Having debt going into Med School

[Tmac8]

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I'm a post-bac student and currently using a stafford loan to assist with tuition. I know this means I'll have debt going into med school. Does this affect anything such as acceptance, receiving financial aid in med school, ect.? Does it mean anything at all or is it just rolled over into the financial pit of med school? Do banks or the govt. extend pay back plans for current debt if accepted into med school? I would greatly appreciate any helpful input from anyone that is currently dealing with this, has dealt with it, or simply knows about the topic.

 

[MiesVanDerMom]

Med schools look at your credit rating, but a Stafford loan wouldn't hurt your credit rating. Your loan would just be added onto your med school loans. I'm assuming this was a grad loan. If so, it will take away from your total borrowing cap (like $138,000 or something) for all post-undergrad government loans. I'm assuming a lot of undergrads applying to med school have loans. I myself have 20,000 from undergrad. That's why I need to become a doctor right? Haha. As long as you don't have some crazy credit card debt/bankrupcies etc, I wouldn't worry. You could always email a school you're interested in and talk to them about your concerns.

 

[MiesVanDerMom]

Also, you dont have to pay stafford loans back until you've been out of school for 6 months. So, if you're in school continually from now on, you won't have to pay any student loans back until after residency. Thats my understanding of it.

 

[Captain Fantastic]

Also, you dont have to pay stafford loans back until you've been out of school for 6 months. So, if you're in school continually from now on, you won't have to pay any student loans back until after residency. Thats my understanding of it.

Sort of. The rules changed about three years ago and you no longer get an automatic deferral during residency. When my wife started residency she made ~$7/year too much to qualify for a hardship. We had to begin repayment her intern year.

 

[mshheaddoc]

I'm a post-bac student and currently using a stafford loan to assist with tuition. I know this means I'll have debt going into med school. Does this affect anything such as acceptance, receiving financial aid in med school, ect.? Does it mean anything at all or is it just rolled over into the financial pit of med school? Do banks or the govt. extend pay back plans for current debt if accepted into med school? I would greatly appreciate any helpful input from anyone that is currently dealing with this, has dealt with it, or simply knows about the topic.

Depends on your loans. If you did post bacc you only had one year of fed loan (max per guidelines is 5 years) rest would ahve been private. Each private lender is different. Some require interest payment while in deferment. Some don't. Usually you can defer loans anytime you are in school. PLEASE check your loans guidelines because some you have to contact every semester or you go into repayment. Also, not all loans have the 6 month deferment period after you finish school. When you are in residency you can claim hardship and this usually can put off your borrowings payments until after med school. But don't worry about that now because there are ways of getting around that in order to qualify which you will learn as a 3rd/4th year. If you have a spouse that works usually its harder to work around.

Borrowing for med school shouldn't be a problem if you have decent credit for the private loans. Usually its not a problem to get loans if you a med student from the experiences I have found. Its more along the lines that people don't WANT the extra loans. They are all credit based for the interest rate.

 

[Tmac8]

Thanks everyone!....that relieves some concerns I had.