Residency and relocation loan

[Mistress S]

I took out one of these loans through Wells Fargo back in September to help with the costs of interviews and step 2. I now need more than I expected to relocate and so I applied for another of these loans through Citibank. I noticed that several banks-Key bank, accessgroup, probably others too- that used to provide these loans are no longer doing so. I was approved, but at fairly crappy terms: prime + 7% and 5.5% loan fee. I am surprised because I have good credit and have taken out 2 other private loans in the past with much better terms. I don't know if the higher rate is because I just took out a loan six months ago, because of the reduced market for student loans and crappy economic conditions leading the remaining providers of these loans to jack up their terms, or something else. I have a potential cosigner (I didn't apply with a cosigner initially because as I said, I have always been able to get reasonable loan rates on my own in the past), however when I called they said if I want to add a cosigner I have to reapply and they will run my credit report again, which will no doubt further ding my credit score (it is my understanding that FICO score is lowered each time someone checks your credit report) and there is no way of knowing how much of a benefit it will be. So I am debating which of the following is my best option:

1.) Apply again for the loan through Citibank with a cosigner and hope for better terms.

2.) Apply for a r&r loan through a different provider (right now, the only two I can find are Sallie Mae and Chase- any other ideas?) with a cosigner and hope for better terms, although the fact that I just applied for a loan and had my credit checked for that will probably not help me if I turn around and apply for a different loan.

3.) Take the current loan as it is offered even though the terms suck since I am not sure how likely it is right now that I will find a better offer and applying for more loans will only lower my credit score, making it difficult if I need to apply for credit for anything else in the next year (car loan, credit card, etc).

Thoughts?

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[GeraldMonroe]

The "lowering of the credit score" from an inquiry is likely to be negligibly small. I say "likely" because the formula for FICO scores is kept secret. Still, I wouldn't fear to shop around. 5-6 more inquiries for new credit shouldn't make any real difference.

 

[sumstorm]

I don't know if it has changed, but 5 years ago it took 3 credit checks in a month to change your credit score, and even then it was slight.