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[adriennnnnnnnne]

Has anyone had experience with student loans? I believe it will be necessary for me to take one out and though I am scared, the fact that my time, effort, and stress will be spent on what I want to do with my life as opposed to someone's potatoes or not-cold-enough martini is extremely refreshing

Comments

[ghostworld00]

I took out students loans to finance my education. I am still paying them back. I graduated in December 1996. I took them out when you had to go through a bank, now everything is through the gov. as I understand. The reason it is taking me so long is because I took a deferment for two years which added on to my loan (plus interest). I consolidated my loans in 2003 which really cut down on my monthly payment amount.

My monthly payment is very low, so I have no problem making it and I always pay more than the required amount -- and that's what's important. Keep in mind that when you graduate you will want to do other things with your money like buy a car, rent an apartment, travel, buy things for your apartment, save for a home, have health insurance, put money away in your 401K, move, and other things. So make sure you can realistically meet that monthly payment. Don't go by what websites and your school says you will make for your profession, they are usually way off, actually talk to people in your field and asked what they made at their first job.

I would advise taking out as little as possible. Beware of private loans, make sure you know what you will have to pay back plus your interest rate and fees. Find out if the interest rates are adjustable/variable. Also, student loan debt cannot be forgiven or erased through bankruptcy.

But on the other hand, it helped me out and I took a legal deferment when I could not meet my obligation and it did not negatively effect my credit rating. I made my payments every month and they were never late and the payments are not real a hardship for me. I am looking forward to making my last payment in three years.