<p>Hi! I am going to Tufts next year, and while all of my tuition is pretty much taken care of (I got a generous financial aid package, all grants and work study, no loans, and everything is paid at this point; I owed around $2200). My issue is the fact that I feel like I need to acquire a laptop (and I'm picky, it has to be a Mac if I go for a laptop at all) and I know I'm going to have problems paying for books and basic living stuff at first, my money situation with my family isn't that great and I haven't been able to save much at all, the amount I've saved isn't even worth mentioning since it's like $200.</p>
<p>What I'm wondering is how I should go about getting a loan to buy books, a computer, etc -- the stuff that's not covered by the bill that Tufts sent. I feel like I'll need $2,000 or $3,000, and I'd like to be able to pay it off after graduation, even though it's not a huge amount. It's just the money that I feel I'll need to get off my feet with a laptop, books, dorm essentials, and perhaps having a small store of emergency funds. I've seen some offers for stuff like this but I'm never sure which to trust.</p>