Am I too old? / Financial Aid Question

[HAZELLBOO]

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In a couple of weeks, I will be 30 years old. I am considering going to school to become a doctor. The problem is that I have never attended college, so I would be starting from scratch as a Freshman in Undergrad. Am I too old? Sometimes I think, "Well, I will be 40 years old in 10 years whether I go or not, so I may as well go and be a doctor at 40". Other times, I just think I am too old. I know that schooling would take 8 years, but I believe I would also spend even more years as an intern and in residency, correct? What will the time line be like? What would my salary be like during internship, residency, fellowship, and once all of these have been completed?
Also, I know that most medical students change their minds about their specialty several times during school, but I am currently interested in Anesthesiology (if that info helps).

The second thing that I am concerned about is financial aid. More specifically, can I afford medical school? I make $46,000/ year, and I do not have any childen. How much does financial aid really cover? I remember I went to a "college" when I was 22 years old. I had moved out of my parent's house (1,000 miles away) when I was 18, yet the financial aid office still wanted my parents income info, and based my aid on that info, therefore, I didn't qualify for anything.
(The reason I said that I have never attended college earlier is because I don't consider that school to be a 'real' school because I tried to transfer credits to Devry a few years later and was told the school wasn't regionally accredited so the credits were invalid.)

Summary:
1. I am interested in Anesthesiology.
2. Am I too old to start as a Freshman Undergrad at 30?
3. Can I afford medical school? How much does financial aid really pay?
4. What would my salary be like during internship, residency, fellowship, and once all of these have been completed?

Addt'l info:
1. My credit isnt the greatest, so private loans will most likely not be an option.
2. I do not have a cosigner.
3. I live in NJ, and there is only one Medical School here. I will probably have to attend in NY and pay out of state tuition.

Thanks for your help!

 

[tartrate]

In terms of stamina, that is entirely up to you, as well as the question of whether you want to go through the whole thing. I do know of people older than yourself who have gone through this process.

If you are starting from scratch, it may take a while, and a lot of hoops to jump through. You will have to get into a 4-year institution, get excellent grades, take the MCAT, all the while supporting yourself financially and doing the necessary extracurricular activities. After that, you will apply to medical school, which is a year-long process. Even then, because of the highly competitive nature of medical school applications, getting into a school is not a guarantee. Medical school is indeed 4 years, and the cost should not be a high priority concern, since most people are covered through federal loans. If you are able to get through medical school, you have a year of internship and 3-7 years of residency (dependent on specialty), followed by x number of years for any kind of fellowships you want to complete. As a resident, you will get paid, but at less than minimum wage, and you will be working harder than you've ever thought possible. You will however be compensated very well by the time you are a staff anesthesiologist. By the time you finish with everything, it will have taken you well over 12-14 years, at the least, if you decide to start now.

Most of this information you can find online, and you'd probably want to read a few books on people's experiences before you commit yourself to this long, arduous process.

 

[ILikeDrugs]

If you finish at 40, you will be practicing for 25 years! 25 years is a lot to give! So don't get caught up on your age. The residency salaries that I have seen have ranged from 38k to 50k for your first year, and it goes up by the year (mostly by $2k). It depends on the cost of living in the area. Check out www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/education.../freida-online.shtml and search for anesthesiology programs, go to the residency's web page, and navigate to the salary/compensation pages.

 

[GrantN]

4 years undergrad
4 years med school
3-4 years residency in anesthesiology
------------------------------------
16 yearsish, thus around 46, probably work until your like 65/70
you should totally try for it, don't wanna look back and say you could have been a doctor

 

[LuciusVorenus]

In a couple of weeks, I will be 30 years old. I am considering going to school to become a doctor. The problem is that I have never attended college, so I would be starting from scratch as a Freshman in Undergrad. Am I too old? Sometimes I think, "Well, I will be 40 years old in 10 years whether I go or not, so I may as well go and be a doctor at 40". Other times, I just think I am too old. I know that schooling would take 8 years, but I believe I would also spend even more years as an intern and in residency, correct? What will the time line be like? What would my salary be like during internship, residency, fellowship, and once all of these have been completed?
Also, I know that most medical students change their minds about their specialty several times during school, but I am currently interested in Anesthesiology (if that info helps).

The second thing that I am concerned about is financial aid. More specifically, can I afford medical school? I make $46,000/ year, and I do not have any childen. How much does financial aid really cover? I remember I went to a "college" when I was 22 years old. I had moved out of my parent's house (1,000 miles away) when I was 18, yet the financial aid office still wanted my parents income info, and based my aid on that info, therefore, I didn't qualify for anything.
(The reason I said that I have never attended college earlier is because I don't consider that school to be a 'real' school because I tried to transfer credits to Devry a few years later and was told the school wasn't regionally accredited so the credits were invalid.)

Summary:
1. I am interested in Anesthesiology.
2. Am I too old to start as a Freshman Undergrad at 30?
3. Can I afford medical school? How much does financial aid really pay?
4. What would my salary be like during internship, residency, fellowship, and once all of these have been completed?

Addt'l info:
1. My credit isnt the greatest, so private loans will most likely not be an option.
2. I do not have a cosigner.
3. I live in NJ, and there is only one Medical School here. I will probably have to attend in NY and pay out of state tuition.

Thanks for your help!

4 years undergrad---->4 years med school----->3-4 years residency if medical, 5-7 years if surgeon.

Your salary during internship/residency/fellowship will be around 35,000-49,000 depending on where you live

Your starting salary after you graduate will vary, from 100K for something like primary care and pediatrics to around 300K for some of the more specialized fields, although they say anesthesiology pay might be going down soon because of CRNAs, but who really knows anymore. Here's a list of starting/average salaries for different specialties: http://www.allied-physicians.com/salary_surveys/physician-salaries.htm.

The reason you might not have gotten any aid was because you didn't declare yourself as an independent even though you were. Once you're over 23 you are by default considered an independent. How much financial aid you get during undergrad depends on a lot of things, but 40K+ should cover it if you go to a cheap state school as opposed to an expensive private school. During med school most people tend to get enough loans to cover the full cost of tuition, and these loans (undergrad included) don't have to be paid until you're completely done with your education (by that time it should be around 300K or slightly more).

 

[vc7777]

Welcome!

Please check out the nontraditional forum to meet more people like yourself.

I turn 34 in a couple of weeks - and I start med school on Tuesday!

Sent from my SPH-M900 using Tapatalk

 

[Dianyla]

Please check out the nontraditional forum to meet more people like yourself.

S/he already crossposted this identical post in Nontrads. (And in WAMC.) (And in hSDN.) (FFS!!!)

 

[Catalystik]

You might also like to visit SDN's Financial Aid Forum at http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=30

Some med schools do credit checks now, not just background checks. So do what you can to clean up your credit.

 

[McBatCommander]

In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with going to med school that late. It's a very serious endeavor and requires so much focus, determination, and passion, something that a lot of 18-22 year olds do not have yet.

But really, everyone is different.

 

[Law2Doc]

Moving to nontrad forum.

 

[HAZELLBOO]

Yayayayayayayay!!! Congratulations! Where will you attend? Could you private message me to tell me more about your experience in Undergrad?

Welcome!

Please check out the nontraditional forum to meet more people like yourself.

I turn 34 in a couple of weeks - and I start med school on Tuesday!

Sent from my SPH-M900 using Tapatalk

 

[nickmx50]

OP I'm in your same boat. I'll turn 34 this month, and I started as a first year undergrad last fall. After 11 years, I got laid off from a $125k/yr job, two years ago, and decided to pursue medicine. Going from $125k/yr to nothing definitely had an impact on my credit rating. On the positive side, I just received a full tuition scholarship for the next three years, and they'll even give me $15k/yr for my first two years of medical school. I did nothing special other than being dedicated, maintained a 4.0, and did a lot of volunteering/community service. There are certainly resources out there for undergraduate funding, but be perpared to dedicate some time to finding those programs and applying.

I don't know what my end result will be, but I'm confident that I'll make myself a competitive applicant on paper. That is the only thing in my control. After that, hopefully a school will see the value in my life experiences and give me an acceptance. I say go for it because it sure sounds like you want to from your post. Good luck.