been looking into student loan options since federal aid didn't cover everything, and honestly there are way more banks offering these than i thought. turns out the best places to get student loans aren't just the obvious ones.

so like, citizens has branches everywhere and their rates are pretty decent - they do variable starting around 5% or fixed lower. pnc has a whole student lending center thing with different loan types depending on what you need. then there's education loan finance through southeast bank, which seems solid if you want to refinance or consolidate.

college ave is interesting because they work with multiple banks behind the scenes, not just one institution. sofi keeps popping up in my search too - they're an online lender but they have flexible repayment which is clutch. and discover actually gives you cash back if you maintain a good gpa, which i didn't know was a thing.

the rates vary everywhere from like 4-6% depending on fixed vs variable, but honestly the real difference is in the terms and whether they charge fees. some have zero application fees, others let you customize your repayment. thinking about comparing a few more before deciding which best places to get student loans actually work for my situation. anyone else been through this? which one did you end up going with?