paying for med school

[mightyone]

Hey guys,
can some one explain to me (like explaining it to a 5 year old) how one pays for medical school. I have been accepted to UB and having already filed fafsa and applying for scholarships, have remaining questions.
- Are the loans offered much the same way as they were in undergraduate education? i.e. you apply and they send you a letter offering up to certain amount you can borrow from both subsidized and unsubsidized and you accept or not.
- do they send you a financial aid packet of some sort with above information?
- How much do they offer up to?
- is it enough to cover tuition and living expenses?
- if not how do you cover the rest? with personal loans?
- if so then does the school help to find it or is it up to you to find a bank offering graduate student loans?
- can one borrow more than the estimated tuition and living expenses? say to cover personal debt?

I think thats about it. Any help would greatly ease my worries. thanks

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[deleted77919]

Your school should be in touch about fin aid, and will hopefully take care of you. Here are a few points however.

Stafford loans are offered at 6.8% fixed. You can borrow up to $8500/yr in subsidized loans and $30,000/yr in unsubsidized loans. The difference is the subsidized loans are interest free while you are in medical school.

 

[psipsina]

The max the government will give you is 38k in the mix of sub and unsub listed above. Your school devises a budget that they believe will cover tuition, living expenses and any required large purchases like laptops. If this is below the 38k then this is the max amount you can borrow from the government. If this is above the 38k you need to come up with the rest from a private lender. Many private schools have tuitions above this 38k alone so without a scholarship or a sugar mamma you have to take out private loans. Often students who are used to more lavish lifestyles think that the budgeted living expense amount is quite low but it usually covers your needs.

 

[mightyone]

Ok but what if you have personal debt? the private loans are something like gradplus loans right? can you borrow with gradplus loans to cover your debt?