at this rate i'll owe $500,000

[medicinednh09]

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i am entirely independent, but my parents are successful. thus i am not "eligible" for need based aid, scholarships, or really anything else out there except the army that could help me pay for med school. even my state school was over 50,000 a year in-state. i'm looking at paying 69,000 this year out of almost entirely unsubsidized loans, and i don't see this changing in the future except (god forbid) my parents lose their jobs. at this rate i'll graduate owing 500,000 if you include interest accruing. is this normal? the MSAR says average student debt upon graduation for schools is $100,000 to $130,000. i would love to be one of those people! how does anyone pay for this whose parents are successful? anyone know of merit aid?

 

[Pinkertinkle]

i am entirely independent, but my parents are successful. thus i am not "eligible" for need based aid, scholarships, or really anything else out there except the army that could help me pay for med school. even my state school was over 50,000 a year in-state. i'm looking at paying 69,000 this year out of almost entirely unsubsidized loans, and i don't see this changing in the future except (god forbid) my parents lose their jobs. at this rate i'll graduate owing 500,000 if you include interest accruing. is this normal? the MSAR says average student debt upon graduation for schools is $100,000 to $130,000. i would love to be one of those people! how does anyone pay for this whose parents are successful? anyone know of merit aid?

50k for instate tuition seems a little high, does that include living expense? If you live really meagerly you can get by on not too many K a year living expense.

 

[medicinednh09]

even if i save a few thousand each year on living expenses, that's only at-most say 3,000 a year, 12,000 total. i just don't understand how people are only 130,000 in debt on average. all loan-repayment programs are for primary care specialties or for those who qualify for need. does anyone know about non-need based help for specialties like surgery?

 

[rom3o]

If you are an independent, why would the amount of money your parents make influence whether you qualify for financial aid or not?

 

[psychforme]

Heh. I have actually net earned money since I bought stocks for all I owned/loaned when Obama saved the economy. Intellect is rewarded in life. If the stock markets reach all time highs again I'm going to be a millionaire instead of in debt.

 

[psych]

The MSAR factors in people a full ride (from military, NHSC, ect.) and people with scholarships so the average is skewed. Med school is also getting more expensive every year and I'm sure new numbers will be coming out soon that are much higher. Plus some state schools are still dirt cheap (texas and nevada comes to mind...).
Anyway you are not alone. I'll pay way over 500k when all is said and done. Hell when I graduate I'll owe ~375k 🙁 It's a shame really. But hey we're doctors we'll be able to pay it off, right?

 

[rup47]

If you are an independent, why would the amount of money your parents make influence whether you qualify for financial aid or not?

as graduate students, we are all technically "independent" However, because of the limitted availability that schools have to give out in aid, they base need on both your money/income as well as parental income.
So only people with no money who also have parents that make very little are able to get these need based sources of money.

If you don't provide the school through fafsa with parental income they will not consider you for need based aid

 

[ensuii]

I've been freaking out about the debt issue ever since I was accepted. http://www.ibrinfo.org/ made me feel a wee bit better.

 

[MossPoh]

even if i save a few thousand each year on living expenses, that's only at-most say 3,000 a year, 12,000 total. i just don't understand how people are only 130,000 in debt on average. all loan-repayment programs are for primary care specialties or for those who qualify for need. does anyone know about non-need based help for specialties like surgery?

Because it is an average. There are people like me that only have 19k a year tuition and live in relatively cheap areas too. Then, my parents are helping me too. Some locations, if you are willing to live in the middle of nowhere, will do loan reimbursement for a variety of specialities, especially general surgery. Be prepared to live in a rural area though.

 

[Rendar5]

avg at my school is 180K, it's a private one.

Also the debt figures do not include total amount you will pay on your loans after repayment. it's the principal

 

[WellWornLad]

Everybody in med school is "independent," legally speaking. Also, the pool of scholarship money at most schools is so vanishingly small that should the school actually figure out which rich kids are truly getting money for school and proportion said money equitably, the amount you'd get probably wouldn't cover your licensing exams.

Also, I'm pretty sure the average indebtedness is around $150,000, which averages in the 20% of med students who graduate without any debt as well as the countless number who take out token loans of $10,000/year to slum it up and feel like they're struggling alongside the rest of us.

 

[Orbo]

i am entirely independent, but my parents are successful. thus i am not "eligible" for need based aid, scholarships, or really anything else out there except the army that could help me pay for med school. even my state school was over 50,000 a year in-state. i'm looking at paying 69,000 this year out of almost entirely unsubsidized loans, and i don't see this changing in the future except (god forbid) my parents lose their jobs. at this rate i'll graduate owing 500,000 if you include interest accruing. is this normal? the MSAR says average student debt upon graduation for schools is $100,000 to $130,000. i would love to be one of those people! how does anyone pay for this whose parents are successful? anyone know of merit aid?

You're currently living off $19000/year or over $1500/month. Either rent is really expensive in your area, or you're living a lavish life in med school.

Admit it, you can cut down on your daily expenses.

 

[TMP-SMX]

Need-based aid including grants and Perkins loans are a small proportion to the cost of attendance even in those individuals that are eligible for it (not many people). The average indebtedness is an average based on everyone in medical school including cheaper schools, those that receive full scholarships, military, and parents paying for everything. Also keep in mind how old the data is and how much tuition has gone up since then.

 

[nontrdgsbuiucmd]

Another point or two -- I just flipped through MSAR; they print stats on the percent of students receiving aid -- my unofficial tally is that most schools report low 80's to low 90's. That is, 87% of students or so receive financial aid. And 13% do not -- presumably paid through scholarships, relatives, or whatever; that'll skew the numbers quite a bit. As TMP mentions, the numbers in MSAR reflect average indebtedness, but these probably refer to the class that graduated 1-2 years ago; if cost of med school is going up 5% per year, and we're looking at old data, it's to be expected that the incoming class and current med students will have far more in debt.

Finally, I'd read a post a while back that stated these measured "indebtedness" figures include only federal student loans (presumably grad + also?), and exclude private loans. Can't confirm this is accurate, but it was reported by another med student poster.