well im deciding wether or not if i should take out student loans for this semester and next. i can pay for both but i won't have any money left in the bank.
how did most of you guys do it? use up all your savings or just take out student loans?

 

You want to keep a little salted away for emergencies. You'll also need some money to get life started after you graduate.

If you have enough to pay for 2 semesters, pay for 1 and get a loan for 1. After you graduate and get some cash coming in you might be able to pay off the loan with what you have left in the bank.

 

I took out student loans. I took out as much as I could, the loan rates are good and the repayment rate is terrific. If you think there is any chance you might have to put ANY of your expenses on a credit card or if you might have to take out a regular loan, say for a new car, then do it with student loans instead. I am not trying to suggest you take out student loans just to buy a car, but if you could possibly need one anyway, you are going to get a better rate with a student loan generally.

 

IN theory you could get a higher return rate for your money than the interest rate on the student loans.

 

get the loan(s)....its been awhile but if i remember correctly int. wont accumulate until you start paying it back...sorry dont really remember how it all worked....and as someone else said use the loans to your advantage...other rates on CCs, car loan, ect...SAVE your money and let the system pay for now

 

I say take out a loan for as little as you'll need to "comfortably" make it through the year. By that I mean so you are not stressed about depleating our savings, but not going out and spending unnecessarily. Yes, the interest rates are usually low, but they are the kind of loans that can haunt you. Remember, even declaring bankruptcy does not free you from student loan obligations.

This is only true for subsidised loans. Most student loans acrue interest from day one, but payments are deferred until a certain term (usually 6 months) after you graduate. That means if you take out a loan today for next year, you would not have to pay it back until around January 2010, but your principle would have increased by 1.5 years of interest.

 

I saved up to pay for school. Thought about loans for grad school but I didn't want to deal with the interest.