u/BugDetectives

Some context: I've got an egg allergy that causes anaphylaxis. I've had some very close scares and I have to carry an epipen with me. I had the MMR vaccine once as a child, but had a pretty severe reaction to it and was recommended to not take it as part of the vaccine schedule. I have not had it since, neither has any doctor recommended I take it.

Here's the thing though, I'm going to be entering a program at my college for a medical job that will require me to do clinicals. Before I can do clinicals they do health screenings and check for required vaccines, which the MMR is one of them. They said if I have antibodies still, then I may not have to take it, but there's a chance I may have to. I know current research says that it's perfectly safe for a person with an egg allergy to take the MMR vaccine, but due to my past reaction to it, I am very scared.

So, to mitigate that fear, I wanted to know if it's possible I can get the vaccine at a local hospital ,as opposed to my doctor's office or a pharmacy. Mainly because I would like to be as close to the hospital as possible to be treated for anaphylaxis if worst case scenario were to happen. I'm scared of getting the vaccine, but I'm even more scared of catching measles or not being able to get into my preferred career.

I'm still pretty new to this, being newly diagnosed and all, and I've found compression socks help a lot with my symptoms when my day is really busy. I really only have a pair of basic skin colored compression tights (great if i want to wear shorts) and this pair my sister gave me that don't fit her. They have cats on them. Thing is I generally like stuff more like the second pair, with fun patterns on them. So I wanted to know if any others on this subreddit might know places to find some compression socks with fun or cute patterns on them? What's some of your own personal favorites?

For reasons I do not wish to go into, I'm not able to get federal loans for college, so I'm wanting to get a small private student loan for living expenses (mainly groceries and gas). Problem is, I have no credit score so I can't get one just yet. So I was wondering what is a good way to build up credit using a credit card? My Mom has always discouraged me from opening one, but I know it's one of the more accessible ways to build credit if you're smart with it, and it's very important to build a good credit score. Any advice at all is welcome.

Long story short, it's my first semester at college and my tuition and supplies are payed for by the Pell Grant, but that's pretty much it. Everything else I need for college, namely groceries and gas to drive to school, I won't have enough leftover from tuition and supplies to pay for. Scholarship applications are closed right now and I won't qualify for any other grants until next semester, so without any loans, I may or may not be in hot water. To make matters worse, my school doesn't participate in the federal loan program (too many former students defaulted), so my only option is to get a private loan.

Here's my problem. My Mom can't cosign because she's already had parental loans forgiven from when my older sister was in college. My sister and her husband, currently, won't cosign because they're having financial issues. My dad's family have functionally disowned me over stuff pertaining to my Dad's death when I was a kid, and I'm unsure about my Mom's family. At this point my only option is my Maternal Aunt, and maybe my neighbor.

My question is... How do you even broach the topic? How do you go about asking that without sounding desperate? What do I say to help them trust me? I'm not even wanting to take out much, just maybe 5k to get me through this semester's living expenses. I guess I'm just panicking and looking for support. I know it's unlikely to find a cosigner, and I know the general advice is to never cosign, but I don't know what else to do.

Edit: The only reason I would need a cosigner is because I don't have a credit score. If I had a steady income, I would get a credit card to build good credit, but I don't, so I haven't because that's irresponsible. Please do not read this in bad faith and assume I have bad credit or something.

My classes start in 3 weeks, and I still haven't gotten an email from my school's financial aid department about my financial aid package. About a week ago I noticed that I've been approved for the Pell Grant on my financial aid dashboard, but that's it. There's still no offer for student loans or even any other kinds of grants that my state offers. I need to be able to afford to pay for gas and groceries to attend class, and I'm mildly freaking out now since I'm not sure how I'm gonna afford all of that, let alone my textbooks and supplies.

The thing is, I did some looking around, and I saw on the page my school's website about how to apply for financial aid it says: "[College Name] does NOT participate in the Direct Loan Program."

Does this mean that I can't get any federal loans from the school? And if so, then why is my college listed on the FAFSA website's list of school codes for participating schools for the 2026-2027 school year? This is my first time going to college, and due to health reasons I can't work my way through college, I need financial aid to be able to attend. I just feel so confused. I'm going to visit my school's Financial Aid office tomorrow since they haven't returned any phone calls or emails, but I just feel so confused.