Financing your Post-Bac

[wasvsdal]

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I am a "typical" non-traditional medical school applicant. I would need to take 1 years worth of undergrad classes, followed by potentially a post-bac program or Caribbean depending on MCAT scores, and how eager I am to start.

How do you guys finance your studies once your parents have kicked you out, and you have to deal with paying rent, grocery, gas, electricity, along with tuition etc.? What type of loans are available, and where I can obtain more information?

Thanks!

 

[wasvsdal]

If I get accepted into the program and graduate, am I guaranteed placement in the medical school for the next year?

No, we cannot promise that you will be accepted at our medical school. However, in the last five (5) years of the program, approximately 85 percent of all graduates are accepted into a medical school.

This is copied and pasted from EVMS' Website. Does this stat reflect graduates accepted into an US based Medical School or does it also include the Caribbeans, Poland, India, amongst others?

 

[NewmansOwn]

No one here would really know that, except maybe anecdotally. Your best bet would be to call EVMS and check with them; there's a half-decent chance they'll tell you.

Postbac work is usually eligible for Stafford Loans under the 5th year undergraduate provision. You'll apply for Federal aid and sign a paper saying you're excising your right to Federal loan money as a 5th year undergraduate. Beyond this, you'll need to utilize private alternative loans for the remaining tuition and living expenses. Interest rates will be higher on these, but often your individual state will sponsor a private education loan that will be reasonable. When you get to medical school, you'll find that private loan interest rates are extremely favorable, as loans companies feel that future physicians are basically a guarantee for paying back large loans.

You can investigate/apply for the Stafford Loans at www.fafsa.gov. Depending on your eligibility, you might be awarded (determination made by your school's financial aid office) subsidized Stafford Loans (where the government pays all interest on the loans while you're in school) or unsubsidized Stafford Loans (where you begin accruing interest as soon as the loans are disbursed). You will likely get a combination of both.

 

[wasvsdal]

I really wish every aspiring doctor could do a surgery before they truly committed to their decision of going to medical school. Obviously, we wouldnt know enough but it certainly would be helpful to be right in the action of it.