<p>So I'm in a bit of a predicament and was wondering if anybody had some recommendations for me.</p>
<p>I will be attending a private college this fall and have already accepted my financial aid package. I was given a scholarship of $10,000, a Pell grant of $4,900, a state grant of about $1,512, a school grant of $950, as well as subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford loans. Unfortunately, this will not be enough to even cover tuition. </p>
<p>My dad applied for a PLUS loan, we have not heard back but we are not expecting to be approved since my parents have a horrible credit rating. My school's financial aid officer told me if we are denied we can receive $4,000 in additional unsubsidized Stafford loans but even that will not cut it to cover tuition. </p>
<p>So it seems that all federal student options have been exhausted. The financial aid worker merely mentioned getting an alternative loan but did not mention any specifics. I've searched a few online such as Chase (where I have my checking account), DiscoverLoans, SallieMae but they all seem to have very high variable interest rates.</p>
<p>Even more concerning is that since I have no credit history, I would need a cosigner and the only people I feel comfortable (if at all) putting down are my parents, but I've mentioned they have a bad credit rating.</p>
<p>I really, really wanted to remain as independent as possible in my education. My parents have enough worries paying their hefty mortgage payments and exorbitant utility bills. My mom has already had to eat into her meager savings account to pay my $550 housing first payment and deposit as well $200 for my twin brother's textbooks (he has started his summer bridge program at the University of Michigan). I have been looking for a summer job to pay her back. I knew attending a "high ranking" private college would be expensive but I am worried that if I cannot be approved for a loan with or without my parents as cosigners, then I will not be able to attend college at all.</p>
<p>So I guess this story is meant to pose a question; Are there any low fixed interest student loans from credible institutions that do not require a credit history or cosigner? I doubt there is but it would be good to find the best option alternative loan. What are some recommendations for me as to where a good place to find a loan is? Any other suggestions or advice?</p>
<p>If your parents are turned down for a PLUS loan you cannot afford the school. Any loan you try to get will require a cosigner and your parents will not fill the bill.</p>
<p>*Unfortunately, this will not be enough to even cover tuition. *</p>
<p>???</p>
<p>Why were you even considering this school when it’s obviously a school that you can’t afford?</p>
<p>It sounds like you need to borrow about $15k - 20k per year…in addition to your federal student loans. That is a ridiculous amount. This should never even been considered as a possibility.</p>
<p>Where else did you get accepted? how much aid did you get at those other schools?</p>
<p>I knew attending a “high ranking” private college would be expensive but I am worried that if I cannot be approved for a loan with or without my parents as cosigners, then I will not be able to attend college at all.</p>
<p>???</p>
<p>What “high ranking school” (besides NYU) gives this lousy of aid to a lowish income family. You and your twin qualify for nearly full Pell, so the family income is lowish. </p>
<p>You can’t afford this school. Were you accepted to UMich as well?</p>
<p>If your parents get turned down for Plus, then there’s no way that other private loans can be obtained with your parents as co-signers.</p>
<p>I’m sorry, but I have to agree with the people who posted above. anyone who would give a massive loan to someone with no full-time job, no credit history, and no cosigner is probably very disreputable and even if they aren’t they will require a huge interest rate (probably variable too). unless the school itself is willing to offer you a loan, you might want to consider attending another school, at least for the first two years. </p>
<p>if you’re to going into debt – and i hope and pray that you don’t --, it makes much more sense to do it for the last two years of school so that you can graduate with the degree from the pricey university. if you go the path you’re on now, you might end up getting into massive debt for freshman and maybe sophomore year, then having to drop out or go to a lower-ranked/cheaper school and wind up having a lot of debt for a less prestigious degree. there’s nothing wrong with going to a cheaper school – don’t get me wrong – but if you end up there anyway it doesn’t make sense to go into unnecessary debt.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids, you are right. I am talking about College for Creative Studies.</p>
<p>I guess I should explain why I even considered it in the first place. I was actually planning on going to University of Michigan up into my junior year. During the summer, I was involved in a mural project led by two alumna from CCS. Apart of the program, I went on a tour of the school and I was very impressed but did not think I would even be accepted since they have a low acceptance rate and still planned on going to UM. When I went for my portfolio review at UM, I was not as impressed. I compared the classes they had at both schools and found the programs to be very different; I felt that I would develop into a better artist at CCS and felt it had more connections to creative companies compared to UM’s Art and Design school (which has one-all inclusive major; Art and Design).</p>
<p>I had read articles, some even here CC, about how the sticker price at private universities often drives students away and how usually private universities give more scholarships. So I thought the price of both would be about the same. The CCS grads reinforced this belief in me because they said they got a whole year covered (they seemed satisfied with that), though they are also of more affluent backgrounds so I guess it wasn’t as imperative to them. CCS became my “dream school” while I kept UM as my second choice.</p>
<p>So to my surprise I was accepted to both colleges. I was accepted to CCS a month before UM and since I didn’t even think I was going to be accepted I was even more surprised to find I got the $10,000 merit scholarship which is the highest merit scholarship they have available. I was also surprised when I found out I got a $10,000 scholarship also from UM so I gave it more consideration. My financial aid package at CCS said I would owe them $9,000 after all aide is subtracted and I guess at the time I didn’t really understand loans as much so I thought there would be more federal loans available. I ended up choosing CCS despite the cost because of it reputation and because I want(ed) my college experience to be all at one school and not have to deal with the transfer process.</p>
<p>I expected to take out loans and was prepared to deal with not having a well paying job but being an artist able to sell art was something I found comfort in as a possible cushion. The enrollment period at UM has since ended so that is no longer option but I will start to explore my other options that I have available and see if I can work something out.</p>
<p>I expected to take out loans and was prepared to deal with not having a well paying job but being an artist able to sell art was something I found comfort in as a possible cushion.</p>
<p>???</p>
<p>there is a disconnect here. On one hand you’re saying that you’re prepared to accept some lowish paying job…and on the other hand you’re saying that you should take out these huge loans.</p>
<p>HOW are you going to pay back huge loans on a lowish artist’s salary???</p>
<p>That said…this is almost a moot situation. Without parents qualifying to co-sign (which they shouldn’t do anyway since they’re lowish income and have their own debt situations…so they should know better than to do this to some beloved child), there’s really no reputable way to get this extra money. </p>
<p>I would call up UMich and find out if you can somehow get back in. Try that tomorrow.</p>
<p>if I cannot be approved for a loan with or without my parents as cosigners, then I will not be able to attend college at all.</p>
<p>You will not be able to attend college this year. You can take a gap year and reapply to an affordable college for next year.</p>
<p>You are not the first college student to have loopy or misinformed ideas about being able to take out 15K - 20K (x4!) in non-federal student loans without a co-signer. Even with a co-signer, it is a foolhardy decision.</p>
<p>Some of the greatest (most???) artists in the world never went to college. You need to rethink why you are going to college, if you even need to go to college, and how much you can afford to take out in loans. If you decide you want certain kind of training, you have to cobble together an AFFORDABLE way to piece those experiences together. It sounds like you can not afford a private CCS experience. No way.</p>
<p>Best of luck. This is a hard wake-up call. On your side is your youth and drive. I am of the opinion that you can make it work without going upwards of 80K - 100K in debt for “artist” training… and still become an amazing artist by exploring affordable options.</p>
<p>*You will not be able to attend college this year. You can take a gap year and reapply to an affordable college for next year.</p>
<p>You are not the first college student to have loopy or misinformed ideas about being able to take out 15K - 20K (x4!) in non-federal student loans without a co-signer. Even with a co-signer, it is a foolhardy decision.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Annika is right. You need to take a gap year (don’t even take any CC classes!!!) and reapply. </p>
<p>But, do contact UMich and see if they can re-activate your admission. </p>
<p>You were very poorly advised. The school may have misled you into thinking that aid would be there. Other students are often very poor sources for info about paying for college since they only know their own situation and think it will apply to others. ( A student once told my son that he’d get enough aid that he could eat out at restaurants every day! lol We don’t qualify for ANY aid, so that info wasn’t just wrong, it was waaaay wrong.)</p>
<p>Not only will you not be able to get those loans, you shouldn’t get them. You’d never be able to afford to pay them back. You mentioned that your parent have poor credit so you may not have had good role-models for handling money…which is partly why you may be thinking that taking out these big loans is ok…especially when you say that you’re ok with not earning a lot of money.</p>
<p>find out if you can get your housing deposit back…contact UMich…and if UMich doesn’t work out, then take a gap year. AGAIN, do not take ANY classes this year…that will RUIN your “incoming frosh” status which gives you the best chances for aid and scholarships.</p>
<p>I ended high school with a 3.49 GPA (I had a bad senior year with an F an C-) so I was kinda relieved I did not choose UM because they would rescind my acceptance anyways. I had a 26 ACT.</p>
<p>I know it really sucks to have your heart broken by the realistic cost of school, but you have to stop in think- if you’re having trouble finding that much money for one year, how are you going to do this for the next FOUR years? There are so many more colleges out there. At that rate, even going out-of-state might even be more affordable. Art is a passion that requires an incredible amount of talent to be successful- why should you need to pay $15-20K a year (in addition to federal loans!) to have someone teach it to you?</p>
<p>It sounds like you need to do some more college research. I also fell in love with the first expensive, private, fine arts college I heard about, but then I was able to see how much of a nightmare it would be to pay back all that money.</p>
<p>Financial aid is NOT free money. This means that you would be paying back over $100K after graduation, and this doesn’t include interest! I’m definitely not one to tell someone not to follow their dreams, but you should do it in a responsible and realistic way.</p>
<p>It won’t be the worst thing in the world to back out of this school. What’s worse, turning it down and discovering a new school that you love- and can afford- or getting a year or two into the program and realize that there’s just no way you can afford it?</p>
<p>Also, about taking a gap year. Some schools offer very nice transfer scholarships. A very smart way to do college is to take general education classes at a community college and then transfer to another university. That way you’d be looking at $15-20K total in debt (if that) instead of the monster of loan debt you would be looking at with this school.</p>
<p>Actually Lazengann, I believe that YOU CAN do whatever you put your mind to and if others choose to have limited thinking where money is concerned, you can simply shoose to ignore their advice.</p>
<p>I happen to believe that money WILL come to you and that if you follow your heart and dreams, you WILL be able to pay back your loans. Dont let other peoples fears ever stop you.</p>
<p>I wish you the very best because you deserve it!</p>
<p>Looks like applicantsmom has never hung around a bankruptcy court and is a reader of that ridiculous book The Secret–the law of attraction, wish for what you want and you’ll get it, blah blah blah. How irresponsible to give such terrible advice to a student!</p>
<p>Since I last posted, I have not read any new postings because I had taken all the advice to heart and with serious consideration. Ultimately, I chose to ignore all the advice that was given here (much like Applicantsmom suggested). I did just that. Since the time of my last posting I talked to my admissions counselor as well a director of community outreach programs at CCS about my situation. They were able to secure me an additional scholarship/grant of $5885 per year for four years. I was also hired for a summer mural project and have a work study position lined up all of which will allow me to graduate with minimal debt.</p>
<p>And thanks, Lazengann, for encouraging students to engage in magical thinking rather then research and planning when figuring out whether and how they can pay for college! </p>
<p>It’s great that you lucked out by getting an additional grant. That doesn’t make applicantsmom’s advice any less stupid.</p>