Are Student Loans as Bad as They Seem?

[Mal Fortuna]

Yes. Yes they are. I had the VA help pay for mine because my father was injured during times of war and I still have over 50k in debt. Thus why I am still living with my parents with my college degree in tow. A lot of people have worse, though. There are not many people who can go without drawing one.

[freelance lover]

It depends entirely on the kind of loans you get. I only took our subsidized loans, but I took out all the of the ones granted to me. I think I graduated with maybe 16k debt? Which is pretty damn low these days, but is still... that's like the cost of a new car (which I need, by the way). I did a few years of service with Americorps and got vouchers and paid down some of them, but I still have maybe 12k left to pay off.

The thing most people don't realize is a lot of lenders will work with you. When I was due to start paying my loans I called my lender and was like "look, I can't afford $150 a month, that's like 1/6 of my income". They hooked me up with an income based repayment plan where right now I don't pay a dime and the government is paying off my interest, so my loan amount isn't going up either. I will likely have to start paying something soon, as I'm making more money (yay!) but I'm sure there will still be a curve to accommodate for my income since I don't make that much.

Loans get you in trouble when you take out unsubsidized one, which often have higher interest and the lenders are less willing to work with you usually. You're also basically screwed if you default or don't handle them well. But in my experience they haven't been that bad, you just have to be willing to call them and see what options are open to you. Obviously don't take out more than is wise. I knew a guy who had like 100k in debt because he went and got his MFA in acting in NYC where cost of living (and everything) is expensive. It's not like actors make a ton of money, so that's obviously a poor choice. But having some loans isn't dooming you to poverty forever.

[Padawan Ryan]

The student loan system in my province helps you pay it back, that's one thing good. For the first year after your payments begin, you can apply to have them pay if you really can't afford it.

And if you continue to not be able to afford it, they can extend that. I wish I knew that when my payments began, however a friend of mine graduated two years ago too and has been doing it.

[Fomicry]

I never took one out, but I heard it was like hell to pay them back. Those interest charges will get you and make it seem you have more to pay back than you took out.

[Silentmarie]

Loans are totally worth it depending on what you do in life.
Don't let people scare you away from going to college.

My dad has thousands of college debt still, but he is an engineer making 100 grand a year and as a result our quality of life is much higher than it would have been had he not gone to college.

[Silentmarie]

britt1110

sparklebuttz

I guess you should try to avoid them if you can - but if you can't I feel like it's still worth it, because I rather have a career that I will love, rather than not going to school but working some rando job that I probably wouldn't like at all lol

That's another thing. The world is making it seem like the chances of you finding a job that has anything to do with major are slim, and that a lot of graduates still end up in that situation of having some random job they hate.

This comes from people going into useless fields where there is no job market. Choose your major wisely, and you will do well. If you pick a STEM field, you're guaranteed a job. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Medical. Btw, medical doesn't have to mean doctor or nurse. I'm going into Medical Laboratory Science and I only need a bachelor's.

[Mae Lovelyn]

I avoid student loans like the plague. I applied for financial aid and it the Board of Governors waiver where my tuition is mostly paid for and I pay for supplies. I need to check with the financial aid office if my recently completed course means I qualified for the Pell Grant. Grants are nicer than loans.

[LARSZIEL]

Raven Winter

My mom is fifty and still has student loan debt.

how much did she take out??

[SirPuzzle]

Silentmarie

britt1110

sparklebuttz

I guess you should try to avoid them if you can - but if you can't I feel like it's still worth it, because I rather have a career that I will love, rather than not going to school but working some rando job that I probably wouldn't like at all lol

That's another thing. The world is making it seem like the chances of you finding a job that has anything to do with major are slim, and that a lot of graduates still end up in that situation of having some random job they hate.

This comes from people going into useless fields where there is no job market. Choose your major wisely, and you will do well. If you pick a STEM field, you're guaranteed a job. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Medical. Btw, medical doesn't have to mean doctor or nurse. I'm going into Medical Laboratory Science and I only need a bachelor's.

I'd be careful with that line of reasoning.

Lots of people believe it but it's not as simple as just majoring in any science or math related major. While I understand that your generalization definitely has a lot of truth to it, the problem is people often interpret it too broadly and don't do any research into what specific majors actually lead to decent jobs.

Biology is one of the most popular majors now, I believe it's like the 2nd or 3rd most popular major (the first being psychology). However the problem with majoring in biology or chemistry is unless you go to graduate school, you usually end up becoming a tech at some lab and you only get paid like 15 dollars an hour.

I'm not sure what Medical Laboratory Science is, but it sounds like to me you're trying to become a med tech. If you are doing that and are also going to become a certified medical technician, then that is the more intelligent thing to do than to just get a typical biology or chemistry degree. You get paid far more as a tech if you are certified and have a bachelors in it.

[Silentmarie]

GoneCrazyResurrected

Silentmarie

britt1110

sparklebuttz

I guess you should try to avoid them if you can - but if you can't I feel like it's still worth it, because I rather have a career that I will love, rather than not going to school but working some rando job that I probably wouldn't like at all lol

That's another thing. The world is making it seem like the chances of you finding a job that has anything to do with major are slim, and that a lot of graduates still end up in that situation of having some random job they hate.

This comes from people going into useless fields where there is no job market. Choose your major wisely, and you will do well. If you pick a STEM field, you're guaranteed a job. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Medical. Btw, medical doesn't have to mean doctor or nurse. I'm going into Medical Laboratory Science and I only need a bachelor's.

I'd be careful with that line of reasoning.

Lots of people believe it but it's not as simple as just majoring in any science or math related major. While I understand that your generalization definitely has a lot of truth to it, the problem is people often interpret it too broadly and don't do any research into what specific majors actually lead to decent jobs.

Biology is one of the most popular majors now, I believe it's like the 2nd or 3rd most popular major (the first being psychology). However the problem with majoring in biology or chemistry is unless you go to graduate school, you usually end up becoming a tech at some lab and you only get paid like 15 dollars an hour.

I'm not sure what Medical Laboratory Science is, but it sounds like to me you're trying to become a med tech. If you are doing that and are also going to become a certified medical technician, then that is the more intelligent thing to do than to just get a typical biology or chemistry degree. You get paid far more as a tech if you are certified and have a bachelors in it.

I know it's much more complex than what I said, I was just making a generalization. There are far too many people going into majors such as Psychology or Art history and then making minimum wage for a very long time because they can't find a job. Typically, a STEM field, in general, is a much better course of action.

Yeah, my plan is to be a medical technician. Once I get my bachelors, I then have to do a 10 month long post grad internship to get certified. After a little while, I might go back for a masters.

Edit: Oh, and as long as I keep my grades up, I'm basically guaranteed a job through my program. As long as my cumulative stays above a 3.2 or so, that is.

[Raven Winter]

LARSZIEL

Raven Winter

My mom is fifty and still has student loan debt.

how much did she take out??

Dunno.

[britt1110]

Silentmarie

britt1110

sparklebuttz

I guess you should try to avoid them if you can - but if you can't I feel like it's still worth it, because I rather have a career that I will love, rather than not going to school but working some rando job that I probably wouldn't like at all lol

That's another thing. The world is making it seem like the chances of you finding a job that has anything to do with major are slim, and that a lot of graduates still end up in that situation of having some random job they hate.

This comes from people going into useless fields where there is no job market. Choose your major wisely, and you will do well. If you pick a STEM field, you're guaranteed a job. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Medical. Btw, medical doesn't have to mean doctor or nurse. I'm going into Medical Laboratory Science and I only need a bachelor's.

Well, I'm going to school for psychology, clinical to be specific, and I just see a bunch of people who have a degree in psych sitting around doing nothing with it.

EDIT: I know I gonna need hella schooling which is why I don't want to get chocked up with loans right from the start.

[britt1110]

Mae Lovelyn

I avoid student loans like the plague. I applied for financial aid and it the Board of Governors waiver where my tuition is mostly paid for and I pay for supplies. I need to check with the financial aid office if my recently completed course means I qualified for the Pell Grant. Grants are nicer than loans.

Yeah, grants are way nicer than loans, but for some reason, finicial aid classifies as loans also which doesn't really seem like "aid" in my opinion. Like, I need money that I can have and that you will never want back because I will never have that amount.

[britt1110]

Padawan Brittany

The student loan system in my province helps you pay it back, that's one thing good. For the first year after your payments begin, you can apply to have them pay if you really can't afford it.

And if you continue to not be able to afford it, they can extend that. I wish I knew that when my payments began, however a friend of mine graduated two years ago too and has been doing it.

I'm assuming this is Canada, because nothing this nice exists in the US.

P.S you stole my name lol

[Silentmarie]

britt1110

Silentmarie

britt1110

sparklebuttz

I guess you should try to avoid them if you can - but if you can't I feel like it's still worth it, because I rather have a career that I will love, rather than not going to school but working some rando job that I probably wouldn't like at all lol

That's another thing. The world is making it seem like the chances of you finding a job that has anything to do with major are slim, and that a lot of graduates still end up in that situation of having some random job they hate.

This comes from people going into useless fields where there is no job market. Choose your major wisely, and you will do well. If you pick a STEM field, you're guaranteed a job. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Medical. Btw, medical doesn't have to mean doctor or nurse. I'm going into Medical Laboratory Science and I only need a bachelor's.

Well, I'm going to school for psychology, clinical to be specific, and I just see a bunch of people who have a degree in psych sitting around doing nothing with it.

EDIT: I know I gonna need hella schooling which is why I don't want to get chocked up with loans right from the start.

Ah, you might have a bit of an issue with Psychology.
The problem with Psychology is that more people go into the field than there is demand for it.