Can I still afford to go to medical school?

[Gotaro]

If I accumulate $100k of debt as an undergrad, will I be able to afford the loan payments after medical school? I was told the payments for $300k of student loans are $3400/month! If it's feasible, how long will I be forced to live a frugal life? Honestly, it's a big deal if I can't afford to have a child until I'm 40.

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[just one]

But when you make 10K+ a month, you still have more money left over than many people out there.

 

[c5212]

I want to know why you would consider dropping $100k on undergrad? Must be an amazing dream school...
And yes, it would be possible; and how frugal you would have to be with your money is completely dependent on what specialty you go in to. The most expensive med school (if I remember correctly) is Tufts @ like $80k - which is still not over $400k... I can't Imagine taking on almost half a million of debt just on ug/med

 

[Gotaro]

But when you make 10K+ a month, you still have more money left over than many people out there.

Does someone make $120k+ straight out of medical school?

I want to know why you would consider dropping $100k on undergrad? Must be an amazing dream school...
And yes, it would be possible; and how frugal you would have to be with your money is completely dependent on what specialty you go in to. The most expensive med school (if I remember correctly) is Tufts @ like $80k - which is still not over $400k... I can't Imagine taking on almost half a million of debt just on ug/med

I want to transfer out of state, and I'm told transfer students get next to nothing for scholarships. I figure the worst case scenario is $50k/year. I'm hoping for more like $15-20k/year, of course..

I'm not sure where you got the $.5mil figure? I'm estimating $200k for med school + $100k undergrad.

 

[c5212]

I'm not sure where you got the $.5mil figure? I'm estimating $200k for med school + $100k undergrad.

My bad. I misread and took the "$300k" to be the med school debt alone + $100k ug and the got the almost half a million

 

[c5212]

Does someone make $120k+ straight out of medical school?

Not straight out of med school - you have your residency where the pay varies around $50k/yr. After residency, whenever you are practicing, $120k is on the lower end of the spectrum

Where are you looking at for undergrad???

 

[J ROD]

yes, you can afford it....especially if you get into a high paying specialty.

 

[Gotaro]

Not straight out of med school - you have your residency where the pay varies around $50k/yr. After residency, whenever you are practicing, $120k is on the lower end of the spectrum

Where are you looking at for undergrad???

For undergrad, I picked Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, and Oregon. It really doesn't make sense to me that they're so expensive, but whatever.. I think it would have been cheaper to go to a prestigious school (seriously). I'm still hoping for the scholarships that apparently don't exist..

 

[armybound]

I went into roughly $100k debt from undergrad. It worked out to a little over $1000/month payment x10 years. It's not ideal, but you'll be able to pay the bills, especially if you can pick up a spouse along the way that helps pay down the loans.

 

[J ROD]

especially if you can pick up a spouse along the way that helps pay down the loans.

 

[chessknt]

Dont forget that the socialist tax scheme in this country levies ~30% in taxes on your income. So if your income is 150k, your take-home is more like 120k-malpractice (10-30k)-mortgage -retirement -loan repayments -food/utilities....

Itll be a long time until you roll around in a bath full of money, if you ever get there.

 

[WNT Signaling]

So if your income is 150k, your take-home is more like 90k-malpractice (10-30k)-mortgage -retirement -loan repayments -food/utilities....

OP, 150 is low, unless you do peds, and in 7+ years, the salary will most likely grow--salaries, when corrected for inflation, may not increase, but physician salaries will probably continue to grow due to inflation, although the rate is difficult to determine

you will not pay 10-30 in malpractice, your practice will

retirement is pre-tax (the max you can contribute is 16k, so if you made 150, and you contributed the max of 16k, only 134k of you income is taxable), and many practices and hospitals match retirement to an extent, and if you work for a university or the government, you'll be elidgible for a pension

loan repayments will be a lot

living expenses are really up to you: do you need a McMansion and a new car, or can you own an inexpensive house and drive a used car

So, yes, you have a lot, but you just need to realize that any money you borrow has to be repaid. Loan repayment programs do exist, but that's another can of worms. There's also the military, but 95% of all people in the military forum will discourage you for pursuing that route.

On the plus side, OK has two public med schools, so if you are competitive you should be able to get into both (OU and OSU), and if you aren't that competitive, OSU will still allow you to be a physician while keeping your debt low

 

[strummin]

...socialist tax scheme in this country...

hahaha. Hey, a little piece of advice for you - don't EVER leave the USA!! Stay away from Europe - especially!! You don't know what socialism is, buddy. If you think this is socialism...

Don't you love these Fox News-educated neo-mccarthyists that roam around in this forum?

 

[Gotaro]

OP, 150 is low, unless you do peds, and in 7+ years, the salary will most likely grow--salaries, when corrected for inflation, may not increase, but physician salaries will probably continue to grow due to inflation, although the rate is difficult to determine

you will not pay 10-30 in malpractice, your practice will

retirement is pre-tax (the max you can contribute is 16k, so if you made 150, and you contributed the max of 16k, only 134k of you income is taxable), and many practices and hospitals match retirement to an extent, and if you work for a university or the government, you'll be elidgible for a pension

loan repayments will be a lot

living expenses are really up to you: do you need a McMansion and a new car, or can you own an inexpensive house and drive a used car

So, yes, you have a lot, but you just need to realize that any money you borrow has to be repaid. Loan repayment programs do exist, but that's another can of worms. There's also the military, but 95% of all people in the military forum will discourage you for pursuing that route.

On the plus side, OK has two public med schools, so if you are competitive you should be able to get into both (OU and OSU), and if you aren't that competitive, OSU will still allow you to be a physician while keeping your debt low

Phew, I had some trouble following your post lol. I did my best.. But I'm kind of confused.. $150k is low for a starting salary? What are your sources?

What are some figure estimates, in your opinion, of an affordable house and car straight out of residency? And spending money per month? (All assuming monthly payments for $300k of loans.)

Do most people defer paying off their debts in order to start a family?

 

[chessknt]

hahaha. Hey, a little piece of advice for you - don't EVER leave the USA!! Stay away from Europe - especially!! You don't know what socialism is, buddy. If you think this is socialism...

Don't you love these Fox News-educated neo-mccarthyists that roam around in this forum?

Its called hyperbole amigo. But any system where wealth is being taken disproportionately from one group to be given freely to another (eg higher % tax brackets-->fund entitlement programs) is a socialist concept. Ergo, when people who make >100k pay 20% and people who make <35k pay 0%, you are practicing a facet of socialism.

WNT, not everyone works under a hospital/practice. For people who operate their own private practices, those are all real costs. And while retirement may not be taxable, its still not going to eat away that much of your taxable base like your loan repayments will (which cant be counted as deductions). Take home pay is often far less than what the figures on websites would have you believe.

 

[MedMan25]

Phew, I had some trouble following your post lol. I did my best.. But I'm kind of confused.. $150k is low for a starting salary? What are your sources?

What are some figure estimates, in your opinion, of an affordable house and car straight out of residency? And spending money per month? (All assuming monthly payments for $300k of loans.)

Do most people defer paying off their debts in order to start a family?

$150K is probably a little closer to average than low for a peds starting salary. Dept. of labor and statistics reports the median pediatrician salary at $132K for < 2 years in practice and $160K for > 1 year.

You could ask 10 people with the same salary how much an "affordable" house and car would be and get 10 different answers. This all depends on the standard of living expect to be living when you finish residency.

 

[WNT Signaling]

Phew, I had some trouble following your post lol. I did my best.. But I'm kind of confused.. $150k is low for a starting salary? What are your sources?

What are some figure estimates, in your opinion, of an affordable house and car straight out of residency? And spending money per month? (All assuming monthly payments for $300k of loans.)

Do most people defer paying off their debts in order to start a family?

Sorry?

In regards to salary, your best bet is to look in the specialty forums and do a search for salary. The reason for this is that people will post locum tenens salary tables, and these tend to be higher than actual salaries. In the specialty forums, residents have posted offers that they, as well as people in their programs, have received, and thus are more accurate of the actual market. Hospitalists on these forums have been posting around 200, and due to increased reimbursements in psychiatry, starting psych seems to be a little below 200. There was also someone in the anesthesiology forum who was chewed-out for accepting a position that paid 250; it turns on that the position was in academia, and thus lower than what one would accept in private practice

In terms of houses, it's difficult to say: there is a big difference in housing markets between Oklahoma and SoCal. It's up to you to determine how much house you need. And, contrary to Grey's Anatomy, physicians, even with crazy debt, do not end-up living in trailers.

You might want to read about income based repayment--do a google search and do a search in this forum because there have been several posts. IBR is a new program, that for better or worse, allows students to pay loans over a 25 year period

In regards to children, I am so happy that I'm a gay man so that I'll never have to worry about children draining all of my income! Seriously though, if there are LDS families with 10 children that can survive on a fraction of a physician's salary, I think you'll be OK

 

[MedMan25]

Phew, I had some trouble following your post lol. I did my best.. But I'm kind of confused.. $150k is low for a starting salary? What are your sources?

What are some figure estimates, in your opinion, of an affordable house and car straight out of residency? And spending money per month? (All assuming monthly payments for $300k of loans.)

Do most people defer paying off their debts in order to start a family?

Oh, and about having kids. There are plenty of people who have kids in medical school and are living off student loans. Again, just comes down to what your personal goals/priorities are and the lifestyle you want to maintain.

 

[riceman04]

But when you make 10K+ a month, you still have more money left over than many people out there.

yeah...that won't be happening for a while even after finishing med school!

There are physicians who have lucrative careers and are making a significant amount of $, but are still paying back loans.

Seeing as how you have posted that you have been accepted (congrats on that feat BTW...feels awesome...doesn't it?) you have probably had to sit through a financial aid sessions on interviews. There they emphasize, essentially, that these drop in the bucket expenses add up and become a burden to pay back

 

[JJMrK]

Does someone make $120k+ straight out of medical school?

I want to transfer out of state, and I'm told transfer students get next to nothing for scholarships. I figure the worst case scenario is $50k/year. I'm hoping for more like $15-20k/year, of course..

I'm not sure where you got the $.5mil figure? I'm estimating $200k for med school + $100k undergrad.

Do what you can not to pay that much for undergrad. Find a school that's <10k/year in tuition.

Also, 200k is a pretty conservative estimate for medical school, depending on your state. If you end up at a private school you'll be looking at like 250k or more.

Dont forget that the socialist tax scheme in this country levies ~30% in taxes on your income. So if your income is 150k, your take-home is more like 120k-malpractice (10-30k)-mortgage -retirement -loan repayments -food/utilities....

Itll be a long time until you roll around in a bath full of money, if you ever get there.

Most quoted salaries you see are after malpractice.

 

[halekulani]

I want to know why you would consider dropping $100k on undergrad?

not everyone knows whether they will go to grad school before undergrad...

 

[Parts Unknown]

I was told the payments for $300k of student loans are $3400/month!

There are loan repayment plans much longer than 10 years. For every $100,000 borrowed, 30 year repayment at 6.8% interest = $651.93/month. By 2039, it's possible that $651.93 will buy you a number 4 combo at McDonald's.

By the time you finish residency you could be married or single, have a family or not, live an expensive city or cheap town, and be in a high paying specialty or not. A lot of variables, but you will probably be able to strike a balance between living decently and repaying your debt.

 

[sgtbrushes]

Become a general pediatrician.