Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
-
CycleTrack and SDN are teaming up to make medical school admissions more transparent and accessible! Read the announcement to learn how we’re supporting the future of CycleTrack’s free application-tracking tools .
200k in debt club
Started by ngkats
Get help with your application
Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.
They're doing it to tease you.👍
As a woman, I would prefer not to be showered in women or beer.
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
As a woman, I would prefer not to be showered in women or beer.
I had you figured for a guy. Guess I figured wrong.
You can be showered in...hmm...50% off shopping coupons? apple martinis?
I think the NPH just throws everyone off.
I'm not a fan of shopping or alcohol, but I'll settle for... I don't know, actually.I didn't see it until I got to work, where I can't see it.🙁
That was kinda awesome, and gimme shelter is a wicked awesome song.
*High Five*
I am with you on the Texas heat. Loved that instate tuition. Between that fact and side jobs I had with a good house buy and later sold after school....
I've learned to stay away from the unmoderated forum on this website. There are some really ockward people that hang out there.
Sorry to derail the extremely productive topics discussed in this thread, but I have to rant a bit and this seems like the best place to do it.
I have never lived in a place that required a car (well this year I kinda do but I walk everywhere anyway). For that reason, I have never owned a car, nor have I had a license. Next year, I'll be going to a med school in a non-public-transportation type of city, and every student I spoke to stressed that a car is necessary. So I figured I'll suck it up, get myself a license, and then buy a car. Of course, I assumed transportation costs in the cost of attendance included car payments.
Turns out, those costs do NOT include car payments. In fact, the fine print at the bottom of the "projected budget" says that loans cannot, under any circumstances, cover car payments. Having spoken to other people about the matter, I discovered that EVERY school works that way- car payments can't be covered, and projected transportation costs only include gas and MAYBE insurance if your insurance is cheap. This means that in order for me to actually own a car (which I have no choice but to do), I will need to find the money elsewhere: either live somewhere crappy (and not buy furniture, I guess), or eat super cheaply, or save on Lord knows what else. And this is including the fact that my insurance rates will probably be high since I'm a first-time driver, etc.
So yeah. Not so thrilled about that.
I have never lived in a place that required a car (well this year I kinda do but I walk everywhere anyway). For that reason, I have never owned a car, nor have I had a license. Next year, I'll be going to a med school in a non-public-transportation type of city, and every student I spoke to stressed that a car is necessary. So I figured I'll suck it up, get myself a license, and then buy a car. Of course, I assumed transportation costs in the cost of attendance included car payments.
Turns out, those costs do NOT include car payments. In fact, the fine print at the bottom of the "projected budget" says that loans cannot, under any circumstances, cover car payments. Having spoken to other people about the matter, I discovered that EVERY school works that way- car payments can't be covered, and projected transportation costs only include gas and MAYBE insurance if your insurance is cheap. This means that in order for me to actually own a car (which I have no choice but to do), I will need to find the money elsewhere: either live somewhere crappy (and not buy furniture, I guess), or eat super cheaply, or save on Lord knows what else. And this is including the fact that my insurance rates will probably be high since I'm a first-time driver, etc.
So yeah. Not so thrilled about that.
Situations like this is what makes life so great.
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
That sucks. But as someone who as lived in a place where you have to drive everywhere, driving sucks, is overrated, and makes you hate everyone and everything.
All I can say is car related costs always end up being more than you would expect. There's registration, unstable gas prices, maintenance, insurance, not to mention the car payments.
Are you buying the car to get to school or just to get around for shopping, going out, etc? If it's the latter, I would probably buy a fairly cheap yet reliable used car. Actually in either case, you probably don't need a new car and you'll be paying a premium because it's new. Maybe check out a dealership and buy preowned if you're worried about having problems down the line.
Could you get a job until school starts and stash away a few thousand? It would help to have a good down payment. You'd pay less per month with financing that way.
EDIT: I also forgot about the fact that there are HORRIBLE interest rates on financing for first time buyers because they have a tendency to default. You might need to have a cosigner on the loan to get the best deal.
Things like that are some of the things that need to be taken into account. Everything done financially for school sometimes is too broad; i.e FAFSA, like's to know about how much is made and who lives there, and THEN by their standards decides where YOUR money is going to in YOUR household. Because we all know if your single father makes $60-67,000 and it is just you two in the house, the child is getting half of it for school. Maybe I haven't read up or know the whole process of financial aid yet (I have been reading up on it though), but it is ridiculous sometimes.
Remember when we were all like 13-14 yrs old and we couldn't wait to drive! Hang out with our friends more, party, cruise, movies, arcades, etc, etc. Then we get our license, 👍 parents help us get our first car, 😀 then...we learn about: pedestrians via behind the wheel, yellow lights that stay longer on some lights than others, jaywalkers, runners who insist on wearing dark colors, old people, semi-trucks, rush hour, school zones, loading zones, parking meters, one-way streets, old people, kids believing the can hulk smash a car to save their ball that went into the street, and of course old people!
Time for lunch.
I have a job, but I live in one of the most expensive areas in the country, I work in research, and paying for driving lessons is already going to leave me broke. I definitely won't be able to save much (although I can hopefully convince my family to fund my down payment as a "yay you're going to med school!" present). I'm looking into which cars to buy and such, and if necessary I'll buy a rusty old heap. Sigh.
And I agree, driving seems like an unbelievable waste of energy and money. I never wanted to drive. I'm not very pleased with the current situation.
90-110 MPG. Some under $1,000. You don't need a license to drive one! (As long as it is under 50cc I believe, you don't need a license.) 😀
Most of the kids at my school (whoa) got our DL's (whoa yeah) in 10th grade. It was fun to see (whoa) who got pulled over/a ticket (who yeah) first.
Also: I didn't get pulled over until I was 19 (whoa) one of my friends got pulled over (whoa yeah) like 2 weeks after getting 'is permit.
There are lots of loan calculators out there that can help you look at what you can afford monthly with varying down payments. You can do a quick search on google or any car manufacturer's website and find one. Cheap and expensive are relative terms, so I'd look at that when you have a better approximation of what you'll be budgeted for financial aid and what your family can contribute. I think you should be looking for something under $10K though.
Sadly, I didn't get mine til I was almost 19! Never been pulled over, never had a ticket! Clean slate! 👍
Though, I don't know how I don't get pulled over I have the worst road rage!
Sadly, I didn't get mine til I was almost 19! Never been pulled over, never had a ticket! Clean slate! 👍
Though, I don't know how I don't get pulled over I have the worst road rage!
I got pulled over (whoa) for going 35 in a 25 (whoa yeah) but I didn't get a ticket. However i did get a ticket (whoa) when I was 18 (whoa yeah) for leaving my car (whoa) untended at an airport (who yeah).
Can you get a cheap used vehicle instead? I got mine for ~$1.8k and it runs just fine.👍
I have been listening to (whoa) love in an elevator (whoa yeah) by Aerosmith on repeat (whoa) for like the past 20 minutes (whoa yeah), it is a fantastic song and in it the band sings whoa and whoa yeah after like half of the lyrics. The song will change your life.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ6zQxGJtSM&feature=related[/youtube]
Universal Music Group 0, Me 1
Last edited:
HAHAHAHAHA. I know the song. You could start your own telegram company, instead of "stop" you can use the (whoa)s and (whoa yeah)s!
Yes. I'm afraid my never having had a car makes me a bit of an idiot when it comes to buying one, and the super duper cheap ones I've seen make me want to sit down by the side of the road and cry. I need to get over that, I realize. But...the new ones are so shiny! 😳
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Check Craigslist if you haven't already. If you are not all the good on finding the best of the rut, get someone to help out, and take someone with you when you go it always makes the "playing ground" easier when getting all you need to know about the car. You kinda play a "good cop/bad cop" role between the two of you to get a good price and good car! GOOD LUCK!
Is there any specific guidelines as to where they should be inserted? Or is it like baking, "a little here a little there" technique?
What also works well is finding which of your friends is a foreign student who has to go back to his or her home country and for obvious reasons can't take the car back with him/her. (Do not interpret as "please fleece the foreigner," thx)
HAHA! We do that at my cousin's school. After the Spring semester's we go around to each of the dorms/apartments and dumpster dive for what people throw out. Let me tell you, this isn't trash we're getting. Most often we get some furniture, appliances, radios, chairs, even clothes! We kept some, the rest we pawn, sold to place's like Plato's Closet, made flyers and sold stuff to other students/people, and the rest we just gave to shelter's and goodwill.
Is there any specific guidelines as to where they should be inserted? Or is it like baking, "a little here a little there" technique?
No guidelines other than to follow the pattern 1 (whoa) then 1 (who yeah), for every (whoa) you must have a (whoa yeah)
The sun is shining through my apartment window!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Almost time to strip down to shorts and a t-shirt and have some ice cream by the lake while reading some science textbook!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Forget that, strip down to nothing and read an inorganic book. Anyone questions you, show the book, and prove you're having a breakdown!
Forget that, strip down to nothing and read an inorganic book. Anyone questions you, show the book, and prove you're having a breakdown!
First time the sun has shined through the window since last October at 6:00 pm CT.
I never took inorganic chemistry. I have course objectives of all of the courses at the local medical school. So this summer, when not working or studying for a class, I will be learning the course objectives. These documents are a good 200 pages plus for some courses........that is 1/4 of most textbooks.
OK. Hi Myuu, I'm MADocMaybe, and a more frequent lurker than poster on SDN. I'm catching up on this thread... laughing and rolling my eyes quite a bit... and just noticed that you commented on the army not liking youtube (and thought to myself... yeah, as well as MySpace and a bunch of other social networking sites), noticed that your location is DC... but this is crazy. I work on the same base. In Silver Spring MD. It's so weird when an SDN-er becomes a potential real-life person...
Sorry for all those for whom this wasn't a fascinating post - this just took me aback, and it's late, what can I say. Continue the commiseration!
Yeah it sucks 🙁 I think that one of the schools I interviewed at talked about getting a loan SPECIFICALLY for getting a car outside of your student loan budget for this exact reason. Maybe investigate this possibility? Or talk to some banks directly yourself.
I don't think it's acceptable to live in the city you speak of without a car 🙂 I don't have one, but if I end up there by hook or by crook I'll get one. 😀
This may be the case - but in my experience, if someone outside of New England knows of a UMass ugrad, it's Amherst (not one of the other three ugrads in Lowell, Boston, or Dartmouth) - also, as DOquestions mentions parties and Commonwealth College... most likely thinking of the correct UMass, and indeed the state university rather than the private school, Amherst College.
http://www.comcol.umass.edu/ = "The honors college at UMass Amherst"
Just a little PSA for you all about the state school system in Massachusetts. From all of us here in the MA Tourist and Travel Dept, goodnight!
PS: Can i be a probationary member of this club if I'm not yet sure where I'll end up and what my debt will be?
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Dude - those little girls are totally ripping you all off. Here in the DC area I just bought my annual sugar stash at the local list price of $3.50. You all need to up your street smarts if you want true financial security heading into these next 4 years... 😛 Either that, or take a page out of the 9 year-olds' book: buy a bunch of Samoas, Tagalongs, Thin Mints, and sell them to co-workers/classmates for $5/box. All about supply and demand my friends...
Note: Spoken as a veteran girl scout of 16 years who took the pre-cookie season courses, "Smiling Winningly" and "Establishing Direct Eye-Contact While Being Exceedingly Earnest"... worked for me. 😀
Ok, that's it. Where in this building are you?
Actually... I'm up on the top of the hill, near the commissary and the subway... I work at the NCA Medical Simulation Center with USUHS medical and nursing students. I always drive by that mysterious big blue building and wonder about the people who busily go to and fro... can't believe you're one of them! craziness. 🙂
