Can anyone top borrowing 185K for Med School?

[kmy]

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I know there is a financial aid forum but Im curious to poll you guys... I just got a financial aid package and I am blown away by the amount they expect me to borrow. My family doesnt make a lot of money and wont be contributing so I am doubly stunned. Is this normal? I often hear the average med student is in debt 100 or 150K but not closer to 200!!!! Any thoughts, is this sort of thing pay-off-able?

Can you sign up for loans with one school or one med school loan program, then get off the waitlist at another school just before classes start and switch your life and future earnings over to them?

Just curious - nothing like the prospect of owing a quarter million dollars after interest to make you question your career goals :wink:

 

[Resident Alien]

Nah cant top it. But i'll be taking out close to $110,000 in loans, going to a state school.

sigh... <img border="0" title="" alt="[Frown]" src="frown.gif" />

 

[E'01]

I have to take out about $130,000 and that's with a half-tuition scholarship. I still have 20K from undergrad too.

 

[CityIvy]

Yeah...my boyfriend is borrowing $208 grand for four years at NYMC!

 

[Barton]

I'll be borrowing $170,000 for my time at MCW.

 

[Scooby Doo]

The only reason the average debt is so low for most schools is b/c a lot of people are rich who go to the schools and can pay for it directly out of pocket. Or they don't have to take out many loans. But then you have people like the rest of us who are taking out 200K in loans. That then evens it all out to make the average debt of 100K

 

[E'01]

Are you guys borrowing the max amout of loans your school gave you? I'm trying to make up a budget so that I don't have to.... wow - room/board eats up all the $

 

[KyGrlDr2B]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by E'01:
•Are you guys borrowing the max amout of loans your school gave you? I'm trying to make up a budget so that I don't have to.... wow - room/board eats up all the $•••••I agree! Rent, utilities, and food have taken up so much money when I tried to figure out my expenses. It's unbelievable! My brother-in-law told me it's best to have a little bit more money than you need, than come up short (even though it accrues interest). He said if you don't have enough money, you are **** up a creek. *sigh*

 

[matthew0126]

i'm borrowing the max baby, aka the full cost for 4 years -- minus whatever money they give me in grants

i haven't gotten a financial aid form from ucsd but 4 years cost=100k, +car=115k. minus 20% grants (rough estimate i got from ucsf), so i figure i'll be borrowing somewhere around 85k. yuck.

 

[E'01]

Yeah isn't it crazy KyGrlDr2B?! I'm hoping that because we'll be soooo busy in med school, we won't have too much time to eat - hence smaller eating budget. I guess worst comes to worst, I can always go back home on Sundays and load up the car with goodies. I think that' the least my parents can do since they're not helping with my tuition 🙄

Are any of you planning to work a per-diem/part-time job? I don't think I'm qualified to teach MCAT stuff ( I don't remember a thing anyway) - but I hear a lot of med school students do it.

 

[E'01]

OOOOhhh thanks Moleculo!

 

[Epi]

I probably be borrowing around 160K for school.

I guess that just makes me average...

 

[trouta]

Although I havent received financial aid packages yet I know it will be awful b/c my family makes enough money but they wont be contributing b/c they are both getting ready to retire.

You can get off the waitlist at another school and enroll there up until the day that you begin classes at the school you are currently looking at. I dont know about backing out of private company loans.

 

[lyle]

I have to borrow full cost for 4 years plus interest plus hefty undergrad. debt. By the time I can start loan payments, I am expecting my debt to have reached close to $300K or more.

 

[reesie0726]

I am in the same boat as lyle. It will cost around 49k each year plus my undergrad and grad school loans. I dont even wanna think about how much debt i will have.

 

[otter]

At Tufts, we were told that the budget for 4 years will be about $240,000 as of now. as daunting as that figure may seem, we've just got to suck it up, borrow it, and not think about it.

 

[otter]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by reesie0726:
•I am in the same boat as lyle. It will cost around 49k each year plus my undergrad and grad school loans. I dont even wanna think about how much debt i will have.•••••How much are you in debt from undergrad and grad schools? Geez, that will be tough.

 

[Vdawg]

I don't have a car right now but will definitely need one for med school next year. How easy is it to have them calculate this into the loan? or is it not even considered and I have to take an outside loan for it. I don't mind borrowing money but I don't want to have to worry about high % accruing while I am in school!!

 

[warpath]

Yep. Because I'm an international student, I was going to have to borrow $210,000 (private company loans). Thankfully, I got a scholarship so I'll have to borrow less than a third of that.

 

[Nikki]

For those of you wanting to buy a car (I've been thinking of doing the same and trying to figure out how I can do it from my student loans) a lot of schools figure in a lot for transportation. One school figured in 3500 for the first year alone, which is a nice chunk of change to make a car/insurance payment, especially if you live close by, you would never need that much money. Some schools when I went to interview said that if you expect to pay a car payment, the most feasible way would be to take a roomate to save on rent.

I think it's definately possible, but you'll probably have to take the max loans.

 

[Whisker Barrel Cortex]

I took out the max every year and will be 170,000 in debt from med school plus 12,000 from undergrad when I graduate in a month.

 

[oldman]

youch!

i'm hoping to get some grants/scholarships...please god!