Paying with loans

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hopefulDO08

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Hi all,

How many people pay for all of their schooling with loans? I have basically spent all of my savings on applying/interviewing and my parents can't help at all. Is it rare to use loan money for everything (tuition, books, rent, gas, etc)? I know most people pay for tuition with loans, but is it normal to take out more than ~40k a year? I didn't take out any loans during undergrad, so I'm not worried about maxing out my federal loans, just worried that I will have way more debt then everyone else in my class, if the norm is to have supplemental income to cover the rest.
 
hopefulDO08 said:
Hi all,

How many people pay for all of their schooling with loans? I have basically spent all of my savings on applying/interviewing and my parents can't help at all. Is it rare to use loan money for everything (tuition, books, rent, gas, etc)? I know most people pay for tuition with loans, but is it normal to take out more than ~40k a year? I didn't take out any loans during undergrad, so I'm not worried about maxing out my federal loans, just worried that I will have way more debt then everyone else in my class, if the norm is to have supplemental income to cover the rest.
Click to expand...

Nope, it's not uncommon. Lots of kids are 200 to 300k in debt. I have one classmate that is 500k in debt.
 
hopefulDO08 said:
Hi all,

How many people pay for all of their schooling with loans? I have basically spent all of my savings on applying/interviewing and my parents can't help at all. Is it rare to use loan money for everything (tuition, books, rent, gas, etc)? I know most people pay for tuition with loans, but is it normal to take out more than ~40k a year? I didn't take out any loans during undergrad, so I'm not worried about maxing out my federal loans, just worried that I will have way more debt then everyone else in my class, if the norm is to have supplemental income to cover the rest.
Click to expand...

Me 🙁 I had to for my undergrad too.

It's either use loans or don't go to school at all. Can't afford it any other way.
 
hopefulDO08 said:
Hi all,

How many people pay for all of their schooling with loans? I have basically spent all of my savings on applying/interviewing and my parents can't help at all. Is it rare to use loan money for everything (tuition, books, rent, gas, etc)? I know most people pay for tuition with loans, but is it normal to take out more than ~40k a year? I didn't take out any loans during undergrad, so I'm not worried about maxing out my federal loans, just worried that I will have way more debt then everyone else in my class, if the norm is to have supplemental income to cover the rest.
Click to expand...

Nope. I believe that is generally the norm in medical school. I have ~$30,000 in undergrad debt and spent most of my savings on applying/interviewing, as well. (My parents can't help at all, either). I will be taking out at least $45,000 a year to cover tuition, books, fees, etc. :scared: Maybe more if I need it for rent/food. Most of us are in the same debt boat. It sucks, but we gotta do it. :laugh:
 
hopefulDO08 said:
Hi all,

How many people pay for all of their schooling with loans? I have basically spent all of my savings on applying/interviewing and my parents can't help at all. Is it rare to use loan money for everything (tuition, books, rent, gas, etc)? I know most people pay for tuition with loans, but is it normal to take out more than ~40k a year? I didn't take out any loans during undergrad, so I'm not worried about maxing out my federal loans, just worried that I will have way more debt then everyone else in my class, if the norm is to have supplemental income to cover the rest.
Click to expand...

I had to take out loans in undergrad and will be doing the same for medical school. Same deal, parents couldn't help with tuition. There aren't many other options unless you do something like HPSP. Just work hard in medical school to make taking out the loans worth it. I've heard from many people that we won't have a hard time paying the loans back as long as we are smart with our money.
 
Thanks everyone. I'm glad to know that I won't be the only one. It seems like a lot of people are only using loans to cover tuition, but I just don't see how you can have enough saved to cover rent and food and everything. sigh. Must be nice!
 
Ost3oclast said:
This.

Not looking forward to soooo much debt. 🙁
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I'm not too worried. Yeah the debt will be there, but its not like I wont be able to pay it off as a physician. I will just have to manage my expenses wisely.
 
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JaBoomDay said:
Me 🙁 I had to for my undergrad too.

It's either use loans or don't go to school at all. Can't afford it any other way.
Click to expand...

Same.

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Everything will be on PRIVATE loans for me 🙁

Sent from my Galaxy S2
 
ladybug1552 said:
I'll be taking out 70K/year to cover everything (tuition, fees, books, rent, food, etc.).


Excuse me while I go throw up.
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me and you both bud.
 
ladybug1552 said:
I'll be taking out 70K/year to cover everything (tuition, fees, books, rent, food, etc.).


Excuse me while I go throw up.
Click to expand...

Just keep saying to yourself that it's worth it lol.
 
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There's always the military; 1 year owed for each year paid for, which includes a ~$2200 a month stipend. Not too shabby if you're considering a career in military medicine anyways, or just want to get in and get out.

3 or 4 of the emergency physicians with whom I work are ex-Navy. They did their 4 years or whatever then jumped to the private sector debt-free. 20-30 years of debt versus 4 years of service should at least warrant a few minutes of serious consideration.
 
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MrKafkaesque said:
There's always the military; 1 year owed for each year paid for, which includes a ~$2200 a month stipend. Not too shabby if you're considering a career in military medicine anyways, or just want to get in and get out.

3 or 4 of the emergency physicians with home I work are ex-Navy. They did their 4 years or whatever then jumped to the private sector debt-free. 20-30 years of debt versus 4 years of service should at least warrant a few minutes of serious consideration.
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20-30 years of debt? What are you talking about?
 
DrBumblebee said:
Hey, when did you get your financial aid award package from your school?
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Not sure how it works for every school but we didn't get ours until about a month or so before classes started.
 
Well if you do primary care there are a lot of programs that will give you loan support in exchange for working a few years in the sticks. Or you could do what one of my attendings (ER) did and live in a crappy apartment and work almost every day. He paid his loans in ~2 years.
 
DrBumblebee said:
Hey, when did you get your financial aid award package from your school?
Click to expand...


I haven't yet but the financial aid officer and numerous current students have told me 70K is generally the magic number. And the consensus seems to be that taking out more is generally better than less, even though it's scary. I could probably get away with 60-65K/year but I don't want to be that kid stranded at school with no money to pay for a plane ticket home.
 
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ladybug1552 said:
I haven't yet but the financial aid officer and numerous current students have told me 70K is generally the magic number. And the consensus seems to be that taking out more is generally better than less, even though it's scary. I could probably get away with 60-65K/year but I don't want to be that kid stranded at school with no money to pay for a plane ticket home.
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Yup. If you take out too much you can just take out less the next year and have it balance out. You can also just pay the extra back. Nothing to lose unless you spend money frivolously.

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Even with the way federal loans have been changing, does interest not start accruing until after graduation?
 
hopefulDO08 said:
Even with the way federal loans have been changing, does interest not start accruing until after graduation?
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Interest starts immediately as far as I know.

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They used to offer some subsidized loans (like under 10,000 per year i think) where the govt paid the interest while you were in school however this changed, i believe as part of the healthcare legislation that passed in 2010.
 
hopefulDO08 said:
Even with the way federal loans have been changing, does interest not start accruing until after graduation?
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Starts as soon as you get your loans. All grad loans are unsubsidized. Sucks.
 
Dmr6186 said:
Starts as soon as you get your loans. All grad loans are unsubsidized. Sucks.
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Yup 🙁


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MrKafkaesque said:
There's always the military; 1 year owed for each year paid for, which includes a ~$2200 a month stipend. Not too shabby if you're considering a career in military medicine anyways, or just want to get in and get out.

3 or 4 of the emergency physicians with whom I work are ex-Navy. They did their 4 years or whatever then jumped to the private sector debt-free. 20-30 years of debt versus 4 years of service should at least warrant a few minutes of serious consideration.
Click to expand...

And it's not 4 years of service, its around 7-9 since your residency time is considered "neutral" time and does not count towards your time debt. So 4 years of "practicing" time to pay off the time debt. By then you are near breaking even on lost tuition debt: lost wages. And you might lose your ability to choose residency (aka, career path and lifestyle).

ps: Active duty navy veteran experience.
 
ajh1983 said:
And it's not 4 years of service, its around 7-9 since your residency time is considered "neutral" time and does not count towards your time debt. So 4 years of "practicing" time to pay off the time debt. By then you are near breaking even on lost tuition debt: lost wages. And you might lose your ability to choose residency (aka, career path and lifestyle).

ps: Active duty navy veteran experience.
Click to expand...

Indeed. Military is really only worth it if you want to be in the military. It's not always a great option if your only motivation is getting tuition paid for.

It's an excellent option (i'm extremely jealous) for people who want to me a military doc though. Can't beat it.

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I'll be using loans all the way, OP. You're not alone.
 
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