I need an extra loan of $990 before May 1st, and I’m not sure where the best source is. I’ve been looking at Sallie Mae and Discover, but I’m undereducated on private loans and the best place to get them, so I’m not actually sure if I should be borrowing from there. Any guidance would be welcome!* (*any guidance aside from talking me out of taking out a loan, please. That won’t be helpful in my case)
Do you have a qualified co-signer?
Are you low income? Qualify for a Pell Grant? If so, many schools will waive the May 1st deposit
Try this website http://privatestudentloans.guru
The box on the left is the list of lenders, the articles to the right give you all the consumer information
I’m not certain what a qualified co-signer is, to be honest. I could talk to my parents, but I was hoping to keep them in the dark about needing to take out an extra loan because yes, we are pretty low income for a family of 7 and they’d feel bad they can’t help me make my deposit. I did qualify for a Pell Grant, but something happened with documentation (beats me, honestly) that somehow made me ineligible, and that’s why I even need to take out this loan (unforeseen costs can bite you in the a** when you least expect it). I’m at American University; I’m not sure if they’d waive my tuition deposit, and I’m also unsure about how to figure out if they would.
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did qualify for a Pell Grant, but something happened with documentation (beats me, honestly) that somehow made me ineligible
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First you need to find out what happened here.
Are you still in HS?
No, I’m a second semester college freshman.
I will ask the obvious: Did you pass all of your classes?
Did you drop any classes?
This could affect your satisfactory academic progress and your getting aid
ETA: I see that you passed your first term with a 3.51 GPA. Did you ever speak with the financial aid office to find out why you are no longer eligible for a PELL grant?
Did you have work study as part of your FA package?
Is there any way that you can get a part time job while you are at school?
I did speak with them. Unfortunately, the only information they disclosed to me was that something occurred with documentation that compromised my eligibility; they didn’t go into specifics and it didn’t seem like anyone in the financial aid office knew the details. I do have federal work study, but the job market both on and off campus (I’m in Washington DC) is incredibly competitive and even though I’ve applied to nearly everything I can think of, I haven’t been hired. The reason I’m taking out a private loan is simply to meet my last tuition payment in my payment plan, which is $990 (aka the leftover money that I had previously thought would be covered by my Pell grant that I was unable to take care of out of pocket). I just am uncertain about the process of taking out a private loan and which lender is best, essentially.
I don’t understand why you have federal work study but not a Pell grant. Was there paperwork missing? I would try and speak with a supervisor. What was your FAFSA EFC?
Also, did you take full student loans of $5,500 already?
My EFC was $4,312, and with the Pell grant of $1,800, the $6,000 I’m expected to pay out of pocket now (which is clearly an extreme stretch for me) would have been a mere $4,200, which would have been much more manageable. I have $8,500 in federal loans right now, but I’m eligible for $2,875 more in student loans.
I agree, see if you can talk to the director of financial aid or a supervisor. Someone should be able to explain why your package changed on you. Ask again why you lost the Pell grant. Explain that this unexpected loss of funds is more than you can absorb and see if there is any help they can give you to cover the $990 you still need.
You won’t get a private loan on your own. You best bet is to go to FA and ask for help. They might be able to get you a work study job, or know of a school loan, or have emergency funds. Find out what happened to the Pell grant. Don’t leave FA office until you understand what happened. It might be a missing document that you can get. It may be you dropped a class or failed to make satisfactory progress.
If you have loan eligibility left for this year, then ask the FA office to apply $990 more of loan to your account.
But I would still try to talk to a supervisor to see why you didn’t get about $1,500 of Pell for the year.
If you have a Perkins loan in your package, that will go away in the future, so make sure you try and work as much as possible this summer to have a cushion for next year.
Next year, can you find a work study job in the cafeteria or library?
You don’t have ANY kind of job?
For your EFC, you would be eligible for a PELL grant of 1465 ($732.50 per semester)
Did you complete the verification process (filling out any forms the school asked for, using the DRT on the FAFSA or submitting a copy of your parents IRS tax return transcripts).
Get a copy of your bill. You need to see what exactly you were billed for and what credits they applied to your account.
They should be able to tell you exactly why you are no longer eligible for Pell. Was there a correction to your FAFSA based on some error which now makes you not eligible. The financial aid office should be able to tell you why you are no longer eligible. Ask to speak to the director, do not take no from anyone who is not in a position to say yes.
Perhaps they can give you an emergency loan for the $900 so you may continue with your classes.