A Bunch Of Qts Re: Private Student Loans. Input appreciated!?

Aug.28, 2011 in Student Discounts

Question by dream_master_111: A Bunch Of Qts Re: Private Student Loans. Input appreciated!?
Now that it is getting close to the Fall ‘08 semester, I am getting ready to apply for private school loans two weeks from now. Returning to school in my 30s to finish my degree. Yes, Federal, scholarships, etc have been maxed out.

Is it best to apply in person vs on-line/over the phone? I plan on stopping by the new Citibank branch in Harvard Square for my first attempt.

Have you heard any positive or negative feedback on any of these that I’m considering: Citibank, Chase, Wachovia, Campus Door, Nelnet, Suntrust, Edamerica, Wells Fargo, US Bank, SunTrust Bank, Student Loan Network, Discover, StudentLoans, Campus Door, College Loan Corp, My Rich Uncle, Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority (anyone use this state-bases lender)?

Who are the biggest and most secure lenders in the industry?

Anybody use peer-to-peer lending?

I plan on attending graduate school after undergrad. Are all private loans deferrable until after grad school? Is this a common feature of any private loan or does one have to be careful that although it says payments begin 6 months after the 4 years of undergrad, that deferment is extendable if one attends grad school?

Any info on credit scores, Fico, finding out which lenders pull which score (TU is my highest) so I can target those lenders?

Best to apply to all the lenders in a single two week period, so it hopefully only hits one’s credit report once? Or is it best to apply to only a select few lenders because each time you apply it lowers your credit score?

Do you have a preferred lender list of companies from your school that might be useful for anyone to use?

What kind of terms in loan offers should I beware of? What mistakes have you seen people make? I should look for a low APR, no origination fees, discounts, rebates, etc?

Know of any other websites or books covering private student loan that you can recommend?

As always, any useful information at all is very, very much appreciated.

Thanks.

Rags

P.S. Let’s not start a the-evils-of-private-loans thread here. There are enough of them around. I know the dangers.
More detailed answers, please. Not just Citi is evil. Tell me why in detail.
Awesome, Woolfie!
Awesome Woelfe!

Best answer:

Answer by patticharron
As a former employee of Citibank/CitiCorp, I can tell you that it is a predatory lender, scum of the earth, evil empire who will tell you anything to suck you in, then do stop at nothing to ruin you when the chips are down. Avoid Citibank like the plague.

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!

Tags: Appreciated, Bunch, Input, Loans, Private, Student

2 Comments on “A Bunch Of Qts Re: Private Student Loans. Input appreciated!?”

Found-1
August 28th, 2011 at 9:51 am
The biggest mistake folks make when taking out federal loans is

1) borrowing too much compared to the degree they earn. Don’t borrow more – in all student loans – federal and private – than you would expect to earn your first year out of college.) and

2) dropping out before they get their degree or borrowing in amounts for the salary of a degree they aren’t working on currently. ie… sure I’ll borrow 40K a year because I’ll be a doctor when I’m done…. although I’m just an undergrad freshman now majoring in biology.

Pay close to your interest rates, your loan term, and what your origination fee will be. Also check on what would happen if you die or become 100% ddisabled? Would your cosigner then be responsible for paying?

You might start an Excel spreadsheet…..collect this data on as many private lenders as you can, then you can look at them side by side… with a little math skills programmed into the spreadsheet, you could prob even determine which is the best deal based on the loan, the terms, the interest rate and the origination fee.

my loans were with Sallie Mae for the duration of my payment periods. they were not private loans, but I never had a problem and they were very easy to work with.

Good luck.

Woelfe
August 28th, 2011 at 9:54 am
Most of the lenders you listed are all long time viable student loan lenders; however, right now in the economic situation we find ourselves in there is no such thing as a secure education loan lender. Many of them are either withdrawing from the Federal or Private loan programs. MEFA for instance is either not doing federal, or not doing private loans. There have been so many changes it is hard to keep track of them.

For a good read and information about the leading lenders out there check out this link to finaid.org: http://www.finaid.org/loans/lenderlayoffs.phtml

They have a quality up to date list with who is still in the business.

I agree with Found-1 that you should probably start an excel sheet to track each lenders product and what is available. Here is the list of questions I would ask them about their product to track by comparison:

Interest rate (these are always variable and based on the economy)
Min & Max amounts you can borrow per year
Aggregate amount you can borrow
Grace period after graduation (how many months)
Origination fees
Repayment fees
Repayment benefits such as deferment/forbearance if you should get into trouble financially – what will they do for you.
Can it be deferred again when entering grad school?
Repayment Period (how many years to repay loan)

This was just a quick list off the top of my head that you should be knowledgeable about before taking a loan from a company. Putting them into a spreadsheet will give you an easy way to compare the loans that meet the criteria that best suit you.

Hope this helps.