<p>Once my dd finds out about her ED School and we know how much she may get from the school, when do my dh and I begin to look for Student Loans and where is the best place to start?
Thank you very much.</p>
<p>If you are really dependent on financial aid, applying early decision is not the wisest decision as you won’t be able to compare offers from the schools.</p>
<p>Telling a school they are your ED choice is like saying- " I will come up with the money!"</p>
<p>when do my dh and I begin to look for Student Loans</p>
<p>Are you looking for student loans or private loans that you (the parents) will be responsible for paying back?</p>
<p>Anyway…I agree with Emeraldkity…if aid is a factor, then ED isn’t the best thing to do. However, if your D has already submitted her ED app, then your D needs to protect herself and also apply to some school with ASSURED merit so that you’d (at least) be able to compare THOSE costs with any ED offer.</p>
<p>Thank you for the concern. We are not dependent on the financials and will not make a difference. Since you have this information, are you able to help me with the question about the student loans? I am asking if we do not want to pay out of pocket for any difference, are there options? Perhaps that would have been a better question for me to ask. Thanks so much for all/any help.</p>
<p>If the loans are for you to be responsible for paying back, you can do Parent Plus or Discover loans or even a home equity loan.</p>
<p>If the loans are for your child to take out, then she can take out a Sallie Mae loan, but you’d have to co-sign.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids: Thank you very much. This is the exact information I needed and wanted to research what would be best. Thank you very much.</p>
<p>The student is also eligible for a limited amount of federal loans that do not require a cosigner. $5500 freshman year, $6500 sophomore, $7500 subsequent years. These loans are done through the school. The interest rate (currently) on unsubsidized direct loans is 6.8%.</p>
<p>The interest rate on parent PLUS loans is 7.9%.</p>
<p>Private loan rates will vary based on your credit rating. In general Sallie May does not seem to have a good reputation, though I have no personal experience with them.</p>
<p>To add to what mom2collegekids said: If you are looking at private student loans for your child to take out (you would need to co-sign), Sallie Mae is not the only option (and in my experience, not the best one). Many national/regional banks and state authorities offer them as well. The school’s financial aid office may have an online list, you can check with local banks, and posters here have experience with some of them.</p>
<p>Most of the private loans are variable-rate, and unlike with home loans, they won’t tell you what your rate will be until AFTER you do the full application. If you go this route you might want to apply with several lenders, because while in general rates vary based on your credit rating, they can also be all over the map (and in some cases, make no sense at all). </p>
<p>Finaid’s student loan page has a lot of good info:
[FinAid</a> | Student Loans](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Loans - Finaid)</p>