Anyone have/had a private student loan through Sallie Mae?

[Jessika]

My federal student loans are finally all consolidated (only took like 3 years...) with an ok interest rate (could be much higher I suppose). I have some private student loans through Sallie Mae and I'm not sure I'm happy with them (understatement). They are never helpful when I call them, and they seem to apply the bulk of my monthly payment toward interest instead of principal and it wildly varies how much is put toward each from month-to-month. Plus, my interest rate is 9.75%! The whole loan thing still all really confuses me, a lot of it doesn't make sense, I just pay what they tell me to pay every month and don't think much else about it but I'm sure I can refinance this to something a little more beneficial to myself. Does anyone have any experience with this or have a company to suggest? I was reading about Wells Fargo, and also reading that I can just call Sallie Mae to see if they'll reduce my interest rate if my credit score has changed, etc. It's all just overwhelming to me, considering I barely make a dent in the overall balance due eventhough I pay them over $100/month (not including my fed loans!!) and this is killing me. Any vet techs know you don't make ANY money in this field (and at my clinic especially, we are definitely underpaid...).

Thank you everyone.

[happylabs]

I sympathize with you on this. It is a nightmare! My daughter just graduated with $60,000.00 in loans to pay back. She knows she has to pay it back herself and will be consolidating her loans soon. My son also graduated several years ago. I am pretty sure his loans are through Wells Fargo.

I wish I could help you more. I am at a loss right now as well. I pretty much have turned it over to her to figure out since she no longer lives with me.