Applied w/ Sallie Mae

[LFGuard10]

Well I finally bit the bullet and applied w/ Sallie Mae today, shooting for $50,000. Should get my results in a few days. I'm only 22, but have a very good credit hx for my age. I own my home, have paid vehicle payments since 19, and have all been on time. I also have a few loans that are almost paid. I don't know if they'll approve me or not, I may need a co-signer, which will be hard for me to do. Anybody else here my age get a SLM loan for that amount before?

[Guest rotorflyr84]

I'm in the process. I had to get a co-signer, but everythings been approved and I'm just waiting on the approval packet, etc.. Should finally be able to start training close to the end of this month. My loan though was for $66,000. I took more than I needed just in case. Whatever I have left over I'll either put back, or maybe use it to log some night hours. But, hope it works for you. Let us know what happens.

[rotor_head_spencer]

LFGuard10.... GOOD LUCK! you NEVER know what sallie mae is going to do. they are unpredictable.

 

rotorflyr84, I don't know if Bill Gates was your co-signer, but I will tell ya what, I am amazed and jealous of you. LFGuard10 I am 25 and have EXCELLENT CREDIT (Score is 730) NEVER missed or even late on ANY payments, and back in January I applied with my wife as my Co-signer (her score 690) and we both have our cars paid off, own a house, and have good jobs. You know what Sallie Mae offered me when I asked for $60,000? Try $5,000. So, I got my Father in Law who makes $85,000 a year, has his house paid off his cars paid off, and has a better credit score than I do and they came back with $20,000. So I convinced my Step mom (dads credit sucks) and added her as a a second Co-signer with my father in law, and they came back with a counter offer of $40,000. I took it. couple months ago my $40,000 is down to 6,000 so I go back to Sallie Mae to ask for the rest. Got the same Co-Signers and asked for 30,000 to finish. They counter offered a BIG ZERO! I went through every family member that had decent to excellent credit and all I could get was $10,000 more. I am telling you this story not to be negative or to tell you that you have no chance, but I am just warning you that unless you are the luckiest person in the world like rotorflyr84 you are probably not gonna come anywhere near what you ask for from sallie mae. They have TERRIBLE customer service as well. I could go on forever and tell you horror stories all day. I hate Sallie Mae with more passion than anyone in this world. I hope that the finacial advisor at your school is crafty or has good connections with sallie mae because you will need them. If you have any questions on how to cut through all the BS that sallie mae has then let me know and I will be glad to help. I really doubt that anyone has had more problems with sallie mae than I have. I truely believe that. I will be writing a book called "Sallie Mae: Champions of raping peoples dreams" and it will be out around January. Look for it on AMAZON. GOOD LUCK!

Edited November 9, 2007 by rotor_head_spencer

[Guest rotorflyr84]

LFGuard10.... GOOD LUCK! you NEVER know what sallie mae is going to do. they are unpredictable.

 

rotorflyr84, I don't know if Bill Gates was your co-signer, but I will tell ya what, I am amazed and jealous of you. LFGuard10 I am 25 and have EXCELLENT CREDIT (Score is 730) NEVER missed or even late on ANY payments, and back in January I applied with my wife as my Co-signer (her score 690) and we both have our cars paid off, own a house, and have good jobs. You know what Sallie Mae offered me when I asked for $60,000? Try $5,000. So, I got my Father in Law who makes $85,000 a year, has his house paid off his cars paid off, and has a better credit score than I do and they came back with $20,000. So I convinced my Step mom (dads credit sucks) and added her as a a second Co-signer with my father in law, and they came back with a counter offer of $40,000. I took it. couple months ago my $40,000 is down to 6,000 so I go back to Sallie Mae to ask for the rest. Got the same Co-Signers and asked for 30,000 to finish. They counter offered a BIG ZERO! I went through every family member that had decent to excellent credit and all I could get was $10,000 more. I am telling you this story not to be negative or to tell you that you have no chance, but I am just warning you that unless you are the luckiest person in the world like rotorflyr84 you are probably not gonna come anywhere near what you ask for from sallie mae. They have TERRIBLE customer service as well. I could go on forever and tell you horror stories all day. I hate Sallie Mae with more passion than anyone in this world. I hope that the finacial advisor at your school is crafty or has good connections with sallie mae because you will need them. If you have any questions on how to cut through all the BS that sallie mae has then let me know and I will be glad to help. I really doubt that anyone has had more problems with sallie mae than I have. I truely believe that. I will be writing a book called "Sallie Mae: Champions of raping peoples dreams" and it will be out around January. Look for it on AMAZON. GOOD LUCK!

 

Bill gates...not even close...lol. I was approved for 14,000 alone without a co-signer. But I had them change it to 66,000 because that's what my total "tuition" (<-- Sallie Mae slang) was going to cost me. They denied me for that without a co-signer, which I had a feeling was going to happen. So, I gave my wonderful mother a call, she agreed to co-sign, I added her while I was talking with her, it ran everything, and it was approved. My mother is a Respiratory Therapist, and my father is a commercial/residential painter. Not sure how I got lucky, but I did. I've been hearing a lot about Sallie Mae, but my options were pay as I go, (thats funny, I can hardly put gas in my car), or Pilot Finance (No thanks.), or Sallie Mae. So, I just went with Sallie Mae. So far the only problem with them is when you fax in one thing, they want three more things. What are you doing now Rotor Head Spencer as far as financing? Are you in training, or is that complete? Sorry to hear that they couldn't do more. Sometimes I wonder how you are supposed to get a start on life, when nobody is willing to give chances. Think about it.

[fry]

Well I finally bit the bullet and applied w/ Sallie Mae today, shooting for $50,000. Should get my results in a few days. I'm only 22, but have a very good credit hx for my age. I own my home, have paid vehicle payments since 19, and have all been on time. I also have a few loans that are almost paid. I don't know if they'll approve me or not, I may need a co-signer, which will be hard for me to do. Anybody else here my age get a SLM loan for that amount before?

 

Are you familiar with the phrase, "a snowball's chance in hell"?

[rotor_head_spencer]

couple of questions for ya rotorflyer84. how old are you, where do you live, what school are you going to? I am just curious because I have been trying to get financing for years, and I have had great credit for a long time, and I thought I had all the ducks in a row when I sent my documents into sallie mae and, not only was I confident that I was going to get 60,000 for training, but my finacial advisor at my school as well as two current students thought there was no way I wasn't going to be able to get the money I needed. But 5 grand? When I hear that other people get the full amount for training with out any cosigners and they are the same age as I am it blows my mind! I have no idea how Sallie Mae is coming up with their decisions on who gets it or who doesn't but it really is the most frustrating thing I have ever dealt with!

 

I am currently working on my instrument rating and using the hours that I get in the instrument training to finish out my hours in my commercial. Then I will have just enough money to get me started on my CFI. As for finishing my CFI and CFII............... Well, you only need one kidney right?

 

Sallie Mae horror story #10: I wanted TWO cosigners on my loan for the rest of the money. So I had my father in law, whos last name is Sweek, cosign as well as my step mother whos last name is Spencer. Well there is no 2 cosigner application online, but that is horror story #7. Anyways, TWO WEEKS LATER my step mom recieved a letter saying that she had insufficent credit history (funny, she qualified for 20,000 by herself 10 months ago) and my father in law recieved a letter saying this: "Dear Mr. Sweekencer, you do not qualify to recieve a loan for school because you have no credit history." did ya catch that? SWEEKENCER! his last name is Sweek! they squished his last name with my last name and ran a credit check for some one named SWEEKENCER and sent the denial letter to his adress! I can't make this stuff up! This is the circus that is Sallie Mae!

 

LFGuard10, If sallie mae rejects you, try like hell to get a cosigner or two. remember, if you are trying to convince some one to cosign on a loan with you, REMIND them that as long as you make your payments on time for two years without missing a payment, your cosigners will be removed from the loan and they will not be responsible for the full 15 or 20 years that you are paying it back for. This creates a warm fuzzy feeling in the cosigners stomach that they will not lose their house just because you didn't want to make your payment. and another bonus is that you can get it deferred for a full year and you only have to pay 10 bucks a month for that first year! And ask your fiancial advisor at your school for a two cosigner application, he or she should have one or know how to get one, and make sure to FAX the application in with all of the following things, Your Drivers lisense, as well as both of your co signers and make sure its front and back and that they can read the signatures on the lisense. Make sure you send your pay stub as well as your cosigner and make sure it is a pay stub that has been from at least the last three months. if you send in all of this information via fax make sure you make copies of EVERYTHING you sent in because most likely they will screw something up or lose something and they will need you to fax it all in AGAIN! Don't do anything online, because if they need something else you will have to fax it, and when you do fax whatever it is they need it will not go to the same place or the same people that have your original application in the first place. DON'T GIVE THEM ANY EXCUSES TO DRAG THEIR FEET! When I asked for the rest of the money for my training I sent everything they needed in on the 6th of September! I sent it STRAIGHT to the under writers, and it took them a full month to tell me that they didn't get the second page of the application. Of course I called them every day to make sure they got everything. they actually lost the second page. I swear! they lost it! but they had already processed the loan even though it was incomplete so I had to do it over again. YA, Sweekencer just got his denial letter last week... and I sent it in on the 6th of september. Like I said, don't give them any excuses or reasons to deny your loan, and hope for the best! Sorry for the Novel I just wrote, but I am just as passionate about flying helicopters as I am about hating sallie mae!

[Guest rotorflyr84]

I'm 23 years-old, I live in Charlotte, North Carolina, and I'm going to start training at NC Rotor and Wing in the R22 and R44.

 

I'm amazed that they didn't grant you your loan request. It's funny because you probably had a higher line of credit on a Visa Credit Card than what they offered you -- 5,000 is rediculous! I would have to agree that you really need to stay on-top of sallie mae. They will not notify you if you need to submit additional info, etc. I've called them everyday, at least twice a day, to check the status of my loan progress. I'm not exactly sure what they look for when they determine an approval or not. So far, I haven't had any bad comments, other than always having to call them to check the status of my loan, and to have to re-submit new material because one section was missing. It's not over for another 15 + years, so I'm sure I will have my moments.

 

Good luck with the flying. Where are you training out of? What are you flying also?

[rotor_head_spencer]

I'm 23 years-old, I live in Charlotte, North Carolina, and I'm going to start training at NC Rotor and Wing in the R22 and R44.

 

I'm amazed that they didn't grant you your loan request. It's funny because you probably had a higher line of credit on a Visa Credit Card than what they offered you -- 5,000 is rediculous! I would have to agree that you really need to stay on-top of sallie mae. They will not notify you if you need to submit additional info, etc. I've called them everyday, at least twice a day, to check the status of my loan progress. I'm not exactly sure what they look for when they determine an approval or not. So far, I haven't had any bad comments, other than always having to call them to check the status of my loan, and to have to re-submit new material because one section was missing. It's not over for another 15 + years, so I'm sure I will have my moments.

 

Good luck with the flying. Where are you training out of? What are you flying also?

 

I am training at ASU (Aviation Specialties Unlimited) in Boise Idaho. www.asu-nvg.com/ I am flying the Shweizer 300c and I am loving every minute of it! I am working on my instrument right now and it is a blast! I am about to start my cross country instrument flights, which reminds me, I need to be studying right now.

[Guest rotorflyr84]

Dude thats awesome! Glad to hear that you are enjoying every minute of it! Keep us up to date from time to time. Being a student myself just starting my PPL Helicopter add-on, I would love to hear more about the instrument training. Hey what are you doing reading this...aren't you supposed to be studying!?!? Take care bro. Keep in touch!

[LFGuard10]

Thanks for the reply guys. I should find out tomorrow what they say. (I'll prob. need a co-signer ) Anyway, sorry for getting back to you so late but my account has been messed up and wouldn't let me log on. Seems to be working fine now. Thanks again, and I'll keep you posted incase anyone else is in my shoes.

[rotor_head_spencer]

Thanks for the reply guys. I should find out tomorrow what they say. (I'll prob. need a co-signer ) Anyway, sorry for getting back to you so late but my account has been messed up and wouldn't let me log on. Seems to be working fine now. Thanks again, and I'll keep you posted incase anyone else is in my shoes.

 

 

I have my fingers crossed for ya! Like I said before, you never know what sallie mae is looking for and what they will aprove ya for. please do post what the results are. I will add it to my book!

[LFGuard10]

Well Sallie Mae counteroffered with $10K, which surprised me. I thought they would flat-out deny me. My cosigners are very very limited, like, maybe 1. At this point, I don't know whether to accept the $10,000 and just stay in very good standing w/ Sallie Mae and hope they loan me more when that is used up or what I should do.

[Sparker]

Well Sallie Mae counteroffered with $10K, which surprised me. I thought they would flat-out deny me. My cosigners are very very limited, like, maybe 1. At this point, I don't know whether to accept the $10,000 and just stay in very good standing w/ Sallie Mae and hope they loan me more when that is used up or what I should do.

 

Kick Sallie to the curb and do it without her, at least get started with cash. There is a reason they won't give you more.

 

They don't think you will pay them back! They are usually right.

 

Good luck!

[rotor_head_spencer]

Well Sallie Mae counteroffered with $10K, which surprised me. I thought they would flat-out deny me. My cosigners are very very limited, like, maybe 1. At this point, I don't know whether to accept the $10,000 and just stay in very good standing w/ Sallie Mae and hope they loan me more when that is used up or what I should do.

 

 

Well LFGuard10, taking that 10 grand is not a great idea. When I got 40K the first time, I was worried about not being able to get the rest. The financial advisor at my school told me to take it and instead of paying the regular $10 a month pay $100 a month to "Be in good standing" and show them that I was willing to pay more than what is required and they "WILL" give me the rest of the money I needed to get through school. She told me that because that is what people at Sallie Mae told her and it had worked for other students before me. Sounded good right? I paid $100 a month instead of $10 and never was late on a payment, I went back to Sallie mae and asked for about $30K more so that I could finish. They DENIED ME and made NO COUNTER OFFER! They denied me even though I still had GREAT credit, and TWO cosigners with EXCELLENT credit, and they didn't even offer me a counter offer! ZILCH......... we kept harrasing them until they finally made a counter offer of $10K. which wasn't enough to finish, but it was enough to get me REALLY close. Now, I did that with $40K to start with. If you take that 10K and get about halfway through your private pilot course and you go back and they don't give you a dime, you are going to be sitting there wondering why you just wasted 10K. now you could take that 10k, go as far as you can and then pay as you go, but I wouldn't want to go that route if I were you, and I'll tell ya why. If you only fly once every one or two weeks by the next time you fly you are going to have to re-learn every thing you learned two weeks ago. You need 35 hours to get your Private Pilot license and you want to get your licese as cheap as you can get it. well if you are flying one time every week or so, then you are most likely going to have to fly more hours to be ready for your check ride. I am speaking from personal experience too, I actually quit my job at the start of my commercial license because I was moving at a very slow pace and I would spend half of my flight trying to remember how to do very simple things. In my opinion, a good pace is 2 to 3 flights a week but everyone is different. I am currently doing 3 to 4 flights a week and I am going to be finished with everything from pilot license to CFII in exactly one year. Now you could imagine how long it would take you if you were only doing 1 flight a week. I could only afford to quit my job because I have a sugar momma who takes good care of me, so maybe you should look into finding yourself a sugar momma. Make no mistake about it LFGuard10, flying a helicopter and trying to make it through all of your training is NOT EASY, and takes a lot of hard work and sacrifice. My buddies pretty much gave up calling me every day to see if I wanted to go to the bars and partys and stuff like that because I would turn them down because I had to study, and I am not even working a full time job! I am not trying to be negative LFGuard10, you will find plenty of those guys around here like sparker from nebraska, but don't dive into this unless you are prepared to do whatever it takes. I have only been flying for a year and I have already seen lots of guys get about 6 or 8 grand into it and decide that its too hard or they don't like it and poof there goes a lot of money that you will never get back. Here is another tip. I don't know what other schools there are in that area or if you are able to move to another place, but there ARE some schools out there that have OTHER finacing options besides Satan Mae. they are few, but they are out there. some schools are set up like colleges and you are able to get grants and stuff like that. I know my school is trying to become acredited so that they can provide other means of financing besides satan mae. There are other options out there. Don't give up just because sallie mae only gives financing to rich people.

 

Sorry I wrote a novel, I sometimes get carried away. Hope I was helpful.

[rotor_head_spencer]

Kick Sallie to the curb and do it without her, at least get started with cash. There is a reason they won't give you more.

 

They don't think you will pay them back! They are usually right.

 

Good luck!

 

How are getting through your training sparker?

[LFGuard10]

Thanks rotor-head. They do offer financing through AOPA and Pilot Finance. Have you had any experience with them? I will try them and see what happens, but I will probably wait until I can sell my truck to get it off my credit. I could use that extra money every month lol. It probably wouldn't hurt to apply now, but I don't want 400 inquries on my credit by applying for all of these loans. Thanks for the advice.

[fry]

The financial advisor at my school told me to take it and instead of paying the regular $10 a month pay $100 a month to "Be in good standing" and show them that I was willing to pay more than what is required and they "WILL" give me the rest of the money I needed to get through school. She told me that because that is what people at Sallie Mae told her and it had worked for other students before me. Sounded good right? I paid $100 a month instead of $10 and never was late on a payment, I went back to Sallie mae and asked for about $30K more so that I could finish. They DENIED ME and made NO COUNTER OFFER!

 

Do not...never...ever believe anything the employees of the flight school tell you (especially the sales and backroom employees) that is not also in writing (the contract with the school...heaven forbid...or the loan agreement). That "financial advisor" knew full well that what she was telling you was BS (and if she didn't she was incompetent...either way she is not to be believed).

 

Here's a flash...they are trying to make a sale. They are not your friends and they don't really care if you finish the training. They will take $30k rather than nothing.

 

Protect yourself...you're the only one who will.

[Sparker]

How are getting through your training sparker?

 

Do you mean how am I progressing? Doing only ground school right now, hoping to pass the written before I dive in...

 

If you mean how I am paying for it.... cash! Working hard and saving, I will start training when I have enough for a PPL at least.

[Guest rotorflyr84]

Alright my turn!

 

Rotor Head Spencer -- I called Sallie Mae today, and asked the status of my loan. Of course I know what was going on because I check online, but I always call and ask too, just to see if both stories go together the way they should. Well, so I'm speaking to a loan counselor, and she tells me that I need to submit my start and end dates on the enrollment agreement form. This got me a little fired up because I sent the enrollment agreement in 3 times already. So I told her, Ma'am you need to check my latest fax submittal because it is on there. So she looks and finds that. Then she tries to tell me that theres no refund or withdrawl information, so again, I am more fired up and say, Ma'am , look on the bottom of the form because it specifically states the withdrawl and refund policy...oh there it is she says. So, finally she tells me that everything has been approved I just have to fax in a copy of my DL and a current paystub (which was already SUBMITTED with the same fax she was looking at), and I need to do the same for my co-signer, which I haven't done yet. So, in conclusion, do they actually READ what they ask of us to fax in? Apparently not. Granted I've had just one of those days where one thing leads to another and BAM you find yourself resenting everything and everyone. I'm glad that I was approved, but I have to agree with you spencer, there are a lot of bone-heads at Sallie Mae who need to get their (enter bad word here) together. I've been waiting patiently for about 3 weeks now to start training, and I have to keep telling my CFI, it should be this week hopefully. He's awesome about it, but still. They want start dates and end dates...heres the start date: when Sallie Mae finally gets it together, and the end date: when I finish training. Alright, theres my rant for the night.

 

LF -- good luck man with finding some financing. That really sucks that Sallie Mae couldn't do better than that for you. But keep the faith, something good will come your way. Just research your options, and try with some lenders who sound like a good fit for you. Again good luck and if you have any question, feel free to PM or whatever you gotta do to ask.

 

Sparker -- You got the right idea man. If I was able to save cash, I would go that route anyday too. Good luck to you.

[rotor_head_spencer]

Thanks rotor-head. They do offer financing through AOPA and Pilot Finance. Have you had any experience with them? I will try them and see what happens, but I will probably wait until I can sell my truck to get it off my credit. I could use that extra money every month lol. It probably wouldn't hurt to apply now, but I don't want 400 inquries on my credit by applying for all of these loans. Thanks for the advice.

 

AOPA and Pilot Finance? no, never had LOAN experience with them. In my neck of the woods its sallie mae or save your money like sparker. A Friend just told me about this website called prosper.com. I thought he was out of his flippin mind when he told me about it, but I looked into it a little bit, and if you were really in need of some money for school and that was your last option I'd say it was worth lookin into. My friend got $20,000 to pay of loans and credit cards or whatever, but it worked for him. and he has TERRIBLE credit. check it out. can't hurt.

 

Alright my turn!

 

Rotor Head Spencer -- I called Sallie Mae today, and asked the status of my loan. Of course I know what was going on because I check online, but I always call and ask too, just to see if both stories go together the way they should. Well, so I'm speaking to a loan counselor, and she tells me that I need to submit my start and end dates on the enrollment agreement form. This got me a little fired up because I sent the enrollment agreement in 3 times already. So I told her, Ma'am you need to check my latest fax submittal because it is on there. So she looks and finds that. Then she tries to tell me that theres no refund or withdrawl information, so again, I am more fired up and say, Ma'am , look on the bottom of the form because it specifically states the withdrawl and refund policy...oh there it is she says. So, finally she tells me that everything has been approved I just have to fax in a copy of my DL and a current paystub (which was already SUBMITTED with the same fax she was looking at), and I need to do the same for my co-signer, which I haven't done yet. So, in conclusion, do they actually READ what they ask of us to fax in? Apparently not. Granted I've had just one of those days where one thing leads to another and BAM you find yourself resenting everything and everyone. I'm glad that I was approved, but I have to agree with you spencer, there are a lot of bone-heads at Sallie Mae who need to get their (enter bad word here) together. I've been waiting patiently for about 3 weeks now to start training, and I have to keep telling my CFI, it should be this week hopefully. He's awesome about it, but still. They want start dates and end dates...heres the start date: when Sallie Mae finally gets it together, and the end date: when I finish training. Alright, theres my rant for the night.

 

LF -- good luck man with finding some financing. That really sucks that Sallie Mae couldn't do better than that for you. But keep the faith, something good will come your way. Just research your options, and try with some lenders who sound like a good fit for you. Again good luck and if you have any question, feel free to PM or whatever you gotta do to ask.

 

Sparker -- You got the right idea man. If I was able to save cash, I would go that route anyday too. Good luck to you.

 

I feel ya man! I really do! I am SOOOOO glad I don't have to deal with that circus anymore! The problem with those clowns is, that you submit something online, and it goes to Texas, then they send it to underwriters in Portland OR, and then the people who call you for the Information are in Fargo, and then when you call to see what the hell is going on your talking to some one in Virginia, and the people in virginia tell you to fax the documents (that they already have) to San Deigo. It really takes forever. I really wish there were some more options out there.

[Sparker]

Pilot Finance is more like a car loan. You get a lump sum to pay for your rating, which they expect you to do quickly, and payments on the loan start immediately. It is more geared toward middle class working guys who want to do it as a hobby, they only pay for the private certificate.

 

This is the info I was given a year ago when I called them.

[bspindeli]

I have to agree with Fry .... read everything before signing. Go with your gut feeling.

[Logan]

I wouldn't get into the field unless you have all the money to pay for school, either by loan or by money saved. If you go in blind, hoping for the funds to come through in some other fashion, you might be disapointed down the road. Keep saving your money and building your credit. You dont want to find yourself half way through training and realize that you are out of money. Then you are never going to be able to finish in a timely fashion. Save those pennies! Option B... you could always rob a bank. (just kidding).

[Ksvendsen]

Wow....I guess I'm not the only one that has had problems with them. I put in my application a few months before I started flight school and didn't even get approved until I was a licensed pilot. I finally got the money out of them (not as much as I wanted) but I had to spend countless hours on the phone and send in the same information over and over and over again. Bottum line Sallie May makes going to the DMV look like a trip to Disney Land. However, in the end if you really want to be a pilot you have to do whatever it takes. Good luck with your training and fly safe!

 

Kris

[mrjibbs]

Wow, sorry to hear about your bad luck with SM. I just got a 25k loan from them to finish my training and i dont have all that great of credit, lots of debt to income and had to get a co-signer as well. the only trouble they gave me was they made me get everything notarized cause my signature didnt perfectly match from my ID to my loan doc's. That was a pain in the butt. It didnt make any sense cause even if someone else did sign my loan papers, there is no way in hell they would have been able to get the money since its going into an account with the school and everything else was all my information you know. They are ridiculous in that manner, but hey, they are part of the government, need i say more.

 

Best of luck