What the *** am I supposed to be doing?

[hope_faith]

I have my FAFSA done (obviously), but I still need to borrow about $10,000 for living expenses.  Am I way behind schedule in getting this money?  What's the deal with Grad Plus loans?  When exactly can you apply for those loans?  I'm going to UIUC and they mentioned the loans, but didn't say when/where to apply.  Should I just go to the Access Group and apply?  How long does it take to get a response regarding approval?  I'm somewhat concerned about whether I will be approved for th loan so I would like to know ASAP?

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated!!!!   I feel so blonde right now.  Sorry!!

[onepoint]

you should be looking at private lenders that offer graduate-level or law school loans.  i, personally, went with citibank.

i wouldn't worry too much about timing; to apply, you'll have to tell the lender where you're going to school, how much you need, whether you're using a co-signor, etc.  if approved, they'll send you a promissory note that you have to sign and return to them.  when they get that back, they'll contact your school's financial aid department to confirm that you're requesting an approved amount.  at my school, once that amount was approved by the financial aid dept, the lender sent the check directly to them, who then cut me a 'refund' for the amount that i had coming to me (total amount of loan - school fees).

start shopping around for interest rates, you may be surprised at differences between lenders.

[onepoint]

i think i should clarify my post...

if you're referring to these 'new' federal graduate PLUS loans, i'm not sure.  i just received information on them today.  my above post outlines the steps that i took last summer, when acquiring private loans to tack on top of the $18,500 in federal money that i received.

[More]

Call your financial aid office and ask.  My school hasn't gotten that all squared away yet -- they are working on the process to get grad plus loans certified.

I'm going with the grad plus loans over the private loans because the interest rate is fixed pretty low...unless I can find a lower fixed rate, I guess.

Onepoint, the thing I'm curious about is the timing on all this...do you know how long it takes from application to disbursement?  Waiting around for this gradplus stuff to get ready is annoying :/

[onepoint]

for me, and most everyone i've talked to, the money comes "too late."  my money wasn't available from my school until around the first week of classes, which didn't do much to help me with moving or anything like that.  even if the money is 'disbursed' to the school, your school may still grind the wheels in processing things and getting the refund check to you.  i'm sure this varied widely between schools.

[More]

Ah, OK.

*moves "prostitute self on corner in Boston" up on his list of plans*

[maka nani]

yea...ive killed one of my credit cards with buying stuff for LS 

[queencruella]

Typically you'll get the money in the first week of school, which means you'll have to cover moving expenses and other things that can't be charged to your school account before your loans come in. However, books and student health insurance (if you don't already have it) can be charged to your student account so they come directly out of your loans. Lots of people who haven't saved for pre-LS expenses end up charging their credit cards and paying back the balance for stuff like a laptop/moving, etc when the loans come through.

[thelawfool]

i was awarded subsidized and unsub stafford loans from my school that should cover tuition and spending money.  i accepted the aid and applied to Wachovia as my lender.  i signed the MPN.  is there anything else I need to do except wait for my school and Wachovia to sort out the details?

[bossfan2]

Nope.  If you signed the MPN and all that, your school just needs to certify your eligibility (which should be $18,500 total) and the money will go directly to your school the first week.  If you're worried, there's no harm in emailing your school's FA staff to ask them if all is good to go!