How do you primarily plan on paying for medical school?

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How do you Primarily plan on paying for medical school?

  • Parents

    Votes: 16 10.2%
  • LOOOOOOOAAAAAANNNNNNNS

    Votes: 110 70.1%
  • Scholarships (merit based for academic promise)

    Votes: 13 8.3%
  • Scholarship + Stipends - MD/PhD

    Votes: 7 4.5%
  • Need based grants

    Votes: 6 3.8%
  • Exactly 50-50 mix/Lottery/Did not read PRIMARILY in the poll/OTHER please explain

    Votes: 4 2.5%

  • Total voters
    157

thebeatgoeson

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So I've been financially independent from my parents for about six years now. I pay all my own bills (except cell phone haha!) and through scholarships and a lot of jobs I've been able to pay for my own undergrad.

Now I'll probably be taking out loans for my last years and graduate with ~10K in debt from a private school.


I know I'll get grants, need-based aid, and scholarships (hopefully) for medical school. But I've been looking at these financial aid posts and thinking, "Man can I really dig myself out of ~$150K in debt if I went to Tulane Med?"

Does anyone have some personal stories about people they knew who got themselves through on their own? I know a IM Doc who advises against the mountain of debt often facing private school grads. He went to his state school and still struggled after his residency because he had three kids at the time.

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My family keeps reminding me that my education is going to be free and that I'm going to be paid to go to school, and then we jump around and do a happy dance.
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99% Loans, 1% scholarship
:(
 
This poll has too few options (and it needs multiple choice abilities). :)
 
What ever happened to go old fashioned prostitution?
 
50/50 = merit-based scholarship & loans
 
thebeatgoeson said:
So I've been financially independent from my parents for about six years now. I pay all my own bills (except cell phone haha!) and through scholarships and a lot of jobs I've been able to pay for my own undergrad.

Now I'll probably be taking out loans for my last years and graduate with ~10K in debt from a private school.


I know I'll get grants, need-based aid, and scholarships (hopefully) for medical school. But I've been looking at these financial aid posts and thinking, "Man can I really dig myself out of ~$150K in debt if I went to Tulane Med?"

Does anyone have some personal stories about people they knew who got themselves through on their own? I know a IM Doc who advises against the mountain of debt often facing private school grads. He went to his state school and still struggled after his residency because he had three kids at the time.


Hey I'm facing a similar question right now. I'm from Tulane undergrad (with a full ride so tiny amount of debt) and am currently trying to choose between LSU-NO and Tulane (I haven't heard from UCLA yet, which will make things even messier if they give me some love) and the big difference between them is tuition. Though I have mad love for Tulane, since I'm doing this on my own the idea of facing crazy debt is starting to weigh down on my love fest. If you qualify as a Louisianna resident, look into LSU, you get to stay in NOLA but not overwhelm your future with loan payments.
 
I'll do half from loans and half from profits of breeding my dog, LOL.

I'm a non-trad, independent from my parents for many years. My husband works and will continue to work while I'm in medical school. Our living situation shouldn't change (assuming I get accepted to the school that is a 5 minute drive from where we live now!). So his job will pay for the mortgage, food, and all the other stuff that we already have to pay for.

I'm going to take out loans to cover the tuition (in-state so not too bad) and will use the dog money (hopefully) to cover childcare. I show and breed dogs - haven't bred for awhile, but my new dog will have her first litter at the end of this year. Assuming all goes as expected, that will bring in enough money to pay for daycare for the two kids. If it doesn't bring in enough (like she only has one puppy or has some emergency vet bill in the process), then I'll just have to take out more loans.
 
deuist said:
Where's the option for military/government scholarships?

How do I edit the poll to add more options? Can I?

Rafa, I was just curious about the primary method because most everyone is going to have a mix.


Do you guys think there is a point when debt becomes too much after graduation? Granted, it will vary based on life situation (kids, spouse, dependents, etc) and area of specialization. But on average would you say ~100K is managable? ~200K? ~300K?

Those just seem like daunting numbers to me. It's like a ridiculous mortage (unless you live in California).
 
md/phd for the win!
 
psipsina said:
Hey I'm facing a similar question right now. I'm from Tulane undergrad (with a full ride so tiny amount of debt) and am currently trying to choose between LSU-NO and Tulane (I haven't heard from UCLA yet, which will make things even messier if they give me some love) and the big difference between them is tuition. Though I have mad love for Tulane, since I'm doing this on my own the idea of facing crazy debt is starting to weigh down on my love fest. If you qualify as a Louisianna resident, look into LSU, you get to stay in NOLA but not overwhelm your future with loan payments.

If it helps any my brother-in-law's a general surgeon and even with a wife and two kids he's having a relatively easy time paying off his loans while living a comfortable life.

Don't let money get in the way of your dreams, if you really like a school go there, you'll do better in an atmosphere where you feel you'll thrive and you'll consequently have a larger number of residency/post-residency opportunities because you went somewhere you enjoy. I know the price tag looks pretty shocking but don't underestimate the value of going somewhere you feel you belong.
 
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