LeylaFart
New member
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2026
- Messages
- 9
Hi everyone! I just wanted to post this as a friendly PSA for all the new freshmen and transfer students lurking on the forum. 
When I was applying for schools, I didn't understand the difference between loan types at all. I just saw the numbers.
My best friend, Sarah, had a full-ride academic scholarship, so she didn't need loans. But her little brother, Mike, wasn't so lucky. He tried to go the private route because he thought it was "cooler" or faster, I guess? But here's where things got really hard: their parents have bad credit. Because of that, Mike couldn't get a private loan without an expensive, sky-high interest rate, and even then, the bank wanted a creditworthy cosigner.
His parents couldn't cosign because of their score, and Sarah was just a student with no income. It was a nightmare.
He ended up having to go to a community college for two years instead of the state school he wanted.
That experience taught me everything. The main benefit of taking out a federal student loan (specifically the Direct Unsubsidized loan) is that you don't need a credit history and you don't need a cosigner. It’s a loan in your name, for your education, based on your need, not your parents' past financial mistakes. It gives you independence. It allows you to start building your own future without dragging your family into a legal contract with a bank. It might not be the glitziest option, but it is the most accessible door to higher education for so many of us.
When I was applying for schools, I didn't understand the difference between loan types at all. I just saw the numbers.My best friend, Sarah, had a full-ride academic scholarship, so she didn't need loans. But her little brother, Mike, wasn't so lucky. He tried to go the private route because he thought it was "cooler" or faster, I guess? But here's where things got really hard: their parents have bad credit. Because of that, Mike couldn't get a private loan without an expensive, sky-high interest rate, and even then, the bank wanted a creditworthy cosigner.
His parents couldn't cosign because of their score, and Sarah was just a student with no income. It was a nightmare.
He ended up having to go to a community college for two years instead of the state school he wanted.That experience taught me everything. The main benefit of taking out a federal student loan (specifically the Direct Unsubsidized loan) is that you don't need a credit history and you don't need a cosigner. It’s a loan in your name, for your education, based on your need, not your parents' past financial mistakes. It gives you independence. It allows you to start building your own future without dragging your family into a legal contract with a bank. It might not be the glitziest option, but it is the most accessible door to higher education for so many of us.