Curtailing the Debt

[Annabelle122]

Hi everyone, I'm usually a lurker, but I wanted some opinions and ideas. In applying to veterinary school, I'm most worried about the cost of financing a veterinary education. In some cases, the numbers are just large and astronomically scary. This gets a little scarier to me when you see debt to income ratios and what you will likely be paying for a 10-25 year payment plan.

I know there are some obvious ways to curtail the debt like
- apply to your in-state school
-live frugally
- Become an instate resident after a year
Can people apply to an out of state school and if they get in defer a year and become an in-state resident? Is that a thing?

I've also seen that AAVMC provides this as suggestions to financing a veterinary education: http://www.aavmc.org/students-applicants-and-advisors/funding-education.aspx

Has anyone had any experiences with these programs? I'm particularly interested in the
-veterinary corps
- Veterinary medical Loan Repayment plan (VMLRP)
- Scholarships (From what I've seen there are some, but they are small and few)
-State funded loan repayment plan- This one looks interesting, but in the fine print, I see that my state is not currently funding the program. Being that I'm from Illinois, I don't think that's likely to change anytime soon because we haven't had a budget since July.

Did I miss any helpful programs? Do you have any other suggestions?

I'm not in a terrible position because I will not have debt when I graduate from undergrad, but I decided not to apply this cycle because I wanted to make sure I could wrap my head around the financial investment of vet school.

I appreciate comments and replies. Thanks for the help

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[pinkpuppy9]

Hi everyone, I'm usually a lurker, but I wanted some opinions and ideas. In applying to veterinary school, I'm most worried about the cost of financing a veterinary education. In some cases, the numbers are just large and astronomically scary. This gets a little scarier to me when you see debt to income ratios and what you will likely be paying for a 10-25 year payment plan.

I know there are some obvious ways to curtail the debt like
- apply to your in-state school
-live frugally
- Become an instate resident after a year
Can people apply to an out of state school and if they get in defer a year and become an in-state resident? Is that a thing?

I've also seen that AAVMC provides this as suggestions to financing a veterinary education: http://www.aavmc.org/students-applicants-and-advisors/funding-education.aspx

Has anyone had any experiences with these programs? I'm particularly interested in the
-veterinary corps
- Veterinary medical Loan Repayment plan (VMLRP)
- Scholarships (From what I've seen there are some, but they are small and few)
-State funded loan repayment plan- This one looks interesting, but in the fine print, I see that my state is not currently funding the program. Being that I'm from Illinois, I don't think that's likely to change anytime soon because we haven't had a budget since July.

Did I miss any helpful programs? Do you have any other suggestions?

I'm not in a terrible position because I will not have debt when I graduate from undergrad, but I decided not to apply this cycle because I wanted to make sure I could wrap my head around the financial investment of vet school.

I appreciate comments and replies. Thanks for the help

Very few schools allow you to change your residency after the first year of veterinary school (I've lost track of which ones do besides Ohio). I'm not sure that any school will allow you to defer solely to gain residency. You would be applying as an OOS student, and that's how you will be selected. If you want to change residency, you'll have to have that taken care of prior to applying (unless you attend one of those special schools). They'd likely force you to reapply as an IS student if you wait a year after changing your life over, which is essentially no different than trying to defer. If I'm not mistaken, you have to have your residency in order when you're applying, not when you're matriculating. You could run into a timing issue there if you're not careful.

Schools are wise to people moving just to gain residency. You have to hold a job, change over insurances/registrations, and so on. Usually, you have to have done that at least one year prior to you trying to claim yourself as an IS student. Definitely talk to the registrar offices at each school you're interested in and see what they require. It can be rather tricky.

If your IS is Illinois, try to attend Illinois. I think it's more common for people to move for residency purposes if they don't have an IS school or contracted seat options. IS students have relatively no issues with getting accepted, provided you are reasonably competitive.

 

[pinkpuppy9]

Also, while it's a rather small dent in the grand scheme of things....If you choose to live in a college apartment, try to plan your signing around the deals they have. A lot of corporation-owned apartment complexes offer signing deals such as no deposit, free first month, etc. I got a $400 gift card when I signed, and that's been taking care of my groceries all semester. Therefore, I didn't have to use loan money and ended up sending my grocery allotment back. Like I said, it's not going to make or break you, but every little bit helps.

 

[pirateyoho]

Definitely apply to your in-state. But, if you're in Illinois, you're also already fairly close to Mizzou, which is a school that allows you to pay in-state tuition after your first your provided you 1) live at a Missouri address for a year, 2) make $2000 of taxable income in the state, and 3) switch over your driver's license/car tags/etc. It's very doable; most OOS students here (myself included) do it. And because the IS tuition here is cheaper than my in-state's was, the cost difference between taking a year OOS and paying the rest IS vs. paying IS tuition all 4 years at my in-state school was not much at all.

And unlike some of the other vet schools I initially looked at that had this same arrangement, the tuition here is, again, actually reasonable. A lot of the other schools I looked at that allowed you to change your residency status had IS tuition that was almost as much as OOS anywhere else! So even though it ~sounded~ nice, it wouldn't have saved me any money at all, really.

Cost of living is low here as well; I'm sure it's probably close to what you're used to for Illinois? I'm from Alabama, and the cost of living is about the same here as it was there. That's another thing to take into consideration that I think can get overlooked when you're comparing tuition numbers.

 

[Ashgirl]

Definitely apply to your in-state. But, if you're in Illinois, you're also already fairly close to Mizzou, which is a school that allows you to pay in-state tuition after your first your provided you 1) live at a Missouri address for a year, 2) make $2000 of taxable income in the state, and 3) switch over your driver's license/car tags/etc. It's very doable; most OOS students here (myself included) do it. And because the IS tuition here is cheaper than my in-state's was, the cost difference between taking a year OOS and paying the rest IS vs. paying IS tuition all 4 years at my in-state school was not much at all.

And unlike some of the other vet schools I initially looked at that had this same arrangement, the tuition here is, again, actually reasonable. A lot of the other schools I looked at that allowed you to change your residency status had IS tuition that was almost as much as OOS anywhere else! So even though it ~sounded~ nice, it wouldn't have saved me any money at all, really.

Cost of living is low here as well; I'm sure it's probably close to what you're used to for Illinois? I'm from Alabama, and the cost of living is about the same here as it was there. That's another thing to take into consideration that I think can get overlooked when you're comparing tuition numbers.

I can confirm it's pretty easy to do, I believe every single person in my class that applied for IS got it!

N=1, but 3 of my friends are from IL (we have maybe 10 more from IL in the class at least?), and all said that with cost of living, being at Mizzou OOS was cheaper than IL when it was all said and done. Again, you would have to crunch the numbers yourself (it definitely depends on how you live), but I wouldn't throw the OOS to IS schools out of the equation.

 

[Skimble]

UPenn allows you to defer a year to gain residency. I think they may be the only one though.

 

[Minnerbelle]

Also do a search. This has been rehashed over and over and over again. There's a lot of good info accumulated over the past few years.

 

[missdarjeeling]

If I'm not mistaken, you have to have your residency in order when you're applying, not when you're matriculating. You could run into a timing issue there if you're not careful.

I've moved around a lot during the past few years and have had to fill out residency forms in 3 states. I've found that schools mostly handle it in similar ways. You actually claim your residency based on whether you meet the criteria at the time of matriculation, not application. For instance, I haven't hit my one year anniversary of living in this state, but since residency is determined by your status at the time of matriculation, my IS granted me in-state status with no issues. When I submitted VMCAS, I had only lived here for 9 months, but by Fall 2016, I will have lived here for a year and 9 months. Same thing with the undergrad institution where I'll be doing my last class in spring. By January, I will have lived here for a solid year, so they're accepting me as an in-state student.

I highly recommend talking to admissions offices, though, since some states are stricter about it than others and since they may request different documents to establish your residency. In NY, I had only been there 4 months at the time of matriculation, but because I had documentation to back up my residency (license, car registration, lease, voter registration, utilities, a marriage license thrown in there for good measure ), they gave me IS status without a problem. The state I live in now is much stricter.

While it's good advice to have your residency status in order before you apply, it's good to know that having it in order doesn't necessarily mean having lived in a state for a full year before you even apply. I originally thought that was the case when I found out we had to relocate and thought I was going to have to wait another year to apply, but that wasn't the case.

 

[pinkpuppy9]

I've moved around a lot during the past few years and have had to fill out residency forms in 3 states. I've found that schools mostly handle it in similar ways. You actually claim your residency based on whether you meet the criteria at the time of matriculation, not application. For instance, I haven't hit my one year anniversary of living in this state, but since residency is determined by your status at the time of matriculation, my IS granted me in-state status with no issues. When I submitted VMCAS, I had only lived here for 9 months, but by Fall 2016, I will have lived here for a year and 9 months. Same thing with the undergrad institution where I'll be doing my last class in spring. By January, I will have lived here for a solid year, so they're accepting me as an in-state student.

I highly recommend talking to admissions offices, though, since some states are stricter about it than others and since they may request different documents to establish your residency. In NY, I had only been there 4 months at the time of matriculation, but because I had documentation to back up my residency (license, car registration, lease, voter registration, utilities, a marriage license thrown in there for good measure ), they gave me IS status without a problem. The state I live in now is much stricter.

While it's good advice to have your residency status in order before you apply, it's good to know that having it in order doesn't necessarily mean having lived in a state for a full year before you even apply. I originally thought that was the case when I found out we had to relocate and thought I was going to have to wait another year to apply, but that wasn't the case.

Thanks for the correction! So basically, you apply for an OOS seat, but are just given IS tuition? Or did you claim IS when you applied?

 

[missdarjeeling]

Thanks for the correction! So basically, you apply for an OOS seat, but are just given IS tuition? Or did you claim IS when you applied?

No, you apply as an IS student. That's what I did this cycle with VA-MD, and I completed the residency form they require from everyone, where I indicated that I had been living in this state for 0 years and 9 months. At the time of my application, I had already established a domicile here under their standards, and I'd be hitting the 12 month mark before matriculation. They confirmed my IS status.

Things would be different if I had moved to this state just to go to school, since AFAIK no schools consider you to be an actual resident if you're only there for education. But for each of my moves, I was moving for different reasons and then applying to school. For anyone still taking classes, that's something to keep in mind.

Laws could very well differ, though, since my experience has been on the East Coast only. It's best to read up and contact admissions offices, and even then, better to get things like your license and registration switched over ASAP when you move.

 

[pinkpuppy9]

No, you apply as an IS student. That's what I did this cycle with VA-MD, and I completed the residency form they require from everyone, where I indicated that I had been living in this state for 0 years and 9 months. At the time of my application, I had already established a domicile here under their standards, and I'd be hitting the 12 month mark before matriculation. They confirmed my IS status.

Things would be different if I had moved to this state just to go to school, since AFAIK no schools consider you to be an actual resident if you're only there for education. But for each of my moves, I was moving for different reasons and then applying to school. For anyone still taking classes, that's something to keep in mind.

Laws could very well differ, though, since my experience has been on the East Coast only. It's best to read up and contact admissions offices, and even then, better to get things like your license and registration switched over ASAP when you move.

Oh, that clears up my confusion with your post completely now haha.

 

[cheathac]

I talked to my dad about my concern with debt. He keeps bringing up federal aid via FASFA with graduate students. Is this of much help? Thanks

 

[Minnerbelle]

I talked to my dad about my concern with debt. He keeps bringing up federal aid via FASFA with graduate students. Is this of much help? Thanks

That's all loans dude. (Federal aid = loans)

It'll make money available for you to pay tuition when it's due. But you're looking at owing that amount plus 7-8% interest to the Feds.

So immediate help yes. But it puts you in a lifetime of shackles.

 

[Ashgirl]

I talked to my dad about my concern with debt. He keeps bringing up federal aid via FASFA with graduate students. Is this of much help? Thanks

Unfortunately, (to my knowledge!) there's no such thing as grants through FAFSA once you hit vet school. At least, all the ones I was getting stopped anyways. That, and scholarships are pretty non-existent for the most part, though a few tiny ones show up every now and again for a few people. Most people have to completely rely on loans.

 

[Shepherd Lover]

Unfortunately, (to my knowledge!) there's no such thing as grants through FAFSA once you hit vet school. At least, all the ones I was getting stopped anyways. That, and scholarships are pretty non-existent for the most part, though a few tiny ones show up every now and again for a few people. Most people have to completely rely on loans.

I might be in a small minority but I reviewed a 3500/year grant from the state of IN once I entered vet school...not a huge chunk but grants do exist for grad students.

 

[Minnerbelle]

I might be in a small minority but I reviewed a 3500/year grant from the state of IN once I entered vet school...not a huge chunk but grants do exist for grad students.

I mean scholarships and grants do exist. It's just tiny compared to how much you need...

 

[Starry-chan]

I think I heard Hilary Clinton was talking about student loan forgiveness? Probably a load of bs though... It's hard for me to believe anything candidates promise

 

[lailanni]

With scholarships and working part time/summers I was able to shave off about a year of vet school debt. It wasn't a walk in the park to work during school and those scholarships weren't a sure bet at all. I wouldn't count on any when you run your debt numbers.

If you're into running number scenarios, try this on for size:
Find your max reasonable debt - tuition plus living expenses. Figure our what your monthly loan amount might look like. Then assume the average starting salary for your field (ideally for your geographic location), but go about 5-10k lower in case the job market is terrible or you're struggling on production. Then subtract your loan payment, a mortgage or rent, a car payment, and the chunk for food/utilities/etc. And another portion for savings - retirement/rainy day fund. Chances are you'll be able to pay for needs but it may not travel far for your wants.

Many of us are thinking "wow, it would be nice to own a house....someday". It can seem very out of reach since student loans can be nearly mortgaged sized. It's easier for couples with two incomes. Much harder for anyone on their own.

From seeing the financial struggles of my peers I would definitely recommend taking the extra time to carefully consider if this debt/income ratio will be the lifestyle you want.