<p>I’m currently a high school student, and I am not in line to recieve much money from FAFSA and will have to get student loans- like most people. How can I prepare myself now to be able to help pay off student loans as soon as possible?</p>
<p>Get a job and save some money to pay for college costs. Then reduce the a,punt of loans you actually need to take. The ONLY guaranteed loans YOU can take in your own name as a student are the Direct Loans…$5500 as a freshman, $6500 as a sophomore, $7500 as a junior, and $7500 as a senior. That totals,about $27.000. Your payback on that amount would be about $300 a month for 10 years.</p>
<p>If you end up with unsubsidized loans (ones where your interest accrues while you are in school), try to pay off the annual interest every year. That will save you some money.</p>
<p>FAFSA is just the form that has to be completed to be eligible for federal and college aid. It’s an application. The number generated EFC which you can estimate for your family with income and asset figures, is what tells you what the federal formula expects your family to pay. You will need to fill out the FAFSA to have access to some loans, particularly the ones you alone can take out.</p>
<p>The best way to prepare for paying off student loans as soon as possible is to find some schools to go on your list that will make in unnecessary to take any or many loans. Find affordable schools. Working on test scores, SATs, ACTs can help you become possibly competive for merit scholarships, and that means good grades in the picture too.</p>
<p>Hello cgp124. I would recommend you find out what your parents are willing to pay and try to find a school that falls under that amount. Once you hear about your aid/scholarship packages, don’t even consider schools that don’t fall within the range your parents are willing to pay. In other words, the best way to deal with loans is not to take them in the first place.</p>
<p>As far as advice on how to repay your loans if you do decide to take some on, I think there are basically three ways. </p>
<p>1) Find a very high paying job. This one is never a guarantee no matter how well you tailor your major. Jobs that are hot and high paying now can suddenly come to a crashing halt. I remember a few years ago, nurses were getting 10k signing bonuses. These days, the pay is still good for some nursing jobs, but those jobs are much harder to come by and overtime is almost non-existent. </p>
<p>2) Make sure you keep a good relationship with your parents. You may be living with them for a few more years post graduation. :)</p>
<p>3) Work two jobs every summer during school and once you’ve graduated take on a second job (like tending bar) and throw every penny you earn at your loans.</p>