so how are you paying for school?

[L924]

so I'm going to SCCO in the fall (yay!) and I'm looking at my financial aid packets with a

so I'm just wondering, how is everyone paying for optometry school?

by the way -- private loans, yay or nay? I'd like to find one that doesn't start accruing interest til after graduation but I don't know where exactly to look. I've read on other forums to avoid private loans as much as possible.. why is that?

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[JMU07]

vast majority = student loans

Our loans are done through our school. Stafford (subsidized and unsubsidized) and Perkins loans are more than enough for most of us, but for you guys living in areas with much higher costs of living I'm not sure what most people do. Call SCCO's financial aid department, that's what they're there for!

 

[KHE]

so I'm going to SCCO in the fall (yay!) and I'm looking at my financial aid packets with a

so I'm just wondering, how is everyone paying for optometry school?

by the way -- private loans, yay or nay? I'd like to find one that doesn't start accruing interest til after graduation but I don't know where exactly to look. I've read on other forums to avoid private loans as much as possible.. why is that?

1) Get a job

2) I know little of private loans but I think you'll be hard pressed to find one that does NOT start accruing interest until you graduate.

 

[Hoffy]

Get a job haha! So sympathetic That's not really a realistic thing for most people while they are taking classes from my impression. Or if it is it's prob enough to cover some basic necessities. I'm working right up until school starts and HOPEFULLY this will cover some immediate costs for equipment, transportation, insurance, etc for the first year. I'm lucky enough to have a school 20 min from me so I can commute from home and don't have to worry about living costs.

 

[ATXDesi]

vast majority = student loans

Our loans are done through our school. Stafford (subsidized and unsubsidized) and Perkins loans are more than enough for most of us, but for you guys living in areas with much higher costs of living I'm not sure what most people do. Call SCCO's financial aid department, that's what they're there for!

same here, majority of folks taking govt. loans. Many took the $40,500 option (declined the extra $10k, as you are more than able to work with that after tuition/fees are taken out)

talk to your financial aid office at the school! good luck!

 

[KHE]

Get a job haha! So sympathetic That's not really a realistic thing for most people while they are taking classes from my impression. Or if it is it's prob enough to cover some basic necessities. I'm working right up until school starts and HOPEFULLY this will cover some immediate costs for equipment, transportation, insurance, etc for the first year. I'm lucky enough to have a school 20 min from me so I can commute from home and don't have to worry about living costs.

Nothing wrong with a job. I worked all four years of school.

While it's true that you probably won't cover your costs, even if you work 8 hours a week, $100 a week is $5000 a year. Nothing to sneeze at.

 

[Commando303]

Nothing wrong with a job. I worked all four years of school.

While it's true that you probably won't cover your costs, even if you work 8 hours a week, $100 a week is $5000 a year. Nothing to sneeze at.

I'm unsure what your situation was, but, for the vast majority of students, working full-time while enrolled in optometry school is outside the realm of what's reasonable or even possible — to my knowledge, no one is doing it. Yes, a number of people are involved with work-study programs, but these are part-time positions, and they often involve much sitting around (during which one can study). Perhaps things are more flexible during the "clinical" phase of O.D. programs, but, during the didactic/classroom portion, working forty hours per week is not feasible.

 

[KHE]

I'm unsure what your situation was, but, for the vast majority of students, working full-time while enrolled in optometry school is outside the realm of what's reasonable or even possible — to my knowledge, no one is doing it. Yes, a number of people are involved with work-study programs, but these are part-time positions, and they often involve much sitting around (during which one can study). Perhaps things are more flexible during the "clinical" phase of O.D. programs, but, during the didactic/classroom portion, working forty hours per week is not feasible.

I never suggested working full time. That's why I said 8 hours.

I worked 8 hours a week on Saturdays and in the summer I worked full time. There's no reason any optometry student can't do that. No, it will not cover your entire costs but $100 per week is about $5000 per year which is significant.

 

[Commando303]

I never suggested working full time. That's why I said 8 hours.

I worked 8 hours a week on Saturdays and in the summer I worked full time. There's no reason any optometry student can't do that. No, it will not cover your entire costs but $100 per week is about $5000 per year which is significant.

Sorry, I misread: I thought you wrote "8 hours a day" (I was wondering how that had you pulling in just $100.00/week — ).

Yes, working a few days a week is perfectly reasonable, and — while it will make hardly a dent in one's overall loans — it certainly can help one put together a useful bit of coin.

 

[Hoffy]

This brings up an interesting question for me, actually. Is it possible to make loan payments, let's say, during the summer? It'd be nice if it was feasible to chip away at something while working summers. Luckily, I didn't take out loans for undergrad and I'm not too sure how loan repayment works. Do you get penalized for doing that?

 

[Commando303]

This brings up an interesting question for me, actually. Is it possible to make loan payments, let's say, during the summer? It'd be nice if it was feasible to chip away at something while working summers. Luckily, I didn't take out loans for undergrad and I'm not too sure how loan repayment works. Do you get penalized for doing that?

You may wish to consult both with your school's financial-aid office and with the particular lending agency through which your money has been handled, about this matter, but I believe it would be fine for you to pay toward your loans at any point.

This said, I do not feel it would be a good idea for you to do so. Student loans currently (2011) bear huge rates of interest, but they still are typically deferred until a period after graduation. Rather than take what little cash you might earn from working, and funnel it into repayments, I'd suggest you keep that money and budget it, then accordingly borrow less, in future semesters. (Of course, this is more a moot point if you are in your final term.) Alternatively, you may wish to take as much as you can, right now, if you feel the interest-rate is relatively low, and, upon graduation, use the money to cover your expenses.