In Debt and Loving It?

[ATrim7]

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I am starting the Georgetown Post-Bac Certificate Program this summer and have been dealing with all of the fears post-bacs develop. One of my greatest fears is the financial debt I will accrue during this journey.

I am already dealing with $35,000 in debt from undergrad and two years of loans at G-Town will set me back another $70,000. So, before I even begin med school I will be in for about $100,000. I come from a middle class family that would love to help me, but they just simply cannot afford to.

The bottom line is, I think that when my schooling is over I will have accrued around $250,000 to $300,000 in debt. I am not becoming a doctor to be rich, and I truly want to follow this path regardless of how much financial burden I put on myself. But is it really possible to enjoy life and start a family when I will finish school so far in the "red".

Does anyone have these same fears or has anyone been in this position?

 

[silkworm]

I definitely have the same fear. I was just accepted to the SMP at Georgetown and also have debt from my undergrad years. While SMP will improve my chances there is no guarantee what will happen. My family won't be able to help me financially either. So a sense of dread creeps up in me whenver I think about this mountain of debt that I am making for myself.

So any thoughts for people who have been there before would be appreciated.

 

[relentless11]

One of the pediatricians I shadows with was in the red for along time. She finished her residency a year before I met her and she was still $180,000 in debt. But during the course of her academic career, she had a child (during residency). I think its possible to raise a family when in the red. I mean seriously $180,000 or $500,000, not much difference ...other than taking longer to pay back. If you have enough to life each day and are happy with what you do, then you're good to go.

From another perspective though, I did post-bacc and it cost me a lot. I didn't like that idea of going into debt without being guaranteed admission to a med school, so I said screw it, and started a PhD program..so they pay for my tuition and pay me a salary. So that is something for you to think about too. Either way, SMP, PhD, normal post-bacc is just taking more classes. My reasoning was I wanted to get something out of it (a degree) and not pay a lot of $$..haha. Depends on the person🙂

 

[CoolCucumber]

Just to make you guys feel better...I was kicked out of med school earlier this year and am $90,000 in debt from it 🙁

 

[HopeFaith]

Wow, sorry to hear that.
In my opinion going into debt for an smp that will only earn you a flimsy certificate isn't the best idea. I would rather avoid the tempation and go for a masters. Many a smp offer a 2nd year option so I can do just that.

 

[CoolCucumber2]

Well I got into a caribbean school for this fall, so at least i'm going somewhere after being kicked out. but i'm trying to do a post-bac that wwill lead to the med school admissions. they said they would consider me even though i was kicked out depending on what i got on my mcat this saturday since it has expired since 2002. I really hope i do well

 

[Live4Life]

I was recently accepted into the Georgetown Post-Bacc Premed Certificate program and was tinkering around with the financials this week. Your $70,000 estimate is much more than I calculated (although I didn't take into consideration living expenses because I am going to bite the bullet and move into my parents house for the 10 months I'll be in the program).

I calculated that the total cost of taking all of the necessary courses will be $35,622.00.

If you want, send me a private message with your email address and I will mail you the spread sheet I made.

 

[ATrim7]

I was recently accepted into the Georgetown Post-Bacc Premed Certificate program and was tinkering around with the financials this week. Your $70,000 estimate is much more than I calculated (although I didn't take into consideration living expenses because I am going to bite the bullet and move into my parents house for the 10 months I'll be in the program).

I calculated that the total cost of taking all of the necessary courses will be $35,622.00.

If you want, send me a private message with your email address and I will mail you the spread sheet I made.

Your estimate is probably correct (I didn't add it up exactly). The reason why I estimate such a high number is because living in DC is not the cheapest, I have to take 9 classes instead of 8 (I have to take Calc), and, therefore, I plan on doing to the program over two years instead of one. Because I will be doing the program over an extended period of time, I expect twice the debt for living expenses. It probably is only gonna run me about $55,000.00 instead of the $70,000.00. Anyway my original post was concerned with having around $100,000.00 in debt prior to entering med school. It wasn't really concerned with the specifics on Georgetown.