"safest" place to apply for a private loan?

[TX2thDR]

For both me and a co-signer... which do you suggest? I guess I'm just looking at which places have the least amount of tricky fine print.. what have you all used and do you recommend it? thanks in advance!

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[Amy B]

http://www.northstar.org/GradPlus/Student.aspx

The Grad PLUS loans are a new loan service recently signed into law by Pres Bush. I am going to be getting these for the next 2 years and will not mess with any private loans again. The PLUS will not look at credit rating or credit scores or debt ratio. You cant be in bankrucpy, or 90 days late on anything or in default on any loans, but those are the only stipulations, unlike private loans.

If you still want private loans you can go to www.northstar.org and get those as well as Stafford and PLUS. I have used them for 2 years now and really think it is a great place to borrow money. No fees and hidden feees like some other lenders.

 

[TX2thDR]

thanks i will definately look into that

 

[crys20]

Amy, I just heard of this grad PLUS loan. Is this a new loan? Just this year? I'm starting med this fall and starting to look at different loans. Is the PLUS designed to fill the gap between where Stafford ends (38,500 right?) and your budget ends (mine is a bit more, in the 40s). This has nothing to do with the parental PLUS loan they offer kids in undergrad, correct? So essentially it eliminates the need for private loans, from lenders like Sallie Mae for instance (which I used excessively in undergrad)? That would be great news!

As an aside, do I need to actively be applying for the loans, like Stafford and this new PLUS now? Or do I wait until my school contacts me and deal with them and it then - I start July 31.

 

[Amy B]

Hi ,
This is a new loan as of July of this year. They actually just recenetly added to the northstar web site. They did this program becasue they realized taht people were tapping out their stafford loans and having no where to turn fo rmoney. Private loans can be gotten if you have steller credit and not a high debt ration which is darn near impossible when you take out 1000$ of dollars in student loans. For the first 2 years, I got private loans, but starting in my MSIII year, I will be getting the PLUS loan rather than the private ones to add to the stafford loans.

If you run out of stafford loans after reaching teh max of $189,000, then you can still get teh PLUS loans to make up that difference also. It has nothing to do with the PLUS parent loans. And you can consolidate these loans whereas you can not consolidate any private loans.

I woudl call you financial aid office and talk to them. If they dont allow you to use Northstar, i woudl point them to that web site so they can see how beneficial it woudl be to their students to used them. They have no fees like most of teh otehr lenders. But all lenders will have teh PLUS loans since it is a program like stafford. We had to get our loan stuff filled out before we started classes. Has your school sent you a financial aid award letter yet????

 

[ultimatekooda]

I've been trying to look into the Grad Plus loan for school this fall (I'll be an M1 at OSU) but when for some reason my school doesn't show up on the school search either on the northstar or sallie mae website. Is this because OSU may be part of that FDLP program rather than the FFELP program? We have not been prompted to choose any sort of lender for our Staffords yet, so I'm assuming this is the case? However I'm not sure why this would affect our eligibility for the Grad Plus...

At any rate, what other private lenders do people have experience with? I've applied for a CitiAssist private loan so far but am wondering what others think.

 

[crys20]

Amy, thanks for the info! No, my school has NOT sent a fin aid award letter to me or seemingly anyone (based on a couple people I know personally going to the same school as well as the school thread here on SDN). Yet we start July 31! Is that weird??? I'm getting antsy like a typical nerd bomber soon-to-be med student. But I will def keep Northstar in mind for the loans, I'm psyched about the PLUS loan - my credit score recently dropped a bit and I was so worried that it would screw up my priv loans.

 

[Amy B]

I've been trying to look into the Grad Plus loan for school this fall (I'll be an M1 at OSU) but when for some reason my school doesn't show up on the school search either on the northstar or sallie mae website. Is this because OSU may be part of that FDLP program rather than the FFELP program? We have not been prompted to choose any sort of lender for our Staffords yet, so I'm assuming this is the case? However I'm not sure why this would affect our eligibility for the Grad Plus...

At any rate, what other private lenders do people have experience with? I've applied for a CitiAssist private loan so far but am wondering what others think.

http://www.northstar.org
It is right on the home page of northstar. It is under the heading saying GRADSTUDENTS and has a lady dressed in black. You cant miss it.

 

[ultimatekooda]

http://www.northstar.org
It is right on the home page of northstar. It is under the heading saying GRADSTUDENTS and has a lady dressed in black. You cant miss it.

Thanks, Amy. I've actually already tried applying for it, though, and what i meant was that my school is not one of those listed on the first page of the application...so I can't go any further. Guess I'll call our financial aid office to see what's up.

 

[heech]

At any rate, what other private lenders do people have experience with? I've applied for a CitiAssist private loan so far but am wondering what others think.

CitiAssist has a very good rate if you have good enough credit; there are also a few other popular choices (up to the cost of education) including T.H.E. and AAMC Medloans. All of these have similar rates, but they can differ slightly in their loan terms.

If you need to go beyond the cost of education as set by your school, you'll need to look elsewhere. See my blog for a comparison.

 

[strawberryfield]

CitiAssist has a very good rate if you have good enough credit; there are also a few other popular choices (up to the cost of education) including T.H.E. and AAMC Medloans. All of these have similar rates, but they can differ slightly in their loan terms.

If you need to go beyond the cost of education as set by your school, you'll need to look elsewhere. See my blog for a comparison.

What is a "good" enough credit score for private loans?? Mine recently has been hovering between 700-750, I don't have any late payments/bankruptcy or anything but I will have debt going in to med school... if yours is below a certain number, will you still be able to get private loans, and can you still get a good interest rate or will you need a co-signer with a better credit score (parents)?

So, the THE PLUS loans do NOT look at your credit score or debt?? lol... I am so confused about this stuff!

 

[heech]

strawberryfield,

Only the individual banks will be able to answer your specific questions, although a 700-750 credit rating is generally speaking very good. But yes, your final interest rate on these private loans will generally very much depend on your credit rating.

PLUS loans are different; they have a government-mandated *fixed* rate of 8.5%. In almost all cases, in today's climbing interest rate environment, going with the PLUS loan is probably the best choice.

 

[MikeyLu2010]

8.5 still seems pretty damn high =/

 

[strawberryfield]

strawberryfield,

Only the individual banks will be able to answer your specific questions, although a 700-750 credit rating is generally speaking very good. But yes, your final interest rate on these private loans will generally very much depend on your credit rating.

PLUS loans are different; they have a government-mandated *fixed* rate of 8.5%. In almost all cases, in today's climbing interest rate environment, going with the PLUS loan is probably the best choice.

So probably the best option for me may be applying for some private loans to see if I could get a lower rate than 8.5%, but then aren't some variable too, and even if they start lower, could potentially go way higher??

Does anyone know what the interest rate is on the gvmt stafford loans?? is that fixed as well?

 

[heech]

Government Stafford loans also have a fixed rate of 6.8%, which is why they should always be your first choice.

Right, and it doesn't hurt to apply for a private loan... if you really have perfect credit, you might get around 7.5%-8%. Be sure to take a look at any origination fees; some can be in the 6-9% range... which always seemed to me to ruin the point of low interest rates.