In the depts of debt

[imastudent]

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Hi friends. I'm going over the numbers for loans right now and it's a bit nerve wrecking. For those who are out of state or going out of state, are you planning to take the full loan amount? If not, how much would you try to cut out? What are you guys doing to minimize the debt? The questions are pretty general so feel free to gives estimates or expand on your answer if needed :]

 

[HKSZYU]

Unless you know that there are areas where your expenses will differ from the estimates put forth by the school (i.e. if you’re living at home, your living expenses will likely be lower than projected amounts) then you likely need to take out the full loan amount.

If you’re at an OOS, things should better D2-4, as for most schools you can apply for in-state residency and get in-state tuition after one year. Also, most schools have [small] internal scholarships that you may be eligible for in your later years.

 

[Stanelz]

As Howard Farran once put it "Your loan amount seems crazy until you have your first divorce"

In hindsight you can pay back your loans in a reasonable time if you put in the work and dont go to a school that costs over 450k

With that said PM me for my break down of my own loans. The LECOM estimate was around 370ish for me and I was able to budget it down to 265k due to savings and a little bit of help from family but even if I had nothing saved and no help financially I could have made it to 325 easy because the school estimates are generally outrageous and anyone who takes on the full amount is foolish imo.

Rule of thumb: for every dollar you borrow, you pay back 2 over 15 years. So a school that is 350 vs 450 may only sound like 100k difference but over 15 years it becomes 200k...keep in mind some schools entire cost of attendance is around 200k

 

[hellopeople]

you can pay back your loans in a reasonable time if you put in the work and dont go to a school that costs over 450k

When I applied to school we used to say this with 450k replaced with 250k. Did things change that much?

 

[BasicG]

When I applied to school we used to say this with 450k replaced with 250k. Did things change that much?

There's no hard cap for taking out loans, so schools have no reason to not continuously increase prices year after year because they always get their money. I remember seeing a thread about how Canadians are unable to pay for American dental schools because Canada limits what their students can borrow up to 50k/year so they don't dig themselves into an inescapable pit of debt.

The most important thing for students today is to have a plan. Otherwise they end up like that orthodontist with a million dollars of debt

 

[allantois]

There's no hard cap for taking out loans, so schools have no reason to not continuously increase prices year after year because they always get their money. I remember seeing a thread about how Canadians are unable to pay for American dental schools because Canada limits what their students can borrow up to 50k/year so they don't dig themselves into an inescapable pit of debt.

The most important thing for students today is to have a plan. Otherwise they end up like that orthodontist with a million dollars of debt

Yet nowhere is this trend more pronounced than in dental schools.

 

[aj30]

There's no hard cap for taking out loans, so schools have no reason to not continuously increase prices year after year because they always get their money. I remember seeing a thread about how Canadians are unable to pay for American dental schools because Canada limits what their students can borrow up to 50k/year so they don't dig themselves into an inescapable pit of debt.

The most important thing for students today is to have a plan. Otherwise they end up like that orthodontist with a million dollars of debt

Yep, it’s crazy how the US gov shells out hundreds of thousands of dollars to people with no financial history or background. It’s one of many policies that on its surface looks great but in practice just makes the situation worse.

 

[biochem5]

Hi friends. I'm going over the numbers for loans right now and it's a bit nerve wrecking. For those who are out of state or going out of state, are you planning to take the full loan amount? If not, how much would you try to cut out? What are you guys doing to minimize the debt? The questions are pretty general so feel free to gives estimates or expand on your answer if needed :]

Some advice - planning for the end. Sure u could be under the cost of attendance and take out less loans thinking youre doing the right thing but at some point during 2nd/3rd year you’re going to want to take out a little extra or budget accordingly for 4th year.
There are a lot of expenses in 4th year and then between graduation and whatever your next step is (think living and moving expenses until your first paycheck). Also another example that hit my classmates unexpectedly - The school budgets you 4th year for the boards test $2500 only but if you have to retake any part of it its $1000 per retake part.

 

[imastudent]

Some advice - planning for the end. Sure u could be under the cost of attendance and take out less loans thinking youre doing the right thing but at some point during 2nd/3rd year you’re going to want to take out a little extra or budget accordingly for 4th year.
There are a lot of expenses in 4th year and then between graduation and whatever your next step is (think living and moving expenses until your first paycheck). Also another example that hit my classmates unexpectedly - The school budgets you 4th year for the boards test $2500 only but if you have to retake any part of it its $1000 per retake part.

Yo thank you for this. These are some of the extra things I wanted to take into consideration.