Loans in med school..

[huskerdye]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Alright, so I have somewhat of a concern that would love to get addressed so I can stop stressing about it..

Right now in under-grad I'm having a hard time paying for school. My dad makes decent money, so we aren't awarded that much financial need (including loans). However, he also doesn't have the money to pay for my education. Right now I'm paying like fifteen hundred or so out of pocket each semester.. I know that some people probably have to pay A LOT more.

My question is, how do the loans work in medical school? Can you take out literally as much money as you need from the government or do you have to take out from private loan companies? I'm really worried about not being able to pay for med school, which obviously I couldn't out of my own pocket. This will probably turn out to be a stupid concern, but I'm tired of worrying about it and was hoping somebody could give me some insight.

For those of you in med school, do you have maximum loans from different sources? I just don't understand it. My other question is do you have to pay back your federal loans (from under-graduate) before or after you graduate from medical school..

I'm sick of worrying about finances and paying for school.. I'm prepared to take out what I need, which I know is great, I just want to know whether or not I'll be able to physically obtain the amount I need.

Thanks


edit--realized as soon as I posted this that it would be more appropriate for the "financial aid" forum, I would still like opinions from current medical students.

 

[Kid A]

You get about 42k maximum per year in Stafford loans from the government. Anything after that you have to take out in grad plus loans. I wouldn't be worried about paying med school up front. There will always be loans available to take. I believe you can defer your undergrad loans while you are in Med school, but not 100 percent sure how that works as I don't have any of those.

 

[Electronegative]

As long as you complete FAFSA and the school you attend to receives it, the loans you schools will get you will cover tuition, room, food, books etc. Most of the loans will be gov. loans and private loans. If you want to borrow additional loans I think you're going to take more private loans. Ideally finacial package from medschools should cover all expenses without having you to resort taking out more loans.

 

[mvenus929]

For federal loans, you are independent in graduate school, so your parents' income does not affect your aid package at all. You can take out up to 8.5K in Stafford subsidized loans, and over 30K in unsubsidized loans each year.

Now, your school may ask for your parents' information to determine who needs more financial assistance. My med school gave me 17K in grants, and a 10K institutional loan based on financial need, and my mom makes about 70K per year (and I was making like 20K per year, since I was working full time, and I didn't get a break for rent because I was living in my mom's house, etc).

If for some reason you max out on federal loans, and institutional aid (and outside scholarships, which are few and far between), you can take out grad plus loans, which are based on a simple credit check. They're worse than stafford loans, but they are still government loans and are thus better than private loans. After all that, they'll look at private loans for you, but that usually doesn't happen unless you have a lot of debt from undergrad (and thus max out your federal loans quickly).

So, long story short, they will find a way to get you the aid you need to pay for medical school.

And all of your federal loans are deferred until you graduate (for unsubsidized loans) or 6 months after graduation (for subsidized loans).

 

[huskerdye]

Thanks a lot guys, that helps ease me a lot..

I'm in a bs/md program and it seems like I've just been worrying about that a lot lately.

Thanks for all the responses, they're much appreciated!!