extended graduation date, no extra funds

Started by jakstat
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jakstat

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Heres my situation.

because of board failures and PE failure, I'm really financially stressed right now. my graduation date is also extended 3 months due to time required to complete my rotations.

I've taken max on all loans and maxed out residency relocation loans.

Any other avenue to go through? any help advice would be appreciated.
 
Essentially, you've GOT to make it 3 more months to finish medical school, whatever it takes. You don't have time to get a job. While I don't know the details of your situation, I've thought about what I might do if I were in similar straits. I'd first see if I had any credit limit left on my credit cards or could get a bank to give me a personal loan. (unlikely, a bank isn't going to give that kind of unsecured loan to someone in your situation) If I couldn't borrow money from friends and family, I'd sell everything I could (car, computer accessories, books, clothes...anything that I didn't absolutely have to have over the next 3 months).

If that wasn't enough, I'd move out of my apartment and put all my stuff into a rented storage garage ($50-$100 a month instead of $500 a month) I'd sign up for food stamps or other public assistance if possible. (technically, you'd qualify : you will have an income of $0 for that 3 month period, and could get the state you live in to cough up about $200 a month in food stamps) I'd sleep in my car or on friend's couches or in study cubicles in the library, washing my clothes at the washeteria or at friend's houses. I'd take my showers at the medical school/hospital.

I hope you have lots of good friends, because that would make this ordeal a lot easier.

Doing all this might be embarassing or inconvenient, but it's not that bad. You'll still have a laptop computer, access to showers and clean clothes, cheap but decent food from the grocery, and spend most of your time in the climate controlled hospital. Hardly what a real homeless person has to go through.

A bigger problem is this : if your graduation date is 3 months later, how will you do residency? Will you have to wait another 9 months for residency to start? What will you do for a job for 9 months? Also, if you have kids, my 'rough it' solution won't work for you.
 
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Heh, ask an E.R. patient.

Seriously, I just googled for it. Evidently you have to go to your state's food stamp website, download and print out a form, fill it out, and take it to an office somewhere in your town.