I Just Hit A Brick Wall

[dmc-2008]

I am so incredibly sad, to the point of throwing up. Omg I did not see this coming at me, and I dont know why. I am just incredibly stupid.

all my kids life we talked about golfing in college and now the coaches are calling and she is getting some good awards, but the dont pay all of it. We have to take out loans! That is the problem. I couldnt get a Parents Plus if I tried, and she cant get a loan without my cosign, which is completly useless.

i always thought that the kids once 18 can take out their own loan without credit, because its a student loan!

How did I miss that detail. My kid is devastated, i feel so so bad!

Amyway.... i wish I never did this, it has caused so much pain in my life! So sad!!!!

[PANSYFACE]

All is not lost. I put myself through school without any student loans. Have you looked up all organizations that give scholarship awards? Kiwanis Club, etc.
I believe that there is a book or list of what is available, should be a resource in the high school guidance office. Look into that. Good luck! I worked my way through school but I was not involved in a sport and commuted. Can she get a job to help offset the costs?

[justbroke]

dmc... you can't get a Parent Plus loan? They are very forgiving. They approved me for one and I was beyond shocked. As pansyface wrote, looking for every single possible scholarship possible may help. May even need to get back with the school and ask for additional resources or a pointer to where you can look.

[sophieanne]

Hi DebtGirl. Why are you so sure your daughter can't get a loan? Sallie Mae is place you should talk to, they do allow loans without a cosigner. Have you been open with the Finance people about your situation.? Loans are based on financial needs and because of your situation, the need is actually greater. Talk to them for advice and possibly talk to Sallie Mae. College isn't out, you just have more searching to do. Once your daughter has been acceped the Finance dept will fight to get her the financing she needs.

[LadyInTheRed]

I don't have any personal knowledge, but one thing I have heard is that if the parent applies for a parent plus loan and is denied, that opens up eligibility for the student.

What I do know from personal experience is that when a student is having problems finding the money needed for school, the first place to go is the school's financial aid office. In your daughter's case, she should talk to the coaches to see if they can recommend additional resources.

Don't give up and don't let your daughter give up!

[jennm8911]

Your child can get a loan We were one year into our Chapter 13 and I had to apply for the Parent Plus loan so I would be denied and then your child can apply for the loan. We will be discharged this year and every year he has been loaned money for school.

[dmc-2008]

Omg! Thank you all so much! I was in tears all night, such a wuss! I just feel so bad to watch her work so hard and then be denied because of $$$

also! I am going to talk to finance people again today. I took friday off to spend the day researching, like crazy!

also I have a little bit of a deferred acct at work and I can borrow a little bit. I will have to pay it back with interest but I will only borrow what can be paid back by my retirement date. I need it to bridge until social security.

you should have seen her face, my heart just tore apart!

thank you all! I will look at everything mentioned here!

[Chrysalis]

I don't know if you are a mom or a dad, but it doesn't matter -- please don't call yourself a "wuss" for anything... LET ALONE for caring so deeply about your child's future.

There are many of us parents out there feeling the same feelings you are, through this entire process. I was just driving along today and the thought popped into my head, "We are almost 40. We should have our shit together by now. Instead we are in worse shape than we've ever been."

We have 3 boys, and I have no idea how things are going to pan out for us OR them. Life happens -- and it happens fast. Even when we feel we are at our worst as parents, there is always a lesson for them. I remind myself often that maybe the key here is that they will learn from us what NOT to do with their finances.

Good luck getting it all figured out. It sounds like you've gotten some great advice so far.

[dmc-2008]

Thanks Chrys! I'm a single mom. I do care deeply. This forum has been great resource for me! You are still young!!!!! I am going to be 57 in May, had her at 39!

i have retirement and college all at the same time coming at me.

But we got this right! I so appreciate this safe place!

[southernmama]

It'll be okay mama! I had my breakdown a few months ago over a similar situation. My husband and I are 6 months into our ch13 and like was mentioned earlier, I felt like such a failure that at 31 that we didn't have our crap together and our oldest girl who has worked hard all throughout high school in sports to get scholarships and will be leaving for college soon (we started early) and we can't even get her a car. Something most parents can do and our credit is so shot that we can't do it. In the end, I dried my tears and had to remember where I put my big girl panties and we set our goal. She's going to work to save half and so are we.

Don't worry dmc-2008, if you havent already, go talk to the financial aid dept and she'll get that loan. Good luck!

[RetiredArmy]

I am so incredibly sad, to the point of throwing up. Omg I did not see this coming at me, and I dont know why. I am just incredibly stupid.

all my kids life we talked about golfing in college and now the coaches are calling and she is getting some good awards, but the dont pay all of it. We have to take out loans! That is the problem. I couldnt get a Parents Plus if I tried, and she cant get a loan without my cosign, which is completly useless.

i always thought that the kids once 18 can take out their own loan without credit, because its a student loan!

How did I miss that detail. My kid is devastated, i feel so so bad!

Amyway.... i wish I never did this, it has caused so much pain in my life! So sad!!!!

DO NOT SWEAT IT! I just completed my Chapter 13 and now waiting for the discharge process. I have a child that is enrolled at Austin Peay State University and we had the SAME PROBLEM! I wish that the financial education class would have brought this up and we did ask at the time of filing but got no answer except that "WE CAN NOT CO-SIGN nor APPLY FOR STUDENT LOANS!" PERIOD.......

After a brief meltdown, I called me attorney and was advised to request permission from the Trustee to assume debt for the child; however he also stated that it would be BETTER to have our Child SIGN THEIR OWN STUDENT LOAN! We were approved but we also remembered what the attorney said and went to the Financial Aid Office to apply for the Parent PLUS LOAN. WE GOT APPROVED!!!!!!!!

I DID NOT WANT TO SIGN! So my wife and I told the financial aid office that we refused to sign because we were in an active chapter 13. They requested a copy of our Chapter 13 with a letter from the Trustee explaining the expected end date of the plan. This worked out in our daughter's favor because she was "AUTOMATICALLY APPROVED FOR HIGHER LEVELS OF FUNDING" because she was considered an "INDEPENDENT STUDENT".

Just realize that the first year of college is always the most stressful especially the first semester. I told my child that as long as she maintained a A/B average and NO C, D, F or INCOMPLETES, I would ASSUME her debts after our plan was done. She has made the DEANS LIST EVERY SEMESTER and will be a Senior next year.

This is a learning tool for your children by explaining the value of credit and how to spend wisely. Hang in there it will ALL WORK OUT JUST FINE! Get a letter from the Attorney and tell them it is for your child's financial aid office at the college they are attending.

[dmc-2008]

Thank you guys! Tomorrow I am calling back the financial aid office to see if I can get a best offer.

i toldmy kid that she needs the loans in her name and that it would be fair to have her dad cosign the first two years and I can cosign the last two years!!!!

i think that will work because I will be discharged by then.

so she asked him and he agreed.

Now we just have to commit and get her there. So stressful.

[dmc-2008]

Ok parents in the same boat as me! How much loans did you allow your kid to take out? 5, 10 or 15k a year? How much will they owe at the end of 4 years? How much is too much? Thank you all so much!

[justbroke]

The unsubsidized loans accumulate interest throughout the forbearance period. Here's a calculator at FinAid that may be what you're looking for. It only looks at a single loan, so you could put $10K and see what happens in 48 months (4 years after forbearance). I ran it with the interest rate at 5.84% (the current unsubsidized Stafford rate), with $0.00 minimum payments (during the forbearance period) and a Capitalization Frequency of At Repayment. There was over $2.3K in "capitalized" interest during the 48 months forbearance period just on $10K.

FinAid -- Cost of Interest Capitalization Calculator http://www.finaid.org/calculators/interestcap.phtml

My student received scholarships and there was minimal needs as they live at home (11 miles from campus and has unlimited use of a car). I did have the Parent PLUS loan as a backup as the scholarships are about $1,000 short of the in-state tuition. But, I haven't allowed anything more since he lives at home and has all the accoutrements of living off campus.

[dmc-2008]

JB I was looking for a calc like that yesterday to show my kid how interest accrus! Thank you. CC is more on my radar right now then ever!