How do you afford it?

[LetItSnow]

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I think that's just vet school. The amount of debt people bring from undergrad is probably so varied that it would skew the data. So my guess is just vet school debt.

On the one hand, yeah, it would skew it. Totally. But on the other hand, what really matters is the debt:income ratio; and that ought to account for the total debt vet students have coming out of school, I would think.

Personally, I graduated with about $35K in undergrad debt and yes, I'm using loans to cover vet school as well.

I hope you didn't read criticism into my question. I just think for a more complete depiction of the vet economic picture, looking at the 'true' debt is probably important.

Also, (and someone please correct me if I'm wrong) there aren't too many scholarships available for first years. There are WAY more available for 2nd-4th years though.

That sure seems to be the case as far as I've been able to find.

 

[Awendela]

Thanks everyone for the input re: scholarships. That's all very helpful to know!

Also, with respect to debt:income ratios... those aren't good either. Here's an article I read a while ago (http://veterinarynews.dvm360.com/dv...tudents/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/742266), which cites debt:income at about 200%.

I had always heard (and the article says this as well) that you don't want your total debt load to be greater than your starting salary (I mean, I guess I wouldn't mind being 140k in debt if I were making an income of 140k or more... ha. ha. ... 🙁).

From what I understand, most estimates do include undergraduate debt, but I didn't actually find anything that stated that explicitly.

tl;dr: Debt is big and scary. Let's all go IS.

 

[dyachei]

Thanks everyone for the input re: scholarships. That's all very helpful to know!

Also, with respect to debt:income ratios... those aren't good either. Here's an article I read a while ago (http://veterinarynews.dvm360.com/dv...tudents/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/742266), which cites debt:income at about 200%.

I had always heard (and the article says this as well) that you don't want your total debt load to be greater than your starting salary (I mean, I guess I wouldn't mind being 140k in debt if I were making an income of 140k or more... ha. ha. ... 🙁).

From what I understand, most estimates do include undergraduate debt, but I didn't actually find anything that stated that explicitly.

tl;dr: Debt is big and scary. Let's all go IS.

I can tell you that my debt is more than double my starting salary.

 

[EngrSC]

My great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother all had to have their gallbladders removed. There's a part of me wondering..."There's like a 90% chance I will have to have it taken out at some point in my life...can I maybe get it done next summer before vet school (hopefully) when I'm not busy and still on my parents' insurance?" 😀

I had mine out at 17. I got super duper sick and was hospitalized for 4 days when they found out what was wrong 😱

I think it is partly genetic. I didn't fit the typical profile: female, fat, forty (I only met the female criteria). 2 of my cousins had to have theirs out as well.

 

[wildcatj]

I'm bumping old threads today apparently.
So, about scholarships... Do they end up being a contributing factor when you are choosing a school? As in, will you know if you get scholarships before the April decision deadline? Do large scholarships really exist out there for vet school outside of people who want to go into research?

 

[StartingoverVet]

I'm bumping old threads today apparently.
So, about scholarships... Do they end up being a contributing factor when you are choosing a school? As in, will you know if you get scholarships before the April decision deadline? Do large scholarships really exist out there for vet school outside of people who want to go into research?

The only one I have seen are smaller 5k at penn, 3k at tufts (per year).
I was offered one at Tufts, not at Penn. If it was larger it would have probably have affected my decision (maybe 10k). Those are offered shortly after acceptances, so long before the deadline.

Those were academically based. There are some more once available once you get into school as well.