Tim,
You can do a general search on scholarships and grants online. Some come from the weirdest places like your home town, a local Rotary or Kiwanis club, an Irish American Legion, etc. Many of them require an essay, consistently good grades or something to qualify for them. Pell Grants, and Staford loans are the way to go if all else fails but whatever you do, don't take out a Gate Loan. THEY SUCK!!!!!
I also went to school in Boston. Halfway through my Junior year, they lost all of my enrollement and financial aid info during a Co-op semester. They didn't make any effort to contact me about the situation until 3 days before the next semester began. In an emergency I ended up with a Gate Loan and I'm literally paying 3 times more for my education than I would with another grant/loan. The worst part is that it cannot be consolidated at a fixed low rate....ever. Sally Mae, Stafford and other subsidised loans can.
A word of advice about payoff...pay it off as soon as you possibly can, the interest in the long run will absolutely kill you. The car may have to go on the back burner for a while!
Ben
|