<p>What a great post from XindianX!!! I salute you for your steely determination to succeed!!!</p>
<p>"best return of your investment is your education"
"life is a daring adventure or nothing. to keep your faith toward change and behave like a free spirit in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable"</p>
<p>The thing is... I can't even afford to attend cc without loans. I cannot live at home anymore because my mom is moving into a two bedroom and I will not have a place to live. My job does not bring in enough to live on my own so I have to go somewhere I can live on campus because otherwise I don't know what I will do. A c.c. will allow me no place to live. My s.s money is going to be dropped next month so I can't afford any school without loans b/c my fafsa included the money I got from s.s last year (about 16,000) and now I can't put any money to school. I need loans. My state school would require me to take out 20,000 as well because my efc was SO much higher last year. I got 1,000 from the school. I'm in a rut. I have no good options as of now. Next year, my EFC will be much lower (maybe zero) and I should get grants. I really don't want to take a year off for sanity sake. I have dealt with these problems all my life and living here and just working is something I couldn't handle at this point in my life. I need the normal college experience.</p>
<p>Ashley, why don't you post on the parent's board for ideas. It sounds like you've been through a lot and need some good guidance. There are still colleges taking applications where you might get reasonable aid, and there are gap year programs that might work for you as you sort this all out. There are options!</p>
<p>Xind, there are many people over extended with loans. Yes indeed, you can pay outrageous interest to pay for things you can't afford. Few would believe it is reasonable for people making $55K to buy a $400K house (most banks will only loan you 3X income and that's if you have a 20% down payment). Buying a car that costs your annual salary is an extreme extravagence. You will learn all of this in time. Doctors aren't highly paid after 4 years of med school. Many also need to invest in private practices unless they want to be low income employees of HMOs. </p>
<p>I don't know your family's business and how they afford what you say. I can just assure you most people making $55K/yr with a $5K EFC can not afford luxury homes and cars. There's a whole world of financial reality awaiting you.</p>
<p>are the sallie mae and citibank loans the same as a plus loan?</p>
<p>has anyone been turned down from a plus loan, and if so what was your course of action?</p>
<p>No, citibank and sallie mae are private student loans in which the parent only cosigns simply because the student does not have enough credit history to be approved. However, the PLUS loan is strictly for parents, and furthermore the payment plan is more strict and more demanding for the parents to pay off the loan. But also note that the PLUS loan is almost always approved. I was told by many current college students that are upperclassmen to stick with a private student loan because if parents are late on payments or do not pay one month or something, the PLUS loan people will 'hunt' them down until the money is paid because they know that the parents are making a consistent yearly income. On the other hand, student loans are usually deferred and the companies realize that the student has yet a chance to secure a yearly occupation (but it is advised to atleast pay off the interest on a monthly basis if possible so that it does not accrue into something crazy huge after 4 years).</p>
<p>but don't private loans have a much higher interest rate?</p>