Please give genuine advice

[majax79]

Hello to all,

 

I'm in need of some advice and I'm hoping someone here can help.

 

I'm in my last semester of college and 2 weeks in I was told my financial aid was revoked because I broke the >150% rule. I've never heard of it. I switched majors before getting my AA so I had to take more classes. I'm sure that's happen to other people.

 

My problem is that I have a financial aid bill for my books and tuition. I was planning on trying to find a private student loan for $5,000. The tuition and books does not total $5,000 but I have some medical issues that are pretty important (no medical) and I was using a bit of the grant money to cover some minor bills. Point being, that I need to find a company that will loan me $5,000. I can’t borrow from family but my mom will cosign for a loan and her credit is pretty decent. I looked up on Transunion.com my credit score which is 537.

 

Besides AES, Sallie Mae, and Astrive (school not listed) Could anyone recommend another company that might be easy to get a small loan of this size from?

 

I do intend to pay it back quite quickly but my tuition and whatnot caught me off guard and I waited longer than I should have to try and find this company. If I cant' find one within the next 2 weeks I can't pay my rent so regardless I need to be prepared one way or the other.

[HPchica]

Go to a private bank. I have researched, and if I am able to get a private loan, I want to get it from Wachovia or Bank of America. Also, many private credit unions offer education loans. You can also try getting a loan through your own personal bank.

[majax79]

Well, I was worried about getting one because of my low fico score.

[HPchica]

You mentioned that you had a co-signer. What are your scores? Many people who apply for student loans have little credit or less-than-perfect credit, but get approved as long as they have a co-signer. Credit Unions are the most forgiving, to an extent.

[majax79]

My transunion fico score is 537 which is actually up from a few months ago.

 

I'm not familiar with any credit unions. I just know chase or citibank.

[HPchica]

I would advise you to use a search engine to find other private student loans. Stay away from anyone who is not a major bank, or who is not a credit union. Astrive, Sallie Mae, and others, are notorious for having terrible interest rates and equally bad customer service. Just about every major bank has its own brand of a private student loan, and most people qualify with a decent co-signer. I personally am going to apply to Bank of America and Wachovia in the fall.

Edited March 22, 2008 by HPchica