How much student loan debt did/do you have BEFORE Med School

[Tommyguns89]

Between undergrad, a semester of law school(living expenses only damn NY rent) and my post-bacc I will have around 60,000 dollars(10k of which is private) of student loan debt BEFORE even starting med school. This terrifies me. Is this unusual? If I dont get into my state school I dont think I have a choice other than to go the military route if I qualify. I am kinda freaking out now.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[EMDO2018]

a lot.......more than you

 

[familyaerospace]

95,000.

 

[Fedaykin]

Just under $100k. Will probably go over $100k in the interim due to five years of interest capitalizing during grad school.

 

[68PGunner]

$0 and hopefully still zero after med school.

 

[Elizabeth89]

I had $0 coming out of undergrad thanks to a scholarship. Currently about $5,000 into my post-bacc, which will probably turn into around $20,000 before I finish. Really should have gone with a formal post-bacc program, which actually would have wound up costing less.

 

[BactiDoc]

Zero $$$. Hope to keep it that way too. Thank goodness for tuition reimbursement at work....helps out with post-bacc classes.

 

[chiberian husky]

have zero debt from my undergrad but only because I'm >30 and already worked off my undergrad debt. also, I graduated from my state school (UW) with <40k in debt & was able to pay off in about five years -> i only mention this because i think it is funny (sad) that I'll need >40k in loans for a single year of med school (cry)

 

[MedWonk]

Between undergrad, a semester of law school(living expenses only damn NY rent) and my post-bacc I will have around 60,000 dollars(10k of which is private) of student loan debt BEFORE even starting med school. This terrifies me. Is this unusual? If I dont get into my state school I dont think I have a choice other than to go the military route if I qualify. I am kinda freaking out now.

About 25k, but I've been out a few years and have been paying it down. I imagine if you go straight in or are only a couple years out from graduation, you'll carry more debt especially if you went to a private school. 60k doesn't sound that unusual.

 

[Inygma]

~70k, Good 'ol law school.

 

[Gauss44]

My answer to OP's question: Too much, and enough for several attorneys to approach me about potentially trying to eliminate that debt with an adversary proceeding (my alma mater, as well as, one of my lenders have been successfully sued by others for "predatory lending." I'm currently not interested in suing partly because it seems as though that kind of a lawsuit could prevent me from getting funded in medical school...)

Other: I recently talked numbers with a lawyer who said it took her 20 years to pay off $100k of debt from law school while making a $200k/year salary. I wish I could find actual true examples (not slanted "brag stories" but just real life stories) of how long it took real doctors to pay off their typical medical school debt of $250-$300k plus up to $100k of undergraduate loans. Other details and variables aside, I think that seeing how long it takes most people in reality would be telling.

(NO SPECULATION, just a survey of how much they owed, and how long it took (period).)

 

[DocWinter]

I'm a non trad and have a measely 1500 loan from my last postbsc semester...acasualty from stopping work to MCAT study. Bachelors and postbac paid mostly out if pocket as I worked 40 a week the while.

 

[LongTimeLurk]

My answer to OP's question: Too much, and enough for several attorneys to approach me about potentially trying to eliminate that debt with an adversary proceeding (my alma mater, as well as, one of my lenders have been successfully sued by others for "predatory lending." I'm currently not interested in suing partly because it seems as though that kind of a lawsuit could prevent me from getting funded in medical school...)

Other: I recently talked numbers with a lawyer who said it took her 20 years to pay off $100k of debt from law school while making a $200k/year salary. I wish I could find actual true examples (not slanted "brag stories" but just real life stories) of how long it took real doctors to pay off their typical medical school debt of $250-$300k plus up to $100k of undergraduate loans. Other details and variables aside, I think that seeing how long it takes most people in reality would be telling.

(NO SPECULATION, just a survey of how much they owed, and how long it took (period).)

Most attendings/older docs paid far less for medical school and had significantly lower interest rates. It would be hard to find true comparison. Most telling way would be to use an excel spreadsheet and do the math.

 

[elizabetts]

About $70k for me! Undergrad + postbac

 

[southpawcannon]

Finsh up with grad school next spring which should catapult me over 100k as well. I did 2 years UG before transferring to another school and spent 4 years pursuing a different degree en route to my BS. A little time spent in grad school in an expensive city, then many post-bacc courses. If anyone ever told me that tuition would be as high as it is today, I would've listened 15 years ago coming out of high school and worked my ass off for/to keep a scholarship.

 

[Elewynne]

I was lucky enough to graduate with $0 debt from my undergrad 10+ years ago, and grad school was a full ride. I worked full time through my premed postbacc and funded it myself. The only debt my husband and I will have when I enter med school this August will be our current mortgage ($235k). Really hoping the housing market here continues to goes up; maybe we can get out of the mortgage in a couple years and break even on it in the end.

 

[kitkat2388]

I will have about 60,000 I am undergrad

 

[celts5]

I finished my undergrad with close to 19k in Debt. (I got a Bachelor of Arts) without any science pre-reqs.

I took a federal loan around 2008 of which the interest rate was 6.8%. I believe the federal interest rate has decreased which is good for students taking out after july 2013. I owe a little more than 10k on the federal loan.
I took a private loan for around 9k of which is interest free (but nearly impossible to defer). I am trying to pay both off... on a low hourly salary... living at home so no rent pay allows me to do that right now..

I got lucky / blessed / fortunate to receive a scholarship to finish at a private liberal arts college. So i didn't have thing owed there. I am now enrolling at a community college and taking the pre-reqs... and got a good Pre-med job (or so i think) but the pay isn't very good... but the chance to be on the front lines part time during the week while taking a the pre-reqs for a app and take the mcat.

60 k is a lot but i mean, there are options out there.. you have to dig on how to go about dealing with it. Military (this in my opinion is a noble thing to do but it seems as if military medicine is more administration stuff from their forums) is definitely one option there are also undeserved places or certain cities that i have heard will finance your education if you commit to working within that area. Different specialties might offer different ways of financing it.

 

[cabinbuilder]

I had $22,000 from undergrad. Took me 17 years to pay off.

 

[MedPhys2MD]

About 100k

 

[MetalloBetalactamase]

56K before 356K after. But.....drumroll. I have a coping strategy. I'll pay the minimum every month for the rest of my life, and die. That'll show them. Of course I'm over 40 so this is doable for me, that ischemic event is looming into sight. If I need to I can always take up heavy drinking.

Hey you kids, get off my lawn! Gosh darnit.

 

[ChemoChef]

110k for the Mrs. and I combined.

 

[FutureDrB]

Glad to see I'm not the only one in the $100K+ club BEFORE med school

 

[LupaCupcake]

I feel for all of you....seriously. I am very grateful for my GI Bill which paid for my bachelor degree. I will need some loans for my physics/chem prereqs, but it won't be that much.

Really.....you have my deepest sorrow for your loss. I HATE being in debt, it makes me feel like this shadow is haunting me lol. That is precisely why I paid my car off early, I hate debt....not that anyone enjoys debt. I feel for ya!

 

[Vince411]

I have about $55k in debt from law school---I work full time in public sector right now while I'm taking pre-reqs. If I were to work 6 more years I'd have that entirely forgiven under the PSLF program. Not sure I want to drag out pre-reqs that long though---although wiping out those loans would be nice. I currently am paying out-of-pocket for pre-reqs.

 

[amberlynnp13]

I'm in for $60k so far :/ and I still need to take organic chem 1&2 and physics 1&2 which ill take this fall and spring... So that $60k will def go up :/ I work as a full time rn in the hospital and I have two kids so... Yeah lol

 

[Dogcat1290]

About 67k and it pains me to think about it which is why I'm going to try my hardest to pay all of my post bacc courses out of pocket

 

[Charmcaster]

Cost will always be an issue in college selection though most of the students knows about this. A recent survey conducted by the freshmen researchers from UCLA found it is becoming a very big factor in their selection of Alma Mater. Click here, for more details.

 

[wholeheartedly]

A lot. Glad to see I'm not alone in this. Sad to see I'm not alone in this.

 

[Mad Jack]

8.8k

 

[lovelybones]

For those of you who said your job pays slash contributes to pre-med tuition, what kind of jobs are those? What are good areas or companies to look into?

 

[katiemaude]

18K from undergrad, paid off. About 12K on credit cards to pay for post bacc.

Not sure how I was going to swing those payments while in school...


Then my parents in and offered to pay them off as a reward for the hard work I did to get accepted (they did not help financially during those four years I was taking classes and studying for the MCAT and applying). I am still in shock and amazed at their generosity. I think they are still shocked I did it.

 

[danielterrones]

I think that most people have around $0 (Parents/Grants/Scholarships) to $100k (Private Universities). If you fall within that area, I think you should be fine

 

[danielterrones]

For those of you who said your job pays slash contributes to pre-med tuition, what kind of jobs are those? What are good areas or companies to look into?

@lovelybones I work at a Home Health/Hospice facility (I primarily do data entry for the billing department) that is part of the local hospital network. For all Part time employees my employer will pay $5000 a year towards tuition, if you are full-time, they pay $8000 towards tuition yearly.

 

[Fedaykin]

Other: I recently talked numbers with a lawyer who said it took her 20 years to pay off $100k of debt from law school while making a $200k/year salary. I wish I could find actual true examples (not slanted "brag stories" but just real life stories) of how long it took real doctors to pay off their typical medical school debt of $250-$300k plus up to $100k of undergraduate loans.

While not an actual value, it would be telling to note that total student loan debt at the end of medical school > $300,000 would put you in the 93rd percentile for money owed among medical school graduates. Having $350,000 to $400,000 ($250,000-$300,000 + $100,000) would certainly put you at more money owed than almost anyone in the US with an MD. That said, geography and specialty are probably also important. From a purely financial standpoint, I'd much rather owe $300k as a cardiac surgeon in the south than to owe half that as a family practitioner in the northeast.

https://www.aamc.org/download/152968/data/debtfactcard.pdf

In any case, I'm going to raise my usual point that cost of living does not have to scale with income. In many parts of the US a doctor can live very comfortably on $50k/yr and then throw a very sizable amount of their remaining money at their student loan debt. Just because your income doubles-triples after residency doesn't mean that your cost of living needs to as well.

 

[Dr. Jan Itor]

About $70k between me and my husband.

 

[TheIslandGuy]

Damn... and I was mortified of all the debt that will come from medical school. I graduate without debt. The state school here in Puerto Rico is super cheap and, with full pell grant, I pay tuition, on-campus housing, food, clothes, etc.

 

[MirrorTodd]

80k for me, mostly due to the post-bacc.

 

[Greasy Pete]

I had a buttload, like 30k. I lived with my mom and worked a "career" style job at a hospital to pay it ALL off. Now im spending a crackload of money to take post bac classes, ;luckily im in a good areafor it.

 

[Greasy Pete]

also as far as I can tell I have no choice but to straight up pay cash for post bac classes or take some private loan with abysmal terms.

 

[DrMikeP]

For those with huge student loan debt check out www.ibrinfo.org If you work for a non-profit the government will pay off your loans in 10yrs! Many hospitals and clinics are not for profits.