I was wondering if I could get help with a problem. I am currently need to take out a loan for school and I was wondering if you guys would happen to know what the best place to take out a loan would be.
I am currently an international student, so I am unable to apply for any federal loans whatsoever. I’ve recently taken out a loan with Citibank and I need another one. I have another bank that’s willing to lend to me but I was wondering if you have any better suggestions. I was researching Credit Unions but I can’t seem to find a single one that I or any of my relatives qualify for. So are there better alternatives? Thanks to those who help!
How were you able to take out a loan with Citibank? Did you have an American co-signer? or was the loan for a very small amount? How much was it? Was this a credit card???
It is very hard, if not impossible, for an int’l to take out loans here (of a decent amount) w/o an American cosigner. The banks would fear that you’d leave the country and then be out of their REACH to collect the loan.
How much? Is this for freshman year? What will happen in future years? Didn’t your family have to provide certified financial information that all of the money needed was on hand?
If you have to borrow 40k to make this school happen, you need another school because this one is not an affordable option. You may have to consider attending a local college and living at home
What’s wrong with the bank currently lending your relative money? Is the interest rate high? You can research student loans for international students [url=<a href=“http://www.iefa.org/%5Dhere%5B/url”>http://www.iefa.org/]here[/url]. The only alternative form of debt that might be competitive with Citibank might be a home equity line of credit but in all honestly I think borrowing any more money for your school would be a mistake. This might be a stupid question, but have you exhausted every other possible source of aid? Departmental scholarships, university merit aid?
Your current plan seems to be to borrow $80,000 which is way above average. The risk you might run is that you will get approved for the loans this year but not next year and you’ll have to leave your current school and go to a cheaper school while paying off the debt from the more expensive one. That’s the worst of both worlds.
Back to your question though – you’re probably not going to get really generous terms from anyone. What interest rate is Citibank charging?
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I am a sophomore at a private college. I finished two years at a community college which I’m done paying.
I’ve borrowed $15000 and will need an additional $25000 for the rest of the year.
My major at this school is Marketing Communications. I finished an A.S. In Math in the CC.
I have authorization to work in the country I’m not too sure how much I will make when I graduate.
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???
If you did two years at a CC, and you’re NOW a soph at a private school …WHY aren’t you a junior?
When will you graduate???
You’ve already borrowed $15k and you need another $25k for THIS year? That is CRAZY…that is $40k for ONE year.
WHO told you that it was ok to borrow that much for THAT major and for undergrad???
This school is NOT affordable.
You won’t be earning much when you graduate. You certainly will NOT be able to afford to pay back $80k-100k in debt. You won’t be able to pay back $50k in debt.
Do you have a public univ that you could commute to for a FRACTION of the cost???
ARE YOU in the middle of a semester and owe the school money???
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What's wrong with the bank currently lending your relative money?
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Likely the relative has “done the math” and realizes that this student isn’t going to be able to afford to pay back those big loans. or he can’t qualify to cosign anymore debt.
It’s too bad that that relative said “yes” to the $15k. If he had smartly said NO, then you would have been forced to seek affordable options.
Sometimes when people “help” with loans…they make things a LOT worse.
I thought that too, but then the next part of the original post talks about how they’ve already found another bank that is willing to lend them money. I got the impression that the two of them were shopping around for lower interest rates or better repayment terms or something, and I have a hard time imagining that they can get a better rate than Citibank’s from someone else. I agree that it was probably a mistake to borrow the $15,000 in the first place knowing that A) they weren’t happy with the lender’s offer and B) it wasn’t even enough to finish out one year of college.
Setting aside repayment issues, it can be cumbersome to have loans from multiple lenders like that because you might end up with variable-rate structures, multiple origination fees, as well as the general annoyance of owing a bunch of separate people money due at different times.
well, if this relative hasn’t “done the math” and is going to cosign more loans so that the end result is $80k+ in debt, then that relative is likely setting him/herself for a a big shocking surprise when this student graduates, gets a lowish paying job, and can’t make the huge payments.
This student says he’s currently a sophomore…borrowing $40k for this year. If he still has 2 years to go, then he’ll have $120k in debt (or more because interest is accumulating).
One problem with these “dream acts” is that these students don’t have access to aid, and unless the commute to their local publics and pay as they go, they’re going to be tempted to go these “big debt” routes.
This student may think he can work, but it sounds like he can only do the part time work that other int’l students can do. Without a green card or citizenship, not only will his employment options be limited but he may not be able to get full employment when he graduates.