from a really financially incompetent incoming student

[Oblige]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hello everyone,

I would like some of your perspectives. I am trying to decide how much loans I should take out.

Just to cover tuition,
I have a subsidized loan of 5% for about 6000 per year
I will get a 6.3% interest rate from a bank, $14,000 per year

If I want to live near or on-campus, I will need to borrow an extra $20,000 per year from the bank.
If I live with my uncle, I will have to take the bus, which takes about 1 hour each way.

I am curious- should I take the extra loans to live comfortably on campus and maximize my time/resources available on campus? Or should I live with my uncle?

Approximately how much debt/interest will I accrue over the four years? How hard/easy is it to pay that all back after getting hired? How do I specify 'term' when calculating debt/interest? After graduating medical school, how much or what proportion of money during residency would I allocate to paying back the loans? (I would like to pay it all back as soon as possible). What will you do in my position?

Sorry, I'm not even sure what questions to ask, because I'm totally new at receiving loans. The more information you can provide, the better. Thank you so much SDN

 

[Blue Blood]

I haven't started yet either, but I could see a 1 hour commute being a pretty big problem, especially when you need to be flexible at times.

Your financials will greatly depend on the political loan climate, chosen specialty, family conditions, etc. Your schools financial aid office will be the biggest help.

 

[Low Flow]

If you think you can be happy living with your uncle, go ahead and save the extra coin. If you think you'll be miserable/considerably less happy, take out the loans and live independently. Depending on where you are location wise, living costs may or may not be manageable on a budget. If you are smart about it, you will be able to pay back the loans relatively quick upon graduation (<10 years). If you get your first attending pay check and buy a house on the hills and a new car.. maybe not. There is a lot of financial information out there on the internet. Just for starters: http://whitecoatinvestor.com

Also agree with the above poster; a 1-hour commute each way is going to be quite the hassle, and may not even be worth the money saved, honestly.

 

[Oblige]

I haven't started yet either, but I could see a 1 hour commute being a pretty big problem, especially when you need to be flexible at times.

Your financials will greatly depend on the political loan climate, chosen specialty, family conditions, etc. Your schools financial aid office will be the biggest help.

My family is an extremely low income family. I will be in a California medical school. Financial aid office helped me as much as they can :/ Thank you so much for your input!

If you think you can be happy living with your uncle, go ahead and save the extra coin. If you think you'll be miserable/considerably less happy, take out the loans and live independently. Depending on where you are location wise, living costs may or may not be manageable on a budget. If you are smart about it, you will be able to pay back the loans relatively quick upon graduation (<10 years). If you get your first attending pay check and buy a house on the hills and a new car.. maybe not. There is a lot of financial information out there on the internet. Just for starters: http://whitecoatinvestor.com

Also agree with the above poster; a 1-hour commute each way is going to be quite the hassle, and may not even be worth the money saved, honestly.

What do you mean by location wise the living cost may/maynot be manageable? 1 hour commute via bus, so I'm also thinking about getting a car if that's the option through loans.. Living with my uncle may be easy when it comes to breakfast and dinner, but I also feel bad freeloading off them since they are also extremely low income..
Thank you so much for the link!

 

[mdeast]

Hello everyone,

I would like some of your perspectives. I am trying to decide how much loans I should take out.

Just to cover tuition,
I have a subsidized loan of 5% for about 6000 per year
I will get a 6.3% interest rate from a bank, $14,000 per year

If I want to live near or on-campus, I will need to borrow an extra $20,000 per year from the bank.
If I live with my uncle, I will have to take the bus, which takes about 1 hour each way.

I am curious- should I take the extra loans to live comfortably on campus and maximize my time/resources available on campus? Or should I live with my uncle?

Approximately how much debt/interest will I accrue over the four years? How hard/easy is it to pay that all back after getting hired? How do I specify 'term' when calculating debt/interest? After graduating medical school, how much or what proportion of money during residency would I allocate to paying back the loans? (I would like to pay it all back as soon as possible). What will you do in my position?

Sorry, I'm not even sure what questions to ask, because I'm totally new at receiving loans. The more information you can provide, the better. Thank you so much SDN

Errr...you should not be taking out loans from a bank for medical school. Your med school financial aid office should set you up with Perkins, Stafford, and Stafford Grad Plus+ loans. These are all fixed interest rate and way better than any loan that you can get from a bank. You'll have income-based repayment options after graduating an 10-year forgiveness (assuming that stays). You can take out loans from those programs up to the full cost of attendance (including living expenses).

 

[Oblige]

.

 

[Morzh]

Well if you can focus well in such an environment, the silver lining is that you'll have a dedicated 2-hours of studying everyday.

I live about 30 minutes from school and drive. It's manageable, but at times is definitely a sacrifice.

Maybe live with your uncle the first two years, when you're schedule and hours are more flexible. Then get an apartment room for the last two years. Because when you start third year I really don't see a one-hour commute being realistic. Do busses leave your uncle's at 3am?

 

[WinslowPringle]

Will the bus be running reliably when you have to be at the hospital by 4:30 for your surgery clerkship and do you want an hour commute at that time? Does it run on the weekends at 5am?

It might be reasonable for the first two years (especially if classes don't have a lot of mandatory attendance) but can be difficult with that length of a commute during some clinical rotations. Some cities have great public transport, though; I don't know where yours falls.

Also, will you be able to live well with said uncle? (Appropriate study place, etc.)

And as mentioned - why take out a private loan? Talk to the financial aid office at your school.

 

[Morzh]

Actually after reading more closely I can't make any sense of your situation, OP. Your school should have a published "cost of attendance" that includes not just tuition/fees but also average living expenses. If you are living alone you can live on significantly less than the CoA. You should be eligible for the subsidized federal loans up to that amount, minus an subsidized loans or scholarships you already have. What your saying about a max of 6000 + some private loans doesn't add up.

Are you a US citizen? That's the only thing I can figure. If you're a foreign national trying to go to school in the US then that's a totally different issue because you aren't eligible for the federal loans. You have to be able to pay your own way or get loans from your home country.

 

[awared2]

Will the bus be running reliably when you have to be at the hospital by 4:30 for your surgery clerkship and do you want an hour commute at that time? Does it run on the weekends at 5am?

It might be reasonable for the first two years (especially if classes don't have a lot of mandatory attendance) but can be difficult with that length of a commute during some clinical rotations. Some cities have great public transport, though; I don't know where yours falls.

Also, will you be able to live well with said uncle? (Appropriate study place, etc.)

And as mentioned - why take out a private loan? Talk to the financial aid office at your school.

I think that it is possible for the first two years. I would use the money I saved not paying for rent and buy a reliable car, rather than using the bus.

 

[operaman]

Yes you can definitely finance everything through federal loans unless you've previously defaulted on a student loan; however, if you're in default on a federal loan then you probably don't have enough credit to get a private loan so we'll just assume you can get federal stuff. You are guaranteed Stafford loans and then you can also apply for the GradPlus loans which are almost guaranteed too. They do require a credit check but have a very low threshold for qualifying; again, if you qualify for private loans, you'll be fine.

For the first 2 years, I think I would try and live with family and save the money. An hour commute isn't terrible, especially in major cities. I'd probably want to get something closer if possible for clinical years. That would at least save you those living expenses.

I would add another expense to consider that isn't included in your schools COA: cost of residency apps and interviews. Remember that your school's official COA is the maximum you're allowed to borrow at any given time, so you will be unable to borrow more in 4th year even if you've borrowed less than that amount in the previous years. Personally, I just saved ~$1200 each semester and put it in a separate savings account for residency apps. Ended up with nearly 10k when interview season rolled around. If you decide on something non competitive and don't do many or have programs pay your way, then you can just use it for other expenses. There will be plenty!