Paying for Pharmacy School

[deleted544110]

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It's been a while since a thread has been posted in regards to paying for pharmacy school.

As someone who will be starting in the fall, I have a few questions for those of you who are in pharmacy school right now. I understand that there can be major differences depending on location and financial status, but all information is helpful!

How much money do you receive from student loans?

Is the money you receive from student loans enough for you to pay your tuition AND live on?
(read: how much money do you have leftover after paying for school for a lease/food/transportation/other living expenses)

Do you live with roommates?
If so how many?

What kinds of loans outside of normal student loans do you receive?

*bonus question*:
Do you live within walking distance to your pharmacy school?
If so, does it seem beneficial?
If not, does it seem detrimental?

Additional comments:

 

[radio frequency]

How much money do you receive from student loans?
We can get up to our cost of living, but only the first $8500 per year or so is at a rate that is even close to reasonable (6.something %). Don't worry; you won't have problems getting loans -- the problem is keeping the loans (and their respective rates) low enough to pay back. I kind of think there is a difference in loan opportunities from 0-6 schools vs. 4 year schools. If you don't have a previous degree and you're at a 0-6 school, you may get better (lower) loan rates than at 4 year schools.

Is the money you receive from student loans enough for you to pay your tuition AND live on?
(read: how much money do you have leftover after paying for school for a lease/food/transportation/other living expenses)
It could be, easily. You can pretty much take out as much as you want (it just has a higher interest rate when you take out more loans), but you can always choose to take out less if you can afford to do so.

Do you live with roommates?
If so how many?
n/a. I live with family.

What kinds of loans outside of normal student loans do you receive?
Absolutely none. I've tried getting special loans for health students, etc., but haven't had any luck. I could probably do private loans, but I'm not sure they're a great idea. They do often have slightly better rates than the government loans, though.

*bonus question*:

Do you live within walking distance to your pharmacy school?
If so, does it seem beneficial?
I have...it really depends on how likely you are to walk to your school later in the evening to study. Is there great study space on campus? Is the campus safe to walk around at night? Think about these things before deciding. I found the campus to be very loud and not a great place to live (too crowded/expensive/no great study space nearby/not very safe), but you may find the opposite at your school.

If not, does it seem detrimental?
I don't now...and it's not detrimental. Just live close enough that driving isn't a pain.

 

[BMBiology]

Don't even worry about student loans. As a pharmacist you will be swimming in money while only working 40 hours a week. Yes I am talking about 100k+ salary, vacation, 401 k and stocks.

You only live once. Live and let things take care of themselves.

 

[radio frequency]

Don't even worry about student loans. As a pharmacist you will be swimming in money while only working 40 hours a week. Yes I am talking about 100k+ salary, vacation, 401 k and stocks.

You only live once. Live and let things take care of themselves.

Huh? Did a spirit possess you, or is this your new tactic? So surprising!

 

[Sunshine98]

It's been a while since a thread has been posted in regards to paying for pharmacy school.

As someone who will be starting in the fall, I have a few questions for those of you who are in pharmacy school right now. I understand that there can be major differences depending on location and financial status, but all information is helpful!

How much money do you receive from student loans?
cant remember specifically but I know I just borrowed enough to cover tuition, books, and rent, and enough for food. Didn't over borrow on anything. It helped for me to be poor as I got scholarships and pell grants. I only ended up with $25K in debt after pharmacy school. (granted my first 3 years in undergrad I got a full ride scholarship)


Is the money you receive from student loans enough for you to pay your tuition AND live on?
yes it was. Pays to budget and not borrow more and live on the high horse. Cause you will have to pay it back.

Do you live with roommates?
No, but I did rent a place where everything was included so I only had to pay 1 payment a month. This helped out a lot with budgeting and how much I knew to borrow.

What kinds of loans outside of normal student loans do you receive?
Back in the day got Pell grants, one small scholarship of $500 a semester from the school I transferred from, and $1K scholarship for being low income per semester. and Each year I was in pharmacy school got some scholarship awards that had low $ attached to it (either 500 or 250)


Do you live within walking distance to your pharmacy school?
Yes, I lived within 10 minutes walking. And picked a central area that had a grocery store too. Helped out a lot cause instead of eating out, could come back to apt and fix something quick which saved $$.

Borrow what you need, not what you want. And when you get out, live poor and pay off your loans. That is what I did. Im debt free now. Own my home, 8 months emergency fund, and maxing out retirement funds. Hope to go part time in 10 years and ride it out until final retirement. You can beat the system, just have to work to do it, Life is meant to ENJOY!

 

[confettiflyer]

How much money do you receive from student loans?
I received the full cost of attendance, aka "I maxed that mother**** out."

Is the money you receive from student loans enough for you to pay your tuition AND live on?
I lead a very comfortable life. I also worked like crazy as an intern so I had a good chunk of change.

Do you live with roommates?
1

What kinds of loans outside of normal student loans do you receive?
Given the current laws and repayment regulations, it would be incredibly stupid to obtain a loan outside of the federal loan system.

*bonus question*:
Do you live within walking distance to your pharmacy school?
Yes, very convenient, and I was in the middle of the city so lots to do.[/quote]

 

[xiphoid2010]

How much money do you receive from student loans?
$80K over 4 yrs. 1st year was $35K due to out of state tuition. >_<

Is the money you receive from student loans enough for you to pay your tuition AND live on?
No, I only took out enough to cover the tuitions, fees, insurance. Usually took even less than that since internship income had a bit leftover.

Do you live with roommates?
Not the first 1 yr, then with my gf/fiancee starting P2.

What kinds of loans outside of normal student loans do you receive?
Internship, 16-20 hrs/week during school 40 hrs during summer, made ~$14K/yr. Merit scholarships ~$2.5K/yr.

*bonus question*:
Do you live within walking distance to your pharmacy school?
yes, 10-15 minutes walk, very beneficial. Saved on parking cost and quite frankly you can't find a parking spot half of the time even if you tried.

 

[BMBiology]

What kinds of loans outside of normal student loans do you receive?
Given the current laws and repayment regulations, it would be incredibly stupid to obtain a loan outside of the federal loan system.

This is exactly right. Obama is a great man. I hear he has instructed the treasury department to reserve $3 billion to help healthcare professionals. He knows you have sacrificed your youth for this country and you should be rewarded. Besides, your starting salary will be 130 k easily. So don't worry about borrowing 150 k vs. 250 k. It's very doable with your high income and company stocks.

 

[NejixRockS]

what happened to BMBiology? ._. I can't tell if hes being sarcastic(70%) or not(30%) 🙁

 

[Sugoi Travis]

How much money do you receive from student loans?
Maxing out. $132.5k.

Is the money you receive from student loans enough for you to pay your tuition AND live on?
Oh hell no. I'm pulling 25+ hours per week interning and I'm barely scraping by.

Do you live with roommates?
Not atm. By August, I should be with two other good friends.

What kinds of loans outside of normal student loans do you receive?
I will not touch any private loans or Grad Plus loans.

Do you live within walking distance to your pharmacy school?
Yes. 15-20 minute walk.

Additional comments:
I feel like I get ghetto-stomped in the balls a couple times a day whenever I think about how my school won't allow me to gain in-state status.

 

[confettiflyer]

This is exactly right. Obama is a great man. I hear he has instructed the treasury department to reserve $3 billion to help healthcare professionals. He knows you have sacrificed your youth for this country and you should be rewarded. Besides, your starting salary will be 130 k easily. So don't worry about borrowing 150 k vs. 250 k. It's very doable with your high income and company stocks.

Get it right, it was George W. Bush that made it possible. What a great man.

 

[BMBiology]

Get it right, it was George W. Bush that made it possible. What a great man.

apparently you have not heard of PAYE or the 3 billion dollars in reserve Obama has set aside for healthcare professionals like yourself.

 

[fauxden]

How much money do you receive from student loans?
I owe 40k total in student loans, I graduated last year.

Is the money you receive from student loans enough for you to pay your tuition AND live on?
I would suppose so. I also had a spouse working for the last 2 years (that's when I got married). Before I got married, for my undergrad stuff I paid all in cash. I had a job that paid well enough for me to do that.

Do you live with roommates?
Yes, my rent was cheap(like as low as 110 a month at one point, never over 200, I live in a rural area though), until I got married, then it was free. I was blessed with a sweet job where they provided me with free housing.

What kinds of loans outside of normal student loans do you receive?
None

*bonus question*:
Do you live within walking distance to your pharmacy school?
I rode my bike until I got married because I usually lived close enough to do so, then it was a few more miles. 15 min drive.

Additional comments:
Student loans suck and rethink your career choice

 

[deleted544110]

Thanks for all the information!

The more the merrier, so keep 'em coming!

 

[deleted544110]

I don't want to create a new thread so I'll just tack another question on here:

Did you keep a job through pharmacy school?

 

[D1CE K]

Don't even worry about student loans. As a pharmacist you will be swimming in money while only working 40 hours a week. Yes I am talking about 100k+ salary, vacation, 401 k and stocks.

You only live once. Live and let things take care of themselves.

Surprisingly, you slipped and managed to state something awfully true.