Private College Student Loan

Help with private student loans!!! I'm graduating this may and I don't know what do with my private loans.?

Okay, so I was a complete idiot when financing my education and now have a staggering amount of student loan debt, both federal but mainly private. I will be attending graduate school full-time in the fall and will NOT be able to afford my student loan payments. I feel so overwhelmed and trapped, can anyone PLEASE help in guiding me what to do. I've found plenty of information online about consolidating federal loans but am stuck with private. The loans are from Sallie Mae and Chase. Is it possible to defer private undergraduate loans while a full-time graduate student? Can I still consolidate private loans? If so, is it tough to get without a cosigner (a problem that has burdened me with outrageous interest rates throughout my education). Can you defer a consolidated private loan while in graduate school? What should I do?! Seriously, I'm so stressed about this problem it's making me sick. Please, only helpful answers-I know I was an idiot for putting myself in this situation, and I know I need to pay these loans back....I'm just trying to figure out how. : (

Public Comments

1. Most banks will allow you to put off paying your loans, but the interest is added to the principle, and just be aware that you'll end up paying quite a bit more in the end, unfortunately. (I'm stuck in a situation where I can't get fin. aid for summer classes and it stresses me out, too!)
2. Jean: Unless you have very unusual private educational loans, the in-school deferment that you have been enjoying until now will continue to apply while you attend graduate school. Your payment obligation will not begin until you have been out of school for 6 months. That is definitely the case with all of your federal loans. As far as your question about consolidation - the difficulty that you have experienced in finding consolidation options for your private loans reflects the reality of the market - there are few, if any options for consolidating private loans at the moment. Once again, the government loans trump the privates in terms of flexibility. (However, you should not need to consolidate right now, so that's really a moot point). When consolidation loans become more readily available (and of course, when you finish grad school), you will have to deal with the fact that the loans are credit-based - but the good news, we can hope, is that your new master's or doctorate will have enabled you to find a great, higher-paying job. If you have flaws in your credit history, your grad school years will provide an opportunity for you to address them - get your credit report cleaned up before you have to apply for a credit-based loan. With any luck, your post-graduate employment will enable you to afford your existing loan payments - consolidation is a VERY expensive alternative. The underlying principle, that you must understand about consolidation, is that consolidation cuts your monthly payments by stretching your repayment period out over a very long period of time. Sure, that can cut your monthly, but you will pay back tens of thousands of dollars more in interest - and I'm not using "tens of thousands" as an exaggeration. That is exactly what you'll pay. So - deep breath. Spend the next 2-7 years focusing on your graduate work - that's challenging enough. Your loans will be waiting for you on the other side. Use the time to get your financial affairs in order - in case you do need to refinance the loans. And whatever you do - please - don't add a penny more than you absolutely need to your existing debt. Good luck to you in grad school!