Help with student loan

[Ikith]

Basically I am attending a college for a 2 year degree. The money has been coming from family but it has been stressing their wallet to the max and only recently I was told about this (Which is quite understandable seeing as the economy is shitty).

So I need to find a student loan for my last few semesters (I have like 6 or 7 classes left plus books and supplies). Now the laptop I have just is not cutting it for school work (We run virtual pcs so we don't have to mess with a physical machine sometimes up to 6 machines which my current laptop just cannot handle) I need to be able to do homework from anywhere really (Home, school, library etc) which makes a laptop a good solution. I suppose that would be a supply right? So can I include that in the loan?

I figure 1000 for a laptop and around 3500 for tuition + books should be about right. Maybe less (I need to look into it more)

Also, where should I go to get one? I have 2 places I could try which are ICU (Industrial Credit Union) and BECU (Boeing Employees Credit Union). I've already talked to financial aid and they say its a no go since I'm a dependent of my father and he makes to much. What questions should I be asking?

This is new to me so bear with me I have never had a loan in my life and I don't even know where to start all I know is that I need one asap.

Please help. Thank you.

[RakEx]

Go to the school and make a visit to the Bursar's office or financial office or just ask someone in an administrtion office who can point you in the right direction.

Take out as big of a loan as you need but make sure to use it for school. You may need two different types of loans if you want to use one to get a laptop. One for school and one for school supplies.

If, when you are done with school, you only have 5-10k in school loans you are golden. It when they start piling up into the 40, 50, 100k+ zones is when they start getting really annoying...

Edit: You may need a co-signer if you dont have much of a financial background of earnings. A parent or gaurdian but this would probably be only for the loan which you would get for the supplies. Be sure to bring all the necessary documentation with you. Birth certificate, paystubs, bank statements etc... just to be safe. You never really know what they are going to ask you for.

[Ikith]

Hm... Interesting suggestions. Really I have only 7 classes left as I said before (I had to drop 1 this semester to afford to go to college thats how low on money we are right now and I can't do this again or my insurance will go away which definitely is not good).

I don't really know how to estimate this out but if I get to much extra I can give that back (As in pay it into the loan) right? I figure maybe 5000 for tuition and books then about 1200 for a laptop. I need to call my credit unions tomorrow and see what they say.

Also the fafsa thing we have already tried recently with my sister and she couldn't get it for the same reason I said I wouldn't be able to however I will talk to someone about that.

I have no credit whatsoever and I live in Washington.

Sorry for the late response.

[oldoldman]

You need to fill out the Fafsa to get any subsidized loans. Those are the ones you want.

[Restrat]

any "student" loan (ie, one you can get with no credit history) will require your school to authenticate it and the amount you are eligible for, and most schools require the fafsa as part of that process.
By the amount you are eligible for, I mean each school sets their own price of tuition, room and board for that city, books, and a couple thousand for travel and expensive, and reports that to the loan company and the government, so you can take out that amount minus any scholarships or other aid you get already.
you should check out citibank's "citi assist" loan, low interest compared to the other ones I was looking at (prime +1% where some were as high as prime +13%).
They also will approve you (conditionally) online right away.

[MarkM.]

The best advice I can give you about this that I didn't see posted (I only glanced over the other posts) is to pay your interest on your loans if you can during school. Regardless of where you get your loan, they will fuck you if you don't.

[MrW]

If you can, stay away from banks. The interest rate is usually a bit higher and some don't offer defferment if you decided to go back to school after undergrad or whatever. Stafford/Perkins loans are pretty good. Especiallly if you only need about 3500 or so. But your FAFSA has to be filled out first.

Also, talk to your school. They might have their own student loan program. Most schools do I believe. Usually one of your parents has to co-sign though. Federal money is out there but a bank should be your last option in my opinion. But like others have said, it can be a time consuming process but hopefully it works out.

(If you can, search around for some grants. They have a ton of grants with retarded requirements. Apply to all that you can qualify for, even if its 500 bucks. It all adds up and you'll thank yourself with the money you'll save on interest when paying your loans back)