Any advice when looking for student loans/funding?

Let me warn you now: Don’t be fooled by those fake FAFSA people who charge you to process an application. Applying for FAFSA is free. It is a government program. My dad got tricked into paying for it… I shoulda set it up for him

If you filled out a FAFSA your school should be able to provide you with information of possible loans and grants. Talk with them.

strictly avoid chase loans- they really screwed me. If you can get a cosigner preferably your parents so that you can get a better interest rates . Try fixed rate loans like the ones from sallie MAE first but they are hard to get. Personally I would recommend citibank. They process the loan pretty fast and even let you sign the prommisory note online

I would definitely avoid Citibank if you can. Yes, @mirza they are fast at getting it worked through the system but they have tried to cheat both my sister and myself out of money on our loans (i.e.- my sister was making double payments each month to pay down the principal but they were taking the extra payment and applying it to future interest!) That is straight crime. We repeatedly tried to solve the issues with Citibank thinking that they were just making mistakes but it got to the point where we realized they were trying to scam us every way possible. Thank goodness my parents were around to help us recognize all this. They wanted to file a class action lawsuit against Citibank but instead they just consolidated them all into Wells Fargo. If you do research I believe Citibank had been sued for corporate crime in the past. (That was in my sociology textbook!)

Anyways, I would definitely look into taking out as much FAFSA money as you can and avoid private loans if possible, then resort to the scholarship list at your schools Financial Aid department. Apply to any and every one that you are qualified for because there really is a ton of money out there in scholarships for those who take the time and effort to look and apply. Best of luck!