Still stuck on what to do about private loans :(

Paying for College
1

<p>Hi all,</p>

<p>I made a post several weeks ago: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/749269-not-enough-financial-aid-private-student-loans.html?highlight=france+financial+aid%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/749269-not-enough-financial-aid-private-student-loans.html?highlight=france+financial+aid&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I received more financial aid from my school, but still have about $8000 to pay. My parents can't help me this year and I already have $8,000 in federal loans for this year alone (last year it was about 7,000). It's really getting down to the wire and I still cannot decide if I should just suck it up and take out a private loan or not. What is considered "too much" when taking out loans? I did a calculator on finaid.org I think it was that said I shouldn't take out more than $38,000 (for undergraduate) and I want to go to graduate school.
Ahh, help please, again?
Thank you all so much,
Alaina</p>

2

<p>I think you know the direction you’re heading in and are wise to put the brakes on now. If you have $24K in debt after only 2 years, you’re going to have a hard time keeping your undergrad debt low. I still think that the year in France would be a great option, followed by finishing at a more affordable school. Perhaps you should also search for scholarships that you can use.</p>

3

<p>Thank you! While I really, really want to go back to school I just cannot afford it and be in a “reasonable” amount of debt. It stinks too because my boyfriend just transferred to my school! Gah. Well I can’t let that determine what I do.</p>