Financial aid & the non trad & the age of emancipation

[Sbaldw2]

Got this back from a Mayo rep. This school was my #1, in part due to its financial aid.

"After a review of common practices at private medical schools Mayo learned that we were the only private med school that was not using parental incomes in the determination of scholarship awards. Over the past two years we examined parental incomes of matriculating students and were able to document a direct correlation between parental income and undergraduate and medical school debt. The higher the parental income the lower total educational debt. The opposite was documented as well. Students who come from families of lower incomes universally take on higher student loan debt.

Mayo (like most private schools) does not have an age of emancipation. We are requiring parental income for all students who apply for the scholarship program. If a students’ parental income is low, this will ultimately be an advantage. "

Unfortunately (and fortunately) my parents are quite wealthy. I've had every opportunity and an excellent education thanks to their wealth. I'm well aware that I was born with a silver spoon in mouth. So part of me thinks "Yeah Mayo! You're doing the right thing! Give to those who are in true need of assistance!"

On the other hand... my parents have informed me that they do not want to assist me with tuition, which is why I've been looking at schools with the smallest tuition and highest financial aid. If what Mayo says is true, and most schools don't have an age of emancipation, or always take parents' finances into account, no matter how estranged they are, then am I doomed to have +$200,000 in debt in 5 years?

My apologies if this sounds totally pretentious. Honestly, I feel guilty thinking so much about how to pay the least amount for medical school when I know my family in the top-single digit %. What a spoiled brat I am. But right now my husband and I are poor students with student debt and irregular incomes, and I want to spare us as much debt as possible.

Have any of you heard of schools having an age of emancipation, or not taking parental income into account? What are your experiences with this?

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[beckhunter116]

Since you are married aren't you considered an independent student and therefore on the FAFSA you only include you and your husband's income. I guess you are saying on the scholarship application they are asking for your parents income at that level?

 

[Sbaldw2]

Yep. Even though I've been financially independent from the parents and married, Mayo will still take parental income into account when deciding on financial aid. And from the sound of their letter, it seems like most schools do the same.

For FAFSA I can decline adding parents' income, so I can still get federal loans, thank goodness.

 

[wholeheartedly]

Yeah, sorry, most schools do this. I went to an info session at Mayo a few years back and thought it was sooo nice they considered med students financially independent. Then they changed it. They recently hiked tuition quite a bit as well.

But as I said, most medical schools do this and even though you can decline putting your parents info in the FAFSA for federal loans, that's probably what the med schools are going to have you fill out for your parents info. So you'll run into this anywhere.

I know Harvard at least has a sort of scale regarding how much parental contribution your parents are expected to make based on age, so the older you get the less they are expected to contribute. I think at around age 28-30 or so was the lowest.

It sucks for me as well despite coming from a low income family, because even though I was just raised by my mom I'll still have to give my dads income, too.

 

[QofQuimica]

am I doomed to have +$200,000 in debt in 5 years?

Yes. *No one* should apply to med school expecting to avoid amassing six figure debt, especially if you're from an upper middle class or wealthy background. So you either have to make peace with the idea of taking on six figure debt, or find something else to do with your life.

 

[Elizabethx89]

My family grew up pretty poor, as in there were weeks when all we had in the house were crackers and a jar of peanut butter, but my dad's income has always excluded me from basically any type of financial aid outside of limited federal loans. We're a special case, though. My dad makes right at around $100K, but he has massive mountains of debt due in part to things my sociopathic sister has done and in part due to my mom's medical bills. It wasn't that huge of a deal in undergrad since I had a scholarship that covered about 80-90% of my tuition, although it was a bit annoying to see my friends using their grant checks to buy things like clothing and fast food.

I do wish they would take more into consideration than parental income, especially for students who are well into adulthood, because there's so much more to the story than what one's parents make. That said, maybe I'm naive about this, but I'm not really worried about racking up med school debt at all. It seems like paying that off with a physician's salary will be the easy part. The hard part is trying to figure out how to fund my way through these pre-reqs.

 

[litmajor]

The hard part is trying to figure out how to fund my way through these pre-reqs.

Yup, Elizabethx89, you hit the nail on the head. Med school debt is par for the course and easily paid back once you start working as a physician. But those pre reqs, damn. I'm starting the process now and it's tough.

 

[DR MOM]

This depends on the school. I know some do have an age where they end it. (It's 30 at Stanford). Some schools don't ask for parental info if you are a parent yourself. (BU for example)

I have been completely financially separate from my parents for over a decade AND I have a kid, but I still have to include their info for all the schools I am considering. It's a bummer but it will be okay. At least your children cannot inherit your student debt.