college loans

[bigmike7104]

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Do you have to pay back college loans right after you graduate college if you go to medical school, or can you defer them and pay them back after residency? And if yes, is the same true if the loans are under your parents name?

 

[J ROD]

Do you have to pay back college loans right after you graduate college if you go to medical school, or can you defer them and pay them back after residency? And if yes, is the same true if the loans are under your parents name?

you have a 6 month grace period....

and you can defer during residency.

assume the same if in your parent's name.

 

[tremulousNeedle]

you have a 6 month grace period....

and you can defer during residency.

assume the same if in your parent's name.

This isn't entirely true.

You do have a 6 month grace period before repayment is expected. And the terms of federal loans are usually independent of who the signer is (yourself or your parents).

The deferral point is incorrect, but this is partly a semantics issue. President Bush signed a new law a couple years ago that removed the ability for medical students to defer their federal loans during residency (Thank you Mr. Bush). The only options currently available (without refinancing your loans) are to begin making payments or go into forbearance. And even with refinancing, rarely can you get a deal that is as good as the old deferral option was.

Deferral vs Forbearance:
Deferral - the loan amount eligible for deferral would sit idle and not accrue interest during residency. This option obviously saves money.
Forbearance - the entire loan amount continues to accrue interest, though no payments are necessary for the forbearance period. You actually pay more for the total life of the loan, than if you started paying right away.

Most of this applies to federal loans, which are responsible for >95% of the loans used for medical school.

-senior medical student / admissions committee interview

 

[lovemesomeTJ]

This isn't entirely true.

You do have a 6 month grace period before repayment is expected. And the terms of federal loans are usually independent of who the signer is (yourself or your parents).

The deferral point is incorrect, but this is partly a semantics issue. President Bush signed a new law a couple years ago that removed the ability for medical students to defer their federal loans during residency (Thank you Mr. Bush). The only options currently available (without refinancing your loans) are to begin making payments or go into forbearance. And even with refinancing, rarely can you get a deal that is as good as the old deferral option was.

Deferral vs Forbearance:
Deferral - the loan amount eligible for deferral would sit idle and not accrue interest during residency. This option obviously saves money.
Forbearance - the entire loan amount continues to accrue interest, though no payments are necessary for the forbearance period. You actually pay more for the total life of the loan, than if you started paying right away.

Most of this applies to federal loans, which are responsible for >95% of the loans used for medical school.

-senior medical student / admissions committee interview

You always write this out. You should put in in your signature and save yourself some typing.

Just a random thought. 🙂

 

[tremulousNeedle]

You always write this out. You should put in in your signature and save yourself some typing.

Just a random thought. 🙂

Why? It will be 'resident' shortly and then I'll just have to change it again.
🙂

 

[Morsetlis]

^ Will not use EMR in his office practice.

 

[royalewthcheese]

^ Will not use EMR in his office practice.

I feel like they need people to design EMR software that aren't the lowest bidder. Medical records are important and I can't believe how archaic the current system(s) are... And I'm coming from a top 10 hospital. I'm not
a fan so far. Of course, with paper charts you have to rely on people making crap money per hour to put things into them, so you get what you pay for.

 

[tremulousNeedle]

^ Will not use EMR in his office practice.

Correct. No office for me --- I am matching into Emergency Medicine.
And the computer science degree that I earned really put me off of computers.

 

[Bacchus]

Having to pay back your loans during residency isn't as bad as suggested above and makes financial sense. Repayment is based on your resident salary so you will not be paying as much as an attending would be. You'll thank Pres. Bush later when your debt doesn't grow substantially more due to 4 years of interest.

 

[tremulousNeedle]

Having to pay back your loans during residency isn't as bad as suggested above and makes financial sense. Repayment is based on your resident salary so you will not be paying as much as an attending would be. You'll thank Pres. Bush later when your debt doesn't grow substantially more due to 4 years of interest.

That doesn't even make sense. There is no way this is a better deal than the deferral option that once existed. With the old deferral option, interest didn't accrue on your subsidized loans, so there was no worry about the added interest you are referring to. Granted the subsidized loans only count for about a 1/4 to 1/3 of the loan amount, but now 100% of the loan amount will start to accrue interest.

The income based repayment plan takes around 300 from your monthly income (more if you are married because the household income is what is used in the calculations). On a typical 175,000 loan debt, the interest accrued during a month is well over this amount (closer to $900). Repayment is like using a water gun to put out a house fire. I would much rather keep the $300+ for myself (and my wife) and pay the extra 10-15K that it would cost me over the next 30 years when I can better afford it.

Regardless of whether you are pro-repayment or pro-forbearance, it is well established that the old deferral option cost less in the end.