and you feed yourself how?

[emchen]

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For next fall I was accepted at Oregon Health and Science (OHSU), for which the out-of-state tuition is approximately $38,000 a year. Are the stafford loans going to be enough to cover both my tuition and living expenses? I also have the option of attending my state school (University of Wisconsin - Madison) for roughly $18,000 a year in tuition. Now I think I'd be happier out in Portland, but $80,000 extra over 4 years is a damn lot of money. How many years do people usually take to repay their med school loans? Is repaying $80,000 extra in loans really going to affect my lifestyle when I get out? Complicating the issues is my love for travel and desire to participate actively in programs like Doctors Without Borders. Help?

 

[BerlinNeuro]

To answer your question, if your tuition is $38,500 and the max you can take out in Staffords is $38,500 (for all med students per year), then you will not have enough. You will have to take out private loans which have a higher interest rate, but your financial aid office will probably advise you on preferable private lenders. But you will be able to pay it back in the end. Figure if you are 200k in debt, then you will probably pay back a little over 2,000/mo. for around 11-12 years, roughly, less if you extend your repayment. You wrack up a lot of interest this way though.

Ok, in my opinion, if you really want to go to Oregon, then go for it if 20k a year will buy you happiness. I don't say this sarcastically, because you have to be happy with your decision. However, if you are really serious about doing regular volunteer work abroad, it will take longer to pay back an extra 80k. So, ask yourself if Oregon or your freedom to travel is of more importance to you. But you have to remember this is already 4 yrs med school + 4 years of residency away, and you will probably have very different priorities by then, so you never know.