BS--> MBA--> MD... loans??

[BodyBuildingDOC]

Hey everyone. As I plan on where to apply to med school, I’m obviously thinking about tuition and other expenses too. I’m an independent student, $0 family contribution here. I guess I’m not understanding how these “Cost of Attendance” budgets are able to be met with the loans available.

For example, on LMU-DCOM’s financial aid page they state:
Cost of attendance budget for MS1 = $75,681.
Tuition alone is $44,140.

(I hope we’re allowed to post links here?) http://www.lmunet.edu/dcom/finaid/loans.shtml

Then the “loan programs” page states that a MS1 can borrow up to $42,722 for the academic year with the direct unsubsidized loan program (which doesn’t even cover tuition all the way!) Where is the rest of the money coming from that I am able to borrow to pay rent/expenses?? (since I’ll likely not be able to work in med school… and savings account now is paying current bills & money to apply in June)

I guess I’m worried because I have both an undergrad and Master’s degree with loans (scholarship only covered half and I maxed out the undergrad amount allowed) and I had to take a private loan to go back to school this semester to complete my science prereqs. Will med school loans be considered differently than my undergrad & masters loans? Or will my masters loans count against me as part of the total “graduate loan” amount I’m supposed to be able to take out for med school? Any help, links, websites, resources for me to read is appreciated as I am up late racking my brain here researching some answers

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[RangerBob]

After you max out your direct unsubsidized loans, the rest comes from GradPlus, up to the cost of attendance (the full $75,000).

I do believe there is an aggregate loan limit (undergrad debt + graduate/professional debt). As far as I know, lenders make no distinction between graduate and undergraduate debt--they are looking at your total indebtedness. I'm not positive federal loans have a limit, but I think they do (at least for the stafford loans). I know private loans/lenders do. I'd look into that (info should be on the websites for the loans), as depending on how much you owe already it could have an impact on where you will want to apply/attend medical school (ie, public vs private)

Also keep in mind that your private loan is likely to go into repayment while in medical school. I had a small one that did--I was able to defer it a few years and put it in "in school status," but I did have to make payments during the last year and a half of medical school since only so many years of "in school status" are allowed. Private loans don't give you as many repayment/forbearance benefits as the federal loans. So you'll want to make sure to budget for that and be aware of when/if that loan will go into repayment.

 

[DrMidlife]

There is no limit on GradPlus.

Last year my school had 4 people graduate with over $400k in federal student loans.

 

[BodyBuildingDOC]

Thank you both for the answers. I'll look into GradPlus and will make sure to steer clear away from any more private loans if I can help it! $400k, wow! Even with all my degrees together I don't think I'll be that far in the hole. These financial aid loans are definitely something worth planning...