So I have four separate student loans from each of my four years in college. Unfortunately, at the time I did not know enough about finance or loans of any kind; and my parents were equally uninformed about the student loan process. We ended up selecting a group that kinda looks like it's public/federal, but it's not, and their interest rates are extremely high (off the top of my head 7%+ on each individual loan). I have been out of college for over two years and paying on these loans monthly, but due to the high interest rates, I am ending up only paying down interest and not actually paying off the loan. The loans are in my parents' name, but I tend to make many of the monthly payments (when I can afford it). It is not remotely feasible for me to pay over the monthly bill and actually take a chunk out of the loans, because they are so expensive that I am paying MORE than what I pay in rent monthly on these monsters. It is extremely disheartening because I had an academic scholarship AND went to a state school, but my yearly tuition was still over 20k for the first two years, then around 13k when I moved off campus. College tuition costs are so gross.
My question is this: Do any of you have experience in refinancing private student loans, and if so, what bank do you recommend and why? Because the loans are not in my name, I can't do much other than gather info and lay it at my parents' feet. They are not particularly motivated to refinance the loans, since they aren't making all of the monthly payments, but I have brought it up and they are open to doing it if I can find some good options.
I keep getting mail from SoFi, which sounds like a potentially good option with low interest rates, but I am always skeptical when I get spammy ads in the mail, so I'd love to hear some real experiences.