Additional Funds for Med Students

[Matt In The Hat]

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Hi, everyone.

I have a question about funding for students:

While I was taking pre-requisites, I worked short-term contracts for several different clients which kept my mortgage paid, but did little else As such, we practically lived off of credit.

Now that I've been accepted to school, I am leaving my full-time job, and have accepted my financial aid package for the year. In doing the math, it looks like the ends still may not meet, and I'm starting to get a little stressed about it.

I had originally planned to wrap up all my credit card debt into my student loans so that once I was finished, I would only have one payment to make. I know that interest would accrue, but in the scheme of things, my school isn't as expensive as some others, so the total debt wasn't extraordinary.

Do any of you know of additional funding sources above and beyond the cost of attendance? I appreciate any information you have.

 

[Helen Wheels]

Really, aside from any part time work or side income (stocks, rental properties, etc), there isn't any. Here's why: If you receive any scholarship or grant money, you have to report it to the financial aid department at your school and the student loan amount will be reduced by the amount of the scholarship or grant. So, even if you found a scholarship or grant (and there aren't many) it wouldn't actually give you more money.

The only other thing I can think of is an HPSP scholarship where you enlist in the military and they pay your tuition and give you a monthly stipend of $2,000 while you are in school. In return, you have to give them four years of service after residency. That is certainly not for everyone, though.

 

[Water Top]

Really, aside from any part time work or side income (stocks, rental properties, etc), there isn't any. Here's why: If you receive any scholarship or grant money, you have to report it to the financial aid department at your school and the student loan amount will be reduced by the amount of the scholarship or grant. So, even if you found a scholarship or grant (and there aren't many) it wouldn't actually give you more money.

The only other thing I can think of is an HPSP scholarship where you enlist in the military and they pay your tuition and give you a monthly stipend of $2,000 while you are in school. In return, you have to give them four years of service after residency. That is certainly not for everyone, though.

That is 4 years for school and another 3 for residency (or however long yours is).

 

[MedPR]

That is 4 years for school and another 3 for residency (or however long yours is).

Too steep a price given the current government.

 

[DrMidlife]

I had originally planned to wrap up all my credit card debt into my student loans

I believe you're talking about refinancing consumer debt, so that you wouldn't have to make payments during med school. I imagine you expected to be able to borrow somewhat freely once you were in med school. You're now seeing that you can't really do this, correct?

Generally, car payments and credit card payments and similar bills are not covered in med school cost of attendance.

so that once I was finished, I would only have one payment to make.

The number of bills you need to pay per month is considerably less important than the terms of those payments and what you give up for that convenience. Don't jeopardize the benefits of the federal loans you'll get for med school by looking for a way to consolidate your consumer debt in with those loans.

I know that interest would accrue, but in the scheme of things, my school isn't as expensive as some others, so the total debt wasn't extraordinary.

ECU is the cheapest med school in the US (other than USUHS). It's one of very few remaining schools that has cost of attendance that fits under the Stafford limits. That means all your student loans will be at 6.8% instead of 7.9% or higher for Grad Plus, and you won't have to pay the fees or deal with the credit analysis of Grad Plus.

Which is great.

But I suggest you may want to look at your consumer debt load very seriously, very separately from your med school financing. Federal student loans are a protected system that give you options for survival during the no-pay and low-pay years of medical training. All other lending options are designed to protect stockholder value, not borrower sanity. My point is this: tread carefully.

Have you considered how you are going to avoid accumulating more consumer debt during med school? How does your monthly spending for the last few years compare to the living allowance at ECU? If you haven't seen your budget, it's here: www.ecu.edu/cs-dhs/bsomstudentaffairs/Brody-School-of-Medicine-Financial-Aid.cfm

Note that your school (as is typical) gives you a budget for only 9 months of the M1 year. You're expected to fund the other 3 months on your own.

Do any of you know of additional funding sources above and beyond the cost of attendance? I appreciate any information you have.

Since I started paying attention in '06, I've seen private lending choices (for students but not managed by schools) almost totally dry up, and my confidence in the funding for military and pubilc health scholarships has dried up as well. Doom & gloom.

Generally you need to find a lender that will give you money without going through your school's financial aid office. Lending for students that doesn't get counted against cost of attendance is very difficult to find, and from what I've seen, a cosigner tends to be part of the deal.

You'll hate this idea, but depending on how much consumer debt you have, the smartest thing to do might be to defer your acceptance to get it gone.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Matt In The Hat]

Dr Midlife, I have, perhaps unfortunately, come to all the conclusions that you have provided in your response, which is why I turned to the forum to see if others had found a solution I had not.

I guess the positive here is that we are completely independent of future credit necessity, but climbing out of the hole we have created for ourselves is daunting. I did initially think that banks would be more willing to creatively work with me once I was admitted to medical school - thinking that the banks would see that there would be a finite period of time that I would need their assistance, after which I would have the means to pay them back for their kindness. I see now that idea was folly.

ECU is the best option financially for most everyone, and I'm pretty sure we can make it all work out, but I would rather have the confidence that we can remain financially solvent in the coming years. Unfortunately, ECU does frown upon deferred admissions requests, and would only grant them in extreme cases, so I don't think that's an option.

I appreciate the responses from everyone. We'll see how it goes!