How much in debt/surplus are you in before applying to med school?

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helpfuldoc2b

helpfuldoc2b

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How much in debt/surplus are you in before applying to med school? Just wondering ...
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Well, right now I already have $80,000+. Haha, I am trying not to think about it.
 
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I'm at 45k, and am hoping to keep it at that level for when med school (hopefully) starts in 2008. I am planning to chip away at it a little bit during the applicaton year by working full time and only taking one class in the fall semester, none in the spring.
 
Fortunately not so very much for me (undergrad was financed by many grants and fellowships). But don't let the debt issue be a huge hinderance -- educational debt is some of the best debt that you can acquire. Of course, this is said from a 20-something with no children... Best of luck!
 
I owe 100 K + from previous grad program. I try not to think about it, it honestly depresses me lol
 
Sainttpk said:
I owe 100 K + from previous grad program. I try not to think about it, it honestly depresses me lol
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Money is nothing when you can realize your dream. I'm willing to owe 200K or even more if required. After graduate from med school, this debt is nothing to payback.
 
I have about 75K in student loan debt, and a little more credit card debt than I would like on top of that. I plan to pay off all the credit card debt before next fall, and start from ground zero financially. The student loans hopefully will just be deferred with acrued interest.
 
torik said:
Money is nothing when you can realize your dream. I'm willing to owe 200K or even more if required. After graduate from med school, this debt is nothing to payback.
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Thats what you think....talk to some recent graduates or practicing doctors.
 
I was fortunate enough to not have to pay for grad school (yay, stipend/scholarships!) and my undergrad debt is paid off (yay, state schools!). I have a little credit card debt now that will be paid of early next year and my DH and I have a mortgage that will continue until we sell the house and a car payment for 4 more years, but I'm going to try to pay that off before med school (if I get in on my timeline).

We're also going to have to borrow 100% of tuition for med school, but not sure who the lender will be. If I get it and go with a state school, my parents might be willing to have me sign a contract with them for the tuition and little or no interest. If it's a private school, with really high tuition, then hell-o banks!!!!!!
 
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megboo said:
I was fortunate enough to not have to pay for grad school (yay, stipend/scholarships!) and my undergrad debt is paid off (yay, state schools!). I have a little credit card debt now that will be paid of early next year and my DH and I have a mortgage that will continue until we sell the house and a car payment for 4 more years, but I'm going to try to pay that off before med school (if I get in on my timeline).

We're also going to have to borrow 100% of tuition for med school, but not sure who the lender will be. If I get it and go with a state school, my parents might be willing to have me sign a contract with them for the tuition and little or no interest. If it's a private school, with really high tuition, then hell-o banks!!!!!!
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All I had was a mortgage plus about 9K of debt from undergrad (yay scholarships and grants) before this last summer. Since then we bought appliances, some furniture, a TV (payments were all manageable) and then my car was totaled with liability only insurance, so we just bought a car. Oh, and I've borrowed about 9K this last year for med school. (More than that, but the 9K is the only part that isn't a forgiveable loan, so I don't count the part that is forgiveable.)
So now (not counting the mortgage and forgiveable loan) I am 32K in debt. Wow. Added up quick. Counting the mortgage and forgiveable loan.... its more like 190K.
 
torik said:
Money is nothing when you can realize your dream. I'm willing to owe 200K or even more if required. After graduate from med school, this debt is nothing to payback.
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I wish i could believe that lol
 
helpfuldoc2b said:
How much in debt/surplus are you in before applying to med school? Just wondering ...
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Funny you haven't gotten any "surplus" responses yet. I know there are a few people on here who have posted in the past that they're gonna be able to pay for med school mostly out of pocket, so I know they're out there. I'm guessing it's hard to own up to that on a thread where people are admitting to $80K in debt before even starting med school.

I have a grand total of maybe $45K in the bank, including IRA. Went to undergrad on a full ride, took some post-bacc classes with tuition reimbursement as a university employee (lab tech), and I get paid a stipend to be a grad student. In general I live without anything I can't pay for immediately, so no credit card debt and I still have the 1990 Honda Civic that my parents bought me (for $3K) in college.
 
It's nice to hear that so many other people are trying not to think about their pre-med school debt. My one friend makes fun of me (good-naturedly) everytime I say that I don't want to think about it. :) She's my reality check every now and then.
 
About $40k locked in at super low interest rates and put a 25-year payment plan. Paying them off is at the bottom of my financial priority list. Sad thing is that I'm going to double my debt amount this year. :eek:

I was a ***** for a while and actually paid ahead on my loans even though my interest rate is less than 1/3 of what I've been gaining in my retirement savings account. Learned that lesson and shifted all that extra money to my 401k.
 
kate_g said:
Funny you haven't gotten any "surplus" responses yet. I know there are a few people on here who have posted in the past that they're gonna be able to pay for med school mostly out of pocket, so I know they're out there. I'm guessing it's hard to own up to that on a thread where people are admitting to $80K in debt before even starting med school.

I have a grand total of maybe $45K in the bank, including IRA. Went to undergrad on a full ride, took some post-bacc classes with tuition reimbursement as a university employee (lab tech), and I get paid a stipend to be a grad student. In general I live without anything I can't pay for immediately, so no credit card debt and I still have the 1990 Honda Civic that my parents bought me (for $3K) in college.
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Having $45K in the bank can hurt the amount of financial aid (need based) you're eligible for, unless most of it is in your IRA. Not all debt is bad.

Good Debt:
* Sub Student loans locked in @ ~ 3-4%
* Mortgage locked in low (assuming house prices don't tumble in your area)
* Retirement savings where you can borrow from and pay yourself the interest.

Bad Debt:
* Credit Card where you're sitting anywhere north of 10%
* Car loan (the depreciation is horrendous on capital is horrendous though you not the worst type of debt to have).
* Unsub student loans @ 7-8% (again not the as bad as credit card but still not good)
* Alt/private loans.
 
I have a decent job in terms of income, but still eat ramen noodles and drive an old car and am too busy with prereqs to care about it. My wife and I have always saved our pennies and don't really know what to do with our money.

Neither my wife or I has ever had much debt. Now, we are finding that we would rather seek our dreams than a fortune. Gaining knowledge rather than $$ is more fulfilling to me.

If I can get into med school in the town where we live, keep our current modest home, and my wife continues to work, I don't foresee racking up much debt.
 
Just wondering, does anyone here ever listen to a financial guy on the radio named Dave Ramsey? He specializes in personal finance, and I've found his advice (especially on buegeting) very usefull as I'm gettin thru my undergrad.

here's his website: www.daveramsey.com You can listen to the show FREE on the site if a station doesn't carry it.

*disclaimer* I'm not employed by Dave and recieve NO compentation or benefit from recommending him to others, nor have I been asked to solicit for him. I just happen to really believe in his message and know it can help others like it's helped me.
 
41K:scared: . I almost started freaking out for a bit after seeing it online. That's not too bad for a whole lot of learning from 2001 until Spring 2007. For my last year (2007 - 2008), Pell and MSU grants are my only option:D
 
My undergrad is almost paid off and I am paying for grad school as I go. All I owe is about 10k on my jeep (need 4WD in NY) and just dipped below 100K on my mortgage. Long story...have a verbal agreement with my folks who live next door that I can't sell my house while they are still alive. They don't want any red necks moving in. Fortunatley, the closest med school is one of the least expensive schools in the state and I want to go there anyway. Now I just have to get in.
 
Y_Marker said:
Having $45K in the bank can hurt the amount of financial aid (need based) you're eligible for, unless most of it is in your IRA. Not all debt is bad.

Good Debt:
* Sub Student loans locked in @ ~ 3-4%
* Mortgage locked in low (assuming house prices don't tumble in your area)
* Retirement savings where you can borrow from and pay yourself the interest.

Bad Debt:
* Credit Card where you're sitting anywhere north of 10%
* Car loan (the depreciation is horrendous on capital is horrendous though you not the worst type of debt to have).
* Unsub student loans @ 7-8% (again not the as bad as credit card but still not good)
* Alt/private loans.
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I disagree with your bad debt. But that is just my outlook. All educational debt is good debt. But there are "tiers". Private loans are in the highest tiers and need to be nixed ASAP.

Credit card is bad debt. Car loans are evil debt, but necessary unfortunately for more americans, just have to buy smart.

And having a savings doesn't hurt you as much as you might think come fasfa time ...
 
50k Grad school debt here. (plus CC, mortgage, car, etc.. on top of this of course). Whats another 150-200k for med school? No biggie .... er, right? :scared:
 
No school debt (thanks goodness my parents "asked" me to attend the school they both are professors at!), but I'm going to have about $10K in credit card debt by the time med school rolls around next year.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to pay this off - I'm chipping away at it, but it won't be paid off when med school starts. Can I roll this debt into part of my med school loan (from the bank)? Any ideas?? :scared:
 
As previously defined:

$25K in good debt

$35K in bad debt

Yikes.
 
we're currently selling our house and once it sells, all debt will be gone except cars and my student loans. we bought toyotas this year which don't depreciate nearly as quickly as most makes. at this point i have about $6k in student loans, but that's because i didn't need childcare to complete my AS. i'll probably add $20k in the last two years of my BS and i'm assuming i'll cover med school entirely with loans (only tuition and childcare...we won't borrow for living expenses, and any scholarships/aid will be a pleasant surprise). thankfully, my husband makes enough to support the family, so our plan is to continue to live as single income while i'm in my residency and use my salary to pay off as much of the loans as possible. we hopefully won't have too much left by the time i finish my residency (if any).

we'll buy another house once we transfer to VA, but a house really shouldn't be considered debt. it's an asset because (unless something's gone horribly wrong) you would get money if you sold it. sure, it's a payment, but you'd have to make a housing payment somewhere (own or rent) and when you own a house, money's going into equity. a house isn't really seen as money owed but as equity owned.
 
My informal post bac at California State University will end up costing me about $25,000 on top of my $12,000 from undergrad :(. The nice thing is, though, I don't have to work, giving me more time to study :).
 
wow. i feel bad for you guys. I'm significantly on the positive side, unfortunatly my money is tied up in various things that will make it difficult to access. However, my net will still go into the red during med/dental (still deciding:)), and that seriously disturbs me, and I'm having a hard time accepting it. I'm not sure I would have the courage to do this and go $200k+ in debt, kudos!
 
Student Loans = apx $30K
Cars = 0
House = 0 (selling w/ zero equity thanks to the depressed TX economy)
Other debt = $20K

Surplus = $20K (in 401k)

Plan... stop working in June/July. Take $20K (net after penalty) to pay off other debt leaving only student loans. Borrow enough to live like a pauper for next 7 years. Hopefully pay off some/all by agreeing to practice in rural area. Yay!!
 
FutureDoc2011 said:
Does anyone have any ideas on how to pay this off - I'm chipping away at it, but it won't be paid off when med school starts. Can I roll this debt into part of my med school loan (from the bank)? Any ideas?? :scared:
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OK, I've quit chuckling, so I'll give a serious response.

No, you can't put credit card debt onto any kind of federally-guaranteed student loan. It's tough for all of us to pay off the plastic debt before school starts, but I think it needs to be a priority. It's painful - it was for me - but you really need to just pay that stuff off. Otherwise, you're going to have to get a private loan outside your official budget - and that requires excellent credit and possibly a co-signer. Do you really want to pay off $2 or $3 in the future for every $1 of unsecured credit card debt you have right now? That's really, really bad financial planning.

Remember also that while you can get an emergency loan supplement for a clunker car or for car repairs, car loan payments are not allowed under federal student loan guidelines - they cannot increase your budget to cover car loan payments.

As an old CPA turning physician, I disagree with Y_Marker on one point. If you have a decent amount of money in retirement savings - especially if you're a non-traditional - I don't recommend borrowing that money or otherwise touching it for any reason - especially if Congress lowers student loan interest rates. Your 401(k) money has multiple legal protections - it is virtually impossible for anyone to touch. On the other hand, student loans can be permanently deferred or discharged in the event of total disability. If you become sick or disabled and you've used your 401(k) money to finance your medical education, there is no way to ever get it back. On the other hand, if you had borrowed the money nobody will send you to the poorhouse if you can't pay it back.

I'm over 40 and I have enough in my 401(k) to pay cash for my medical education. No way in h*ll would I do it, however. To me - far, far too risky. That money is my financial security if, for any reason, I am no longer able to work.
 
I have about $22k debt in cc's, student loans, & car loan, plus about $300k mortgage loan! I got Dave Ramsey's book last July & started implementing his ideas & have significantly been able to chip at the cc amount! I hope to have them paid off before med school starts (hopefully this Aug).:D
 
No student debt yet, (Thank you Jesus), but I do have about $5k in consumer debt I will kill by May.
 
As of right now, student loans included, we have about ~ $80K debt.

By the time I start med school in August, if all goes according to plan, this should be knocked down to ~ $60,000. Of course the majority of this represents undergrad loans.

By the time I graduate med school I will have debt in the range of $100,000 to $200,000.

That's a huge range, but I have to consider that if I get accepted at San Antonio I'm only looking at $12,000/year tuition. If I go to PCOM, which I'm already accepted to, then it's more like $35,000/year.

Huge difference, isn't it?
 
kate_g said:
Funny you haven't gotten any "surplus" responses yet. I know there are a few people on here who have posted in the past that they're gonna be able to pay for med school mostly out of pocket, so I know they're out there. I'm guessing it's hard to own up to that on a thread where people are admitting to $80K in debt before even starting med school.

I have a grand total of maybe $45K in the bank, including IRA. Went to undergrad on a full ride, took some post-bacc classes with tuition reimbursement as a university employee (lab tech), and I get paid a stipend to be a grad student. In general I live without anything I can't pay for immediately, so no credit card debt and I still have the 1990 Honda Civic that my parents bought me (for $3K) in college.
Click to expand...

I have 20K in the bank and 50K in 401K. My car and undergrad loans are almost paid and I have no debt from grad school. I also get tuition reimbursement from my current employer. I don't have family money; I just got lucky buying and selling a house, and adding to a 401K when stocks were dirt-cheap.
 
Non-TradTulsa said:
OK, I've quit chuckling, so I'll give a serious response.

No, you can't put credit card debt onto any kind of federally-guaranteed student loan. It's tough for all of us to pay off the plastic debt before school starts, but I think it needs to be a priority. It's painful - it was for me - but you really need to just pay that stuff off. Otherwise, you're going to have to get a private loan outside your official budget - and that requires excellent credit and possibly a co-signer. Do you really want to pay off $2 or $3 in the future for every $1 of unsecured credit card debt you have right now? That's really, really bad financial planning.

Remember also that while you can get an emergency loan supplement for a clunker car or for car repairs, car loan payments are not allowed under federal student loan guidelines - they cannot increase your budget to cover car loan payments.

As an old CPA turning physician, I disagree with Y_Marker on one point. If you have a decent amount of money in retirement savings - especially if you're a non-traditional - I don't recommend borrowing that money or otherwise touching it for any reason - especially if Congress lowers student loan interest rates. Your 401(k) money has multiple legal protections - it is virtually impossible for anyone to touch. On the other hand, student loans can be permanently deferred or discharged in the event of total disability. If you become sick or disabled and you've used your 401(k) money to finance your medical education, there is no way to ever get it back. On the other hand, if you had borrowed the money nobody will send you to the poorhouse if you can't pay it back.

I'm over 40 and I have enough in my 401(k) to pay cash for my medical education. No way in h*ll would I do it, however. To me - far, far too risky. That money is my financial security if, for any reason, I am no longer able to work.
Click to expand...

If you're unable to work for any reason someone will pay (assuming you have health/disability coverage). The 401k provides an excellent vehicle for (10% early withdrawal) penalty free payments for school. When we're in school we're at one of our lowest tax bracket (i.e. almost $0 income assuming you're not married).

For non-trads who are working right now and plan to start school soon, an excellent way of saving money is max out your 401k/IRA. The contribution limit is $15k (401k) and $4000 (IRA) for most of us - higher limits for those much older than most of us. If you're married you can double those amounts (e.g. $4k for you and $4k in your spouse's name). My suggestion is still to tap into the sub and perkins loan. So here is how one could structure their payments using a variety of financial instruments (on a yearly basis in order of most desirable to least):

$xxxx Grants/Scholarships/Research during summer/etc
$6000 Perkins @5% (sub)
$8500 Stafford Sub @6.8% will reduce gradually to ~ 3%
$4000 IRA early distro (coded properly to avoid 10% penalty)

Any remaining amount you need, rollover 401k funds to IRA and withdraw early coding properly to avoid 10% early withdrawal penalty. This assumes you're 401k nest egg is large enough to cover this spread. If it isn't, or you're uncomfortable tapping the nest egg, than go for the stafford unsub. As you know, the interest on that puppy starts fluttering away as soon as you take the money out if you went this route.
 
Just a shade over $25,000 for undergrad at UM. Most of that is in a consolidated low-interest trust...so the payments are too bad right now. I'll have to defer them once I start med school however, hopefully in '08 or '09 :)
 
17k in private student debt. Would pay it off faster, but all my money is put towards paying for school so I don't get MORE debt.

Ewww... SUre wish I could just consolidate this when I enter med school
 
$43k It is sometimes part of moving towards the goal, otherwise I can't wait to pay it off. I have the Chatzky book and have looked through several others but with 2 kids and a stay at home wife/mom(it is worth it) so paying down CC bills is difficult but I hope to work enough extra hours to pay the bad debt off before MD.
 
MJB said:
Depends on whether I impulse buy a boat or not. :)
Click to expand...

Do it! Think of how great it would be to study with a fishing line in the water.
Wait.....Is your medical school within 60 miles of water?
 
We've been looking at them for like 3 years now and want one badly...I could definitely see myself coving out with the books in the fall. :)

My goal is to get in shape and start wakeboarding this summer..but I got some work to do.

Between the wife and I, I think our student loans are around 40K...
 
10k car loan, house paid off is HUGE positive(250k), 5k cc debt, wife has 13k ugrad loans but that is her deal not mine.

very little cash and even smaller cash flow! I plan on having some student loans in the future
 
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