first year non-tuition expense estimates

[E.A. Poe]

Hi there,

I'm just wondering if anyone could give an estimate as to what kind of med-school-related expenses I'll be looking at for first year, excluding tuition of course. What did people spend for the stuff you needed? Off hand I can think of textbooks (still haven't decided if I'll use them all), reference books (what would you say is a typical list that most students have), MAYBE a PDA, scrubs for anatomy, a stethoscope, etc, etc. I don't know what else I'm missing but feel free to clue me in. Thanks.

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[lane]

i started classes this week and so far i've spent:
$700+ on equipment
$700+ on books...but i'll spend more once august comes around
$50 on scrubs (they will smell after gross lab. a lot.)
PDAs run $99 to $400

not to mention rent, bills, moving expenses, furniture, etc. that will vary depending on what you want/need and where you're going to school.

 

[Scooby Moo]

something I didn't count on at the time...money for joining the scribe/transcription service if your school or class runs one (I spent ~$120-130 for the first year)

 

[romed81]

lane - when you say equipment - what do you mean by that?? I didn't budget for those kind of expenses, and I was wondering if it is school specific.
thanx

 

[Blade28]

Hmmm...I spent around $500 for equipment, $800-1000 for books, $100 for dues/memberships during the first year. Also bought a bunch of books during second year and third year, but at least no more equipment.

 

[azzarah]

If I could go back to anatomy, I would wear an old t-shirt and a really old pair of pants that I had to throw away and not waste money on scrubs...yeah maybe I wouldn't have looked as cool as everyone else, but who cares! I ended up getting 4 pairs of scrubs...I donated them all to the incoming first years! What a waste of $$.
I say I spent close to $10,000 dollars...incl. rent, food, everything else, and oh yeah...I travelled abroad quite a bit during breaks and that was about $5000 worth of loans.