SoFi Student Loans Reviews

DO NOT borrow from SoFi if you can help it. They have absolutely no transparency and garbage customer service and despite multiple references on the internet saying they will discharge a loan in the event of a death of a loved one- they won't and they won't tell you why either. My mother refinanced for a better rate on a federal loan that would have been forgiven in the event of her death, worked till she was 69 trying to pay that loan off, dropped dead of a heart attack, and now they are going to draw blood from a stone and rob me of the last pieces of my mother that I have. They are predatory, cruel, disorganized and they will not help you.

I made a rookie mistake: I didn't carefully read the contract. It turns out that they require interest payments from people enrolled full-time in school if that person refinanced their loan with them. I explained that I cannot afford this. I asked if I could pay a reduced amount. I explained that I was misled in my earlier communications about the terms of in-school deferments.

SoFi did not care and are still insisting that I pay the full amount, which is 20% of my meager income working 30 hours each week in addition to my full-time schooling. Now I have to figure out how I can come up with this money, and I honestly have no idea. As a note, I could remove the in-school deferment and then apply for economic forbearance, but they only allow a maximum of 12 months of economic forbearance for the life of the loan, and I have two more years of my PhD, so that is of little help.

Unfortunately, after starting the application process my rate was significantly increased because my income could not be “verified.” SoFi clearly thinks I can repay the loan, since they still offered me one, I just do not qualify for normal rates. This is despite producing two years worth of tax returns (2019 and 2020) supporting my income and a signed letter from our office manager with my stated guaranteed income.

After going back and forth with customer service for 13 days I was finally put in contact with an account specialist. They informed me that the only way I would qualify for their initial offer was if I could produce two years worth of End Of Year paystubs (the W2 was not sufficient). So, if you are a physician/independent contractor you will not qualify for their advertised rates unless you can also produce End Of Year paystubs, even if you have over 2 years worth of tax returns confirming you income. If you don’t happen to have End Of Year paystubs do not even bother checking your rate, it won’t be honored anyways.

The real salt in the wound was being approved for the mortgage (which is twice the amount of the student loan I am refinancing) with the same documentation and half the hassle. If you have ever purchased a house, think back on your mortgage application. Remember the frustration and headache? Now double it and you have an idea of what dealing with SoFi has been like. If you are a physician/independent I would strongly recommend looking elsewhere. I know that is what I will be telling the medical students and residents that rotate through my clerkship when they ask about student loan refinancing.

My credit was run on November 12. That is how long this process has taken only to be denied when I had been in touch with customer service several times throughout the application. I am grossly disappointed in the lack of communication and service from Sofi. The platform is not user friendly, many customer service representatives citing a “technical glitch” in the platform and advising I wait for them to contact me with a solution (which never came.) I strongly suggest looking elsewhere for any financing needs.

This threw SOFI for a loop, and they didn’t seem to understand why he wouldn’t be able to provide proof of his employment eligibility. They told him to contact another customer representative to have him be taken off the loan, which he did but was still never removed as a co-signer. Weeks went by with no response and he even got an email asking for his experience with the customer service rep — what a joke! Eventually, I had to call SOFI myself and found someone to update my application, after finding out it was mysteriously canceled. The employee said it was just a glitch and assured me that my application was still being processed... About a month goes by with no reply, until I one day find an email saying my app had been approved.

Ecstatic to finally have a lower interest rate for my $25000 student loan, I open the email to find that I had to pay a small fee of an additional $5000 JUST to refinance my loan. Was this a joke??!! I would have to take out another loan to even refinance the original. Nowhere was it made clear by SOFI that I would need to pay a fee worth 20% of the original loan just to get a lower rate. It seemed like this company was giving me the cold shoulder the entire time, which was a waste of months of my time when I could have been looking for better offers. Lesson here is, look for a better company than this bargain-bin choice.

The SoFi reps (2 reps, 2 calls) were very clear that the interest would be paid over the length of the loan. Today we find out - surprise! Interest payments to be upfront over the next 3 months to the tune of an add'l ~ $1400! They flat out lied to us. Be cautious. We have been with them for 5 years (2015), with 1 large & 1 medium student loan(s). We have seen the progression from a Company with Stanford founders, that seemed to really want to help (Social Financing) to another greedy large scale Corporation, making more money off the backs of our youth and future of this Country. Maybe that's how you pay for a new NFL Stadium in LA and for all those commercials on TV. Shame on them!

It's been a horrible 4 years and I regret ever refinancing my student loan with SoFi. Signing up was easy.....and they make it easy because they want you (need you) as a customer. However, once you sign the contract, you're nothing but another customer with a SoFi balance. They don't care about you or job loss. SoFi is a glorified Sallie Mae. I'm basically paying an extra month's rent on top of my actual rent, car, insurance, and other bills with no other support.