Sallie Mae Buyout Leads to More Approved Student Loans?

On April 16, 2007, Sallie Mae sent notice out that it had been bought out by an investment group led by J.C. Flowers & Co., Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase.

On May 5, 2007, I was informed that I was approved for a $1900 private Signature Student loan. It is doubtful at this point that I will actually be allowed to have the loan, as Rose's financial aid office told me I couldn't have one since I'm not "enrolled" there this quarter (duh, I'm on study abroad!) -- the typical "Well, I guess you're fucked" speech considering I can't afford any food at the moment -- but just the mere fact that I was finally approved is an important turning point.

You see, as you know if you've read my prior posts, I have been turned down by Sallie Mae several times in the past, including very recently. I also came across knowledge that Sallie Mae was two-timing its customers, giving preferential treatment to students at certain schools. (Sadly, not my school, the #1 undergraduate engineering school in the nation. Strange, I know.) Now I tried getting in touch with them about this, as it's a really big deal and kind of illegal when they fully approve one 18-year-old's loan for $20k+ and turn down another for less than $5k when both of these students have similar backgrounds, no co-signers, and no or little credit history, but they had no comment.

So here's the question: was my approval this month because of that knowledge I recently stumbled across and let them know about, or was it because of this buyout? Their press release mentioned nothing about the buyout affecting such things as approvals, but after this I have to wonder if it has.