Need Advice: Finances

[asirpa]

Hello everyone. I have been accepted to medical school and plan to matriculate this coming summer. I face a financial dilemma, and I'd appreciate advice from the perspective of current medical students (or anyone who's good with finances lol).

Right now, I'm trying to save up as much money as possible for medical school. However, I also thought it might be a good idea to try to pay off some of my student loans while they're not accruing interest due to the federal student loan pause. As it stands, I don't earn enough money to save my "goal" amount of money per month AND pay my student loans. What I'm wondering is: should I save less money per month in order to make loan payments, or should I just leave my loans alone and save as much as humanly possible before the start of med school? I have around $25k in federal student loans and would likely only be able to pay $1500 (at most) before starting medical school. I'm wondering if it's even worth it to make loan payments (since I will barely put a dent in what I owe), or if I should just save that money in the case of emergencies/moving fees/ etc. that I'll most likely face when in medical school. My hope was to reduce the amount of interest that accrues while I'm in medical school, but with how much I owe I'm thinking it might not make that big of a difference either way.

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[KnightDoc]

Save the money for a rainy day. Once you pay if off you won't be able to get it back later if you need it.

$1,500 plus interest will be an insignificant drop in the bucket compared to what you will owe once you graduate, and compared to your lifetime earnings post-residency. It is certainly unnerving and unsettling, but my advice would be to keep the money for an emergency.

 

[Dobermann]

Are your current federal loans undergraduate direct loans? Generally speaking, undergraduate loans have a lower interest rate than graduate direct loans and graduate PLUS loans. Therefore, mathematically, it makes more sense to use your money to reduce the amount of med school loans you take rather than pay off undergrad loans.

And also, like the other poster said, unless you have a lucrative job, it’s only going to be a drop in the bucket compared to your final loan burden.

Save up cash, and you can use it for moving expenses and getting established at your new school before your loans come in.