Paying for Medical School 2016

[NotAnotherPreMed]

Hi guys,
So I'm an incoming M1 this fall. Now that the summer is underway I was looking at options to pay for medical schools. I basically got no financial aid and my parents will be helping me pay for a part of medical school (not a significant chunk though). I was wondering what options do I have to pay for medical school apart from taking out Stafford/Grad PLUS loans. Specifically:
1. If you have decent credit and you can get a co-signee who has amazing credit, would it be possible to get loans at a rate lower than that the federal loans rates (~5.8% for stafford and ~6.8% for grad plus).
2. What are some great scholarship search websites (I've looked a lot and I can't find many things I qualify for. I'm ORM and eventually interested in specializing).
3. Any other options I haven't thought of? Thanks for your time.

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[Mansamusa]

The military? There aren't many scholarship floating around.

You ~might~ be able to get private loans with lower interests, but that's gonna be hard depending on how much you need. The longer the repayment term is, the more interest as well. You'll need to sign up for probably a 20 yr repayment plan. You will also not have the gov't repayment options.

With repaye, only half the interest will grow during residency. I think the safest thing to do is take out federal loans and then at the end of residency, refinance if you think it is a smart move. What happens if your salary at the end of residency is $150K? You may need those gov't repayment plans. Don't shoot yourself in the foot to save a little money now (and this is coming from someone who is very anti-debt)

 

[lampshade4u]

won't payments start immediately on most private loans?

 

[NERDY]

Apply to any scholarships that your school may have (alumni association, etc) . Do your FAFSA.

 

[taco152]

Why would you need more loans? Don't the federal cover up to cost of attendance?

 

[doc05]

join the military

 

[NotAnotherPreMed]

I have filled out the FAFSA. and yes federal loans would cover the COA but I was wondering what other options there are.
And I'm a citizen of a foreign country (+ Green card holder) and I don't think the military is the right move for me right now. It is an attractive opportunity and I would have definitely considered it more seriously if I had grown up here. Applying to a couple of scholarships through the school's website as well. Thanks for the input so far guys!

 

[37Base]

Can I apply for my school's Jewish scholarship if I'm not Jewish and the scholarship specifically states that I need to be Jewish?

 

[ortnakas]

Can I apply for my school's Jewish scholarship if I'm not Jewish and the scholarship specifically states that I need to be Jewish?

Pretty sure you answered your own question.

 

[DetectiveAlonzo]

Can I apply for my school's Jewish scholarship if I'm not Jewish and the scholarship specifically states that I need to be Jewish?

How did you get into medical school?

 

[NotAnotherPreMed]

Y did my thread get highjacked for this brazenly random question....

 

[USArmyHPSP]

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