Financial Aid -- Is it worth having savings before med school?

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BleedinBlue2016

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Hey everyone!
I have been working for the past two years and have decided to either quit my job or take a 'leave of absence' for a year in order to finish up prerequisite courses before applying to medical school.

I'm currently in a well paying job in consulting, and by the time I leave will have saved up close to $50,000. I thought I was being fiscally responsible, given how expensive med school will be, but as I have been reading up a bit more I'm actually learning that having savings can really screw you over when it comes to applying to financial aid.
I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to how schools calculate financial aid or how I can reduce the amount of savings I declare when applying so I have a lot of basic questions.
I know that some people have suggested putting savings into mortgages/car payments as those will not be looked at, but are there any other ways to ensure that all of my savings don't go to waste by taking away my ability to get financial aid?
In addition, what are the stipulations for when parent salary is looked at vs. my salary alone?
For those of you who came into med school with savings, what was your experience with being able to get additional financial aid?

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Having savings won't affect your financial aid. Everyone is offered loans up to the total C.O.A. (cost of attendance)

The more you have saved, the better. Less debt for you
 
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It actually could hurt you for need based merit but that is fairly rare anyway. I had the same situation and received 0 need based aid. There are ways to invest it so yiu wouldnt have to report it, but I ended up not and I had a high EFC
 
Medical school's version of financial aid is loan award amounts. Having savings is definitely a good thing!
 
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Hey everyone!
I have been working for the past two years and have decided to either quit my job or take a 'leave of absence' for a year in order to finish up prerequisite courses before applying to medical school.

I'm currently in a well paying job in consulting, and by the time I leave will have saved up close to $50,000. I thought I was being fiscally responsible, given how expensive med school will be, but as I have been reading up a bit more I'm actually learning that having savings can really screw you over when it comes to applying to financial aid.
I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to how schools calculate financial aid or how I can reduce the amount of savings I declare when applying so I have a lot of basic questions.
I know that some people have suggested putting savings into mortgages/car payments as those will not be looked at, but are there any other ways to ensure that all of my savings don't go to waste by taking away my ability to get financial aid?
In addition, what are the stipulations for when parent salary is looked at vs. my salary alone?
For those of you who came into med school with savings, what was your experience with being able to get additional financial aid?

I saved a lot before school.

Did not impact loans. Idk about need, did not apply.
 
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I saved a lot before school. Rental market was terrible relative to buying (rent over 4 years would have been just slightly less...and no equity), so I bought. Kept about a years savings for emergencies or whatever. Paid for first year, borrowing for last 3.

Did not impact loans. Idk about need, did not apply.
Cool! Which city / market? I'm in San Francisco and ... well... ugh
 
I saved a lot before school. Rental market was terrible relative to buying (rent over 4 years would have been just slightly less...and no equity), so I bought. Kept about a years savings for emergencies or whatever. Paid for first year, borrowing for last 3.

Did not impact loans. Idk about need, did not apply.
Did you have any trouble with getting a loan for the house? I was considering buying but was unsure if you could with no income.
 
Did you have any trouble with getting a loan for the house? I was considering buying but was unsure if you could with no income.
I just spoke to a loan officer about this. You cannot get a mortgage if you don't have income. I was hoping to buy a house this summer while I still had a job, but by the time the house was going to close, I'd be a student, and my loan wouldn't go through. If you get a house before you become a student, that's a different story.

I'm not positive if you can still qualify for student loans with a mortgage, though.
 
Did you have any trouble with getting a loan for the house? I was considering buying but was unsure if you could with no income.
Getting approved for a mortgage is difficult because your DTI is weighed heavily and without having your income, if in school, it is likely your DTI will be too high to get approved, unless you have a SO who has a very high salary. Also, be careful, what market are you looking to buy in? Is there rent possibility in your market if you need to move for residency?
 
Did you have any trouble with getting a loan for the house? I was considering buying but was unsure if you could with no income.

In some rural markets, you can get a fixer for 40 and a decent older home for 75. Some metros have the same thing - Kansas City if you are willing to live in moderate risk neighborhoods you can get a place for 50 or 60...rents are 1200 or so for something decent.

1000 bucks seems to be a psychological minimum rent for a lot of places, 1k rent for a 75k asset is high.

Bay Areas rental market is good. You can get a nice apartment for 2k outside of trendy areas, can't think about buying below 500. 2k per month for a 500k asset is reasonable
 
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Getting approved for a mortgage is difficult because your DTI is weighed heavily and without having your income, if in school, it is likely your DTI will be too high to get approved, unless you have a SO who has a very high salary. Also, be careful, what market are you looking to buy in? Is there rent possibility in your market if you need to move for residency?
Rent would be a small college town. Probable could get something for a 100ish but already quit muy job lol. Have enough saved for a good downpayment but yea the mortgage would be hard to get even though Id have more than enough un loans to cocer it and may even break even renting a room or two.
 
Looking back, I am very glad I used the years working to save for retirement and investment. I'm hoping that those mutual fund growth can offset some of the borrowing costs for med school. Coming from a past consulting background, it'll be a decade before I make a comparable salary, I would suggest to squirrel as much as you can away. Mortgages and Assets doesn't have much bearing on loans. Student loans can never be discharged, how much debt you have prior isn't usually a major factor. That being said at 6.5 percent it's not exactly cheap. As a graduate student I did not qualify for a lot of the needs based aid that's usually offered in undergrad. The only thing I look forward to is my 2500 dollar tax credit at the end of the year from uncle sam.
 
I'm not positive if you can still qualify for student loans with a mortgage, though.

You can, I refinanced right before my OMS-1 year.

Keep the savings, If I remember correctly, there's not even a question about it on the financial aid app. My wife worked full-time, we were still able to take out loans for the full budget that was set by the school. There will undoubtedly be things that pop up that student loans may not cover, i.e. extra study materials, Level 1 and 2 exams, residency application and interview costs, etc.
 
You can, I refinanced right before my OMS-1 year.

Keep the savings, If I remember correctly, there's not even a question about it on the financial aid app. My wife worked full-time, we were still able to take out loans for the full budget that was set by the school. There will undoubtedly be things that pop up that student loans may not cover, i.e. extra study materials, Level 1 and 2 exams, residency application and interview costs, etc.
FAFSA asks about assets, so you have to report your cash on hand. Presumably it will reduce your aid amount. But the finaid director I spoke to at Michigan said it's actually worth v little compared to the other things they ask about.
 
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