I messed up bad. I mean really bad. This might be the dumbest thing I’ve ever done to myself. I thought I could easily get a loan for the amount of money my scholarships, grants, and federal loans doesn’t cover. I’ve been trying to get a federal loan for the past couple of days, but I can’t get approved without a cosigner and because of my parents’ credit scores I keep getting denied. I have to pay this term bill by August 19th and I’m running out of options. My last hope is the Federal Plus Loan, but I can’t apply for that until my dad’s FSA ID is approved. I was hoping someone could give me some advice as to what I can do and what options I have.
I should probably add I will be attending Rutgers, and I tried applying for financial aid offered by the state of New Jersey, but could not receive it. I also could not get any assistance from the state of Georgia currently.
Plus loans are for your parents. One of your parents must have a FSA ID for you to have filed FAFSA. If that was your mother, she can apply for PLUS and if she’s denied, you’d qualify for an extra $4000. Otherwise, if you need a private loan, you will need a co-signer. If your parents can’t qualify, you really need to rethink borrowing all that money.
@twoinanddone I know the PLUS loan if for my parents. I usually sit down with them and fill out whatever is needed with them. They don’t speak English well and I read everything out to them and write it whatever they tell me to. That’s why I may have sounded like i myself was applying for the PLUS.
@raulhumber2 I did not get much federal aid. I only received about 2000 from the stafford rather than the full 5500 so I’m, quite lacking.
Are you a resident of GA trying to go OOS to Rutgers? What’s your net cost there? If you need much more than the federal student loan (~$5500/year), the college is too expensive for you. Where else did you apply?
@austinmshauri I applied to Ga State and was accepted however, for some reason going to State was much more expensive than Rutgers. I literally chose the cheapest option that was available to me…
Edit: should probably mention i haven’t lived in Georgia long enough to qualify for instate.
@austinmshauri About 20k per semester and I got about 10k (also for 1 semester) in scholarships, grants and loans so far. I was hoping my mom would qualify for the PLUS but she didn’t. I had no idea i could receive 4k for being denied and I plan to take full advantage of that. My dad also plans to try for the PLUS whenever he can get into is FSA ID.
@austinmshauri So far its looking to be about 13k we need in plus loans. We’re going to a consultant to see what our options are right now, but I want to get some other opinions on our situation.
It’s better to know now before you even start college. If you can’t afford it, just think how awful it would be to start school and then have to leave because you can’t pay the full bill. And then maybe owe the school money for the whole semester.
Would you be able to get instate status in NJ if you waited for a year? Or do you now live in Georgia?
I think you need to plan long term, if your parents have bad credit and can’t afford to pay $20k for Rutgers then it’s not affordable.
Okay, you need to take a gap year, get instate tuition in GA, and go to one of the GA schools when it is cheaper. You don’t HAVE to start school immediately. Don’t put yourself into a bad financial situation just to go to school in a month.
Are you a citizen? Are your parents? If they aren’t citizens (or resident status) they won’t be approved for Plus loans.
You should be getting $5500 in stafford loans. If it is not listed on your FA award sheet, you should ask the FA office.
You need $13k/year plus the $5500/year federal student loan? Borrowing ~$20k/year for undergrad is too much. Rutgers isn’t affordable for you.
Have you checked to see what you need to do to qualify for in state rates in GA? Check with the colleges to see what residency requirements are. What are your GPA and test scores? Did you qualify for merit anywhere? If not, see if there are any colleges that you could commute to from home. You may need to establish residency first, though.
If you really need money for college, you could just join the military.
They pay for college tuition, but it’s on you to pay for dorm fees and text books
This is soo true, you really should consider your financial situation lets say you get denied and all you can get is the $9500 what are you going to do then? And if you get accepted and have to pay 13k-15k a year for 4 years, thats a huge loan for undergrad, usually why stafford is set for 5500 base loan, as thats is still 20k after 4 years for a student, taking on more is fine but does thew cost outweigh future stress on ur parents credit and yours.
Thank you to everyone who gave suggestions. I talked to my parents and our options are still up in the air. I will however mention that my parents are against me taking a gap year or even a semester. They seem hell bent on my attending asap. Again I thank everyone for their suggestions and help.