CleverCynic Posted April 26, 2007 Report Share Posted April 26, 2007 Hello school loan gurus! I'm not close enough to finishing school to be anywhere near default yet, so I'm looking for some preventative advice and maybe some tips for the near future. I'm entering my 3rd year at a private school of pharmacy and I will likely have in excess of $150,000 in loans principal by the time I am done. Right now I have a blend of stafford subs and unsubs plus Xtra loans, pretty much all through CFNC.org (college foundation of north carolina). I get tons of mail about consolidating but I've never really looked into it because these loans have been hard enough to get, and I've needed a cosigner both years so far. I just got a mailer from EDUCATION LOAN FUNDING requiring "immediate response" like all the others. I'm basically wanting to know if this is something I should be doing or is this junk mail? I'm really clueless on this but I know a small percentage will translate into huge payment differences later. Last, if anyone has a good tip on who might give grad-plus loans without a cosigner to early to mid 600's fico without a co-signer, I'm ALL EARS! I'm guessing even those scores are much higher than whatever I had 2 years ago. Thanks again,Rob:confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LynnInMN Posted April 26, 2007 Report Share Posted April 26, 2007 Ignore the secondary marketing companies. They often make promises that they have no intention of keeping....you consolidate with promises of great interest rate reductions and then they promptly sell the loan off. Poof...there goes your incentives. With a balance like that, you probably want to be looking at Direct Loan Consolidations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CleverCynic Posted April 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2007 Excellent, thank you. Should I be looking into this now or after graduation?TIA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LynnInMN Posted April 26, 2007 Report Share Posted April 26, 2007 There is no benefit to consolidating while in school...last July they took away that loophole. Also if you consolidate early, you will loose your grace period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CleverCynic Posted April 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2007 Oh so that's what all that to-do was last year. Thanks. I hope I didn't miss a big opportunity last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amerikaner83 Posted May 25, 2007 Report Share Posted May 25, 2007 I gradutated in September last year and consolidated directly with SallieMae. Federal AND private loans were all done through them - so I just pay SM once online - two accounts - private and federal. Couldn't really be any easier for me - just call them like a month of two before the grace period (6 monthis i believe) is over and ask to consolidate them. Like i said - went real easy for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simplysilky Posted May 29, 2007 Report Share Posted May 29, 2007 I gradutated in September last year and consolidated directly with SallieMae. Federal AND private loans were all done through them - so I just pay SM once online - two accounts - private and federal. Couldn't really be any easier for me - just call them like a month of two before the grace period (6 monthis i believe) is over and ask to consolidate them. Like i said - went real easy for meDid it/when did it show up on your credit report? My grace period is going to start next month and I need to have them reporting...who knows, maybe it will increase my scores since I will be paying on time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amerikaner83 Posted May 29, 2007 Report Share Posted May 29, 2007 When I had the loans taken out during school they showed on my credit as "payment deferred", each individual loan. They now show up as all "paid - consolidation". Since I consolidated them, the consolidation loans also showed up on my report when I made the first payment (march 2007). They could be reporting now, you might want to look @ your report. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CleverCynic Posted May 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2007 Does anyone know if consolidation of like 12 loan disbursements to only 1 open account helps or hits the FICO scores?Right now I'm like 10 paid as agreed to 2 derogatory, but I wonder if it was just 1 pays as agreed to 2 derogatory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2ndTimeAround Posted May 30, 2007 Report Share Posted May 30, 2007 RobIt's good to see an ambitious person like yourself going to school. Keep it up.....++ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CleverCynic Posted May 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2007 Thanks for the props, 2ndTimer... It's been and continues to be a lot of work but I'm really glad I'm doing it. I figure 4 years is going to pass regardless of what I do, so may as well be a rainbow at the end! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amerikaner83 Posted May 31, 2007 Report Share Posted May 31, 2007 Took me a few years to finally decide to go back to school....took my father 23 (after a full stint in the USMC he went back)... sometimes it just takes awhile to figure out what you want to do you know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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