OK gang, a bit more college advice if you don't mind.  Last time I asked y'all, I got some great and inspirational answers that I still read to this day when I don't feel like going to class, or want to quit because I literally only know about 15 people's names at school.  Community colleges in San Diego (and SoCal in general, so I understand) are pretty bad at getting a group positive mental image thing going and even being the bright, happy, outgoing guy that I am, I still don't feel "at home" when I go to campus, even after going to school there daily for 2 years!

Anyway, so I've made it 2(.5) years into college without any student loans.  My parents help me a little, and I work about 20 hrs a week.  My parents still claim me, and they make way too much money to get any sort of kick-back from the government.  I'm not a 4.0 student, so I haven't been able to get any scholarship coinage either.  I am transferring to UCSD next spring, so my tuition will go up 10X+, so I've run out of time on my "living sparingly" quest.

Where do I go?  The little things are adding up, and selling off possessions is only taking me so far.  Personal loan?  Unsubsidized Stafford loan?  Join the porn industry and just pay cash for everything?

Quote from: Mk1inCali on April 17, 2007, 11:10:13 AM
Join the porn industry and just pay cash for everything?

I'm sure somone with more exp in this matter will show up but I think you should just pay cash for everything

Stafford loans are great. I don't know how the rates compare these days, but a lot of the student loan companies out there are sharks and I don't trust them... Of course if you found a much lower rate, well, go for it. On any loan the best bet is to pick the cheapest option from a reputable company, making sure to take into account all fees and other costs.

One nice thing about stafford loans is that they are very very lenient on payback. I haven't made a payment in 2 years now, all I did was request a forbearance due to 'financial hardship' which was done by clicking a button on their website. I'm kind of curious as to how long they would let me keep doing this, but since I've got some other stuff paid off now I'm going to finish paying it off. Really makes me curious if they'd let me defer payments indefinitely though...

www.salliemae.com

Quote from: l3uddha on April 17, 2007, 01:30:03 PM
www.salliemae.com

Didn't Salliemae just get purchased by a banking group for like 5 Billion?

+1 on Salliemae though.

Quote from: debtman7 on April 17, 2007, 01:22:40 PM

One nice thing about stafford loans is that they are very very lenient on payback. I haven't made a payment in 2 years now, all I did was request a forbearance due to 'financial hardship' which was done by clicking a button on their website.

+1 Between Unemployment deferments and Hardship deferments I havent made a payment in over 3 years  . You still collect interest though...

Anyway, I think that a Federal loan is the way to go.. 

Just make sure that if for any reason you can't make your payments, you call them and talk to them. Work it out, DO NOT DEFAULT it will ruin your life. However, if you pay on time and do things right its the best credit builder in the world...

Don't go into debt.

Quote from: GeeP on April 17, 2007, 03:20:01 PM
Don't go into debt.

This is nearly impossible to do and still get through college today.  This is one area where I would definitely advise anyone to actually go into debt (not that this should be taken lightly either).  Whatever it takes to get your schooling done is worth it.  I have been through six years of multiple colleges and have been fortunate enough to get some govt assistance but have still had to take on some debt to get through. 

Also, if you are determined enough, there is plenty of scholarship money out there available even if you are not a top tier student grade wise.  It's just like grant writing for a non-profit agency.  It is not easy and you will be declined more than accepted, but those acceptances will be worth it.  Especially since those ones don't have to be repaid.

Quote from: cuda_06 on April 17, 2007, 03:40:53 PM
Whatever it takes to get your schooling done is worth it. 

+1  Do whatever you can to go into as little debt as possible, but student loans--like mortgages--are considered a "good" debt rather than a bad one. Try to get the subsidized loans when you can (the gov't pays the interest while you're  in school, and the interest can add up...even in just a couple of years).  Definitely apply for every scholarship you can and for financial aid (the worst they can say is no). If you're of age, you might want to claim yourself on your own tax return...it might weight the too-high earnings of your parents (*might*)....in other words, it might help if you're a poor, starving, independent student.

Student loans will likely provide much better interest rates than personal loans. There are also loans your parents might be able to take out that are lower interest (if they're feeling generous...you can always offer to pay them back!).

Congratulations on making it through the first two years!!    Keep plugging away...it's worth it. And try hard to connect with some on-campus social activities. Friends and cohorts are important for getting into trouble during Spring Break! 

Do you have a savings account? any chance you invested that extra cash flow when you were living sparingly?

I put my "saved tuition" from going to community college v 4 yr University into a CD (9months @5.38%). In two years invested it pays for one semester at 4yr University....Also what kind of summer job are you "getting"......I made enough working at a 10week internship to not qualiify for FAFSA...which ticked me off sooooo bad b/c how can I work for 10weeks out of the year and make more than some people make in an entire year working 40hours a week? It was in retail for crying out loud>>>that was me just venting<<<back to topic....Yea a summer's labor can pay about 3/4 of a year of college tuition. You missed the boat for investing for "college" but just food for though when you get out of college.

Hopefully you realize the importance of having a 3.0 GPA....Now a 3.1 is an over-achiever but you get my drift.....

From being a finance major I can also suggest:
1.) you seem to be on good terms with family....ask dad/mom about a home equity loan to use as tuition...rate is about 5.12-5.15% now and that's not bad at all.... The amount of the loan tho is limited to mom/dad's house value
2.) Personal loans through the bank are 10%+ APR <<<stay away from them
3.) If you go with Federal grants read the fine print (if you qualify) give you a 2yr period before interest accrues. =work your ass off before you have to pay back not only the principal but the interest.

BEST LIFE LONG THING TO REMEMBER:
-He [she] who pays interest cannot live in the money tree-

Pell Grants don't have to be paid back!  But they are based on income. 

Just some quick replies to the highlights that caught my eye while skimming the thread before bed, I'll reply from work tomorrow more in-depth.

I've got a 3.2, but haven't seen much for scholarships since I'm white and male.  Haven't been looking that hard, either.

Friends, I've got plenty, they are just over at UCSD already or out of school.

Parents *could* definitely loan me the money, but both parties would prefer I go through a bank.

+1 on home equity, that's how my parents helped with my tuition. 

However, going with a Stafford loan or through Sallie Mae is probably your best bet if the parents don't like the home equity idea.  It doesn't take as long as you might think to pay it off, considering you'll only be in school for another 2 years or so, and you're in-state.  The horror stories of student loan debt are usually from private undergrad or professional schools (med, business, law), with 40K/year tuition.   

Also, like many have said, school is absolutely worth going into debt for.  Even my out-of-state friends at Cal who were hit hard by the 10K tuition increase over 4 years during the state budget crisis agreed at the end, when they got 50-60K jobs, that it was worth it.  Think of it as an investment, not as an expense. 

OK I hate to bash the american education system but ...
OK unless you are going to school to get a degree that will pay you ~40K (make it 60 in CA) right when you graduate, dont get into debt.
And yes in some cases having a degree in some Sheiete (dont want to name names here) might give the rare lucky guy or gal a decent job ... but on an average it means engineering, medical or god forbid ... law (I dont quite know what else) but I know of a guy who after 10 years of work experience makes ~45K a year in charlotte and he still has student loans. He had a degree in phychology.
Hate to sound like an ass (Ha ha like I ever mean that), but any degree that will cost you more than what you can resonably pay off in over 10 years IMHO, isn't worth it. Heck ... loan or no loan its not worth it. Its still money.
There is also one other problem I have found especially now that I have a child that goes to school.
Kids tend to take subjects in school and study what they like. So as a rule they tend to avoid math, physics, chemistry and biology. AKA, the building blocks of how the world works and how its put together ... heck, it includes the GS. That is stupid. Education isn't supposed to entertain you. Now it wont be a problem if it was a small raction that avoided the sciences. Its the vast majority. We cannot live in a world where 95% of the population does not know this.
So before you decide to put up your life savings or borrow against your life's savings make sure you will be in a position ( without further education like a masters) to pay off the loans and be resonable and pessimistic, because we are exporting the work faster than anyone can get educated.
Cool.
Srinath.

The older you get the easier it is to get pell grants.  I could never get them, but when I turned 23, I started being approved for them... got several thousand that way.  I worked my ass off, everywhere I could...  I co-op'd, working full time every other semester to save money, and worked part time when I was at school.  I graduated with 2000 in student loans, and my wife graduated with 20,000 in student loans.  She is basically making a car payment for the next 10 years.  Avoid debt at all cost!!! they will give you more than you need!  Having a huge debt hanging over you when you are starting out in a new career is no fun.

It sounds like your off to a good start by gathering info and asking questions, and my advise is to avoid all the loans you can, and keep what you borrow to a bare minimum.

We have the HOPE scholarship in Ga. ( If you graduate a Ga high school with a 3.0 they pay all tuition in college as long as you maintain a 3.0 )  But, I see kids getting loans all the time and using it to buy a car or just as spending money   I don't get it   I've got the HOPE scholarship and SRGIB  and I save the first two months of GIB for next semesters books past that it's spending money   Works out to like 450 a month   If you have any intention of going into the military though go for it and get the loans, just be damned sure that you and the military are both squared away with regs.  I think last I saw SLRP (Student Loan Repayment Program) was repaying up to 38k for a 6 year contract

Why did you feel the need to throw the military into it?  If I had asked or commented about it, I could see it being worthwhile to throw that in there, but I do believe it hasn't come up yet, or are you just feeling like a walking billboard today?

I've worked way too  much time as a recruiting assistant   Sorry to have offended you in some way   Actually the vast majority of the recruits I've seen signed up for the educational benefits. When you figure in that they will pay off your student loans or pay you almost $700 a month for two days work in the reserves/guard while you're in college it persuades a lot of people   There are also various other educational benefits other than monetary.  CLEP testing can be done for free.  Courses can be taken online for free through your service's online portal and your training can be evaluated for college credit   My training converted to 18 semester hours of credit and I've CLEP'd another 12.  This is my second semester in college and i'll be a junior next year.  Not that there aren't draw backs:  i'm 21, most of the kids I went to High school with are a year or two ahead of me.  But, none of them can say they've actually done something that made a difference either.  Again, I didn't mean to get you all riled up!!  i was just pointing out a viable option if you were so inclined

I'm not really offended, it just seemed mostlyout of place and unsolicited.  I'm frank with the people standing outside of supermarkets handing out fliers either.


No harm, no foul.