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Yes, it is incredibly liberating, thanks for asking. Here was my "secret":By the way, thank you all for voting. Congratulations to those who voted zero debt, all income. That must be an incredibly liberating feeling to be debt free
Any sage advice to share? Are you guys med students, pgy's or attendings?
(1) my scholarship was bigger than yours
(2) my savings before medical school was bigger than yours
(3) my income during medical school was bigger than yours
(4) I didn't put debt on credit cards
I just don't think my strategy is very applicable to the general medical student audience. Students have very little control over their scholarships. Many don't have any control over their tuition. Most didn't have high paying jobs before medical school. Most don't have working spouses. For most, having a job during medical school would be an incredibly poor use of limited time.
I take a keen interest in medical student debt because I worry about my peers. I learned a lot about the topic, and I spend some time answering questions and correcting misinformation in the financial aid & finance forums on this site.
When I see your posts here (and I've read your blog too), I just don't see much that you can offer the typical medical student. You earned about a year of tuition by working during med school. You got second year of tuition via a combination scholarships / personal savings / credit card bonuses. You flat out charged a third year of tuition to credit cards in a dangerous and frankly dishonest shell game. We still haven't accounted for either your fourth year of tuition nor any home expenses.
What exactly is your advice here in the MS-0 and beyond forum? Med students and acceptees should invest their savings for 11% returns? Med students and acceptees should pull scholarships out of thin air? Med students and acceptees should float a lifestyle on what are essentially liar loans on whack-a-mole credit cards? I'm not seeing it.
I'd like to end my post on a positive note, so how about this: You seem to have earned a lot of wage income as a medical student. What kind of jobs should medical students look for? What kind of income should they seek to make it worthwhile? How much can they work during years 1, 2, 3, and 4? We've had a few theoretical posts in here and in pre-allo about the topic, but you seem to have genuine experience in this department. You pulled it off successfully. Any sage advice to share?
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