How to tell if you can afford to attend a specific school?

[Gauss44]

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I'm wondering which schools I can afford and which probably cannot?

Private Loans
As a previously unadopted foster child, I doubt I will ever find a cosigner; it would have to be a friend or friend's parents and am not 100% certain that anyone is willing to take on that much risk for a non-relative. I'm not sure what kind of credit is required and if that will remain the same throughout medical school.

Federal Loans
I cannot find a complete list of the requirements for these anywhere. I have found many partial lists.

School Programs
I am researching which schools have alternative ways of paying for or waiving tuition.

This is not as easy or straightforward as I was hoping it would be. If you have information that could help me, please speak up. Thanks!

PS - I am aware that there is a separate financial aid forum. I've found that it is not MD specific and that a lot, if not most, of the information there isn't applicable to MD applicants. Thus, I have intentionally posted here.

 

[peridotthecat]

As a medical student, you should qualify for federal loans, unless possibly you have absolutely abysmal credit. Unless that's the case, the government still assumes that you should make enough money after school to be able to pay back the loans. Depending on your financial situation, you may also receive financial aid

 

[PreMedMissteps]

Are you asking about loans for undergrad college or for med school?

If you're talking about college, then you're an independent student who can borrow 9500 for freshman year, 10500 for soph year, and around 12500 for junior and senior years.

Edit...I see that you're talking about MD, so you're good!

If you're talking about med school, then you fill out FAFSA and you can borrow Direct Loans AND Grad Plus loans up to the amount of COA minus any aid the med school might give you.

 

[md-2020]

CCLCM waives tuition for everyone
Vandy waives half/three quarters tuition for most people and up to all for a good proportion
Mayo waives halfish of tuition for the vast majority

Just have to get into one of these places I guess.

 

[PreMedMissteps]

CCLCM waives tuition for everyone
Vandy waives half/three quarters tuition for most people and up to all for a good proportion
Mayo waives halfish of tuition for the vast majority

Just have to get into one of these places I guess.

True. If this student has the stats to get into a top med school with a huge endowment, then likely he'll be given some grants to cover some of his costs. A friend went to Yale med and I think Yale provided 1/3 of the costs, the parents were expected to contribute 1/3, and the student 1/3 (the student ended up borrowing both his and his parents' share). If very low income, Yale probably would have contributed 2/3.


Are you applying this cycle or next? If this cycle, where did you apply?

 

[ciestar]

Unsubsidized staffords and GradPlus...you're good to go.

To keep living expenses down I suggest:
1. Get a roommate (or more) to save on rent. This is the cheapest option for housing, and housing can be expensive depending in where you go to school.
2. COOK for yourself (crockpots are life)
3. Make your own coffee
4. Dont get cable unless you need it. A netflix/hulu subscription will suffice for the amount of time you'll have. (If you're a tv watcher)

 

[aldol16]

You won't be able to figure out your exact cost of attendance out of pocket until you've been accepted and have a financial aid package in hand. So don't rule schools out just because you can't afford the ticket price - the higher the price, the more likely there's some financial aid program that makes it cheaper for poor students to attend (especially among the top 20 or 30 schools). On top of that, there are merit scholarships that schools award - in this day and age, they're more like enticement packages to get you to go to their school. So if you're a really competitive applicant, you may find yourself the recipient of some of those come the spring.

When you do figure out how much you have to take out in loans, you should be covered by the federal loans.

 

[efle]

Don't factor this into your list building. This can't be weighed in until you're holding the offers with their financial aid packages. You might be very surprised by how generous the need-based aid can be.

 

[McDreamy123]

The government is happy to give us federal loans for med school---thank your republicans for the hike in interest rates.