Alternative Student Loans...

[Ninjadik]

My tuition is pretty high and my school only gave me a subsidized loan enough to cover one semester. The only option I have is to take a private, or alternative, loan. This really sucks but I have no choice given my current financial status.

My question to you is, what lender have you guys had good experiences with? Should I over estimate my expected graduation date, because you know, anything can happen =\

So far I have narrowed it down to:

Wells Fargo
Sallie Mae
Education Finance Partners

Any advice on the topic would be greatly appreciated.

[coronamad]

I've had good experience with Sallie Mae, and bad experience with Wells Fargo.

[Bartylby]

sallie mae has my balls mounted on a plaque somewhere at their HQ

[Ninjadik]

I've had good experience with Sallie Mae, and bad experience with Wells Fargo.

Can you elaborate why you had a bad experience with Wells Fargo? They were my first choice ><;

[killerx]

sallie mae has my balls mounted on a plaque somewhere at their HQ

balls to the wall man

[BarthelloSylph]

See if your university can recommend someone to you? Often times universities had a preferred partner that is easy to use.

Most people pay for their school this way - don't be ashamed! I'm going for my MBA in August, and will be 120k in debt 2 years later Just have a good time and PREPARE YOURSELF FOR A GOOD JOB!

[Tumibumi]

next student

i work for a company that does college planning for families we send people to them all the time they are quite a bit better than sallie mae

[Po]

Sallie Mae has mine and they have done a great job.

I mean that is what their niche is. WF does tons of other loans/bank accounts/investments.

Sallie Mae specializes in Student Loans, so I recommend them.

[Iono]

I'm using CitiBank, but I'm kinda a dumbass on this stuff so don't know much. . .

[Ninjadik]

Thanks for info!

[Jeveh]

I've had good experience with Sallie Mae, and bad experience with Wells Fargo.

QFT. Wells Fargo's customer service sucks, they are idiots. When I would call I felt like some 13 year old was on the phone telling me about my loan. Used them for on year then switched to Sallie Mae. I even got the loan from them transfered to Sallie.

[Keno]

Personally I have a loan straight from my university, but then again I got a grant from them also for half of my tuition/living expenses. Maybe I'm just cool like that.

[finale23]

See if your university can recommend someone to you? Often times universities had a preferred partner that is easy to use.

Most people pay for their school this way - don't be ashamed! I'm going for my MBA in August, and will be 120k in debt 2 years later Just have a good time and PREPARE YOURSELF FOR A GOOD JOB!

hey barthelloSylph, where you going? i got into the 2year mba program at gerogetown and notre dame this fall. no scholarship though

[Moosey]

Sallie Mae is what i'm using, i'm kinda in the same position you are. Look around the interwebs and try and find as many grants/scholarships as you can too. There are a lot of them that only require you to write an essay or some stupid shit, or even just have a disability(wearing glasses is included in this lol).

[Ddz]

I am also with Sallie Mae, no complaints.

[sekaran]

I went through Bank of America.. process was pretty painless. Just trying to pay my loans back now..

[Doleman]

I have one through CitiBank. No problems so far, but I still have about 3 years to go

[Melena]

I'm with Sallie Mae and have had 0 problems with them. When I was done, loan consolidation was a snap and pretty much handled online. My advice more then the lenders though is look at state grants. I was a huge dumbass and didn't apply for Cal Grant. When I realized they would have handed me about 1/3 of my total schooling costs if I filled out the paperwork, I promptly began kicking myself in the ass for being lazy.

[zoobernut]

no matter who you take your original loan out with sallie mae will probably buy the rights to it before you get out of school. i started with one bank then sallie mae bought my loans, and i needed to take out more loans so i just went with sallie mae and they have been really nice and easy to work with.

[synistar]

I had a federal loan through the school to pay for my apartment/food. Wasn't that sure exactly who it was, but collegeloan.com helped me consolidate when rates were low. Very easy to work with. I didn't apply to them for my original Safford loan directly, but with a fixed rate of 2.875% (consolidated 2 years ago, now its like 5%+), payments aren't that much a dent on my wallet a month and it sure beats credit cards.

I'm not sure about the over-estimating graduation date, but if you stay in contact with a rep from a loan company, they will probably extend your loan for another term. And when you graduate, consolidate immediately before rates go up. A rep from the lender I used kept pestering me about it. Rates are fixed annually but change every July 1st according to the fed bank.

Hope this helps