ETSU Quillen COM Financial Aid Woes

[BOHICA-FIGMO]

For anyone considersing ETSU Quillen College of Medicine, be forwarned: you will have difficulty obtaining adequate financial aid and making ends meet unless you have rich parents, extensive savings, or some other means of external support. I can site you multiple instances of students being given blatantly incorrect financial information, not being able to obtain funds to deal with personal emergencies, not being able to obtain funds to pay for travel to residency interviews, or selling blood to the plasma bank to get by.

I am airing this out in public because of the school's reluctance/unwillingness to deal with the problem. Perhaps when it begins to impact their recruiting, number of applicants, and quality of applicants will they begin to address the issue. After being told by the dean that the job of financial aid is: "to put in your way as many road blocks to taking out more loans as they can" and being told by the director of financial aid: "you should ask ALL your relatives for money; not just parents but aunts, uncles, and grandparents because you will, after all, be giving them free health care someday," I feel that I have no other recourse than to make these problems public in hopes of putting external pressure on the school to change their policies.

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[medschoolfool10]

I go to Quillen and I never have trouble meeting my needs with the loan money I have taken out. My family isn't overly giving with money; I pay for all my food, gas, rent (I live alone in a nice apartment), utilities, auto repair bills, prescriptions, medical insurance and medical bills. I buy my textbooks off of Amazon and never have to sacrifice buying anything for school. In fact, I usually have money left over for each loan period. I have friends at other schools in larger (i.e. higher cost of living) cities who receive about the same amount. The school's policies have a lot to do with protecting its students from taking out an excessive amount of loans- now is not the time to buy a new car, house or clothes that you could otherwise not afford. I'm not being accusatory toward the original poster, I just think that it says a lot if I can make it on the loan amount with my love for designer clothes and gourmet food. I make sacrifices, but I still live well. I'm sorry the administration has been insensitive, but money is a touchy subject and I'm glad students can't just march up there and demand more money.

 

[LadyWolverine]

My family isn't overly giving with money; I pay for all my food, gas, rent (I live alone in a nice apartment), utilities, auto repair bills, prescriptions, medical insurance and medical bills.

You did not mention that you pay for your own tuition. Was that intentional or accidental?

Tuition and fees alone take up about 55-60% of my total annual disbursement. I could see where a student who would not have trouble making ends meet if his/her family paid their tuition (but nothing else) would fall upon extremely hard times if they were then to attempt to take on paying for their tuition as well.

 

[BOHICA-FIGMO]

I'm glad medschoolfool10 is doing so well. Many others are not. I am a little suspicious that medschoolfool10 joined SDN yesterday, posts no information in their profile, and essentially tows the party line. Is that you Linda Embree (that's the name of the financial aid director)? I do know the stories I cite are true (PM me if you want details--minus names) and have happened on multiple occasions. The quotes I cite are essentially verbatim. Further, I also know that the school has not revised the student budget in over 2yrs -- back when everything cost 10-15% less than it does now.

 

[medschoolfool10]

I did just join with this name yesterday, but only because my other profile would make it obvious who I am. We both know it's a small school and I'm not out to make enemies. I just felt compelled to respond because another perspective was necessary. I do pay for my own tuition with loan money. I pay for everything except my car insurance, which I could take on if I had to. My family is great about sending me small presents to keep up morale, but they do not pay for any of my necessities or activities. I don't dare ask them for it as they have done enough for me already. I also had zero savings after college, despite working the whole way through. My reason for posting was to point out that I live solely off of my loan money, as do most of my classmates, and I do just fine. It's not fair to bash the school in an open forum and expect no response when yours is not the only experience. If you're having such difficulties, be proactive try to change the situation instead of ranting about it on here. Talk to Kwas- he can solve anything.

 

[BOHICA-FIGMO]

Talk to Kwas- he can solve anything.

The problem is, I DID talk to Kwas and got the quote from "the dean" I mentioned in the original post. Besides I have at least two close friends who went to Kwas with VERY legitimate and severe financial issues stemming from personal issues, and Kwas wasn't able to do anything.

Believe me, I didn't just fly off the handle and air Quillen's dirty laundry in public without trying to address it internally first. If I thought things were changing/would change, I wouldn't post this in a public forum.

I personally am not even very much affected because I have a scholarship. Perhaps that is why I feel more free to speak up. I'm also not afraid if people figure out who I am. Anyone who knows me and reads my profile and posts can figure it out pretty quick. I guess I just want the powers that be to pay more than lip-service to the very real problems with financial aid at the school.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

There has to be something amiss with the student budget, especially for 4th years if there are the issues you mentioned. To play devil's advocate I will assume that they do budget enough to pay for tuition and modest living expense (plus boards and other educational necessities). Personal emergencies suck, but at lots of schools you won't be able to get more money if you exceed the budget (I know someone at my school who couldn't get money for that reason, its nothing different about Quillen). If you do need to exceed the budget, there are always private loans if you can't rely on family. Of course you must have good credit for that.

As a TN resident, I didn't apply to ETSU since I wasn't interested in primary care or rural medicine, which is what Quillen advertises itself to prepare its students for (and there are always students who don't do that either). Possibly this is why they might have limited funding for residency interviews? Otherwise, they need to budget in such expenditures as they are necessary for graduating physicians. It doesn't hurt the school to have a budget that is larger than it needs to be, so I find the situation quite odd if it is actually the way you describe.

 

[DPT2MD]

I am also a Quillen student and the folks in financial aid have been nothing but helpful throughout the entire process for me so far. Do you really think bashing them on this forum is going to accomplish anything? Very mature.

 

[TN Medicine]

I had a conversation with the Dean yesterday about this subject and he said that they will revisit the issue of financial aid very soon. He talked with Kwas about it yesterday and they are currently looking at ways to improve. He was seemed very concerned about this issue, so I think improvements will be seen soon.

 

[PabsMD]

I've also had problems with OFS this year. I assume a lot of people have and that the administration is very well aware since an electronic survey was sent out last week asking people about their experiences with OFS and about the budget.

It seems that despite the rise in practically all bills and expenses and cost of living that is expected/seen with each new year, the same amount of aid is given each year. For example, nearly all of my monthly bills have increased this year compared to last and I received the same award.

Also, starting this year, the OFS is not paying for the loan fees and this amount was deducted from the student budget although this was not allowed for in the student budget. Therefore, this incurred charge must fall under the "miscellaneous" student expenses.

 

[OrnotMajestic]

I've had my fair share of "oh crap, how do I pay for this" moments here, but I blamed it mainly on my out of state status. Budget cuts and tuition increases affect me doubly. I've had no problem taking out extra loans on my own, it just sucks to do it.

But yeah, the loan fee thing? That blows. Then again, I feel that the financial aid department here is just like the financial aid department at my undergrad (and virtually every other higher education institution I've ever had contact with) - crappy. Excrement. Toolish. It's the nature of the beast. At this point, I owe so much, another $500 doesn't really matter.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I have no clue about your school's FA department, but in their defense, I don't think they're allowed to specifically budget you money for interviews. The government has pretty strict regulations about what schools can and can't give you money for, and I believe interviews are on the no money list.

 

[Dr Funk]

I am a first year at Quillen, and I was eligible for the entire loan amount. Everyone I talked to who wanted loans got all they needed. This thread is ridiculous. I know people with car payments who live in descent housing who have plenty of money to live.