Financial Aid question

[endlesslove]

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Hi, while these questions may be good for the pre-pharm section, I felt I could get better answers from current PharmD students who have already been receiving financial aid of some sort from their respective pharmacy schools. I'm applying for financial aid for USC but any general answers regarding fin-aid would suffice. Thanks!

1) Which housing plan will get you the largest financial aid package (I prefer grants/scholarships but I guess loans will do):
a) with parents or in housing owned by a parent
b) with relatives (other than parents/spouse/children) or in housing owned or rented by a relative
c) in university housing (residence halls and apartments owned by the university both on and off campus)
d) in non-university owned housing (but not with parents or relatives other than spouse/children)

2) Does your EFC (expected family contribution) in undergrad indicate the specific kinds of financial aid you would get in pharmacy school, provided that your EFC STAYS THE SAME in pharmacy school too--e.g. EFC of $30,000 in undergrad => all loans in pharmacy school? OR EFC of 0 in undergrad => all grants or more grants and less loans?

 

[rxgal8]

I would guess c or d might get you more loans. I don't think we can get grants in a professional school (if you're talking about grants from the government). As for your question #2, I would think a lower EFC may qualify you for more government loans. I know a lot of students who take out private loans as well. I hope this helps.

(Everyone else, correct me if I'm wrong)

Goodluck next year and congrats on USC!

 

[endlesslove]

I would guess c or d might get you more loans. I don't think we can get grants in a professional school (if you're talking about grants from the government). As for your question #2, I would think a lower EFC may qualify you for more government loans. I know a lot of students who take out private loans as well. I hope this helps.

(Everyone else, correct me if I'm wrong)

Goodluck next year and congrats on USC!

Hi, since I never took out any loans in undergrad, can you please fill me in on the difference between govt loans and private loans? I'm assuming the former is the famous one that most grad students talk about how they have like x # of months or years post graduation to pay it back at a 0 (or low) % interest rate?

 

[CACRV]

Hi, since I never took out any loans in undergrad, can you please fill me in on the difference between govt loans and private loans? I'm assuming the former is the famous one that most grad students talk about how they have like x # of months or years post graduation to pay it back at a 0 (or low) % interest rate?

The difference between the two is that federal loans are standard as far as their terms. You'll have a max ceiling on the interest rate the government charges, standard deferment, and options as far as length of repayment. However, for private loans they are all different. You'll have to look over every loan and lender to get the best loan for you.

 

[endlesslove]

I know that probably most pharmacy schools don't give out grants/scholarships as "freely" as did the undergrads (by "freely," I mean you don't have to do the searching yourself; the ppl reviewing your app will "pick you out" and either 1) nominate you and you'll hafta apply separately for the scholarship OR 2) they give you the scholarship money) because they figured that since you're gonna be fairly rich anyways, you can afford to cough up the doe. However, do some of the pharm schools do this freely??? any of them? i ask this b/c I know that in med school, ppl still get scholarships "freely" (not the "dinky" little ones but the large 5-digit ones) and heck, MDs make even more money than PharmDs.

 

[rxgal8]

I know that probably most pharmacy schools don't give out grants/scholarships as "freely" as did the undergrads (by "freely," I mean you don't have to do the searching yourself; the ppl reviewing your app will "pick you out" and either 1) nominate you and you'll hafta apply separately for the scholarship OR 2) they give you the scholarship money) because they figured that since you're gonna be fairly rich anyways, you can afford to cough up the doe. However, do some of the pharm schools do this freely??? any of them? i ask this b/c I know that in med school, ppl still get scholarships "freely" (not the "dinky" little ones but the large 5-digit ones) and heck, MDs make even more money than PharmDs.

I don't think my school gives scholarships "freely". You have to look for them. Most scholarships are targetted towards students who are involved in the community and extracurricular activities more than just GPA. However, if you're worried about paying for your loans, as a pharmacy student you have several options to choose from. If you want, you can even sign a contract with chain pharmacies (like sav-ons, rite aid, walgreens, etc or even the military) where you work for them for about 2 years upon graduation and they'll pay off your loans. Of course, it varies from contract to contract and the chains may choose your location.

Personally, I'd rather take out the loans and pay them off myself at my own pace. 🙂

 

[endlesslove]

If you want, you can even sign a contract with chain pharmacies (like sav-ons, rite aid, walgreens, etc or even the military) where you work for them for about 2 years upon graduation and they'll pay off your loans.

Eh, no thanks 🙂 from personal volunteering experiences, I've found working in retail to be a big pain in the butt where people can be more impatient and mean. I'm sorry, but I don't want to be someone else's ATM machine. 😡 anybody in this forum got some nice "generic" 4-5-digit # scholarships (by "generic" i simply mean it can apply to students of any pharmacy school; of course, you have to do something, like special community service, for instance, to earn it) and wouldn't mind sharing with me how you got it? So far, I've been getting only 3-digit ones or 4-digits on the lower end of the spectrum. My friend got a nice $20K/yr for her med school automatically. Oh, I wish pharm schools were like this too--why not but med schools are?? b/c more ppl apply to med school so they generate more "income" to give away as scholarships?