accepting financial award

[whiteorgo]

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so I received exact amount of financial award as the estimated cost of attendance according to my med school. Now, should I accept it all or would that be more than enough so try to accept less and live on a budget? And how accurate are these estimated cost of attendance for med school? thanks!

 

[mvenus929]

so I received exact amount of financial award as the estimated cost of attendance according to my med school. Now, should I accept it all or would that be more than enough so try to accept less and live on a budget? And how accurate are these estimated cost of attendance for med school? thanks!

Do a quick and dirty budget to figure out how much you expect to spend... include rent, utilities, food, entertainment, and some blow money (gifts, clothes, etc). Include your school's tuition and fees, as well as health insurance payments. Think about if you need to pay for parking or transportation. Overestimate.

Then figure out how close this is to your financial aid award. If it's less, then take that amount--you can always request more loans later. If it's more, you need to find somewhere to cut.

 

[d1ony5u5]

Right on mvenus!

I agree with her advice, OP.

 

[TooMuchResearch]

Do a quick and dirty budget to figure out how much you expect to spend... include rent, utilities, food, entertainment, and some blow money (gifts, clothes, etc). Include your school's tuition and fees, as well as health insurance payments. Think about if you need to pay for parking or transportation. Overestimate.

Then figure out how close this is to your financial aid award. If it's less, then take that amount--you can always request more loans later. If it's more, you need to find somewhere to cut.

 

[mvenus929]

Sorry, that's what Dave Ramsey calls it, and how one of my friends refers to it when she talks about her budget. It's money that you put in your budget so you can cover 'unexpected' expenses, so you don't live so stringently within a budget.