financing med school

[guy104]

would someone please give me a ballpark of what families are expected to pay for med school. i know there is a calculator for it when you fill out the forms, but i've also heard, "anybody can go to med school" and "anybody can get loans." but the forms aren't available until january and my dad is trying to prepare for what he is going to be required to assist with. i'm kind of curious too. i'm hoping i can borrow everything, because i don't want to have to depend on him, but i've heard that there is a percentage, based on income, etc, that the family is expected to help with. does that mean you can only get loans for a certain amount and families have to pay out of their checking account the rest, or can they get loans too? dad doesn't make tons of money, about 45k on taxes. so, does anyone have any thing that would help me out? thanks.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[kent14]

Most schools expect families to contribute 0 to their medical school education. The financial aid packages vary from school to school, public to private. The average medical student has over 100,000 in debt after graduating.

 

[Pegasus]

Money should never be a reason not to go to medical school!! Most medical schools will fund you the money completely, unlike college! I had to work to pay for my college tuition and struggled the whole time! However, when I got accepted to medical school, it was amazing how helpful they are in financial aid. They calculate your income as '0' like the above post says. In my situation, colleges always included my parents income, although they were not paying a cent! In medical school (at least where I am at) they do not include my parents! They may however include the income from a spouse. Also, they determine the amount of your aid by including books, computer, car insurance, rent, ect...so they honestly should give you plenty to survive, even with a family!!

 

[fiatslug]

Hold on there, pardners. It *really* depends on where you go. The FAFSA determines your "expected financial contribution" based on your income (it can include your parents, depending on your age, and your spouse, if you have one). For me, as a single, over 25 MS 1, they determined that of my $20,500 gross income for last year, I should have $5400 set aside for medical school. I lived in the Bay Area; you do the math. Impossible, to say the least.

So your school will loan you (via Stafford) whatever their financial aid office considers a livable budget, and this can vary *tremendously* from school to school. Schools are subject to audits when students default on loans, so it's in their best interest to keep their budgets (and the gov't sponsored Stafford loans, for which they will be on the hook if you default) as low as possible. If you are at a school with very low student budgets, and you have no outside assistance, you may find it very hard to live on what you are allowed to borrow (please understand that in terms of Stafford lonas, you can ONLY borrow what your FAO approves you for). Some schools are much more lenient in what they'll allow their students to borrow, but be aware that if you don't have a sugar daddy or mommy, you could, like me, be in serious financial trouble.