How long ahead of time do you need to apply for loans? Forum

[wildcatatpenn]

Currently in 2L with BigLaw lined up; feel very secure in BigLaw after graduation.

Thus, I would like to shop around for a private loan for my 4th semester of law school, as well as likely my 6th semester when I get there. I figure some sort of private lender should be able to beat the GradPlus rate, and hopefully the Stafford rate as well, based on my excellent credit

I came into law school with some $ I used to pay down 1st semester, used Fed loans 2nd semester, 1L SA for 3rd semester. So first time really looking outside of the Fed loans

So, if applying to various banks for school term starting in January, when would be the best time to start applying and talking to the banks/credit unions etc? Would I be able to wait until after finals, or do they take like a month to process/negotiate or whatever?

Thank you for any tips