School expenses

Did your school expenses match your school's estimated cost of attendance? Did anyone actually spend their entire loan amount?

I did not but I was unsure what expenses it would really cost so I asked for 2x the amount from Sallie Mae, got it and used 1/2. The second 1/2 I knew I either could repay with what was left over or use to live off of while finding a job here. I did the latter... it sucked dry the leftover loan and I'm paying for it now but it did let me stay and look for a job, pay for the Visa, etc etc.

Did your school expenses match your school's estimated cost of attendance? Did anyone actually spend their entire loan amount?

ha, yes on both counts.  Actually, I probably should have taken out *more* (I took out roughly £8,000 in 2006 for a year's worth of housing and other living expenses in Manchester and I didn't work while studying.)  By the time end of July/August rolled around, I was pretty much broke, but I got some help from my parents and my fiance that enabled me to survive  (and I got a full time temp job literally a week after finishing uni thank god!)

However, I would advise to take out as little loan as possible, especially if you have the possibility of emergency help from parents or whatever.  I could have made my £8K stretch the entire 52 weeks had I lived in a cheaper flat and budgeted a bit more carefully, but while I was tempted to borrow significantly more than I needed I'm glad I didn't now that I'm actually paying those loans back!