<p>Since we'll have to apply for private loans for our daughter's college education, how quickly should we apply? Is this like the FAFSA where time is of the essence or ??</p>
<p>Also, can anyone recommend best places to look for PLUS and Student loans? Best interest rates, least amount of penalties if paying early? Best places for deferments when needed?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>try this</p>
<p><a href="http://www.finaid.org/%5B/url%5D">http://www.finaid.org/</a></p>
<p>Citiassist will allow you to borrow up to the full cost of attendance. You can apply on-line and get an answer in a day (at most).</p>
<p>you can also look at sallie mae or any other number of banks.</p>
<p>You will have to decide on a school as the lender will confirm that the student is in college and the check will be made out to the college with any left over monies coming in the form of a check back to you or your student.</p>
<p>Thanks. She has decided on a school - what we're trying to find out now is how fast we have to apply. We have a somewhat financially tumultuous situation going on right now that will calm down in about a month and would make us more appealing to a lender. I just want to make sure that its ok to wait that long.</p>
<p>Before deciding on a PLUS lender, you will want to check with your school. Schools have special agreements with some lenders so the funding is sent electronically instead of by paper check. Using a lender which doesn't have an EFT agreement with the school can mean many weeks (possibly months if the original check becomes lost in postal mail) before the funds become available on the students account. This can be disasterous if one is planning on using some of those funds to pay for food, books, etc.</p>