<p>I got accepted to Rensselaer (yay!) and while they were generous with grants and scholarships I still have 23k to pay my freshman year. I have a few outside scholarships coming in so I should be down to 20k by September to pay off but I'm trying to figure out which kind of loans I should be looking for.
Rensselaer set me up with Federal Perkins Loan for $3,000, Federal Direct Subsidized Loan for $3,500, Federal Direct Unsub. Loan for $2,000 and a Federal Work-Study for $2,000.
My mother has horrible credit (score < 600) and my father is a nonexistent entity in my life.
I need advice on what kind of loans I should be pursuing and any companies I should be talking to get aid. My mother isn't able to contribute to my school with four little brothers still at home under her care and due to her bad credit rating I don't think I qualify for PLUS. We don't own a home or any property. Any ideas?</p>
<p>I hate to break it to you, but you are not going to be able to get 20K MORE per year in loans. Rensselaer already included all the loans you can get as a student. RPI already has you taking out $8500/year in loans. Frankly it would be foolish to even consider taking out more than that. (Do you need 20K ON TOP OF that, or including that 8500?) If your mother applies for PLUS loans and is denied, you would be allowed to borrow another 4K in unsubsidized Stafford loans. </p>
<p>To get any more loans than that (which I and others here will tell you not to do as they will add up to a crippling amount of debt by the time you graduate) you would need a cosigner with good credit.</p>
<p>Can your mother afford to contribute at all to your education? </p>
<p>It sounds like you are going to need to consider other less expensive alternatives. Sorry!</p>
<p>I agree with Mathmom. Hopefully you have other alternatives. You don’t want to owe $100K+ after your education.</p>
<p>Will you owe $20K even after the Stafford loan amount of $5500 is taken, and the Perkins for $3K and the workstudy award of$2K? Because if that is the case, I do not see how you can afford to go there. As pointed out, you are already borrowing $8500 this first year towards your need. you are also stuck for working $2000 worth towards your need. Doesn’t leave anything to put towards your EFC. A decent financial aid package would leave something like the unsubsidized Stafford of $2000k for you to put towards the EFC (the meter starts ticking interest wise with that loan right away) and leave you time so that you can work during the school year and make some money towards your unmet need. RPI has left you ZERO wiggle room at all as it has exhausted your loan possibilities and demanded your time to put towards an inadequate aid package. </p>
<p>Who do you think is going to lend YOU, an 18 year old without a solid work history or credit history who is going to be costing more than he can possibly make in the next 4 years, ANY money? You are going to need a credit worthy adult to co sign with you, and the word "co sign’ is a joke because really, they are going to make that person responsible with the loan on his credit report and be every bit as responsible for the loans as you. (you drop dead, become disabled, or drop out, he’s still gotta pay). You think anyone is going to want to take a $20K loan out for you to go away to sleep away private school? Maybe a doting grandma with good credit will do so, but not many people are going to want to give you that kind of money on the promise that you will start paying it back in 4 years, if you find a job. And that’s just the first year. You have to repeat the process next year, and you’ll need more money as costs only go up and schools usually cut the aid a bit each year, sloughing more financial responsibility on the student. You’ll get more loans in your package next year, most likely too.</p>
<p>If your mother cannot contribute ANY money to your education, then unless you get the full costs covered from the school, you need to look for some local options. Living at home is like getting $5-10 in an award. You have a place to sleep and can scavenge some food and toiletries so that you don’t have to pay for those things. Do you have any local state options at all? Those are where you need to focus your efforts. RPI is a great school but you are talking about borrowing close to $30k a year to go there. and some of that money will be accruing interest the moment you get it. You’ll owe over $120K when you get out of there AND have to be working part time FOR the financial aid as well. </p>
<p>My advice is to tell RPI you and your mother cannot possibly afford this package and to borrow that kind of money is financial suicide. IF they can cough up $20K more in grants for you, MAYBE it’s an option, still not a great one for you, as you will still owe about $40K coming out of school with a parent who cannot help you pay it. RPI should be ashamed to put together this sort of deal for you. It’s a bad deal.</p>
<p>Even if you could find them (unlikely unless you have a credit-worthy co-signer), you don’t want to take those loans. That’s way too much debt. Rather than spending your time trying to find loans for a school that is unaffordable, put your efforts into making arrangements for a school that you can afford to attend. Even in the best case scenario, where the $10,500 in loans and W/S offsets the $20,000 and you only need an additional $9,500 in loans, it’s too much debt. And if you need another $20,000 in loans, that’s just craziness. </p>
<p>Are there any financial safeties on your list?</p>
<p>I know that RPI doesn’t promise to meet need, but I thought it would give better aid than it did.</p>
<p>What is your FAFSA EFC? If you have been badly gapped, you might ask RPI to re-evaluate your aid pkg. Is RPI a CSS Profile school? Does it ask for Non custodial parent info?</p>
<p>No one is going to lend you the money you need because you aren’t a reliable risk AND that is toooooooo much debt. </p>
<p>Do you have any idea of how high your payments will be by the time you graduate? You’re talking about over $100k in debt (combo of private and federal). That is way tooooooo much debt. That’s more than twice the debt you should have. </p>
<p>What are your more affordable choices? Where else did you apply? what is your home state?</p>
<p>I have a few outside scholarships coming in so I should be down to 20k</p>
<p>Where are those coming from?<br>
Are those one time only scholarships? If so, that will be a problem for soph, jr and sr years?</p>