Considering a career in health but have financial issues.

TommyAtkins

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I am currently a high school senior in VA who has been accepted to University Of Minnesota (twin cities) and George Mason University. I have applied to several other colleges in Virginia (pretty much all major ones except for UVA). My top three choices right now are University Of Minnesota, George Mason University, and Virginia Tech.

My first major obstacle is money. My parents are divorced. They have absolutely no money saved up to help me pay for college and I am basically on my own.

Here is are my concerns. Total cost of attendance for college is roughly around $20k a year. My cousin lives in Minnesota however, and if I attend Univeristy Of Minnesota I could stay at his house to save on room and board. The money I save on room and board will be offset by the out of state tuition I have to pay there. If I attend George Mason, I believe I can also stay at home and save on room and board since I live about 30 minutes away from the campus. Here are my rough estimates for how much each of these colleges is going to cost me:

University of Minnesota, Virginia Tech or any other college in Virginia: $20k
George Mason University: $12k (if I stay at home)

Financial aid can only cover around $5k maximum. Federal loans and what not can maybe get me another $5k (stafford and perkins.). The rest of my cost of attendance whatever it may be will have to be payed with my own money or through private loans. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Now, I have no issues with getting a private loan and paying it off myself at the end of college as a last resort option. However, I have concerns that I won't even be able to qualify for a private loan. In order to get one of these loans, I would assume you need a co signer with good credit and income. Both of my parents have horrible credit (from divorce) and I know nobody else that would be willing to cosign my loan. If this happens, I honestly have no idea how I'll be able to pay for college. Its really my biggest fear at the moment.

On top of all this, most health careers I have read up on require at least 4 years of school after college. If I'm struggling to pay off my undergrad education. how in the heck am I going to pay my way through Optometry, Pharmacy, or Medical school? Just looking at the cost of attendance for optometry schools makes me cringe. This is all on top of the enormous amounts of dedication that each of these require.

If anyone here who can help me with this mess, I would really appreciate it. Optometry is something I have been interested in since 4th grade. I just need to know I am financially capable of paying for all of this whether it be through loans, scholarships or aids before I consider everything else about pursuing a career in health.

Thanks!

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Hey kiddo-
First and foremost... where there is a will, there is a way. A majority of med, dental, opto, etc. students finance professional school with loans. Avoid private loans at all cost- take them ONLY if you MUST... Whichever school that you choose, make sure you are a good 'fit.' In terms of getting alternative funding sources, contact the financial aid offices at prospective schools and talk with them.
If I am not mistaken, if your parents do not qualify for parent PLUS loans (better than alternative loans) then you are allowed to get additional federal loans. I will link below.

https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/federal-loan-programs.pdf
https://www.debt.org/students/types-of-loans/
https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/types ***** probably the most helpful :)


Best of luck to you in your future career! You seem very mature and put together for only being a HS senior.
 
Yah, don't bother worrying about the debt you'll go into tomorrow because we're all in a crap ton of debt once we get through med/dent/ etc school.

Personally if you're adverse to debt I would genuinely recommend GMU or NOVA-CC for 2 years and then GMU.
 
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