Cost of Attendnace

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drmak89

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The COA of the school I will be attending (and most all schools) seem extremely high. Like, 85k for one year???!!

For those who have successfully borrow under the COA how much have you been able to get away with not taking out, without outside help (ex: parents, spouse)? Lets also assume no scholarships, so a straight loans scenario.

How have you done it? What costs did your school overestimate?
 
The COA of the school I will be attending (and most all schools) seem extremely high. Like, 85k for one year???!!

For those who have successfully borrow under the COA how much have you been able to get away with not taking out, without outside help (ex: parents, spouse)? Lets also assume no scholarships, so a straight loans scenario.

How have you done it? What costs did your school overestimate?
85k does seem pretty high. This largely depends on your school and location. If it helps give you an idea, I'm able to support myself, my SO, and a kid all on the COA. We live pretty lean, but you should be able to save a few bucks here and there if it's just you and you live sensibly.
 
85k does seem pretty high. This largely depends on your school and location. If it helps give you an idea, I'm able to support myself, my SO, and a kid all on the COA. We live pretty lean, but you should be able to save a few bucks here and there if it's just you and you live sensibly.

That seems a lot more reasonable than 85k for a single person. Was there any one expense the school over budgeted from in your opinion?

I want after tuition costs to be about ~1200 a month , including everything. Is this wishful thinking?
 
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depends where your school is located. east coast cities? very wishful. Midwest? not wishful at all
 
Hah, east coat definitely. I need to come up with a plan...
 
depends where your school is located. east coast cities? very wishful. Midwest? not wishful at all
Good point. Disclaimer: I'm in the midwest.

That seems a lot more reasonable than 85k for a single person. Was there any one expense the school over budgeted from in your opinion?

I want after tuition costs to be about ~1k a month , including everything. Is this wishful thinking?
We live in a 2 BR apartment for $815/mo, and our living expenses (rent, food, utilities, and phone) equal exactly what the school estimates for those things. However, I'm supporting 2 and a half on that so if you got a roommate you could save $300-400 on rent alone, plus everything else.

Then I feel like the school vastly overestimated what we would spend on travel (~$3500) and books/equipment ($3200). For travel, I live across the street from school so the only driving I do is on the weekend and for Christmas we flew home for ~$1000. This summer I'll be driving home for a fraction of that. And for books, I did buy a few review books, but I bought all of my lab/clinical equipment second hand and saved a bunch there.

I admire your tenacity, wanting to "live like a student now so you can live like a doctor later." Saving 1k a month might be a stretch, but you should be able to get close. It also depends on how much you go out to eat and spend at bars, which for us is practically nothing.
 
Take a look at your school's breakdown and then see what applies and what doesn't. My school included a few thousand for books/supplies and personally I only used a few review books (which I borrowed from an upperclassman/or you can buy from a book sale/amazon used for cheap), as well as large amount of money for transportation - depending on where you are living on the east coast, I walk 95% of the time everywhere otherwise I use public transit/split ubers, so that is a lot of money saved too.

In short, save money by not living in a super expensive place and cook your meals as much as possible and you really don't end up spending THAT much. The people burning through a lot of money in my class are the ones who are eating out/ordering food all the time or living in super nice apartments.
 
I feel bad for you guys. When I went to school the whole 4 years tuition and COA weren't much more than 85k and the average indebtedness in my class was probably 80k. The most debt anyone had was 140k courtesy of undergrad loans and borrowing the full COA. We thought that was pretty bad. Now it is 2-3 times as much.
There should be wiggle room in the COA to make sure everyone gets what they need to succeed. Buy an older small low mileage car in good condition instead of a lease. Stick with Japan and leave Europe for the ballers. That should save you a few grand and if you get a big repair you'll break even and still have a car for residency.
Your estimated rent may be excessive, mine was. I had a tiny studio 1st year and split a nice townhouse next to the university after that. I parked my car outside in the uncovered lot to save another $100/mo. That alone saved me at least $600/mo. That's $~28k over 4 years. I also lived within very easy walking distance of the hospital and medical school. That meant I didn't need a parking permit. I think they were about $500 for students and a couple hundred more for the summer session. That's another 2-3k.
That may not be available to you, or a safe alternative, but it is something to consider.
These small things add up over the years. I spent all my surplus loot from frugal choices on going out all the time for dinner and drinks and I leased a wicked ride for a couple years. Wasteful, but fun.
 
I feel bad for you guys. When I went to school the whole 4 years tuition and COA weren't much more than 85k and the average indebtedness in my class was probably 80k. The most debt anyone had was 140k courtesy of undergrad loans and borrowing the full COA. We thought that was pretty bad. Now it is 2-3 times as much.
There should be wiggle room in the COA to make sure everyone gets what they need to succeed. Buy an older small low mileage car in good condition instead of a lease. Stick with Japan and leave Europe for the ballers. That should save you a few grand and if you get a big repair you'll break even and still have a car for residency.
Your estimated rent may be excessive, mine was. I had a tiny studio 1st year and split a nice townhouse next to the university after that. I parked my car outside in the uncovered lot to save another $100/mo. That alone saved me at least $600/mo. That's $~28k over 4 years. I also lived within very easy walking distance of the hospital and medical school. That meant I didn't need a parking permit. I think they were about $500 for students and a couple hundred more for the summer session. That's another 2-3k.
That may not be available to you, or a safe alternative, but it is something to consider.
These small things add up over the years. I spent all my surplus loot from frugal choices on going out all the time for dinner and drinks and I leased a wicked ride for a couple years. Wasteful, but fun.
The things I would do to only have that much debt....
 
Something gotta be done with med school tuition. Maybe the government should put a cap on how much people can borrow every year. 25k in a good number IMO...
 
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I think it's just the reality now that a good chunk of us will be paying off loans for 10+ years after residency, which for me is going to be into my mid 40's. This only further illustrates that going into medicine for the money is a bad decision.
 
No, the 90s.
Harvard's tuition this year is over 55k.
Many public schools are in the 30's.
It's unsustainable.
I thought my scholarship was a great value then, I'd be dancing in the streets now. It's no surprise that hpsp applicants are way up.
I guess the 90s was the good decade to go to med school...
 
Texas schools ~17k/year.. Guess there's one reason to stay in the great state a little longer.
 
85k does seem pretty high. This largely depends on your school and location. If it helps give you an idea, I'm able to support myself, my SO, and a kid all on the COA. We live pretty lean, but you should be able to save a few bucks here and there if it's just you and you live sensibly.

please tell me how u do this!?!? its me, my hubby, and baby and it's still hard and my hubby works!!!!
 
Help from family... Tough luck!

Not all of us grew up rich 😛

85k does seem pretty ridiculous. I think my school's is around 50k. Although that's with in state tuition...
 
Thanks guys for the advice. My plan really is to live as cheaply as possible and stay within a strict budget. The unfortunate thing is my school is on the East Coast so rent and food will be pretty high and hard to wiggle down.

It's insane. The COA at a state school here is around 65k , which is a lot better but still fairly high for a state school (tuition alone is about 35k). All my options for schools ranged from 75k (the lowest) to 88k (the highest). I am going to look at my schools breakdown and see what I can do away with (or really limit).
 
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