> The article is a bit overstated. First, what the heck did this guy do to rack up $250,000 in student loans?? Did he go to NYU or Columbia and live in Manhatten, and just live it large? I call shmuck, right there.
Yes, I know, this is the NY Times after all.
Anyway he was living the high life while supporting himself on his college loan line-of-credit.
But the article does make several important points that may help some other poor shmuck in the future. And we can enjoy the Schadenfreude
WHEN Mr. Wallerstein started at Thomas Jefferson, he was in no mood for austerity. He borrowed so much that before the start of his first semester he nearly put a down payment on a $350,000 two-bedroom, two-bath condo, figuring that the investment would earn a profit by the time he graduated. He was ready to ink the deal until a rep at the mortgage giant Countrywide asked if his employer at the time — a trade magazine publisher in New Jersey — would write a letter falsely stating that he was moving to San Diego for work.
“We were on a three-way call with my real estate agent and I said I didn’t feel comfortable with that,” he says. “The Countrywide guy chuckled and said, ‘Everyone lies on their mortgage application.’ ”
Instead, Mr. Wallerstein rented a spacious apartment [in San Diego!!!]. He also spent a month studying in the South of France and a month in Prague — all on borrowed money. There were cost-of-living loans, and tuition of about $33,000 a year. Later came a $15,000 loan to cover months of studying for the bar. |
