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britt1110

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Post: 93422221_1 created on Tue, 29 Jul 2014 23:30:08 +0000
Posted: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 23:30:08 +0000

I never hear anything good about. I always hear about how they end up doing more harm than good in the end. There's always that story about someone not being able to pay them back and constant debt. I want to avoid loans as much as possible because I don't want to end up in a worse situation, but it's looking like my only option right now.

What I want to know is, are they really that bad? Is there any way around them?

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Post: 93422221_2 created on Tue, 29 Jul 2014 23:38:03 +0000
Posted: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 23:38:03 +0000

My mom is fifty and still has student loan debt.

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Post: 93422221_3 created on Tue, 29 Jul 2014 23:48:42 +0000
Posted: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 23:48:42 +0000

Raven Winter

My mom is fifty and still has student loan debt.

Assuming she went to college straight out of high school, that a pretty long time to be paying back money you owe... neutral

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Post: 93422221_4 created on Tue, 29 Jul 2014 23:50:35 +0000
Posted: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 23:50:35 +0000

My mother has student debt as well, she still has another $20,000-$30,000 left on it. This is from around ~$190,000 total.

Of course, she has 2 masters and a BA.

I'm going to have about $67,000 when I finish up with my BA in Mechanical Engineering. This is on top of an originally estimated $99,000 cost of attendance over 4 years.

Depending on your degree, where you go to school, and potential job opportunities, it could be better or worse than this.

EDIT:
Oops, it was $50,000-$60,000, not $20-$30,000 for my mother .

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Post: 93422221_5 created on Tue, 29 Jul 2014 23:52:11 +0000
Posted: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 23:52:11 +0000

No way around them unless you go to a cheap school or are smart as ******** and get full scholarships. You can always go to a small college and get your Associates or get the general credit you would have needed anyway (making sure that they would transfer to bigger/better schools) and then transfer for your last 2 years and work on major requirements and other things you missed. That would save you money.

There are three kinds of primary loans, subsidized, unsubsidized, and private. Privates have the highest interest rates but they'll usually give you more money. These are the worst and you want to avoid it if possible.

Subsidized is the best loan, given almost exclusively by the government/state. These are loans that do not continuously accumulate interest while you are still in school. That means the principle sum that you borrowed at the beginning of your freshman year will be the same when you graduate. Then you will have a 6 month grace period after which the loans will start accumulating interest.

Then there's unsubsidized, again, usually from the government. These are loans that WILL continuously rack up interest. Let's say you borrowed 5,000 for the semester. Each month, it might rack up an interest of $50 or more. Those numbers are made up, just to give you an idea.

If you go to college, make sure you read up well on the internet, on the official FAFSA site, and talk to any financial advisors you can at your school. You need to be proactive about any loan you take in terms of getting information and being aware of payments and such. It's boring and it sucks, but it's better to be aware than to be uninformed like I imagine thousands of students are.

I don't want to pass off any bad information, so If I've said anything un-true, I hope someone will correct me.

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Post: 93422221_6 created on Wed, 30 Jul 2014 01:50:20 +0000
Posted: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 01:50:20 +0000

britt1110

Want to avoid debt?
Go to a JC, work a lot and save up money, transfer and don't live on campus.
That's what I did and I'm debt free.

Liberals are retarded

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Post: 93422221_7 created on Wed, 30 Jul 2014 02:10:19 +0000
Posted: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 02:10:19 +0000

Toki Bird

britt1110

Want to avoid debt?
Go to a JC, work a lot and save up money, transfer and don't live on campus.
That's what I did and I'm debt free.

Would a CC count as a JC? I think the college in my area is like $50 p/ class, $4,000 p/ semester, minus the books and materials.

Sometimes I debate whether I should just buy books or go to college. My heart says just read, but my mind says our society thinks that piece of paper you get from whatever college you attended is important.

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Post: 93422221_8 created on Wed, 30 Jul 2014 02:36:11 +0000
Posted: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 02:36:11 +0000

Liberals are retarded

Toki Bird

britt1110

Want to avoid debt?
Go to a JC, work a lot and save up money, transfer and don't live on campus.
That's what I did and I'm debt free.

Aren't they the same thing? That's what I thought. I just call them a JC
I don't remember what mine charged. If you qualify for any financial aid, you should be able to get a BOG waiver which will cover your tuition fees. All I had to pay was health and tech. fee.

And honestly, don't buy books. Or if you realllllly have to, buy used from amazon or other 3rd parties. But, usually the school libraries will have them to check out, if you don't mind staying there to work. I did a hell of a lot to get away from buying them.

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Post: 93422221_9 created on Wed, 30 Jul 2014 02:44:09 +0000
Posted: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 02:44:09 +0000

In this day and age a true education should only cost your time and effort. I really don't see why it's so expensive.

If money really has to be paid, I think 5 grand a year is perfectly reasonable. But, education these days is more of a business.

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Post: 93422221_10 created on Wed, 30 Jul 2014 02:45:04 +0000
Posted: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 02:45:04 +0000

There's really no way around getting some student debt, if you/your family can't afford tuition out of pocket, and your scholarships don't cover it all.

Loans aren't a guaranteed life suck forever, as long as you're smart about them.

Pick your school smartly. Don't go to the fancy private liberal arts school if tuition is 50k/semester. Look at public colleges, state schools, community college. One way to avoid debt is to take your general education classes at a cheap community college, commute from home, and transfer the credits to the fancier school your sophomore or junior year. It might require doing lots of checks with both administrative offices that you take the right courses so they all transfer and apply to the program you want.

You can also apply for additional scholarships. Don't depend on them, but there are HUGE lists of small scholarships you can write an essay or do a project to apply for, and they could add up. Even if they just cover your books, its money you didn't have to borrow.

Lastly, look in to work study programs. A lot of colleges will hire students to work the cafeteria, library, etc., and they won't pay you much but you usually get a discount on your tuition.

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Post: 93422221_11 created on Wed, 30 Jul 2014 03:30:58 +0000
Posted: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 03:30:58 +0000

they are terrible
my uncle is still paying off his debt, 20 years after he received that loan

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Post: 93422221_12 created on Wed, 30 Jul 2014 03:31:26 +0000
Posted: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 03:31:26 +0000

oh....they are god awful. My advice? Start saving for college when you five.

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Post: 93422221_13 created on Wed, 30 Jul 2014 04:06:54 +0000
Posted: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 04:06:54 +0000

Pretty much if you go to school for something you can't find a job in or high paying then you will be paying off that loan for a long time. And they will go really far to squeeze every cent out of you.

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Post: 93422221_14 created on Wed, 30 Jul 2014 04:26:26 +0000
Posted: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 04:26:26 +0000

Many people squander that investment.

like me lol

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Post: 93422221_15 created on Wed, 30 Jul 2014 04:32:20 +0000
Posted: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 04:32:20 +0000

Depends. My university is rated pretty damned well for being a cheaper university.

ways around it: get yo' butt on scholarships AND SEE IF YOU QUALIFY FOR ANY TYPE OF AID. School loans are less annoying when you at least qualify for subsidized (no interest until you're done or something) I'm convinced you need to be dirt poor to qualify for it in a community college though.
when i graduate with my bachelor's, I think I'll have 25k or so. Not bad to me since 25k is what some of the damn 4-years for a year is. gonk

if you have no idea of what you plan on doing, or you think you might change it, don't waste your money at a 4-year at all. go to a community college and get your gen eds out of the way. aside from that, be aware of what you're being charged at your desired school. you're able to opt out of a few fees at certain schools, like parking, or health insurance if you're still covered by your parents.

edit: go research your intended major, too. don't 100% rely on the advisors/counselors. the ones at my community college were really shitty. i went to ask about my current major when i was still there and she just showed me the classes we offer at the college and didn't give me anything insightful.
i work in the career services and...I don't even. gonk A lot of the summer appointments have been: "Hi, I just graduated...so what do I do with my degree?"
wut. you got a 4-year degree and you don't even know what career you can use that paper for???

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