<p>It always amuses when people come on here, ask a question, and then when they are given advice they don’t want to hear, get snippy and ask everyone to get back on topic. What people are telling you, OP, is that there is no point in answer the questions in your OP because you are making a potentially bad decision.</p>
<p>To answer your question though - assuming that you are even able to get a private loan - most students I know chose by going to the lender’s websites and comparing the terms of their loans, including reduced interest rates for paying on time and other such perks.</p>
<p>Interest rates are tied to the market - variables ones, anyway. They go up and down with the market rate. Lenders that have the lowest rates now could have the highest rates in 5 years. I don’t know how long your list of lenders is, but it may take a long time to make an appointment with each rep. What kind of information do you feel like you need, that you can’t find on the lenders’ websites, that you will glean from a convo with a rep?</p>