<prompt> Human: I am a 21 year old female college student in my junior year of my undergraduate studies, and my boyfriend is a 20 year old college student who is also a junior in his undergraduate studies. Last night we were both arrested for possession of controlled substances. This was the first time that either of us has been arrested. I received two misdemeanors, and he received two felonies and two misdemeanors. The whole ordeal was entirely my fault, so I have told him that I will be paying both of our legal fees. After speaking with a couple friends who have faced similar cases in the past, I am expecting that my legal fees will cost something like 5k, and his will cost something like 20k or 25k after hiring lawyers and paying all fines and taking all recommendedrequired classes. So, thats 25k to 30k all together. I currently have 3k in savings, 2k tied up in CDs, and 3k in a Roth IRA account that I can withdraw without penalty. My parents have the paperwork for another bank account in my name that was given to me by my grandparents, and intended for use on my first down payment on a house whenever I graduate and get a full time job. I believe that it contains 30k or 40k. I have not told my parents about what happened, so I currently do not have access to this money. Our court dates are on January 26th, so I would need to at least have the money to pay both of our lawyers well in advance of that date. For this reason, I am expecting that I will need to take out a loan. First of all, I know very little about loans, or what goes into getting approved for them. I do know that when my same grandparents gave me a bank account to be used to buy a car when I graduated from high school they are very generous people, I took out a short term loan in my name and paid it back with the money from that account in order to build my credit. The last time I saw my credit score, it was exceptionally high. I want to handle all of this on my own if at all possible, without telling my parents. I plan on starting to sell my plasma, and getting a part time job once I get back from winter break finals week is next week for us. I plan on applying to work at a hotel some time this week, so Im hoping that I will be hired by them in time to be able to report that I am employed when I apply for the loan. I have an internship this summer that will be paying me very well, and they did my background check a while ago, so I dont see my employment status with them being any kind of issue. I also plan on getting a night job over the summer, such as waitressing. With time, I will certainly be able to pay off any kind of debt. I am a very motivated and hardworking person, so I plan on doing everything in my power to fix this, both legally and monetarily, for the two of us. Can anyone offer advice on where to start on getting this money together? I am young and clueless and I need as much advice as I can get moving forward. Thank you in advance!  <response>: First, unless you are married to this guy, you really arent liable for his legal expenses, he made the same choice as you to be in possession of illegal drugs. You didnt force him to, and you didnt cause the cops to arrest you both. Financially, it makes little sense for you to take on this burden for him.I want to handle all of this on my own if at all possible, without telling my parents.As someone who went through something similar in college, tell your parents.As mentioned, look into a public defender. 