Med Schools with Generous aid for low income/Out of State Schools Financial Aid

[dhb10]

Hello,

I am trying to make a list of medical schools to apply to. My biggest concern is paying for medical school. I come from a low income family so I am trying to find out more information about which medical schools offer generous need-based financial aid (low EFC). In applying for colleges, I found that the more prestigious schools I got accepted into offered me an unbelievable amount of aid (even thought the cost of attendance was 3 times that of my state school), making going to a more expensive private school much more affordable for my family than my state school. (I know that there is another thread about this and some have mentioned Penn, Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Wash U, U Mich..but in case anyone has more to add to this list).

My other question is if it is worth it to apply to out of state state medical schools since I am low income? For example, I would like to apply to most of the UCs (even though I am not a California resident) but I am afraid these state schools won't meet all of my demonstrated need in aid and there will be a big gap between my EFC and the amount I will have to come up through private loans. Do state schools typically cover most of demonstrated need?

If you could post any knowledge about schools that you may know provide generous financial aid packages for low income families and information you may regarding state school financial aid for out of state students, I would really appreciate it.

Thank you in advance!

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[RangerBob]

Your EFC should be 0 unless you worked--as a graduate student you're considered independent, and every medical student I know of had no problem taking out federal loans to the full cost of attendance. My family couldn't contribute anything--federal loans covered everything for me. A lot of that was GradPlus loans since I'm at a private school, but had no problem getting them.

In general professional schools don't offer much in the way of scholarships, since you'll go on to make a good salary. However, many students still get some grants/scholarships, usually because the school really wants them (usually because the student was an extremely competitive applicant) or because the student has a high loan burden (ie, been borrowing the full estimated cost of attendance over the years). The latter doesn't become relevant until you've been at the school for a year or two. Also MD/PhDs usually get full scholarships/stipends as well.

In general, I'd say that the bigger name private schools are more likely to have money to give away, due to their large endowment.

The odds are unless you're a really competitive applicant, out of state public universities won't give you any money--they hardly give their own students anything. Especially the UC's--they're broke. (They're also incredibly hard to get into if you're an out-of-state student, or an in-state student for that matter...). If you really want to go to a UC and have the money to apply, it's always worth the shot--you never know.

When I applied, I applied to the schools I wanted to go to and the schools I would be willing to go to. The number of schools you should apply to depends on your competitiveness as well as your willingness to spend a lot on applications/potential interview. I believe schools usually mail out their financial aid offers around late winter/early spring, and that's usually when you're able to make a decision about particular schools if financial aid is really important.

But, once again, you should have no problem getting all the federal loans you need to go to medical school. I don't know anyone who took out private loans unless they were borrowing above the school's cost of attendance. So, rest assured, if accepted, you should be able to afford medical school without a problem. Of course, you have to pay off those loans, so going to an in-state school or school that offers a generous aid package is certainly worth it!

 

[dhb10]

Great, thank you for your help! I'm relieved that its not too difficult to obtain federal loans to cover the total cost because of the scary interest rates that private loans offer! Based on my personal stats/achievements I believe a have a decent chance at acceptance at a UC but doubt I will be one to get a full ride. But I was wondering what you mean by not being offered any money from UCs as an out of state student. Do state schools like the UCs typically not offer federal loans/Grad Plus Loans (if no grant aid at all) to cover up to the cost of attendance minus EFC, for out of state students?

 

[DrMidlife]

Whatever a med school's cost of attendance is, in state or out of state, the full cost is covered by federal loans. Your expected family contribution doesn't play a role in federal loans. Your family's assets are only considered for institutional or other "free" money such as grants and scholarships.

So if you look at Tulane, for instance: http://tulane.edu/financialaid/hsc/som/som-attendance-cost.cfm
- Tuition & fees are about $56k.
- Living and other expenses bring the total up to $79,239 for one year.
- Federal Stafford loans cover $40,500 per year at 6.8%
- Federal GradPlus loans cover the rest, $38,739 at 7.9%

For federal loans, there are various repayment programs that either set your payment to your income, or forgive your loan balance (you still pay taxes on it) after a decade or more of public service.

Best of luck to you.

 

[DrMidlife]

Meanwhile, the fear of private loans isn't really about a low/high/variable interest rate. The fear is about how to manage paying them off, completely outside the repayment programs offered by federal loans. You get no help at all with private loans. You get substantial help with federal loans.

 

[SilverCat]

It's easy to get IS status for tuition purposes at Ohio schools after the first year, which makes them very attractive.

 

[Silent Cool]

It's easy to get IS status for tuition purposes at Ohio schools after the first year, which makes them very attractive.

Silver,

Are you thinking of bailing on your CCOM acceptance?

 

[SilverCat]

Silver,

Are you thinking of bailing on your CCOM acceptance?

Yeah, I finally withdrew today. I got into Toledo, which will be much cheaper.

 

[Silent Cool]

Yeah, I finally withdrew today. I got into Toledo, which will be much cheaper.

+1. Nice work! Glad to hear you won't be staring down the barrel of 500K loans.

 

[dhb10]

Ok, thank you Dr. Midlife and Silver Cat. That makes a lot more sense that you aren't left to find the loans on your own and comes at a big relief that I can take out federal loans up to the cost of attendance instead of burdening my family.

 

[Zunaa]

Does anyone know what the financial aid overage is for medical school students (ballpark figure). I know for undergrad you have an overage of approximately $3800 per term depending on you EFC of course. And from the latter figure you need to buy books (which I've heard are more expensive than med school), and whatever is left over you can try to make college work under a tight budget. Is this how med school financial aid works as well, having some financial aid overage like undergrad?

Thanks in advance.

 

[DrMidlife]

Med schools publish a budget for the academic year which includes tuition&fees, living expenses, transportation, health insurance, books, computer etc. The Tulane link above is an example.