can I enter med school with a large existing debt?

[riva128zx]

The exact size of this debt is around $ 260k. These include a mix of private and consolidated stafford loans that were for dental school a while back.

If I get accepted and eventually enter a med school, would I be eligible for financial aid? Will I still be eligible for government loans? Overall, what type of a loan package will I be looking at?

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[TMP-SMX]

Ouch. First of all, why were you not happy with dentistry? What makes you think you will be happy with medicine?

Second, of course you can do it, but you are going to have to get all grad plus/private loans. I assume you already hit the maximum of stafford loans.

Third, you should really think about your future and run calculators on how difficult it will be to make payments on your loans especially during residency. Unless you marry someone who is well off you are going to have difficulties. Also, you should go to a school with low living expenses and cheaper tuition. Namely, this will likely be in your home state.

 

[Cujo]

The exact size of this debt is around $ 260k. These include a mix of private and consolidated stafford loans that were for dental school a while back.

If I get accepted and eventually enter a med school, would I be eligible for financial aid? Will I still be eligible for government loans? Overall, what type of a loan package will I be looking at?

So you are a practicing dentist right now? Why do you want to switch professions at this point? IMO, since you already graduated from dental school stick with dentistry. It's not worth it to start over right now. Now, if you were in your 1st or 2nd year of dental school that would be a different story.

 

[riva128zx]

So you are a practicing dentist right now? Why do you want to switch professions at this point? IMO, since you already graduated from dental school stick with dentistry. It's not worth it to start over right now. Now, if you were in your 1st or 2nd year of dental school that would be a different story.

Just curious --- why do you think it's "not worth it to start over right now?"

 

[Cujo]

Just curious --- why do you think it's "not worth it to start over right now?"

I have a lot of respect for the dental profession. By switching professions you'd essentially lose at least 8 years (4 med school + 4 residency) of dentist's income; 8 years in a salaried dentists position is around $1,000,000+ dollars gross (probably even more if you opened up your own practice). Plus you'd go further in debt with 4 more years of med student loans. All in all, the decision to attend med school could cost you over one million dollars in the long run.

Having said that, I know you have to follow your heart. If you truly feel your calling is to become a physician and you've done a lot of soul searching then there is no price or cost that should keep you from doing what you feel is right for you. Right now you have a lot of earning potential as a dentist. I admire your courage to contemplate medical school.

 

[dragonfly99]

No, the OP does NOT have to follow his/her heart wherever it may lead. That is one option, but that may lead to financial and perhaps person ruin...being in $500,000 of debt is a good way to unhappiness and perhaps bankruptcy for a lot of people.

I think if the OP wants to go to med school, he/she should practice dentistry another few years (maybe 3 or so?), at least long enough to get those loans down to the 100,000 range or so. He/she isn't necessarily going to be making that much more as a physician, and I would worry about his/her being able to pay back what could become >> $500,000 in loan money later, even as an attending physician. If the OP is a dentist making 90k a year, and puts 35,000 a year toward loans, that would at least help...I seriously think it would be a huge mistake to flee to med school at this point. Money isn't everything, but one does have to consider the financial ramifications of important decisions in life, like getting married or deciding to do another 7+ years of medical training.

 

[Bleurberry]

No, the OP does NOT have to follow his/her heart wherever it may lead. That is one option, but that may lead to financial and perhaps person ruin...being in $500,000 of debt is a good way to unhappiness and perhaps bankruptcy for a lot of people.

I think if the OP wants to go to med school, he/she should practice dentistry another few years (maybe 3 or so?), at least long enough to get those loans down to the 100,000 range or so. He/she isn't necessarily going to be making that much more as a physician, and I would worry about his/her being able to pay back what could become >> $500,000 in loan money later, even as an attending physician. If the OP is a dentist making 90k a year, and puts 35,000 a year toward loans, that would at least help...I seriously think it would be a huge mistake to flee to med school at this point. Money isn't everything, but one does have to consider the financial ramifications of important decisions in life, like getting married or deciding to do another 7+ years of medical training.

Sounds like an absolute NIGHTMARE. I can't believe someone would even consider such a ghoulish scenario before paying off a considerable amount of his principle debt first. That kind of financial pressure isn't healthy for anyone.

 

[Lesley]

I think that if you are a good candidate you could get accepted to medical school regardless if you have existing debt. The schools are not going to make the decision on how much you're willing to owe theirs. It's possible if you have exhausted Stafford Loans you would have to rely on Grad Plus Loans, I'm not sure if there are any limits on these, and defer/forebear payment on existing loans during that time. However, if you are in repayment already for your current loans, you can already figure out what you will pay back, not just in principle but interest too. That $260,000 that you owe is much more including the interest over time. I think your decision on going back to school needs to be entirely your decision. Are you comfortable taking on twice the debt you arleady owe. I'm figuring this could be a million dollars or more in overall payments over thirty years, maybe more. It's a staggering financial decision. If you are a new dentist starting out, giving yourself a little more time to decide if you can enjoy dentistry and be a productive dentist, may warrant a little more time. If not, going back to school, may be a good personal move, but I don't see how it will ever pan out financially. Your circumstance should give others pause about the direction they choose professionally. All of our educations and professions are an asset once put to use, but no one give you a million dollar bonus when they hand you your medical or dental degree. You have to work for it. Good luck with this perplexing decision.

 

[nontrdgsbuiucmd]

Responding to OP's questions --

-There is a max loan amount that can be pulled out for Stafford/Federal Student loans, I'd check this before applying to ensure you can do this.

-Schools say that students are accepted regardless of ability to pay and that they'll work out a plan to assist with the details. I'd contact a school financial aid office to verify what they could actually do.

-Type of loan package? Unfortunately on the FAFSA there is no area that allows you to show how negative your net worth is - it just says to enter "0" if negative.

Some schools (i.e. my state school) state they likely will have no grant money, so most applicants would be borrowing the full cost of tuition + living expenses.

re: comments above -- I've been in a position similar to where you are. And I know that it is not realistic to plan to either work in a career that is a poor fit for you for many more years to improve your financial situation, or live like a pauper so that you can pay off those loans really fast. Living like a pauper works for maybe a couple months or a year, but not for the 10 years or more it would take most people to pay down 260K of loans. Just keep in mind you probably can't afford to become a FP.

Finally, have you considered working part time through med school? If you're making $50 an hour or whatever a dentist earns, that'd make a good dent in required loans. Check these forums under the topic of "free time during M1/M2".

Go for it!

 

[medicinesux]

Oh the HORROR!!! You could possibly be making the BIGGEST mistake of your life by going to medical school at this point. In one of your prior posts in the dental forum you even said yourself:

"Until you do it yourself, you have no idea as to whether you're the type for dentistry."

How on God's green earth than, can you say that medicine is for you??? You have no idea until you are knee dip in it. It is very possible that ten years from now, you could be feeling the very same way about medicine as you are now feeling about dentistry, or gasp....even worse!!! Are you willing to take this million dollar gamble? This is equivalent to a 65 year old retiree going to the Bellagio and putting their entire IRA on black. If dentistry is that bad, I am sure there is something else you can do for a living that will bring you happiness without requiring you to go back to school and ballooning your debt further.

 

[riva128zx]

In one of your prior posts in the dental forum you even said yourself:

"Until you do it yourself, you have no idea as to whether you're the type for dentistry."

How on God's green earth than, can you say that medicine is for you??? You have no idea until you are knee dip in it. Are you willing to take this million dollar gamble?

Well, in medicine, you can still pick and choose the medical field of your choice. You don't have that freedom in dentistry. Furthermore, dental school wasn't necessarily my first choice, although I was very happy when one school decided to accept me.

My concern is the financial aid at med school since I already have loans from dental school.

I brought up this topic because I don't want to bother taking the MCAT and improving my med applications ( already a problem in itself because my gpas weren't high. In spite of sounding stupid, I'm trying to aim for an MCAT of 40-45 ) if I won't be in the financial circumstances to attend med school and residency.

By the way, I personally don't care if I end up poor as long as I can live the average American life and have a retirement fund. I only care about whether I will be, pending acceptance, financially permitted to attend med school and med residency and fellowship.

 

[Bleurberry]

Well, in medicine, you can still pick and choose the medical field of your choice. You don't have that freedom in dentistry. Furthermore, dental school wasn't necessarily my first choice, although I was very happy when one school decided to accept me.

My concern is the financial aid at med school since I already have loans from dental school.

I brought up this topic because I don't want to bother taking the MCAT and improving my med applications ( already a problem in itself because my gpas weren't high. In spite of sounding stupid, I'm trying to aim for an MCAT of 40-45 ) if I won't be in the financial circumstances to attend med school and residency.

By the way, I personally don't care if I end up poor as long as I can live the average American life and have a retirement fund. I only care about whether I will be, pending acceptance, financially permitted to attend med school and med residency and fellowship.

Well, there isn't anything wrong not having money. In fact, I think happiness and money have a tendancy to be inversely proportional. But you don't want to be poor AND unhappy, and if you didn't investigate whether dentistry was a good fit before you went through the schooling, you better triple check and make very sure that being a physician is the right choice, or you'll be $700,000 and decide to be an elementary school teacher, and then what.

 

[Lesley]

Well, in medicine, you can still pick and choose the medical field of your choice. You don't have that freedom in dentistry. Furthermore, dental school wasn't necessarily my first choice, although I was very happy when one school decided to accept me.

My concern is the financial aid at med school since I already have loans from dental school.

I brought up this topic because I don't want to bother taking the MCAT and improving my med applications ( already a problem in itself because my gpas weren't high. In spite of sounding stupid, I'm trying to aim for an MCAT of 40-45 ) if I won't be in the financial circumstances to attend med school and residency.

By the way, I personally don't care if I end up poor as long as I can live the average American life and have a retirement fund. I only care about whether I will be, pending acceptance, financially permitted to attend med school and med residency and fellowship.

This is a problem with dentistry, you are picking your specialty: teeth, very often, as a junior in college, without a very clear understanding of if it's a good fit for you. In medical school, you do rotations for the last two years and have the time, knowledge and maturity to better make this decision. Do you want to be an ER physician and have contact with a patients one time only, a dermatologist with little surgical implications, a family physician and develop long term relationships, etc.? I think it's clear you do like the medical field, but not dentistry. Dentistry is a very technical field and to make a lot of money you need, very often, to be an individual business owner and run a business. Many aspects of dentistry I was not aware of until I entered DS more than three decades ago and some not until I started practicing. I have mentioned before that I think it would be better for all medical and dental doctors to start out the first two years together and pick dentistry as a specialty too. But, that could increase the time spent in dental school from four to possibly 5 or more years, just for the first general dentistry degree. But, for many I think it would be time and money well spent. However, the amount of money you earn in the future considering the debt you have now and the amount of time you would spend going to medical school, internship and residency, may effect you living a nice life an having a good retirement fund. It's a risk, but if you are going to take it, sooner than better, so that you will have time to reap the rewards and also, pay back the debt. Good luck. This is not an easy decision. Only you know how you feel and how much you struggle doing dentistry every day. Very best wishes.

 

[econdr]

The OP asked a simple question about whether he would qualify for financial aid. I love that everyone here is questioning his motives and goals and just not minding their own business. If the guy wants to be a doctor, he should be a doctor. He can moonlight as a dentist his first two years of med school. 50% of the curriculum will be a repeat from dental so it won't be as hard for him.

Follow your heart. If deep down you dont care about 600k (think long and hard about it...) in debt and you want a career that fits you personally, and you're SURE its medicine, go for it!

Don't let these negative nancies talk you out of it!

 

[medicinesux]

The OP asked a simple question about whether he would qualify for financial aid. I love that everyone here is questioning his motives and goals and just not minding their own business. If the guy wants to be a doctor, he should be a doctor. He can moonlight as a dentist his first two years of med school. 50% of the curriculum will be a repeat from dental so it won't be as hard for him.

Follow your heart. If deep down you dont care about 600k (think long and hard about it...) in debt and you want a career that fits you personally, and you're SURE its medicine, go for it!

Don't let these negative nancies talk you out of it!

Believe me, I have no vested interest in "talking the OP out of it"...."Mind my business"??? Uh sorry, but this is a public forum and the OP came on here to ask for advice and I, like others, gave it. I refuse to sit back and watch people like you spew out Pollyana BS and tell the OP to "follow your heart". IMO, this is the worst advice ever. Your heart is living in the moment and doesn't have the foresight to look far into the future. In any relationship, a heart can be broken, and then what? Hundreds of G's in the hole while working like a racehorse to just make interest payments while trying to put your kids through school and feed their hungary mouths. Oh, but that's ok, because you followed your heart when you didn't think about all the possible ramifications about a decision you made when you were young and stupid.

 

[dpmd]

The lifetime limit for stafford loan for medical school is 224K. The grad plus loan has no lifetime limit and has a rate of 8.5%. You have probably used all your stafford or will use it up soon. You will then have however much you need to borrow in loans at 8.5 %. You can go to finaid.org and use the calculator to see how much your payments will be and how much your overall payoff will be. You will then have to decide if you will be able to pay that and live an "average life and have a retirement fund". Since the school isn't the one having to front you the money I don't think it will make a difference in whether you get accepted (for example I had a roommate in med school who was a foreign student not eligible for federal loans, she had to leave school for a while when she couldn't come up with the money, but when it got straightened out they let her right back in). Still, it would suck to go through it all and discover you don't want to do medicine either. I have had times where I don't want to do this anymore (I'm a second year surgical resident, I think lots of us go through that), but after taking a step back for the stressful, frustrating, boring, or overwhelming moments I realize I can keep going until I hit the moments I do enjoy. If you no longer have anything you enjoy about your profession, and it isn't just situational I guess you shouldn't keep doing it. Just be sure before you pile on more debt that the thing you are jumping to is going to be better.