Financial Aid Packages?

[AthensBeth]

Can someone explain to me why the average debt at most schools is only about 100,000 when the tuition is over 30,000? Do private schools give a lot of scholarships? Which ones are known for giving the best aid?

Also, if I am not a dependent and my parents aren't helping me with school, will I be considered for need-based scholarships?

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[neuropower]

Can someone explain to me why the average debt at most schools is only about 100,000 when the tuition is over 30,000? Do private schools give a lot of scholarships? Which ones are known for giving the best aid?

Also, if I am not a dependent and my parents aren't helping me with school, will I be considered for need-based scholarships?

this is what they told me at university of maryland (which i know is a state school, but i think the following still applies)
You can get an unsubsidized (8.000) and subsidized Stafford loan (30,000), totaling 38,000 a year, without submitting any parental info. i believe a perkins loan is also only based only on your income (which is probably zero or pretty minimal). for some other loans, they look at your parents income.

people come out with 100,000 debt on AVERAGe, meaning that some people are in 200,000 and some people are in no debt because their parents are rich and foot the bill...and then some people's parents can help them a little...

as far as scholarships go, i don't really know...i'm hoping though...

 

[jlee9531]

because instate students get a sweeter deal.
because some parents are hella rich and foot the entire bill.
because some students are damn good and get a full scholarship.
because partial/disadvantaged scholarships do exist for a small number of students.
because med schools push hard for their students to look for external scholarships.
because some people join the military to have their med school paid for.
etc...

 

[AthensBeth]

I'm wondering though, at a private school, how good do you have to be to get a merit scholarship? I'm hoping I'll have a chance at some of the less competitive private schools (Drexel, Temple, GWU). I don't know why I even bothered applying to places like UPenn. I'm sure the people they give money to are 40-something MCAT types with Mother Teresa ECs.

Anybody have rich parents wanting to reach out to a middle-class white girl?

 

[aparecida]

Alas, medical school costs not an arm and a leg, but more like both arms and both legs. It's part and parcel of the deal. We go into this fully expecting to come out with mountains of debt, which we will then face on the $40,000 resident salary for the first years. Eventually you'll be a doctor and have the income to pay it off, but that's quite a ways down the road.

 

[t33sg1rl]

this is what they told me at university of maryland (which i know is a state school, but i think the following still applies)
You can get an unsubsidized (8.000) and subsidized Stafford loan (30,000), totaling 38,000 a year, without submitting any parental info. i believe a perkins loan is also only based only on your income (which is probably zero or pretty minimal). for some other loans, they look at your parents income.

people come out with 100,000 debt on AVERAGe, meaning that some people are in 200,000 and some people are in no debt because their parents are rich and foot the bill...and then some people's parents can help them a little...

as far as scholarships go, i don't really know...i'm hoping though...

No, no, no!
If you finished your Bachelor's, you are automatically considered independent of your parents for financial aid. BUT, you still have to write down their financial info. Putting on your parent's info will boost your borrowing power to 14,800 in subsidized loans-I think the amount of unsubsidized goes up too. And it doesn't hurt you at all, because they assume that your parents will not contribute anything (opposide of undergrad, where they assumed your parents WOULD contribute, even if the folks had totally cut you off). So two medical students, both with no income, will get the same loans and need based aid even if one is Bill Gates Jr and the other grew up on welfare.
The only thing that will put you at a disadvantage is being married to someone with a job. Do that, and kiss your loans goodbye.

 

[aparecida]

If you finished your Bachelor's, you are automatically considered independent of your parents for financial aid. BUT, you still have to write down their financial info.

As a graduate student, you are considered independent by the federal formula and thus, by the federal formula, your parents aren't expected to contribute. However, most schools use their own proprietary financial-aid formula, by which parents are expected to contribute.

On the other hand, unlike for undergraduate, the amount of need-based grant money is negligible regardless of one's financial background. No matter who you are, you'll end up with $100,000ish in loans unless you're one of the lucky few who gets a merit scholarship or whose parents can pay up front.

 

[AthensBeth]

I don't think I would feel too incredibly doomed with 100 grand to pay off. That's what my fiance has after graduating law school. It's just when I sit down and do the math... 36,000 (tuition for some schools) x 4 and 15,000 x 4 (living expenses) it comes closer to 200,000!

 

[aparecida]

Ah, I see.

It seems like many/most people get at least some grants, especially at the more "name" schools that have more money to give out for financial aid purposes. As best I can make out, you won't get a full grant, but you're quite likely to get enough to bring down the debt level a bit. I recommend you consult the US News and World Report Guide to Medical Schools -- this is the book, not the magazine, and you can find it at B&N. It has a really nice table that lists the average debt load for each school. You'd be surprised at how the numbers break down; for example, average debt at Vanderbilt or at Wash U is the same as that at both of my state institutions.

 

[Fermata]

I've always been curious as to if they include the mstp students in those debt figures(who don't pay tuition and get a stipend).

 

[aparecida]

I think the figure is "average debt for those students who have loans." I'll have to check, though.

 

[dandelion]

Here is what Harvard's Admissions Bulliten says:

"To be considered for institutional grants and loans, the Fianancial Aid Committee requires applicants to supply parent financial information, regardless of age, dependency, marital status, tax status, or prior history of financial independence . . .

Note: Students who anticipate that parents will not provide the full expected parent contribution must plan in advance how they will finance Harvard Medical School without parental help. It is Harvard Medical School policy not to replace an absent expected parent contribution with institutional aid."


I've looked at the financial aid info of a few other private medical schools, and it looks like they have similar policies. Seems that parents (depending on their resources) are expected to contribute significantly to the costs of a medical education. My parents are not rich, but they are solidly middle class; I'm thinking that (should I get accepted!) medical school will ask them to contribute $100,000 over four years, and then I will also be $100,000 in debt at the end. The alternative is to go to my state school, where the total cost of a medical education is around $100,000.

Harvard goes on to give example cases where the expected family contribution is $31k and $11k respectively. Also, only 67% of their students receive aid from the Financial Aid Office, which means that about 33% of the students have parents who are willing to foot the entire bill ($200k+).

 

[MeowMix]

It's true, you can do your FAFSA app without parental info.

SOME schools do not require parental info for their scholarships.
OTHERS (Harvard, Stanford, etc.) require parental info even if you are over 40 and left home at 17.

The best financial aid for sure is the privates, and of them probably the best for the highest % of accepted students is the Mayo.

 

[UDbiochem]

So should I fill out FAFSA this year with my and my parents' info, or just mine? I don't make enough to even pay taxes.

 

[aparecida]

Also, only 67% of their students receive aid from the Financial Aid Office, which means that about 33% of the students have parents who are willing to foot the entire bill ($200k+).

I'm guessing a lot of those students end up with private loans.

 

[bigdan]

I've got the same questions as the OP, and I've had an equally difficult time finding answers.

From what schools have told me - the little that they've told me - there are very little funds for medical student scholarships and grants (when compared to undergrad offers). Private schools tend to have more money for such, and some private schools have much better track records for coughing up the dough (Mayo seems great; Jefferson leaves something to be desired). Public schools have the benefit of lower tuition costs.

Most schools want FAFSA to include parent info. Be sure to ask the schools at the interviews if they will allow you to update/change the info as your status changes - I'm gonna leave the field of occupational therapy, and my 45K+ salary job, if I get in, and my parents (both college professors) are still working. So my FAFSA makes me look okay for money. EVMS, will not adjust my FAFSA after my first year at medical school - when I'm not making any money. So that varies from school to school.

I have had, IMHO, great conversations with various deans, admissions directors, financial aid officers, etc., but no one gives a firm answer on who gets scholarships. There are funds set at many places for the academic superfreak - out of this world MCAT, GPA, EC and for URMs in some places, but I've never gotten them to say "You need x MCAT and y GPA for consideration"...

So...good luck with it all. One dean did say that he thinks that medical school students (doctors at that point I guess) have the lowest percentage of loan default out of any profession (no source given)...so even though it's expensive, we, statistically, are able to pay it off.

dc

 

[seethrew]

I have heard some interesting new info on the parental contribution issue: if parents are divorced/remarried/etc. you may need only to use one of your parents. This would be the one who had most recently supported you, as in claiming you as a dependent I assume. This may make a big difference for some people.

 

[ShyRem]

Interesting about the married to someone with a job comment - I'm married, but also have two children. I don't work, my husband does. I got the max in financial aid for undergrad - having two kids sucks the life out of your income, and FAFSA knows it.

I hope any med school I get into doesn't ask my parents for financial info - heck, I haven't asked them for financial information for 20 years!

 

[skiracer90]

When is the FAFSA due? Do people fill it out before they get into a school? Also, if you applied to harvard, should you just put down your parental info or will this hinder your aid package if other non-parent-info requiring schools see it?

 

[redrocks]

When is the FAFSA due? Do people fill it out before they get into a school? Also, if you applied to harvard, should you just put down your parental info or will this hinder your aid package if other non-parent-info requiring schools see it?

The FAFSA is available starting January for the 2005-2006 school year. A good suggestion I got from an interview is to fill it out online in late January (so the bugs are worked out in the first few weeks) and include the school code of all schools you are interested in. Many have priority dates you must submit the information by to get their "best aid" whatever that means . I'm not sure, but I don't think that those not requiring parental info would knock your aid if the parent stuff is on there.