How are you guys paying for your post-bac programs?
Paying for Post-Bac
- Thread starter Mnbvcxz
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Cleaned out my savings account
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Staffords and private or Grad PLUS loans are your guaranteed fallback.
My program has a small amount of scholarship money available, worth up to $4,000. The rest has to be covered through loans or private means. The Department of Education is forcing postbac certificate programs like Goucher and Bryn Mawr to be reclassified as graduate certificate programs. This creates a lot of hassle for the programs, but it does open up more funds both in terms of Staffords (graduate rather than undergraduate loan limits) and Grad PLUS loans also become available at that level.
If you're going the self-directed route, private loans like Citiassist loans can make up the difference between Staffords and actual cost. If you're not in a full-time program, you can obviously also work part-time. If you're in a full-time program and would rather work part-time to avoid debt, you'll have to get over yourself and just accept that the debt is worth it if it gives you more time to study and attain higher grades.
The cost of doing a post-bac is, I'm afraid, quite intentional. You have to be committed to switching to medicine. If you get into med school, the cost will pay for itself many times over, and the accumulated debt will roll into your med school debt. And if you don't get into med school...well, there's a Darwinist component to it all. Life's all about calculated risk. Unless you have an adverse credit history, there's always enough money out there, and then it's a matter of whether you think becoming a doctor is worth the financial risk versus the uncertainty of admission.
My program has a small amount of scholarship money available, worth up to $4,000. The rest has to be covered through loans or private means. The Department of Education is forcing postbac certificate programs like Goucher and Bryn Mawr to be reclassified as graduate certificate programs. This creates a lot of hassle for the programs, but it does open up more funds both in terms of Staffords (graduate rather than undergraduate loan limits) and Grad PLUS loans also become available at that level.
If you're going the self-directed route, private loans like Citiassist loans can make up the difference between Staffords and actual cost. If you're not in a full-time program, you can obviously also work part-time. If you're in a full-time program and would rather work part-time to avoid debt, you'll have to get over yourself and just accept that the debt is worth it if it gives you more time to study and attain higher grades.
The cost of doing a post-bac is, I'm afraid, quite intentional. You have to be committed to switching to medicine. If you get into med school, the cost will pay for itself many times over, and the accumulated debt will roll into your med school debt. And if you don't get into med school...well, there's a Darwinist component to it all. Life's all about calculated risk. Unless you have an adverse credit history, there's always enough money out there, and then it's a matter of whether you think becoming a doctor is worth the financial risk versus the uncertainty of admission.
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Thanks for your informative post. Could you please explain a little further about how the debt rolls in? I've been searching around for a clear source on this and have fallen up short (except for your excellent post!).
Once accepted to med school, is there a way to re-finance any private loans you might have had to take out? The rates on these loans are usurious, and there are no benefits to students while still in school.
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I have found that some programs offer tuition scholarships or students try to become a resident quickly for in-state tuition. I know a few people who have earned small scholarships $$$ but unfortunately FASFA loans seems to be the most popular.
I am on a mission to get most of my education paid for through means that don't include my pocket/loans. I think the easiest way to get money to pay for a post bac is to apply for scholarships from organizations/companies that know you ie. alumi/alumnae associations, church, local small businesses, parents' place of employment.
Also get in contact with the organizations/companies that granted you money for undergrad. Some are willing to continue to sponsor you and will be excited to see that you are working hard to reach your goals.
I am on a mission to get most of my education paid for through means that don't include my pocket/loans. I think the easiest way to get money to pay for a post bac is to apply for scholarships from organizations/companies that know you ie. alumi/alumnae associations, church, local small businesses, parents' place of employment.
Also get in contact with the organizations/companies that granted you money for undergrad. Some are willing to continue to sponsor you and will be excited to see that you are working hard to reach your goals.
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Happy to help with my limited knowledge. All undergrad and postbac student loan debt is deferred while in med school. Staffords and GRAD Plus loans can be consolidated through Direct Consolidation Loans. For private loans, the options have become much scarcer since the financial crisis, but Wells Fargo still offers consolidation for private loans. Depending on your financial aid package, finaid office and personal means, you can also take out more federal loans than you need during any given semester and use those to pay down private loans bit by bit.
Finally, private loans aren't that much worse than Staffords - in fact, my Citiassist loans have had a lower interest rate than Staffords for the past few years. The problem is of course the risk associated with flexible rate loans. I've never had trouble deferring, though.
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Hi Lunicola, I'm interested to learn how you made it work. Thanks.
I took evening classes and worked full-time to pay for them. It's been a bitch but I refused to go into debt before medical school and consider it worth it. The job (research) has improved my resume immensely and I consider the lack of debt + application improvement well worth the extra time it took me.
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This, IMHO, is the ONLY way to do postbacc --
1. You pay as you go, so (assuming you have a reasonably paying job) you don't have to go into debt
2. You still have a fallback job in case you don't get into med school
3. Going into an interview being able to say "I worked my ass off and got a 3.9 GPA while working full time" is way more impressive to an admissions committee than just telling them you went to school full time for 2 years longer than you really should have.
Yeah, I wish I never had to do a postbacc at all, but I would never have done it any other way either . . .
What about formal post-bacc programs? Some of us do not get paid (clinical research) well enough to be able to take and pay for courses as a D.I.Y. post bacc. Also, some of us are 4-6+ years removed from undergraduate and may have maxed out on Stafford undergraduate loans; do any of you know how one would go about handling either of these situations?
^^^That has happened to me several times over unfortunately. For several years I was accepted and had to give up my seat /acceptance due to financial limitation. I think, correction, I know this is harder than a lot of SDNers make it seem.
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I was maxed out on undergraduate Staffords. At the Goucher postbac and several others, you're classified as a postgrad, so you're eligible for PLUS and postgrad Stafford loans. Check with your intended program whether they're making the switch to grad status - with Goucher, it was mandated by the Department of Education.
Hi,
I was accepted into the UPenn's post bac pre-health specialized studies certificate program. I am having the most difficult time trying to finance it. I don't have a co-signer (both parents are in terrible financial situations), no credit to my name (making it impossible for private loans), and the 1 time federal loan of 12,500 is not nearly enough to fund the program. I also am applying to scholarships, but most I don't qualify for b/c of the uniqueness of the certificate (neither graduate/degree-granting nor a terminal degree that leads to immediate employment). I see that you were going to PM someone on here about how you made it work. I would absolutely love to get your advice. Thank you.
-Kristen
Great stuff everyone. I have been saving for the better part of the last decade and have enough to pay for about a year of informal post-bacc, but then I will have to figure out how to pay for the SMP. I'm currently hoping to work my way into an ED scribe position or some other type of relevant part time work.
Does anyone have experience working during an SMP or is this extremely ill-advised?
Does anyone have experience working during an SMP or is this extremely ill-advised?
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Working during an SMP is completely ill-advised, unless you have TOTAL control over your work schedule and can drop shifts for exams. Regardless, you can't pay tuition + living expenses on a $10/hr job.
BUT. Most SMPs are degree-granting grad programs, thus eligible for federal student loans. Avoid that debt if you can, but don't sacrifice your chance at med school for a low-paying job.
BUT. Most SMPs are degree-granting grad programs, thus eligible for federal student loans. Avoid that debt if you can, but don't sacrifice your chance at med school for a low-paying job.
That's what I figured, thanks! I have been able to avoid going into debt for my entire life up to this point and have built up a decent emergency fund. The thought of using it all up before I am even certain that I will get into an MD program is frightening. Failing at an SMP would be unacceptable, however.
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Can you PM me as well?
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I would also like to know thx
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Tell me
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Hi! May I also know how you did it? Thanks!
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Five years later I’ll chime in after I asked myself (and now accepted to four med programs!)
I worked full time and paid for it slowly. Took classes one at a time at night at Berkeley Extension. Asked around for the more straightforward professors who either graded leniently or made their expectations extremely clear.
Slow AF and now I’m in my early thirties, but I’m debt free (for a few more months). Part of me wishes I had taken out loans for a Bryn Mawr or Goucher. I could be almost done with med school by now. Part of me is happy for all the other professional experiences I had along the way, and the fact that I didn’t have to figure out private debt etc for those programs.
Good luck!
I worked full time and paid for it slowly. Took classes one at a time at night at Berkeley Extension. Asked around for the more straightforward professors who either graded leniently or made their expectations extremely clear.
Slow AF and now I’m in my early thirties, but I’m debt free (for a few more months). Part of me wishes I had taken out loans for a Bryn Mawr or Goucher. I could be almost done with med school by now. Part of me is happy for all the other professional experiences I had along the way, and the fact that I didn’t have to figure out private debt etc for those programs.
Good luck!
