<p>Just curious. I'll probably have to get, I dunno, 20k of loans for undergrad. It would help a lot if I could get a laptop. </p>
<p>Also, I really really REALLY want to do drum corps (think professional marching band, except you pay them) and dues for a year can run anywhere from 1k to 3k for the season. If I had spare money to fund this through a loan, I'd be interested in doing that.</p>
<p>So do the loan people just cut you a check, or do they make sure you spend it on tuition, room and board, etc. etc.?</p>
<p>When you borrow a student loan, you sign a promissory note that, among other things, states you will use the money for educational purposes. When your loan is disbursed, it will be applied to whatever you owe the school, and the rest will be refunded to you to use for educational purposes (rent, food, transportation, etc).</p>
<p>A computer is definitely for educational purposes (among other things, of course).</p>
<p>No, the loan company does not check what you spend the money on. Make sure you don’t borrow more than you need, though. You DO have to pay it back … with interest!</p>
<p>Ode…it depends on the loan. If you are taking a Stafford or Perkins Loan (these are federally funded in the student name), the loan will be paid directly to your college and FIRST will be used to pay billable costs (tuition/room/board/fees) if you have these. </p>
<p>I have to be honest with you…I would advise NOT taking a loan for $1000-$3000 for drum corps. If you need to take a loan for that, perhaps there is some kind of subsidy through your college for students who cannot fund this themselves. That is a LOT of money when you are taking out lots of loans to attend college in the first place. </p>
<p>Perhaps getting a part time job when on campus would be a better way of funding drum corps.</p>
<p>NOW…back to your question…if you are taking out private loans, that money usually is paid directly to you. BUT you will need a co-signer for private loans.</p>
<p>I guess the big question is…do you really want to take out MORE in loans than you need for your education? That is your decision, but I would suggest thinking very carefully about this.</p>
<p>I will tell you…our DD wanted to be in a sorority. The dues were about the same as your drum corps costs. We said we would not pay those bills and we would NOT have cosigned a loan for that expense. If DD REALLY wanted to be in the sorority…she would have had to earn the money to do so. She opted not to join.</p>
<p>Thumper makes a good point about borrowing money for drum corp. </p>
<p>And, Kelsmom makes a good point that you do have to pay these loans back - with interest - over 10 years of your life.</p>
<p>Are you intending to borrow $20k per year? or $5k per year ($20k total)?</p>
<p>Thumper is right about getting a job (a full-time or near-full-time summer job and part-time school year job) to pay for drum corp, pocket money, and your laptop (prices have come WAY down). If you think that you might get graduation money from parents and various relatives, you might use that money for your laptop.</p>
<p>One of my friends going to school in manitoba took one and only one student loan out when he was in school, and when one takes out a student loan there, you need to write a statement explaining what you will do with the money. The only words he wrote were “need dig.”</p>
<p>Three days later he bought an expensive digiredoo</p>
<p>You can also use the federal loans for rent and food - as they are necessary for pursuing your education. And yes a laptop certainly would qualify as educational.</p>