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Having done some research about admittance stats I am starting to get really excited that I may actually make it into USUHS, (34S MCAT and 3.97 GPA).
So with some time to kill I started planning for a budget to make sure the $4500 you earn as an Ensign can cover living expenses.
I figure $1000/month for taxes, (which is 24% tax rate for someone making $30k annually, since taxes only apply to base pay)
$500 for food, $200 for clothes, uniform, laundering and toilettries, $200 for vacations, (fly coach, stay in hostels and eat at chinese buffets and you can vacation in Honolulu or San Fran) and $100 for tech budget, (buying a new lap top, ipod/iphone, camera, ect.)
This leaves $2500/month and just 2 major expenses left, housing and car.
Now I have checked Apartments.com and for $1000/month you can have a nice apartment in Rockville or Silver Lake, heck I even found one in Chevy Chase for $800 but google reviews has a lot of bad reviews.
But here is what I would like to know from those currently going to USUHS or those who have attended in the past.
Do you need a car?
I know that USUHS is attached to the National Naval Medical Center, which has its own metro station.
If your apartment in Rockville, (also on the red line and with a station at twin peaks) is within walking distance, or you take a bike to the station, then you can make it to USUHS without a car.
Of if you are in chevy chase then you can walk or bike without useing the metro at all.
The benefits of metro vs car are about $400/month.
For a car: $200/month finacing, insurance $150, gas $100, maintainance/repair savings, $50= $500
For Metro: From rockville, an 11 minute trip to the medical center station =$2.55 fare*2= $5.10/day= $25.50/week= $104/month.
The savings of $400/month seem substantial and as long as you have groceries, laundromat and a fitness center within walking distance of your apartment then a car isn't needed.
Regardless, with a car you end up with about $1,000 left over and without a car $1400 from the budget.
For the first 10 months I figure save an extra $500/month to create an emergency slush fund of $5k, to be used for any emergency costs.
Once that fund is in place invest the rest in small cap stocks.
So it turns out that USUHS students can indeed, live the high life if they choose to.
Or, if they are smart, (or at least single and unattached) they can manage to invest $72,000 over the four years they are students there and with any luck come out of med school with zero debt and a substantial nest egg underway.
From those who have gone to USUHS or are going now, do these numbers seem reasonable? And has anyone tried going carless? Is it feasible?
Monthly cost for a single person: $3000/month without car, $3500/month with car?
So with some time to kill I started planning for a budget to make sure the $4500 you earn as an Ensign can cover living expenses.
I figure $1000/month for taxes, (which is 24% tax rate for someone making $30k annually, since taxes only apply to base pay)
$500 for food, $200 for clothes, uniform, laundering and toilettries, $200 for vacations, (fly coach, stay in hostels and eat at chinese buffets and you can vacation in Honolulu or San Fran) and $100 for tech budget, (buying a new lap top, ipod/iphone, camera, ect.)
This leaves $2500/month and just 2 major expenses left, housing and car.
Now I have checked Apartments.com and for $1000/month you can have a nice apartment in Rockville or Silver Lake, heck I even found one in Chevy Chase for $800 but google reviews has a lot of bad reviews.
But here is what I would like to know from those currently going to USUHS or those who have attended in the past.
Do you need a car?
I know that USUHS is attached to the National Naval Medical Center, which has its own metro station.
If your apartment in Rockville, (also on the red line and with a station at twin peaks) is within walking distance, or you take a bike to the station, then you can make it to USUHS without a car.
Of if you are in chevy chase then you can walk or bike without useing the metro at all.
The benefits of metro vs car are about $400/month.
For a car: $200/month finacing, insurance $150, gas $100, maintainance/repair savings, $50= $500
For Metro: From rockville, an 11 minute trip to the medical center station =$2.55 fare*2= $5.10/day= $25.50/week= $104/month.
The savings of $400/month seem substantial and as long as you have groceries, laundromat and a fitness center within walking distance of your apartment then a car isn't needed.
Regardless, with a car you end up with about $1,000 left over and without a car $1400 from the budget.
For the first 10 months I figure save an extra $500/month to create an emergency slush fund of $5k, to be used for any emergency costs.
Once that fund is in place invest the rest in small cap stocks.
So it turns out that USUHS students can indeed, live the high life if they choose to.
Or, if they are smart, (or at least single and unattached) they can manage to invest $72,000 over the four years they are students there and with any luck come out of med school with zero debt and a substantial nest egg underway.
From those who have gone to USUHS or are going now, do these numbers seem reasonable? And has anyone tried going carless? Is it feasible?
Monthly cost for a single person: $3000/month without car, $3500/month with car?