How much is Medical School

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gilbert951

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(For current med students )
What’s the cost for medical school , and how do you pay for it , do you have a minimum wage job, are you on a scholarship ?
 
It varies extremely, your talking like $100,000-200,000+
Most medical students or premeds don't work because it tends to make everything more stressful and they usually need to focus on there school work, volunteer, and research work more than anything..

Most people have loans etc to pay for medical school so after your done when you head off to residency (at that time your getting payed) you will be able to pay off your debt slowly but surely.
 
(For current med students )
What’s the cost for medical school , and how do you pay for it , do you have a minimum wage job, are you on a scholarship ?

A lot.

A few years ago, the average debt of newly-graduated medical students was around $130,000 -- including debt from college.

The AMA says that as of 2009, the average educational debt, all things included, for brand-new MDs was $156,456, with over half of them having more than $150,000 in debt.

Most people don't work while in medical school because of how demanding it is. Stafford (federal) loans cover the cost of attendance for most of us, and the usual thinking is that unless the sky really does fall on physician salaries, you'll be able to pay it back on the other side.

Don't worry about the money part of med school. It's scary, yes, but countless people did it before you, and countless people will do it after you.
 
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(For current med students )
What’s the cost for medical school , and how do you pay for it , do you have a minimum wage job, are you on a scholarship ?

Also, medical students can make a lot more than minimum wage. I taught for Kaplan for a while, and I know classmates that are still doing it. 20-40 bucks/hr depending on your experience level.
 
(For current med students )
What’s the cost for medical school , and how do you pay for it , do you have a minimum wage job, are you on a scholarship ?

Federal and private loans are one source of payment. Individual schools offer scholarships that help lower the tuition costs. MD/PhD or DO/PhD programs cover the cost of tuition and give those students a monthly stipends. The Army, Air Force and Navy offer the Health Professions Scholarship, which pays for tuition. Also, the HPSP does text book and medical equipment reimbursement, monthly stipend of about $2060/mo, and a signing bonus. In exchange, you owe 4 years active duty back to the military as a physician. There are a lot of pros and cons to the military scholarship, but I kept the info basic and brief. The national guard has a scholarship program that differs from that mentioned above, and I am not to familiar with it. Finally, there is the National Health Service Corps. They cover tuition, and give a monthly stipend to students awarded this scholarship. Im not sure about the time commitment, but your payback is to serve as a primary care physician in an underserved community.
 
If you really want to be a doctor, finances should not be something holding you back. Like jphwki82 said, military scholarships are an option as well as other federal or state service or loan programs.

But, some schools are way more expensive than others. I think tuition alone at some of the private schools like Harvard or Johns Hopkins is gonna be more expensive than your housing, tuition, supplies, and travel expenses all added up at a school in Texas. I think the average cost of living & tuition for a Texas resident is roughly 150k-160k over the course of 4 years. You can cut that down to probably 120k-130k pretty easily if you're a little frugal with your money and find a roommate or an efficiency.
 
public = 40k - 55k per year

Private = 60k - 80k per year.

Overall costs range from ~160k to ~320k. Being a med student is like a full time job, so even if you do work, it'll be more for pocket money and less to pay tuition.
 
(For current med students )
What’s the cost for medical school , and how do you pay for it , do you have a minimum wage job, are you on a scholarship ?

I'm in my last year and made it through Undergrad without any debt. But from my med school loans I will hit 200k by the end of the year. This will increase through interest while I am in residency (the actual payment on these loans will be approx 2300/month and I will only make 3000/month in residency).

Paid for it all through loans . Undergrad I paid for through scholarships and working. Medical school - basically everyone pays with loans (or occasionally peoples parents can afford it).

I don't think anyone in medical school has a minimum wage job. By the time you have an undergrad degree you should be able to get quite a few well paying jobs if you want them. I have worked as a private tutor for $35/hr (made $1000 one month my first year when both kids had finals and SATs). I've taught MCAT for $25/hr. And I occasionally proctor for $15/hr because I can just sit and study. But this is just extra spending money - definitely doesn't make a dent in loans or tuition.

I don't know too many people on significant scholarship in med school. Some schools will offer need-based grants to close the gap between what you can get in loans and tuition. But actual grades based scholarships are rare.
 
public = 40k - 55k per year

Private = 60k - 80k per year.

Overall costs range from ~160k to ~320k. Being a med student is like a full time job, so even if you do work, it'll be more for pocket money and less to pay tuition.

Instate....

Tack on another 20 for OOS.
 
Approximately $200,000. Med students shouldn't work because it's simply too much to do. The parents often pay for the cost or the students get loans which are easy for a medical student to get.
 
Approximately $200,000. Med students shouldn't work because it's simply too much to do. The parents often pay for the cost or the students get loans which are easy for a medical student to get.

I'd say that parents paying for med school is the minority. But loans are definitely easy, OP. I was told many times when applying to just worry about making sure I wanted to do this / getting in / etc.; the money will be there if you need it.

And, barring huge changes in physician reimbursement, so will your salary to pay it back and have a nice lifestyle afterward.
 
public = 40k - 55k per year

Private = 60k - 80k per year.

Overall costs range from ~160k to ~320k. Being a med student is like a full time job, so even if you do work, it'll be more for pocket money and less to pay tuition.

Note this is an average for overall cost, not just tuition. There are exceptions though where one could live frugally with scholarships and come out virtually debt-free. California schools are free, although the cost of living somewhat offsets that. Texas, Mississippi, and North Carolina (just to name a few) all have public schools with tuitions in the sub-$15K/year range. The caveat is you pretty much have to be born and raised in that state to gain acceptance. Baylor is the only private school I know of that's under $20K.

There are ways to pay for your education besides loans, such as the military and rural health programs. These kinds of programs pay the majority of your school costs in return for x years working for the gov't in some capacity. I'd recommend evaluating all your options but definitely think hard about committing a large chunk of your life to the hands of a bureaucratic organization. Lots of things change from when you're 21 signing up for a service obligation and when you're 30 coming out of training.
 
California schools are free, although the cost of living somewhat offsets that.

:laugh: No, its not free. They just call it "fees" instead of "tuition." So for years the MSAR said 0 tuition until they caught on. Its awesome that their idea of calling it fees instead of tuition is working though.

The cost of a California medical school its up to 8k/quarter which is 24k/year first and fourth year, and 32k/year second and third year (for all the UCs - Stanford and USC are more). Add in the 25K+/year living expenses and its comparable to the rest of the country.
 
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Well that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.

Yup. But MSAR caught on and now lists all the schools "tuitions/fees" so it no longer looks "free."

Its only the medical schools that do it too. The undergrad UCs have tuition.
 
:laugh: No, its not free. They just call it "fees" instead of "tuition." So for years the MSAR said 0 tuition until they caught on. Its awesome that their idea of calling it fees instead of tuition is working though.

That is straight gangster...
 
Someone I know got a full ride to Mayo Medical College. How? I do not know...

They got into Mayo.

Mayo gives a ton of people who's families don't make a lot of money full tuition. They still have to pay for living expenses though.
 
Every matriculant that isn't receiving full external tuition support automatically gets a half tuition waiver too.

yup. At Mayo its all about getting in...then you~re golden. Well. Getting in and being willing to live in Wisconsin.
 
As you get closer to the application process, you'll learn which schools have a reputation for being somewhat generous with scholarships and financial aid. Even with that, though, you're almost surely going to have to go into some kind of debt. Professional school isn't like college: from the school's point of view, they're only billing you for tuition, thus, scholarships will not cover living expenses. Depending on where you decide to go to school, living expenses can be $20k+/year, which you'll likely have to take loans out for unless you have abnormal circumstances.
 
overall you're looking at more expenses than just tuition, and most med students are not on scholarship and the exception is the med student who finds time to work part-time.

The added expenses that you don't realize you're missing are the fact that you're delaying any savings and earnings another 4 years, so add in 4 years of not having a full-time job and the amount lost in retirement savings by starting late, and then 3-7 years of getting paid a stipend that may be decent or not depending on if you want a house or family.

it's a sizeable investment that is worth honeslty at least $500K if not a lot more. If it's really what you want, it's more than worth it, but if it's just something that looks interesting, you won't start to regret it until after you're out of med school, in the real world, and realizing just exactly how much work, money, and lost wages you put into getting through it.
 
Well that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.

I believe it was because long ago the law was written so that schools in the state system were supposed to be free of tuition to california residents. When costs increased and the state funding couldn't support it anymore they added "fees" to get around this. Don't remember if that is 100% accurate though.
 
I'll graduate this spring with approximately $260k in total debt, including $35k from my undergraduate studies.

With that said, the true value of my debt is closer to $320k because I will not make enough during residency to begin paying on the loans, and at 6.8%, the cost will rise that $60k during a 4 year residency.

Depending on where you're at in training now however, I would not listen to what all of us current students tell you. I have no actual sources on which to found this statement, but I believe that we are going to see a fundamental change in medical funding in the near future.
 
If you enjoy research and might want to do that for a career, consider an MD/PhD program. We have scholarships and stipends in exchange for working on medical research(though we take longer to get through medical school, as we take time off to get a PhD). Some people invest the stipend and are able to make some money (stocks, properties) while they are in school. It's definitely not for someone who doesn't have a passion for research, but it's a good option for those of us who are interested in such 🙂
 
You guys make me feel good about my tuition. I've got a little parental help but I'm looking at about 60-80k when all is said and done. They will raise tuition most likely, but no idea how much. It was around 21,000 when I started but I also had funds left over to help....and I made enough during summer to offset a bit as well.

Unlike others, I won't tell you to not worry about it. You have to worry about it a little, especially if accepted to schools with very different costs. Regardless of reimbursement programs, many people still feel influenced by debt. A 15k difference per year builds up very fast, especially when you throw interest on top of that. That is money that could be compounding for retirement, kids college funds or a house.
 
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