Money Woes

[Yellow Snow]

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I am just a little freaked out by borrowing money for a post-bac program. I still have some debt from undergrad that I am working on paying off and my nerves are shot to think I am going to add to all that by borrowing for a post-bac.

Anyone else out there going to have to borrow to pay for postbac? Let me know I am not alone!

 

[911Med]

$$ heck yeah.
Tack on a $600 car payment, and a few credit cards - it just gets worse and worse. I am praying to the FAFSA Gods as we speak.
What is your total cost looking like?

 

[Yellow Snow]

I have debt in the teens left over from undergrad, postbac tuition of about $17,000 for the whole thing and then cost of living for a year. I might look at getting a part time job once classes start in the summer and I get a feel for how busy I am going to be.

Seriously, the postbac school I am going to is next to a big med school/hospital and I have considered signing up to be a lab monkey, some of those experiments pay pretty well .

 

[911Med]

Where are you going for post-bac?

Hey, I run the clinical trials for a pharma company.
As crazy as it may sound, those "lab rat" trials are u-s-u-a-l-l-y pretty safe and pay great - Especially if any of the procedures are invasive - i.e. needles, endoscopy, etc. 😱

As far as I know, the student loans can be deferred, cost of living and incidentals are tough.

 

[Febrifuge]

You want scary? Run the numbers. 😉

I have about $36k in debt from undergrad. I don't make that much in a year now, and taking the next 7 years off for school, during which I will earn NOTHING, is scary. (If I stuck with the current plan, I'd earn almost a quarter mil in that same time, even with lame little salary increases).

My car will be paid off in December... but I start postbac in September. Hmm. How will I make those last four payments? I dunno.

Health insurance? Yeah, right. Better hit the dentist and the OD before I leave the nurtuting beige corporate womb, as the student coverage is... unimpressive.

Working as a financial aid monkey for a university now, I know just how lousy fin aid is, if you try to treat it like a source of income.

And yet, would I trade my spot in postbac for anything? I would not.

 

[Yellow Snow]

I had originally planned on a fancy east coast program (acceptances pending) but have pretty much made up my mind now to go to Portland State University (in Portland, OR). I am originally from Oregon and the non-resi tuition is about as much as my local state university. OHSU is a short bus ride away and I can volunteer there.

Other bonuses include no sales tax, free health insurance in Oregon and parents a few hours away in case support is needed.

PSU seems to have some affiliations w/ OHSU. OHSU claims they don't care about which undergrad you come out of as long as it is a four-year university.

I know PSU isn't listed on aamc as having a post-bac program but they do. Chem in the summer and then phy, bio and ochem during fall, winter and spring (quarter system)

 

[Yellow Snow]

You want scary? Run the numbers. 😉

I have about $36k in debt from undergrad. I don't make that much in a year now, and taking the next 7 years off for school, during which I will earn NOTHING, is scary. (If I stuck with the current plan, I'd earn almost a quarter mil in that same time, even with lame little salary increases).

My car will be paid off in December... but I start postbac in September. Hmm. How will I make those last four payments? I dunno.

Health insurance? Yeah, right. Better hit the dentist and the OD before I leave the nurtuting beige corporate womb, as the student coverage is... unimpressive.

Working as a financial aid monkey for a university now, I know just how lousy fin aid is, if you try to treat it like a source of income.

And yet, would I trade my spot in postbac for anything? I would not.

HEHE I am headed to the dentist in about 15 min, I have a few more days of suckling off of the corporate teat before I am back out into the cold! 😉

 

[cher25]

I too decided to stay in my hometown of Texas. I was looking into the post bacs elsewhere and the tuition would be just as much as a year of out of state or private med school. I went to a private school here in Texas for undergrad which had a tuition of almost 20K per academic year. Leaving me in about 40K debt. There is no way I'm going to start a post bac for even more. So I'm going to a school in Texas, three hours from home. And like you said, parents just a few hours away for support. I'm going for a non thesis masters because I have all of the pre med pre reqs. So I'll take 36 credit hours worth of hard science and get a masters degree. Tuition for the entire 36 hours will not exceed $4,000. Where tuition for 8-9 hours at my undergrad and alot of these post bacs is about the same, $4,000. At least this way, if I don't get in, I wouldn't have added 30K to my debt. The money that I've saved from my job now as a research assistant at Baylor College of Medicine here in Houston, is enough to cover my living expenses. (Cost of living in Texas is excellent). So like you, I'm running away from the high costs. It's not a formal post bac, however, I think I'll have just as good a chance as someone who attended a formal one because a lot of these post bacs don't have linkage agreements and I still have access to my pre med office at my undergrad for as long as I'm trying to get into med school. And I'll also have access to graduate school faculty as well and will try and get plugged in to their pre med office.

 

[LoneCoyote]

Hey,

The $ thing can be hard to deal with. I think going to state school really helps especially if your cost of living will be low. I also found that I had opportunities for part time jobs in labs doing research which helped both witht he funding and the resume. One of my friends got a really sweet deal where he worked nearly full-time and the lab got him tuition reimbursement as a university employee. Also, if you are going to take 2 yrs you can try to get a lab job in the summer and they can pay pretty decently and help you save up for the next year. Finally, I wouldn't sweat it that you aren't doing a formal program... you can definitely get in having gone on your own to state school. Good luck 🙂

 

[RNnowDoclater]

Hey Yellow Snow,

I live in WA and was planning on going to Scripps in 2006. You got me thinking about PSU. Is it super expensive and is it a formal post-bacc or informal?

 

[DrTex?]

I also did my undergrad in Texas and I am from there. I have been over here in Japan for the past few years, but I am going to be going home to start school next year. I am still in the early stages of research.
I don't have any of my science credits, but I don't want to assume all the debt to go to a posh east coast program.
Where did you do undergrad Cher? Just curious.
Lone Coyote, did you pick up your credits at a state school? Now are you attending med school?
Thanks guys!!

 

[Yellow Snow]

Dr. Tex mo nihongo ga wakareba boku ga sonna ni mezurashii mono ja nakunachau yo! Boku wa nihongo wa wakaru kara medical school ni ukaru n darou tte omotta n da yo!

 

[DrTex?]

I did my undergrad at a small private school north of Dallas called Austin College. If you haven't heard of it, don't feel bad, lots of people haven't. My mom worked there so I got free tuition, (a deal that has already expired.)
Japan is rainy this time of year. I sure will be happy to get back to the Texas sunshine.
I am working at a school teaching English. I think that this is about the only job that foreigners can get in Japan.
As for the tuition being high, I am also worried about cost of living. Columbia's program looks great, but to live in NY without working would cost an insane amount of cash. If I move back to Texas, I can probably stay with relatives to help keep my debt down. I also enjoy teaching, so if I can't make it into a medical school, I think that the science credits would enhance my employment opportunities a bit.

 

[DrTex?]

Yellow snow san. Nihongo ga sugoi joozu ni mitai. Doko de nareta? Mae wa nihon de sunde ita?
Ore mo, nihongo o nareta kara jishin ga motto tsuyoku natte, isha san ni nareru naa to omou yo ni nata.
Ato, Lab de kiosukette. Tabun omae ni henna mono ireru.
Wow, that is the first time that I have written Japanese in romaji in a while. Usually if I write it, I use a cellphone and japanese characters, (the new ones are really easy to use.)　
この　ホームページ　で　日本語　を　書ける　かなぁ？

 

[LoneCoyote]

I also did my undergrad in Texas and I am from there. I have been over here in Japan for the past few years, but I am going to be going home to start school next year. I am still in the early stages of research.
I don't have any of my science credits, but I don't want to assume all the debt to go to a posh east coast program.
Where did you do undergrad Cher? Just curious.
Lone Coyote, did you pick up your credits at a state school? Now are you attending med school?
Thanks guys!!

Yup, I went to a state school to do all my sciences. It was a great experience overall and I am glad I went that route. I will be starting med school in the fall at one of my top choices so I cannot complain too much about the process, except that it was long and stressful at times. Good luck with your post-bac! 🙂