“I heard private loans were better than Federal loans because you can default and not be liable anymore. Is that true?‘
Nope. Sure you can default on both and they will chase you to the ends of the earth to collect (with a federal school loan, the only excuse is both feet in the grave) and your credit rating will be trashed for seven years or more if you default on a private loan. Even getting a cell phone will require a deposit. I’ve been there with the bad credit (not a loan, but a default on a credit card when I was in my teens, it followed me for years and what started as a $300 in default turned into $1000 over time until I paid it off), it’s not a great place to be.