing you can do is ignore payment letters that they mail you. If you do not have a job or anything and can't make the payments, just call them and they'll work with you, or else you will be in a default status, which means you'll never be able to borrow from the government again, and it'll effect your credit score.

PART 3 BANK LOANS!!!
BEWARE of Private bank loans, I hate doing this but I give students private bank loans with ridiculous abount of interest (12-16%)

If you guys have more questions, please feel free to message me because I'm stuck in my office all day and I dont mind answering questions.

[msjang]

THANKSSS A LOT FOR THE INFORMATION, brandonbkim !!

I have some questions...^^

I am a dependent on my parents, but you said if I can answer Yes, to at least one of the ques. on pg 2, then the chance of getting grant is higher. So can I "lie" and answer yes to one of the questions, or will FAFSA catch me?

Also about consolidating the loan rates now, I am not in need of FAFSA right now, but will need loans when I attend professional school, in about 2 years. Is there a way to apply for loans in professional school (for me it's optometry school) early? Cuz I didn't even know about the whole locking your rate now thing (I know I am so clueless when it comes to this....^^;;;) Or FAFSA doesn't loan to students attending professional schools?

[brandonbkim]

THANKSSS A LOT FOR THE INFORMATION, brandonbkim !!

I have some questions...^^

I am a dependent on my parents, but you said if I can answer Yes, to at least one of the ques. on pg 2, then the chance of getting grant is higher. So can I "lie" and answer yes to one of the questions, or will FAFSA catch me?

Also about consolidating the loan rates now, I am not in need of FAFSA right now, but will need loans when I attend professional school, in about 2 years. Is there a way to apply for loans in professional school (for me it's optometry school) early? Cuz I didn't even know about the whole locking your rate now thing (I know I am so clueless when it comes to this....^^;;;) Or FAFSA doesn't loan to students attending professional schools?

No problem. Always enjoy helping others.

Pertaining to your question, if you lie, there's a really good chance that the system will catch it, and when you receive a student aid report (letter that FAFSA sends out after you submit an application), it will come back with a "C-Code" which means there's an error, or something isn't matching up. THis will delay your loans BIG time, which means no money, and usually the Financial aid advisors are lazy and will make u wait monthes before they fix it. Kinda sad cause they can fix it in 5 minutes Anyways, I would advise against it. For my school we do 100% verification, so if we will always catch it.

Regarding loans for the future, you cannot lock in the rates right now if you didn't take it out.

[cocoa]

brandonbkim, how do we even go about consolidating loans?? Haha, okay, now I feel useless and dumb. But seriously, I have no idea -___-;

[brandonbkim]

brandonbkim, how do we even go about consolidating loans?? Haha, okay, now I feel useless and dumb. But seriously, I have no idea -___-;

Hey don't say that. Believe it or not, I didn't know any of this until I started working here too. You can only consolidate the federal stafford loans (government) because the interest rate is not a fixed one. Consolidating really means to lock up the interest rate. You can do that by simply calling the US Deptartment of Education. You can do it on the phone or online as well, but I suggest on the phone. Call back couple days later to make sure that they actually locked it, and always get the name of the person you're talking to.

Hope that helps.

[little mixed girl]

i had to get loans. i don't understand why.
either FASFA or UMICH are azzholes, or both...i suspect both.

seriously how do u give loans to someone who's total family contribution is $0, who makes $4,800 per yer and who's family gets something like $6,000 a yr in child support?

that together isn't enough to pay for a year of schooling at umich.
wtf. wtf?

i'm seriously soooo close to killing someone in financial aid. those ppl don't help at all.

and also. why no scolarships for asian studies majors?? wtf. wtf

[Strawberry Boba Tea]

Thanks a lot brandonbkim. That was very helpful and I'm sure many others will feel the same way too.

I have plenty of loans:

-PPLus Loan
-UnSub/Subsidized Loans
-Private Loan
-School Loan

Uhm... I think there is one or two other ones. I have a little over $40k to pay off.

[brandonbkim]

Thanks a lot brandonbkim. That was very helpful and I'm sure many others will feel the same way too.

I have plenty of loans:

-PPLus Loan
-UnSub/Subsidized Loans
-Private Loan
-School Loan

Uhm... I think there is one or two other ones. I have a little over $40k to pay off.

Why did you have to take the private loan if you already took the parent plus loan? Usually there are no limits on the plus. The only drawback is that you have to start paying it off 6 month after you START school.

This post has been edited by brandonbkim: 21 March 2006 - 01:39 PM

[brandonbkim]

Ok i've been getting a lotta messages regarding private loans. STAY AWAY FROM PRIVATE LOANS!!! You will be in debt all your life!