Nontrad concerns

[Adam10401]

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So I noticed my school of choice (University of Michigan) is $30,000 a year for tuition, which would leave me with a tab of $120,000. Where do people get $200,000 - $250,000 from? Adding in living expenses?

Also, here is my concern as I have two options for completing pre-med:

I could quit my job and delve full time into school, taking summer classes and knocking out what I need over four semesters. Financially I could do this but I would incur probably another $10,000 in debt from living expenses over the course of that time. This is fine if I end up in med school, but what if I fully dedicate myself to aceing science classes and the MCAT and don't get in?

The second option would be to complete the pre-med at a slower place at night time while keeping my 9-5 job not incurring more debt. If I don't end up making it into med school, worst case scenario I am more educated.


Which option is better?

ALSO, if I went back to school full time, could I go for a masters degree in health administration while taking electives in the science classes? At least that way if I couldn't get into medical school I would have a usable graduate degree that compliments my business management undergrad.

My current debt load is about $25,000 of student loans and I am three months into being 26.

 

[BlackBox]

10K is a drop in the bucket when you consider the total loan debt associated with medical school. I would take the loans and focus on my classes and MCAT. Do you want to stress about work/school/MCAT and potentially have lower stats as a result? Just for 10K?

 

[Adam10401]

10K is a drop in the bucket when you consider the total loan debt associated with medical school. I would take the loans and focus on my classes and MCAT. Do you want to stress about work/school/MCAT and potentially have lower stats as a result? Just for 10K?

I agree I just didn't know if med school was a sure thing even if I manage to ace all my tests. I have a 3.78 in my nonsci undergrad. U of M says mean undergrad GPA is 3.78 so I am hoping I can maintain or exceed for science classes.

Basically I saw the fact that like 5% of people get accepted and feared taking on a ton of debt if I didn't get in. I picked medicine (apart from my interest in science, research and public cause) specifically for its stability and job security. So I am a little hesitant to take on more debt with no assurances but I guess life is full of risks right? Maybe I can swing living at home to cut down on expenses during it.

 

[Adam10401]

On the plus side my pre-med tuition will be free (GI Bill) so maybe you're right, what's another $10,000 to at the very least, be more educated in science?

 

[BlackBox]

Just keep in mind that GPA and MCAT are just a few parts of the equation. What really stands out about you as a candidate? What's your story? What's your theme? These are the questions that are hardest to answer. Work on these as well.

 

[theseeker4]

I agree I just didn't know if med school was a sure thing even if I manage to ace all my tests. I have a 3.78 in my nonsci undergrad. U of M says mean undergrad GPA is 3.78 so I am hoping I can maintain or exceed for science classes.

Basically I saw the fact that like 5% of people get accepted and feared taking on a ton of debt if I didn't get in. I picked medicine (apart from my interest in science, research and public cause) specifically for its stability and job security. So I am a little hesitant to take on more debt with no assurances but I guess life is full of risks right? Maybe I can swing living at home to cut down on expenses during it.

Is U of M the only school you would consider attending? 5% of people who apply there might get in (assuming that is the stat you are quoting above) but your odds are much higher if you apply more broadly, and with your GPA, your odds are much better than the average among all applicants. If you are currently only considering U of M, you want to broaden your horizons if you are serious about being a doctor; considering U of M is a top 10 school, you cannot count on getting in there at all; if you do, great, but even good stats won't guarantee you a seat at any top school. Nothing wrong with having a top choice or dream school, but make sure you are realistic as well.

 

[Law2Doc]

Is U of M the only school you would consider attending? 5% of people who apply there might get in (assuming that is the stat you are quoting above) but your odds are much higher if you apply more broadly, and with your GPA, your odds are much better than the average among all applicants. If you are currently only considering U of M, you want to broaden your horizons if you are serious about being a doctor; considering U of M is a top 10 school, you cannot count on getting in there at all; if you do, great, but even good stats won't guarantee you a seat at any top school. Nothing wrong with having a top choice or dream school, but make sure you are realistic as well.

Agree. You can't apply to med school counting on one school. The best applicants apply to at least ten, and usually don't get in at all of them. It's not just about numbers, the non-numerical things count too, and it's often more about being a "good fit" for their school, a very subjective standard. There will thus be people with GPAs lower than you who will have an easier time getting in than you. Bottom line: odds are you won't get in at U of M. You might not get your second choice either. But if you apply smartly and broadly, you hopefully will get something with good numbers and an interesting background.

 

[Goucher2013]

On the plus side my pre-med tuition will be free (GI Bill) so maybe you're right, what's another $10,000 to at the very least, be more educated in science?

Automatic in-state for veterans + GI Bill + Yellow Ribbon + need-based grants....and that's before merit scholarships. If you do get in at Michigan, you'll be in a very advantageous position to have a comparatively small med school debt load.

 

[DiolASulfone]

I had a similar debate a few years ago. You want to give yourself the best chance to actually get in. If you think you can maintain excellent grades while working, it might be worth trying it out at first, and scaling back or quitting work if you have to. I ended up quitting my full-time job once I hit orgo and physics, and started working just part time. Financially it's been a challenge, but I needed to do as well as I could and it was just too much to try and keep up the A's while also not totally screwing up at work. I finally realized that I had to just got for it - make med school THE option. It was also extra-motivating knowing I had even more on the line once I did take a out a small loan 🙂