<prompt> Human: I am a 21 year old full time student. My parents dont help me out with anything other than letting me live at home, which I am extremely grateful for.About a year ago I had to put 1000 tuition on a credit card. I wasnt able to make more than minimum payments, and interest grew 23 APR... I was 18 when I signed up and emergencies and a move to another state happened and the card is maxed out at 2100. Here is where I am drowning. I make about 200wk, and Im a full time student who has a commute to school. Last week there was some construction materials that fell off a truck in the road and it shredded all 4 of my tires. With a maxed out credit card I had to over draft my account and now Im looking at -560 in my checking account. I literally have no no no money. I am a nanny so i can focus on school and I get paid in checks daily but the family is experiencing hardship and has been cutting back my hours. I also have a weekend job at a popular retail store and thats about 100 every weekend thats direct deposited into my account, but I havent really worked the past 2 weeks because of finals.I am in a really deep hole, with no family that has the means to bail me out even if they wanted to. Im starting to think taking a student loan out might be my only option, but I have avoided them so far and want to know what my options are. I got a call from WF Saying I need to bring my account back up to the positive immediately. Im scared, I cant sleep, and have no idea what to do. Should I turn to a small student loan and just make payments on that as Im working? Can I even pay a student loan off before I graduate? I need something because right now I am in deep shit. Also, I tried getting approved for a store card to build credit 6 months ago and was declined. I think Im at a low-mid 600 in my credit score if that is important  <response>: Dont get me wrong, I dont like student loans as much as the next person, but they exist so you dont have to do things like put your tuition on your credit card at 23 APR. And a couple thousand in student loans to actually pay for school and other expenses while youre in school is a far cry from a lot of the student loan horror stories you hear about.Talk to your financial aid office about subsidized Stafford loans. The interest will be subsidized by the government while youre in school the balance wont grow and you wont have to start making payment until six months after you graduate though you can make payments towards it if you want. If you cant get subsidized loans, you can get unsubsidized ones. You dont have to make payments on those until six months after graduation, but the interest will accrue while youre in school. Even that is still a better option than what youre doing now. At worst you can take out a loan that youll have to make payments on while youre still in school. It sounds like you only need a small loan, so whatever the payments will be will be much easier to manage than your 23 credit card or any store cards.Take out a loan for whatever you think your expenses will be as a student. Then use your work to earn money to pay it back. Dont be so scared of loans that you feel compelled to turn to even worse sources of money like credit cards. This is the sort of situation student loans are meant for. 