<p>Following up on this, I did not need a private loan after all. Instead, I went with a Parent Plus loan and was approved for well over what I needed. I applied for it extremely late, so I had to pay for my own books out of my pocket, unfortunately. It all worked out so far, but I do feel pretty tied down now that I have debt (as in, I don’t have the freedom to just go anywhere and start new until I pay back what I owe).</p>