Start negotiating settlements of your derogatory items. Start with the newest and work back to the oldest. The older the item, the less impact on your score. Anything close to the 7 year reporting period, just let age off.

If you have single entry derogatory items like cell phone, medical, and utility bills, ask for a delete for pay. That will remove the item and work best for your score. In the case of multiple entry items like credit cards, the collection company can only remove what they posted. The charge off by the original creditor will stay on your report.

If the debt is more than 3 years old, offer 25%; 2 to 3 years old, offer 50%; less than 2, offer 75%. Lump sum gets the best deals. Payment plans have to be short term.

Get any settlement agreement in writing and keep it, along with your payment proof, forever. Do not give collectors direct access to your bank account.

Paying off old debt will not improve your score unless you get it deleted. In fact, paying old debt will initially lower your score. When you pay an old debt, it becomes a “current” transaction and is counted more, including the negative parts. Creditors look at your whole credit report, not just the score. Paid old debt always looks better than unpaid.

You will need at least 24 months of consistent, on time payment history to improve your score.

Definitely check with citibank first, then I’d also recommend checking out some of the following sites:
http://salliemae.com – big student lender
http://finfo.com – get up to four competing offers, no obligation
http://financialaid.com – student loans and consolidations
http://MyTuition.com – student loans and consolidations

Also, try http://bankrate.com – they might have a rate comparison where you can see all of the incentives and interest rates side-by-side.

Good luck!

The best bank through which to consolidate students is the one that will give you the lowest interest rate and who will actually approve your loan. This is really something you need to research yourself. The best bank for me or anyone else will most likely not be the best bank for you because our credit reports are different.