Cost after Undergrad

[doctorcalifornia]

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Does anyone know about all of the costs and fees after undergrad trying to get into med school?

I feel like nobody talks about this...

I have a distant cousin that just graduated from the University of Chicago with a BS in biology. She eventually wants to become a doctor. However, she's been out of school for an entire year now, just working and paying her loans back. She hasn't taken the MCAT yet because she wants to enroll in one of the classes (that she cannot afford so she started a gofundme) to ensure that she scores high. She appears to be struggling financially.

Can anyone with experience tell me about life after undergrad? From a financial stand point.
Factor in: the cost of the MCAT, study materials for the MCAT, flying to interviews, loans, filling out med school applications, room and board and whatever else I'm missing

Also, do undergrad loans continue in med school? How do you pay them?

 

[Feelgood Inc]

UG loans freeze if you go to medical school as far as I know but when you're done they resume and you have to take care of the UG and med school loans as well as their respective interest rates.

MCAT cost is ~$275 iirc. Study materials and classes can vary but low four digits isn't uncommon. Med school apps and secondaries have fees that go along with submitting them (~30-100 dollars I think?). The loan you take out for medical school should cover tuition and living area, the latter of which is probably found by the student who should choose a place that is both cheap and safe (or closest to that).

How you live post-UG depends on your job, expenses, loan amount, etc. If you're making 70k at a boutique firm the scenario gets easier than making 20-30k at a **** job. Either way living relatively frugally compared to these factors is important.

My financial literacy isn't perfect so someone please correct me wherever I am wrong.

 

[Pedsmdplease]

For me: to complete a year of physics, a semester of bio, their associated labs through a post bacc, mcat prep, the mcat itself, and my applications (plus books, interview travel fees, a suit etc) has cost just under 20k over 3.5 years (I work full time so it took awhile). I knew it would be expensive but when I added it all together it was pretty surprising, so be prepared! Of note: I wanted to go to a cheaper post bacc but was limited since I needed to take classes at night/on the weekend.

 

[NickNaylor]

Application expenses depend on the strength of your application and where you're applying. If you're a Texas resident, for example, and you only apply to Texas schools, then the process will be relatively cheap for you. There are a relatively limited number of schools, and most of them are close enough geographically to make it possible to drive to them if you'd like, saving money on plane tickets.

On the other hand, if you're going to be applying all over the place and have a strong enough application to win interviews at many places, the process will be more expensive. Between primary and secondary application fees, you're looking at least a couple of grand there. Airline tickets are expensive. Many/most schools offer the ability to stay with students, which can cut down on hotel costs (in addition to giving you insight into the school). Depending on where you go, you can use mass transit rather than taxis to save on transportation cost.

Regardless of how you do it, it'll most likely be expensive. I went to many out of state interviews, drove to local interviews whenever possible, stayed with student hosts at all of my interviews, and never used a taxi and still spent roughly $5-6k on the application process, if not more than that.