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I thought I'd post on here before emailing the fin aid office at the risk of sounding dumb/premature, but can anyone tell me what's an approximate timeline regarding taking out loans?

I've never taken out a loan before (lol) and am just kinda wondering how the process works/when I need to start doing things. Mostly I'll be financing through scholarship & own money, but the remainder I plan to cover with loans. So far I've received a provisional award letter from my chosen school, but no info on what to do next. I've paid my first seat deposit and have the second due in June... does anyone know if a finalized award letter with more info comes after the second deposit is paid? Is it way too early to begin worrying about this? sos help

Have you filled out your FAFSA?

Will you need to take out a grad plus loan or only Stafford loans? (This should be in your financial aid package if you've filled out your FAFSA).

Some point this summer you'll either be contacted by your school's financial aid office and you'll likely have to send in some paperwork (Every school I've attended has contacted me sometime after filling out the FAFSA, but this may not be true for all schools.. Check out the main campus Fin Aid for more info).

HTH.

kay2016 wrote:Have you filled out your FAFSA?

Will you need to take out a grad plus loan or only Stafford loans? (This should be in your financial aid package if you've filled out your FAFSA).

Some point this summer you'll either be contacted by your school's financial aid office and you'll likely have to send in some paperwork (Every school I've attended has contacted me sometime after filling out the FAFSA, but this may not be true for all schools.. Check out the main campus Fin Aid for more info).

HTH.

This is TCR. Filling out your FAFSA is definitely the first step. Then at some point, the school will send you a FAN (Financial Aid Notification) telling you how much of what type of loans you can take out. At that point, you can accept the whole package, reject the whole package, or elect to take out less than the maximum offered amount. My school sent out the FAN emails early last month, I think.

kay2016 wrote:Have you filled out your FAFSA?

Will you need to take out a grad plus loan or only Stafford loans? (This should be in your financial aid package if you've filled out your FAFSA).

Some point this summer you'll either be contacted by your school's financial aid office and you'll likely have to send in some paperwork (Every school I've attended has contacted me sometime after filling out the FAFSA, but this may not be true for all schools.. Check out the main campus Fin Aid for more info).

HTH.

which is better or has lower interest? grad plus or stafford, when i hear governments loans are better, do people refer to grad or stafford? thanks!

deebanger wrote:

kay2016 wrote:Have you filled out your FAFSA?

Will you need to take out a grad plus loan or only Stafford loans? (This should be in your financial aid package if you've filled out your FAFSA).

Some point this summer you'll either be contacted by your school's financial aid office and you'll likely have to send in some paperwork (Every school I've attended has contacted me sometime after filling out the FAFSA, but this may not be true for all schools.. Check out the main campus Fin Aid for more info).

HTH.

which is better or has lower interest? grad plus or stafford, when i hear governments loans are better, do people refer to grad or stafford? thanks!

The interest rate on Stafford loans is lower, and for one particular type of Stafford (subsidized), you don't accrue interest while you're in school. For unsubsidized Stafford and Grad Plus loans, you start accruing interest as soon as the money is disbursed to you. The only reason to use Grad Plus loans is that Stafford loans (subsidized and unsubsidized combined) are capped at about $20k per year. So if you need more than that, you can use Grad Plus loans to make up the difference, up to the school's total COA.

ScottRiqui wrote:

deebanger wrote:

kay2016 wrote:Have you filled out your FAFSA?

Will you need to take out a grad plus loan or only Stafford loans? (This should be in your financial aid package if you've filled out your FAFSA).

Some point this summer you'll either be contacted by your school's financial aid office and you'll likely have to send in some paperwork (Every school I've attended has contacted me sometime after filling out the FAFSA, but this may not be true for all schools.. Check out the main campus Fin Aid for more info).

HTH.

which is better or has lower interest? grad plus or stafford, when i hear governments loans are better, do people refer to grad or stafford? thanks!

The interest rate on Stafford loans is lower, and for one particular type of Stafford (subsidized), you don't accrue interest while you're in school. For unsubsidized Stafford and Grad Plus loans, you start accruing interest as soon as the money is disbursed to you. The only reason to use Grad Plus loans is that Stafford loans (subsidized and unsubsidized combined) are capped at about $20k per year. So if you need more than that, you can use Grad Plus loans to make up the difference, up to the school's total COA.

Add to that there are no subsidized Stafford loans for grad school, only unsub and Grad+.

rinkrat19 wrote:Add to that there are no subsidized Stafford loans for grad school, only unsub and Grad+.

Oops, brain fart - you're exactly right. So the easy way to think of it is "unsub Stafford for up to $20,500/year, Grad Plus for anything beyond that, up to COA" (minus other financial awards like scholarships).

ScottRiqui wrote:

kay2016 wrote:Have you filled out your FAFSA?

Will you need to take out a grad plus loan or only Stafford loans? (This should be in your financial aid package if you've filled out your FAFSA).

Some point this summer you'll either be contacted by your school's financial aid office and you'll likely have to send in some paperwork (Every school I've attended has contacted me sometime after filling out the FAFSA, but this may not be true for all schools.. Check out the main campus Fin Aid for more info).

HTH.

This is TCR. Filling out your FAFSA is definitely the first step. Then at some point, the school will send you a FAN (Financial Aid Notification) telling you how much of what type of loans you can take out. At that point, you can accept the whole package, reject the whole package, or elect to take out less than the maximum offered amount. My school sent out the FAN emails early last month, I think.

I sent in both the FAFSA and Need Access long ago, before the deadlines in March or whenever. My school's sent me a "provisional" award letter detailing how much $ I'm eligible for in both grad plus and stafford loans... but that's it. No option to accept awards, no other info that I can find (unlike another school to which I was accepted, which had an "accept award" offer on their webpage).

Maybe more info will be forthcoming after I send in a second deposit. Just wondering if anyone else has started taking steps to accept their loan offers already?