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hello

i have received my package and it consists of typical loans.

there is an estimated amount of money for my school for attendance

and the default loan i take out on the financial aid amount is set to that. should i just take all that amount? how do most do this usually

thanks

Your school should have a line item budget that breaks down where the full COA comes from. From there, you can determine how much you need. It will largely depend on what your specific needs are. As a K-JD, I know, for example, that I can stay on my parents healthcare till at least 24, probably 26 since that part of Obamacare will probably stand. Between that and savings, I was able to knock 10K/year off of my UChicago COA.

Make a budget for yourself, take that much out, and if you find that you underestimated you can always take more out as needed.

Also, whatever amount you take out should also cover the summer months. You can't take out additional loans for the summer unless you're taking classes. So, figure out what you need each month and times it by 12.

tstyler98 wrote:Also, whatever amount you take out should also cover the summer months. You can't take out additional loans for the summer unless you're taking classes. So, figure out what you need each month and times it by 12.

Do you take out the amount needed for the year? I need 20k for the first semester of school so I was thinking about only accepting that. Then figuring out how much I needed for the second half later and not taking it out till tuition is do. Good or bad idea?

AssumptionRequired wrote:

tstyler98 wrote:Also, whatever amount you take out should also cover the summer months. You can't take out additional loans for the summer unless you're taking classes. So, figure out what you need each month and times it by 12.

Do you take out the amount needed for the year? I need 20k for the first semester of school so I was thinking about only accepting that. Then figuring out how much I needed for the second half later and not taking it out till tuition is do. Good or bad idea?

Why? It's one thing to screw up your estimates and have to jump through the hoops to get more money later, but why would you intentionally do this to yourself?

If you insist on doing this, check with your school to make sure they'll allow you to take out more money later for non-emergency reasons. You'd feel pretty stupid if you only took out half and then couldn't get any more.

rinkrat19 wrote:

AssumptionRequired wrote:

tstyler98 wrote:Also, whatever amount you take out should also cover the summer months. You can't take out additional loans for the summer unless you're taking classes. So, figure out what you need each month and times it by 12.

Do you take out the amount needed for the year? I need 20k for the first semester of school so I was thinking about only accepting that. Then figuring out how much I needed for the second half later and not taking it out till tuition is do. Good or bad idea?

Why? It's one thing to screw up your estimates and have to jump through the hoops to get more money later, but why would you intentionally do this to yourself?

If you insist on doing this, check with your school to make sure they'll allow you to take out more money later for non-emergency reasons. You'd feel pretty stupid if you only took out half and then couldn't get any more.

What do you mean why? Because I would rather not pay interest on the extra 25k for 6 months before I need to give it to the school. Is that how it works? Do you accept a certain amount for each semester? Or do they just give you all the money in August?

AssumptionRequired wrote:

rinkrat19 wrote:

AssumptionRequired wrote:

tstyler98 wrote:Also, whatever amount you take out should also cover the summer months. You can't take out additional loans for the summer unless you're taking classes. So, figure out what you need each month and times it by 12.

Do you take out the amount needed for the year? I need 20k for the first semester of school so I was thinking about only accepting that. Then figuring out how much I needed for the second half later and not taking it out till tuition is do. Good or bad idea?

Why? It's one thing to screw up your estimates and have to jump through the hoops to get more money later, but why would you intentionally do this to yourself?

If you insist on doing this, check with your school to make sure they'll allow you to take out more money later for non-emergency reasons. You'd feel pretty stupid if you only took out half and then couldn't get any more.

What do you mean why? Because I would rather not pay interest on the extra 25k for 6 months before I need to give it to the school. Is that how it works? Do you accept a certain amount for each semester? Or do they just give you all the money in August?

I think schools vary, but it seems pretty typical to get the money in two big installments, at the beginning of each semester. But you "accept" the whole thing up front. I have already "accepted" and signed prommissory notes for my entire $79k+, although I will only be getting about $40k in September for fall term. I actually don't know if I'm already 79K in debt, or if I'm only 40K in debt until January. Huh. Good question.

rinkrat19 wrote:

AssumptionRequired wrote:What do you mean why? Because I would rather not pay interest on the extra 25k for 6 months before I need to give it to the school. Is that how it works? Do you accept a certain amount for each semester? Or do they just give you all the money in August?

I think schools vary, but it seems pretty typical to get the money in two big installments, at the beginning of each semester. But you "accept" the whole thing up front. I have already "accepted" and signed prommissory notes for my entire $79k+, although I will only be getting about $40k in September for fall term. I actually don't know if I'm already 79K in debt, or if I'm only 40K in debt until January. Huh. Good question.

You can accept a certain amount for each semester, which you are supposed to decide when you accept the loans. (Though IME with a not-law school, it was easy to accept more later.) Interest doesn't start accruing until the loans are actually disbursed. So, if you accept the whole $80k at the beginning, interest starts on $40k in September and the additional $40k in January.

Samara wrote:

rinkrat19 wrote:

AssumptionRequired wrote:What do you mean why? Because I would rather not pay interest on the extra 25k for 6 months before I need to give it to the school. Is that how it works? Do you accept a certain amount for each semester? Or do they just give you all the money in August?

I think schools vary, but it seems pretty typical to get the money in two big installments, at the beginning of each semester. But you "accept" the whole thing up front. I have already "accepted" and signed prommissory notes for my entire $79k+, although I will only be getting about $40k in September for fall term. I actually don't know if I'm already 79K in debt, or if I'm only 40K in debt until January. Huh. Good question.

You can accept a certain amount for each semester, which you are supposed to decide when you accept the loans. (Though IME with a not-law school, it was easy to accept more later.) Interest doesn't start accruing until the loans are actually disbursed. So, if you accept the whole $80k at the beginning, interest starts on $40k in September and the additional $40k in January.

And that answers my question perfectly!

It would seem rather unfair to begin accruing interest on money you didn't have yet.

rinkrat19 wrote:

Samara wrote:

rinkrat19 wrote:

AssumptionRequired wrote:What do you mean why? Because I would rather not pay interest on the extra 25k for 6 months before I need to give it to the school. Is that how it works? Do you accept a certain amount for each semester? Or do they just give you all the money in August?

I think schools vary, but it seems pretty typical to get the money in two big installments, at the beginning of each semester. But you "accept" the whole thing up front. I have already "accepted" and signed prommissory notes for my entire $79k+, although I will only be getting about $40k in September for fall term. I actually don't know if I'm already 79K in debt, or if I'm only 40K in debt until January. Huh. Good question.

You can accept a certain amount for each semester, which you are supposed to decide when you accept the loans. (Though IME with a not-law school, it was easy to accept more later.) Interest doesn't start accruing until the loans are actually disbursed. So, if you accept the whole $80k at the beginning, interest starts on $40k in September and the additional $40k in January.

And that answers my question perfectly!

It would seem rather unfair to begin accruing interest on money you didn't have yet.

haha yeah, that would be weird.

Also, as a general note to the OP and anyone else, if you estimate you'll need $20k, don't take out $30k thinking that you'll just pay back the $10k if you don't need it. You are charged origination fees on all loans, so only take out what you need. Of course, if you overshoot the first year, you can scale back for the second year, but even then you're paying extra in interest.