I accepted all of the loans offered to me. My budget's adding up so I'll probably need it all, but even if I don't, it's nice to have it in reserve for emergency. Yes we do accumulate interest and have to pay interest, but remember it's a tax write-off. I did my entrance counseling and signed two master promissory notes (kinda sounds paradoxical doesn't it?). One last thing to take care of: deferment of undergraduate loans. I know that Perkins does this national sweep where if they find your name as an enrolled graduate student, they'll automatically defer your loans, but I don't think Direct Loans does it. I think I have to print out the forms, get a registrar to sign off, then mail it to Direct Loans. Anyone know if Direct Loans will automatically defer if they find your name in the sweep?