No income during medical school. Is that typical/Doable?

[doctorstrangerthingz]

Hi ya'll


I am matriculating in the fall and I was just wondering about the financials of being in medical school. Needless to say, I'll be taking out loans. But as far as pocket money and cost of living, my parents are definitely not able to support me, and I know how hard it is to work during medical school.
How do you guys get by?
Can I ask the school's financial aid for money as much as I want? How does it go?
I still didn't get my financial aid packet btw

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[SuaveCardigans]

You should have as much as you need available in loans once you get your financial aid package. The Cost of attendance includes a budget for rent, food, etc. based on where your school is. Basically every med student at every school has said to me its enough (and thats from small midwest towns to Manhattan) so you should be fine

 

[Aerus]

Loans loans loans will cover everything. They're your sugar daddy (or glucose guardian to be gender neutral).

 

[Save a life]

I’m at the end of M1 year and have lived on loans throughout. You definitely will have enough for food, an apartment, bills, car insurance, gas, etc.

That being said, I do notice a difference in what I can afford compared to some of my classmates that have parental support. For example, I rarely have the newest clothes or shoes. My car is older. I don’t go to concerts and fly all over the place.

Some of my classmates eat at restaurants all the time, fly home for every holiday, have brand new Patagonia stuff and new cars. These one are probably taking loans and getting money from their folks.

 

[Domepiece]

Hi ya'll


I am matriculating in the fall and I was just wondering about the financials of being in medical school. Needless to say, I'll be taking out loans. But as far as pocket money and cost of living, my parents are definitely not able to support me, and I know how hard it is to work during medical school.
How do you guys get by?
Can I ask the school's financial aid for money as much as I want? How does it go?
I still didn't get my financial aid packet btw

Agree with others that loans tend to be plenty of money to live off of, although you won't/shouldn't be buying new bars/extravagances during medical school years on loan funds.

To answer your question about asking the financial aid department for as much money as you want, this is not the case. The school's financial aid department comes up with a pre-made budget for all students in the program. This is termed the "Cost of Attendance (COA)"; you can find this by going to the financial aid section of your medical school's website. They will break it down into tuition (mandatory cost removed from loan balance before disbursement aka delivery to your bank account), and an estimate of room and board, and then other categories such as books, miscellaneous, transportation, etc. You can consider this the ceiling of the amount of money you are allowed to borrow, or your maximum money for a given academic year. Note that this only covers a certain amount of months, and budgeting is required for summers/non-included times since disbursements generally happen twice a year (once in the fall and once in the spring). However, you do not need to take out the total COA if you would like to reduce your amount of loans at the end of your education. Don't reduce loans to the point your quality of life is unreasonable. My advice would be to take out the full COA for the first semester/year and see how that goes. Adjust as needed for following years. You can also return loans that are unused up to 120 days following the disbursement date with no fees/interest.

Most students (~75%) use some amount of loans for their education. Some are supplemented by other/spousal/parental incomes, but many are not. I would highly encourage you to start utilizing a budget in these coming years as it is a good financial habit and will allow you to properly manage your relatively limited financial resources. If you have any other financial questions, feel free to reach out.

Good luck!

 

[siliso]

If you’re a single person? You will live on loans. Your personal board and care are accounted for in the cost of attendance that you will get financial aid support for. Not a luxurious standard of living but a decent one. This is nearly universal, it’s rarely practicable to work for money while in med school.

If you have additional expenses for instance child care, you can petition your financial aid dept to increase your COA and thus available loan funds. You’ll pay them back as a percentage of your income over 150% of poverty line in the future, if current conditions hold.

 

[Noisewater-TDX]

Hi ya'll


I am matriculating in the fall and I was just wondering about the financials of being in medical school. Needless to say, I'll be taking out loans. But as far as pocket money and cost of living, my parents are definitely not able to support me, and I know how hard it is to work during medical school.
How do you guys get by?
Can I ask the school's financial aid for money as much as I want? How does it go?
I still didn't get my financial aid packet btw

MS1 with a stay at home wife and a 7 month old baby. If we can live off loans, you are good. What's 300k in loans anyways... pssh.

Loans loans loans will cover everything. They're your sugar daddy (or glucose guardian to be gender neutral).

The glucose guardian comment legit made me lol.

 

[Promethean]

I worked about 10-20 hours per week throughout years 1-2.
I have an RN license and could work for substantial wages, and I have a mortgage in Pittsburgh that didn't stop needing to be paid while I was at school in Erie.
It would have been SO MUCH BETTER not to have to work, but my financial situation was so stressful that if I hadn't worked, I wouldn't have ever been able to think about anything except money problems.

If you are talking about working for $10/hr or less, absolutely not. You need your study time and it is way too precious. Borrow an extra few thousand and budget aggressively.
If you are talking about working for $20-30+, then sure, you can give up a weekend day or do a couple of evening shifts or something... if your situation is that dire.

I got away with that nonsense because I did already have an RN and was already very clinically experienced, and that carried me pretty far and made it so that I didn't need to learn everything absolutely from scratch. Also, I worked at gigs that were largely paid study opportunities. So, like home care for a client who slept for 7 out of the 10 hours of my shift. I was getting paid to study for 7 hours per night, just so that he had a nurse at bedside if he decompensated. (He was fragile, so I couldn't count on him not needing me to be keeping him alive during those 7 hours, but more often than not, I just read textbooks and watched him breathe. )

If you can find a gig where you are being paid to sit and study, you should do that. Everytime. There aren't a lot of those jobs going around, of course.

 

[doctorstrangerthingz]

Thank you all so much, you've been very helpful!

 

[takeurmeds02]

I’m at the end of M1 year and have lived on loans throughout. You definitely will have enough for food, an apartment, bills, car insurance, gas, etc.

That being said, I do notice a difference in what I can afford compared to some of my classmates that have parental support. For example, I rarely have the newest clothes or shoes. My car is older. I don’t go to concerts and fly all over the place.

Some of my classmates eat at restaurants all the time, fly home for every holiday, have brand new Patagonia stuff and new cars. These one are probably taking loans and getting money from their folks.

I thought it was just me. Some classmates are always at concerts, can spend hundreds of dollars on gym memberships, all types of new gadgets, travel all of the place....and meanwhile, all I can do is head out to the bar every once in a while lmao

I'm very ready to start getting paid.

 

[sunshinefl]

I worked about 10-20 hours per week throughout years 1-2.
I have an RN license and could work for substantial wages, and I have a mortgage in Pittsburgh that didn't stop needing to be paid while I was at school in Erie.
It would have been SO MUCH BETTER not to have to work, but my financial situation was so stressful that if I hadn't worked, I wouldn't have ever been able to think about anything except money problems.

If you are talking about working for $10/hr or less, absolutely not. You need your study time and it is way too precious. Borrow an extra few thousand and budget aggressively.
If you are talking about working for $20-30+, then sure, you can give up a weekend day or do a couple of evening shifts or something... if your situation is that dire.

I got away with that nonsense because I did already have an RN and was already very clinically experienced, and that carried me pretty far and made it so that I didn't need to learn everything absolutely from scratch. Also, I worked at gigs that were largely paid study opportunities. So, like home care for a client who slept for 7 out of the 10 hours of my shift. I was getting paid to study for 7 hours per night, just so that he had a nurse at bedside if he decompensated. (He was fragile, so I couldn't count on him not needing me to be keeping him alive during those 7 hours, but more often than not, I just read textbooks and watched him breathe. )

If you can find a gig where you are being paid to sit and study, you should do that. Everytime. There aren't a lot of those jobs going around, of course.

I also work as an RN 10-18 hours per week (more if we’re off for holidays/breaks/between semesters). My job has some shift duties, and some “standby in case of emergency” time. Sometimes there are so many emergencies I get zero studying done. Other times if there aren’t any I can study 70% of my shift.

Financially I did this because I have a wedding in 2 months to pay for. They definitely don’t give you $35,000 extra in loans to get married. My fiancé is a full time allied health student and works part time for about 35% of the hourly wage that I get as an RN. He couldn’t make the wedding fund alone. It also wasn’t just built up by working, some loan money went to it, as did our tax refunds.

Anyway, money was originally my motivation although now I’m very glad to be working because it’s very fulfilling, gives me a sense of normalcy, and gives me socialization with my coworkers outside of the medical school circles.

 

[NeuroticButCute]

I'm going to be an M1 starting in 2019, and this post was super helpful, thanks! I have a question that maybe some of you folks can help me with.
From what I've seen, a lot of med schools have a loan holding period of a couple weeks after the start of school (which I kind of expected because my undergrad does the same). But how do you manage to afford moving costs, first month or two of rent, etc. to get you situated if you don't get any money before school starts? Do a lot of people borrow money from parents or something to save up, or do schools have options to help with those initial moving expenses?
Thanks!

 

[ArtisticMed]

I'm going to be an M1 starting in 2019, and this post was super helpful, thanks! I have a question that maybe some of you folks can help me with.
From what I've seen, a lot of med schools have a loan holding period of a couple weeks after the start of school (which I kind of expected because my undergrad does the same). But how do you manage to afford moving costs, first month or two of rent, etc. to get you situated if you don't get any money before school starts? Do a lot of people borrow money from parents or something to save up, or do schools have options to help with those initial moving expenses?
Thanks!

Loans & refunds:
I think my disbursement statement initially said my loans wouldn't be disbursed until orientation, but they actually disbursed maybe a week earlier than that. We ended up getting our refunds a few days before orientation started, so it may depend on your school.

Moving:
I used money I had saved up from working full-time over the summer (while living at home to save on expenses) to cover first months rent and my credit card for moving expenses.
When I finished moving out of my grad school apartment, I put everything in storage near my new apartment for about a month. I can't quite remember how much the storage unit cost per month, but I put it on my credit card. This may or may not be feasible depending on where you live in relation to your school, but it was convenient for me and made more sense than moving everything back home.
I rented a pickup truck from U-haul to move everything from storage to my new apartment, and some of my friends from high school helped me. The rental was around $20/day plus mileage, so it's not very expensive if you're making short trips.

Other living expenses:
I moved in my apartment a little under 2 weeks before orientation started and was kinda low on cash, so I used my credit cards for things like groceries, cleaning supplies, a vacuum (because the carpet was filthy), etc. Then, when my refund came, I paid the balances off.

My school did not have any aid to help with moving expenses. I think they pretty much expect you to cover everything until your loans disburse.

 

[Treebeard]

Loans are pretty much the only option for rent and bills and such (unless you are independently wealthy or have rich parents).

I was able to get a job through my school library as well. Its minimal hours but pays enough that I don't feel totally irresponsible if I go out to dinner or to have a beer or whatever.

 

[Mad Jack]

Loans, loans, loans.

 

[gains.anatomy]

Is there a one-stop-shop resource that gives you everything you need to know about federal loans, grad PLUS loans, where to find interest rates, how to only take partial loans, etc?

Also, if you take loans the first 2 years but then are able to not take it your last two years, do you have to start paying back? Or are you good for as long as you're full-time?

 

[mrbreakfast]

Take out enough loans to cover basics like rent, food, car, emergencies, and maybe a little extra for fun if you like.

Just remember a quick rule of thumb: for every dollar you borrow, multiply it by ten times the interest rate at which you borrowed it. When you finish residency, that number is roughly the interest you'll owe on that dollar.

 

[y123]

Most med students don’t have income although quite a lot have wealthy parents.
Even though u can request additional loan, it’s smart not to over spend (bringing your own food instead of eating out, public transportation instead of Uber, making your own coffee instead of Starbucks etc). All the costs will add up

 

[Eyeronic]

This is nearly 10 (or more) years ago, but here's how it went.

I had to pick a loan amount to borrow for each school year, which included the tuition and fees and any other miscellaneous expense. I always borrowed less than they recommended. I used the income from my 14 month job after college and any savings I had leftover otherwise. The budget they allowed for us was ridiculous (I think they included like $3,000/yr for "clothes". LMAO). Train yourself from the beginning to live on less of the "living expenses" than they project.

 

[mrbreakfast]

The budget they allowed for us was ridiculous

My med school's recommended non-tuition expenses were:
-a room/board allowance that would've paid for a luxury high-rise downtown and a $20/day food bill. I'm not exaggerating. My room/board expenses were literally 40% of what they recommended.
-more for books/supplies a month than I spent on these things for all four years combined
-a transportation budget that, after accounting for insurance and gas, would've paid for a new-model lease
-an extraneous expense budget of almost $130/week

My recommendation would be to take the full amount they offer (assuming the interest rate isn't awful) for the first semester, then keep a budget and see what you actually spend. You can always put the extra money toward the next semester.

 

[Domepiece]

Is there a one-stop-shop resource that gives you everything you need to know about federal loans, grad PLUS loans, where to find interest rates, how to only take partial loans, etc?

Also, if you take loans the first 2 years but then are able to not take it your last two years, do you have to start paying back? Or are you good for as long as you're full-time?

Looks like everyone neglected your question entirely...

One stop shop is the education debt management guide by the AAMC linked to here.

Taking out partial loans is more on the behalf of your financial aid department. Its actually just as simple as it sounds. You are awarded an amount of loans by the financial aid department, then they will provide a form what what you want to accept and reject. You will be able to write in how much you want to take of this on that sheet. If you are worried about doing this correctly, the department will be able to help you with this, but it's as easy as it sounds.

High yield tip: you can return your federal loans within 120 days if you haven't used the money and all the interest is cancelled on the loan, which is basically an entire semester. This is a great way to reduce loan burden and mitigate the worry of not having enough money for the semester. Once you have an idea of what your budget is, then you know how much to take out and I would recommend taking out only that.

Federal loans do not require repayment while one is a full time student, but will continue to accrue interest. Not sure what you mean by not able to take it? If you mean you don't want to take any other loans out, you won't require repayment if you are a full-time student. If you "aren't able to take it" and drop out of school, after a 6-month grace period you will be required to start repaying loans.

Hope this helps!

 

[mvenus929]

Is there a one-stop-shop resource that gives you everything you need to know about federal loans, grad PLUS loans, where to find interest rates, how to only take partial loans, etc?

Also, if you take loans the first 2 years but then are able to not take it your last two years, do you have to start paying back? Or are you good for as long as you're full-time?

I can't think of a situation where you wouldn't have the ability to take out loans during your third and fourth year.

But there's a national student clearinghouse that your school will report to that you're enrolled in school full time. As long as that is the case, you are not required to pay back your (federal) loans. Interest will accrue on them, but you don't have to pay on them.

 

[Sleepingdoc]

Hi ya'll


I am matriculating in the fall and I was just wondering about the financials of being in medical school. Needless to say, I'll be taking out loans. But as far as pocket money and cost of living, my parents are definitely not able to support me, and I know how hard it is to work during medical school.
How do you guys get by?
Can I ask the school's financial aid for money as much as I want? How does it go?
I still didn't get my financial aid packet btw

You wont have time to work during med school. I would say live frugally.. try to take as little loans as possible to get by because interests add up. But the financial aid/loans do cover the cost of living.

 

[MSTP18]

I thought it was just me. Some classmates are always at concerts, can spend hundreds of dollars on gym memberships, all types of new gadgets, travel all of the place....and meanwhile, all I can do is head out to the bar every once in a while lmao

I'm very ready to start getting paid.

If in the future I’m deciding between buying my kid a car and reducing their med school loan burden you can guarantee they are walking to school.

 

[collegestud2013]

Work like crazy during med school and you significantly reduce your loan burden. Remember that money that's earned earlier is more valuable since it can be invested for a longer period of longer time.

Working is completely doable if you're at a true pass/fail med school during M1 and M2 year, attendance isn't mandatory, and aren't overly involved in ECs (which except for research are pretty low-yield for finding residencies anyways), and definitely during M4 year (which is effectively pass/fail at just about any med school). Or do paid research so you can make some money and prepare yourself for a competitive specialty while making money. Working is a bit harder during M3 year since it's not pass-fail at most schools and you have both clinical and academic responsibilities.

Also, go to a cheap state school like the ones in Texas, and live with your parents if you can.

 

[Chibucks15]

Work like crazy during med school and you significantly reduce your loan burden. Remember that money that's earned earlier is more valuable since it can be invested for a longer period of longer time.

Working is completely doable if you're at a true pass/fail med school during M1 and M2 year, attendance isn't mandatory, and aren't overly involved in ECs (which except for research are pretty low-yield for finding residencies anyways), and definitely during M4 year (which is effectively pass/fail at just about any med school). Or do paid research so you can make some money and prepare yourself for a competitive specialty while making money. Working is a bit harder during M3 year since it's not pass-fail at most schools and you have both clinical and academic responsibilities.

Also, go to a cheap state school like the ones in Texas, and live with your parents if you can.

This is horrendous advice. Do not work during med school unless it’s some work study thing through school where you can study. It doesn’t matter if you’re pass/fail you still have to learn the stuff.

Take loans like the rest of us, live cheaply, and pay it back when you can

 

[stickgirl390]

I use loans 100% and have 1 roommate. I also picked up a paid summer research position between M1 and M2 that helps. Ive been able to purchase everything I need, and med school is so busy that I don’t have tons of time to be shopping anyway

 

[takeurmeds02]

4th years allows a lot more free time - I think I might drive postmates or something like that here and there just for pocket change

 

[jurisburger]

Work like crazy during med school and you significantly reduce your loan burden. Remember that money that's earned earlier is more valuable since it can be invested for a longer period of longer time.

Working is completely doable if you're at a true pass/fail med school during M1 and M2 year, attendance isn't mandatory, and aren't overly involved in ECs (which except for research are pretty low-yield for finding residencies anyways), and definitely during M4 year (which is effectively pass/fail at just about any med school). Or do paid research so you can make some money and prepare yourself for a competitive specialty while making money. Working is a bit harder during M3 year since it's not pass-fail at most schools and you have both clinical and academic responsibilities.

Also, go to a cheap state school like the ones in Texas, and live with your parents if you can.

I respectfully disagree with you on this. The Passing = MD mentality is how some people end up failing the boards. Just because you're at a true pass/fail school doesn't mean you should aim for a 70 on every exam just so you can squeeze a side job paying $7.25-10/hr (I'm estimating). Some people may be able to pull this off but I would hesitant giving this advice to the med student population as a whole. Maybe 4th year spring semester after residency interviews is a nice time to get a job but definitely don't jump in to M1 expecting to do preclinical AND a part-time job.

 

[MSTP18]

I respectfully disagree with you on this. The Passing = MD mentality is how some people end up failing the boards. Just because you're at a true pass/fail school doesn't mean you should aim for a 70 on every exam just so you can squeeze a side job paying $7.25-10/hr (I'm estimating). Some people may be able to pull this off but I would hesitant giving this advice to the med student population as a whole. Maybe 4th year spring semester after residency interviews is a nice time to get a job but definitely don't jump in to M1 expecting to do preclinical AND a part-time job.

Let alone failing the boards, I doubt most plastics/ortho/nsgy/derm gunners felt like they had time to work a part time job on top of med school. Those and medicine/gen surg is the difference of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. Better to take out extra loans and be as successful as possible than try to save 100k in interest/loans only to give up $10M in lifetime earnings.

 

[SubjectTranquil]

Hey guys this is late and perhaps a little unrelated but I was helped out during undergrad from my parents but will definitely not be receiving the same help during med school. Would I still qualify for FAFSA given that I will not be applying with the aid of my parents?

 

[ciestar]

Hey guys this is late and perhaps a little unrelated but I was helped out during undergrad from my parents but will definitely not be receiving the same help during med school. Would I still qualify for FAFSA given that I will not be applying with the aid of my parents?

Yes.

 

[Mass Effect]

Let alone failing the boards, I doubt most plastics/ortho/nsgy/derm gunners felt like they had time to work a part time job on top of med school. Those and medicine/gen surg is the difference of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. Better to take out extra loans and be as successful as possible than try to save 100k in interest/loans only to give up $10M in lifetime earnings.

Not to derail the thread, but it needs to be said that some choose to do medicine/gen surg and are not falling back on that because they weren't as successful as possible in med school. There is more to choosing a specialty than $10M in lifetime earnings.

 

[Domepiece]

Hey guys this is late and perhaps a little unrelated but I was helped out during undergrad from my parents but will definitely not be receiving the same help during med school. Would I still qualify for FAFSA given that I will not be applying with the aid of my parents?

The FAFSA is not something you qualify for, it is an application required of all students receiving funding from federal programs which is utilized for a number of federal "aid" programs. Aid is in quotes here, because when it comes to medical school utility, far and above the most common federal aid this application is utilized for is eligibility for federal loans, which basically anyone with a pulse is eligible for if they are an American citizen/green card holder.