student loans

[lil_dcb7]

Danny, thanks for the compliments dude. But my head isn't as "screwed on" as you think. It's taken a lot of suffering and pain for me to get it screwed on the correct way. I've made so many mistakes, it's not even funny.

Bro, you're way ahead, and beyond me.

but im not the only one you're way ahead of

there are so many others.

you got my respect man, thats the truth..

[d112crzy]

damn in texas its super hard for a dependent your adult to get grants. eh... maybe you can say you are black ?

lmao.

Actually, in Washington, you get more if you say you're Mexican(stereotype). But really, is it's if you're from a low income, Hispanic, farm worker family.

[10thcb7]

dude i didnt get shit when i applied. maybe next time ill say im independent. and tha i owe rent and bills like that. hehe " I uh rent out my perants garage and have to pay them what eber money wont come up owed to the irs.

[AccordWarrior]

Are you elgible for any sort of federally subsidized loans? I know that anything federal is capped at 8% I believe, as they recently changed all the laws. However, the rates do change each year, and the laws are still in flux.

I gradated this past May and I had consolidated all of my loans into one program, and was able to keep the 6 month grace period through Sallie Mae.

Most of the federal student loans aren't dependent on the GPA you have, but your family's income. Those are ones I would definitely check into, although I believe they also have upper limits.

EDIT: I just read Scott's reply and that's basically what I would say.

I would advise strongly against graduated repayment though, as I don't like the idea of that. Sure, it's nice because in the beginning you will have less to pay, but if you are 5-10 years into it and all of a sudden something happens in your life, you could get in a lot of trouble, since your payment will be steadily increasing.

The one thing I can't stress enough is to be a thorn in your school's financial services side. If you can prove that any of your finances are actually different than they are reported in your FAFSA with applicable paperwork, they can work magic.

I personally had over 5,000 in monies my college said I had to pay erased with grants after I proved to them that I had a new financial situation, since I had all the paperwork to back it up.

Also, check for any/all scholarships you can. Even if your grades aren't the greatest, there may be something you belong to, be it a group or even club that might offer money. I won a grant just for being an engineering student in his last year of schooling that actually allows me to pay off about 20% of my student loan right off the bat when it goes into repayment.

[owequitit]

Are you elgible for any sort of federally subsidized loans? I know that anything federal is capped at 8% I believe, as they recently changed all the laws. However, the rates do change each year, and the laws are still in flux.

I gradated this past May and I had consolidated all of my loans into one program, and was able to keep the 6 month grace period through Sallie Mae.

Most of the federal student loans aren't dependent on the GPA you have, but your family's income. Those are ones I would definitely check into, although I believe they also have upper limits.

EDIT: I just read Scott's reply and that's basically what I would say.

I would advise strongly against graduated repayment though, as I don't like the idea of that. Sure, it's nice because in the beginning you will have less to pay, but if you are 5-10 years into it and all of a sudden something happens in your life, you could get in a lot of trouble, since your payment will be steadily increasing.

The one thing I can't stress enough is to be a thorn in your school's financial services side. If you can prove that any of your finances are actually different than they are reported in your FAFSA with applicable paperwork, they can work magic.

I personally had over 5,000 in monies my college said I had to pay erased with grants after I proved to them that I had a new financial situation, since I had all the paperwork to back it up.

Also, check for any/all scholarships you can. Even if your grades aren't the greatest, there may be something you belong to, be it a group or even club that might offer money. I won a grant just for being an engineering student in his last year of schooling that actually allows me to pay off about 20% of my student loan right off the bat when it goes into repayment.

I would also tend to steer clear of graduated repayment, but if you have no other choice, it is an option. Also, the goal of student loans is to keep the public educated, which helps us retain our #1 position economically in the world, and results in you paying more taxes. Since you can't really run from the loans, in most circumstances, they would be flexible if you came upon hardship in the future.

With some loan amounts, and time frames, there just are no other alternatives than graduated repayment. But if you don't have to take it, then I would certainly not.

[d112crzy]

The only reason I'm looking into loans is because I think I'm in bad standings right now with fafsa.

About a year ago, when I was at UW, I was getting a full scholarship. I didn't have to pay one cent for the entire time I was there.

Spring quarter of 06, I fucked up by being lazy, unmotivated. So I dropped out. But, it was an unofficial dropout. I didn't let anyone know. Just got up and left.

I'm now paying back what financial aid gave me that quarter. I have about 3k left to pay off, out of 6k.

Since I left without telling anyone, I failed my classes that quarter. If I would have stayed, but still failed my classes, I would have been on probation the next quarter. Which meant that I would not get any financial aid that quarter.

So, I'm wondering if I'm still in the same standings. I'm not sure if I would qualify for financial aid or not. It would be awesome if I could. But I guess there's only one way to find out.

But I can't do anything until after October(personal/legal issues). After that's resolved, I'll start applying for loans and fill out the fafsa.

thanks guys.

[owequitit]

The only reason I'm looking into loans is because I think I'm in bad standings right now with fafsa.

About a year ago, when I was at UW, I was getting a full scholarship. I didn't have to pay one cent for the entire time I was there.

Spring quarter of 06, I fucked up by being lazy, unmotivated. So I dropped out. But, it was an unofficial dropout. I didn't let anyone know. Just got up and left.

I'm now paying back what financial aid gave me that quarter. I have about 3k left to pay off, out of 6k.

Since I left without telling anyone, I failed my classes that quarter. If I would have stayed, but still failed my classes, I would have been on probation the next quarter. Which meant that I would not get any financial aid that quarter.

So, I'm wondering if I'm still in the same standings. I'm not sure if I would qualify for financial aid or not. It would be awesome if I could. But I guess there's only one way to find out.

But I can't do anything until after October(personal/legal issues). After that's resolved, I'll start applying for loans and fill out the fafsa.

thanks guys.

The only things that make you inelligible are listed right on the front page of the FAFSA. I doubt that you are inelligible, although I could be wrong. You can always call the Department of Education if you aren't sure. That number is also on the cover.

[MRX]

I'm in the same boat, i've got about 45 credits and want to go back but to a different university. You may seriously want to check to see if you can even transfer into the college as a lower level transfer. Unless you are going to a community college then you can get in no problem.

Also, how far into a degree are you classes wise? Like, how many of the required courses have you taken for the degree you're going for. If you still need to take the standard english, math, humanities, and science classes i'd greatly suggest a community college. Saves money and in some cases your GPA won't follow you into an actual university, they may only put "passed" on your transcript. Things to look into...

[d112crzy]

I took about 10 credits worth of the requirements, which was math.

I suck at everything else

[MRX]

in that case i highly recommend community college. You can get all the way up to differential equations/linear algebra in most of those. I'd save the hard junior/senior level classes for a university and save money with the lower level others at a community college.