medical school loan basic question

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Dr Trek 1

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I haven't been able to get a solid answer from any financial aid rep. so I figured I'd ask the pros on SDN. I also feel kind of naive asking these questions because everyone seems to have so much experience with financial aid. I have never even had to fill out the FAFSA.

Here's my situation. I will start medical school in August of 2007. I am currently in grad school. Basically, by the time I start med school I will have no loans or financial aid of any kind in my past (except for merit based "scholarship" checks made out to me). I also have an excellent credit rating. My med school will cost about $48K/year at the most with all expenses included.

I have a few questions: should I wait until January of 2007 to fill out the FAFSA? Is that basically all I need to do in order to get subsidized and unsubsidized student loans? Also, can I plan on being able to get the full $189,125 over the course of 4 years from subsidized and unsubsidized stafford loans? Should I forget private loans or are they a better deal?

I guess I am mostly curious as to exactly how much paperwork I need to fill out other than the FAFSA. Thank you very much for any input you may have.
 
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