Post Bac Debt

[m ilk]

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As post-bacs I think many of us are in a dark hole where we cannot get federal aid (unless on 2nd bachelor status)......and even if we get financial aid we have to be "full time" or they taketh away. Thus, we defer to the private loan.

So, how much post-bac debt is too much?

It has cost me ~40k so far, but that is a number that continues to grow thanks to interest.

I am alone? Or is this what everyone (those who don't come from $$$$) has to go through? I understand that med school could require hundreds of thousands in loans.......but will I be able to even get a loan with this much behind me? I plan to apply apply in the spring, after taking out another high interest private loan to pay for the very last of my pre-med classes.

Thoughts please.

 

[postbacker]

As post-bacs I think many of us are in a dark hole where we cannot get federal aid (unless on 2nd bachelor status)......and even if we get financial aid we have to be "full time" or they taketh away. Thus, we defer to the private loan.

So, how much post-bac debt is too much?

It has cost me ~40k so far, but that is a number that continues to grow thanks to interest.

I am alone? Or is this what everyone (those who don't come from $$$$) has to go through? I understand that med school could require hundreds of thousands in loans.......but will I be able to even get a loan with this much behind me? I plan to apply apply in the spring, after taking out another high interest private loan to pay for the very last of my pre-med classes.

Thoughts please.

They will loan you all the money you need for med school, so don't worry about that...but you are smart to be questioning this.

There are people undertaking 4+ year post bacs with significant debt to raise their lousy GPAs to levels that are not really all that helpful (around a 3.0), and I think it is crazy.

 

[just thoughts]

i totally understand where you're coming from. i don't come from money, and i almost started at a post-bacc program that was going to be upwards of $30K per year for tuition and living expenses. i thought about my undergrad debt (that i'm still paying on) and decided to go to a significantly less expensive extension program instead. lots of differences, but i can pay my tuition out of pocket and still get what i need from the program.

with regard to being able to take out loans once you get to med school, it doesn't sound as if you are taking out any federal loans, so you won't have maxed out your Stafford eligibility loan amount (i think it's something like $100k and Grad Plus loans don't count against it). i'm not sure if loan amounts are based on credit history at all, but the gov't recognizes educational loan debt as an investment in your future ability to pay the loans back so...take that for what it's worth.

how much debt is too much...that's a really personal question. i couldn't bear to take on any more debt, but that's just me. i also had a less expensive option and the personal capital to make up for the things that i can't get in the less expensive program.

as for your situation...hey, you're almost done. when you get to med school, apply for every scholarship that you possibly can, and if you get REALLY LUCKY, maybe you'll find a way to walk out of med school and only have to pay back that $40k or so from your post bacc and maybe a little more from med school. i know it's a longshot, but when you're hungry enough...

just thoughts...

 

[m ilk]

Thanks for the feedback. I guess it will all work out IF I get into medical school.

What an emotional trip this whole pre-med/med school process is!

 

[Faze2]

Check into work-study at your post bac institution, or just jobs at the school. (i.e. TA, Lab Tech, Tutor, RA, etc.) Most schools I know love hiring there own students, and the fact that you are post bac and have a degree, they love that, and it increases your pay. Check into it.

 

[gotmeds?]

As post-bacs I think many of us are in a dark hole where we cannot get federal aid (unless on 2nd bachelor status)......and even if we get financial aid we have to be "full time" or they taketh away. Thus, we defer to the private loan.

So, how much post-bac debt is too much?

It has cost me ~40k so far, but that is a number that continues to grow thanks to interest.

I am alone? Or is this what everyone (those who don't come from $$$$) has to go through? I understand that med school could require hundreds of thousands in loans.......but will I be able to even get a loan with this much behind me? I plan to apply apply in the spring, after taking out another high interest private loan to pay for the very last of my pre-med classes.

Thoughts please.

Well, I'm also $40K in debt after a post-bac program. I wasn't happy to take on that much debt, but I basically saw it as a gamble. I was betting that I would get into medical school. Trust me, the prospect of having to pay back all those loans without being a doctor is a great motivator to do well in your classes.

The gamble paid off way beyond my expectations. To make things even sweeter, the amount of money that I got in grants and scholarships is more than the amount of debt I took on to get here.

So my advice is to be realistic but also believe in yourself and take out whatever you need to get you through your classes and into med school. This is not something that can be done half-assed and trying to save money by taking on a reduced courseload to save money or spreading out your classes over several years so you can keep working full-time is a recipe for disaster.

 

[MediocreAtBest]

I am in my second year of a post-bac, and will have 90K in debt just from this program when I graduate in May. I have been thus far able to finance the whole thing with federal and state loans, (federal stafford and gradplus), which may have been easy to get because my program is linked to a medical school. However, particularly as a result of application fees, (and hopefully interview travel costs), I have taken on a work-study job.

I look to the future and recognize how many grants and scholarships are out there, but I am also looking (maybe a little prematurely) into loan forgiveness programs. There are some states who will offer loan forgiveness for staying in-state and practicing in certain specialties.

When my post-bac friends and I discuss why we're adding all this additional debt to get into med school, one always says that to achieve her dreams, money is not an issue... After borrowing 40K last year to take pre-reqs and bump my MCAT score up, I have to agree with her...

Good luck to you.

 

[postbacker]

I am in my second year of a post-bac (that offers a Masters, and the main reason I chose it), and will have 90K in debt just from this program when I graduate in May. I have been thus far able to finance the whole thing with federal and state loans, (federal stafford and gradplus), which may have been easy to get because my program is linked to a medical school. However, particularly as a result of application fees, (and hopefully interview travel costs), I have taken on a TA position and will be getting a work-study job next semester.

I look to the future and recognize how many grants and scholarships are out there, but I am also looking (maybe a little prematurely) into loan forgiveness programs. There are some states who will offer loan forgiveness for staying in-state and practicing in certain specialties.

When my post-bac friends and I discuss why we're adding all this additional debt to get into med school, one always says that to achieve her dreams, money is not an issue... After borrowing 40K last year to take pre-reqs and bump my MCAT score up 14 points, I have to agree with her...

Good luck to you.

The truth is that many post bacc folks will not achieve the dream and were probably ill advised to have undertaken the process in the first place...I firmly believe that with every other college getting into the "post bacc" business these days, there are more than a few of these colleges looking for revenue enhancement that may or may not be truly beneficial to the students that enroll in their programs...caveat emptor!

 

[Old Grunt]

As post-bacs I think many of us are in a dark hole where we cannot get federal aid (unless on 2nd bachelor status)......and even if we get financial aid we have to be "full time" or they taketh away. Thus, we defer to the private loan.

So, how much post-bac debt is too much?

It has cost me ~40k so far, but that is a number that continues to grow thanks to interest.

I am alone? Or is this what everyone (those who don't come from $$$$) has to go through? I understand that med school could require hundreds of thousands in loans.......but will I be able to even get a loan with this much behind me? I plan to apply apply in the spring, after taking out another high interest private loan to pay for the very last of my pre-med classes.

Thoughts please.

I realize that we are generally financially limited on where we can go to do the Post Bac stuff. However, for the people who are just starting/considering this route, do some research on different institutions.

A lot of schools offer the Pre-med courses through continuing studies programs for a much reduced rate.

My case in point: I took all my post bacc courses at Tulane for $250/credit hour through the school of continuing studies. I was in the same classes with the regular tuition paying folk I was just paying a lot less. The only stipulation is that you can't be a full time student. That's not really a problem considering that you have to take the courses in sequence. Also, past the general science, classes like Cell Bio and BioChem are at regular rates.

At any rate, I couldn't say enough good things about Tulane. They were great to me, even through the Hurricane.

Just saying, you don't have to pay the $$ to be in an official "Post-Bacc" program.

Hope that helps. Good luck.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

And lots of people really don't need to do an official postbacc. I along with lots of other people I knew took the extra prereqs that I needed at a local state university one to two classes at a time while working fulltime. Since the tuition was relatively cheap, I was able to pay it out of pocket.

I'm not saying official private postbaccs are necessarily bad things, but they aren't for everyone. There are certainly cheaper ways to do it, especially if you don't have to worry about bringing up past bad grades, etc..

As to the original question, $40k is not too much to go into school with.

 

[just thoughts]

with regard to formal vs. informal styles of post-bacc programs, i think that it comes down to what each person needs. it seems to me that a lot of what you're paying for with formal programs is advising, convenience, and more individualized attention. i'm all for that, but i also realize that some of us don't need that.

how badly do you want it? can you find a way to talk that professor into letting you into that already crowded class? since there may not be any TA's, what are ways that you can get additional support if you need it? study groups with other students, post-baccs, post on craigslist...? can you put the word out amongst the people that you know to see if they know anyone that might be willing to mentor or act as a knowledgeable advisor for a post-bacc student? what can you do to stand out in your class so that you can get a letter of recommendation from your profs when it's time?

those were just some of the things that i considered before i switched from a (more expensive) formal program to a (less expensive) informal one. as someone mentioned, this is a LOT easier when you're not trying to repair your GPA, but just get what you need.

just thoughts...

 

[Old Grunt]

with regard to formal vs. informal styles of post-bacc programs, i think that it comes down to what each person needs. it seems to me that a lot of what you're paying for with formal programs is advising, convenience, and more individualized attention. i'm all for that, but i also realize that some of us don't need that.

how badly do you want it? can you find a way to talk that professor into letting you into that already crowded class? since there may not be any TA's, what are ways that you can get additional support if you need it? study groups with other students, post-baccs, post on craigslist...? can you put the word out amongst the people that you know to see if they know anyone that might be willing to mentor or act as a knowledgeable advisor for a post-bacc student? what can you do to stand out in your class so that you can get a letter of recommendation from your profs when it's time?

those were just some of the things that i considered before i switched from a (more expensive) formal program to a (less expensive) informal one. as someone mentioned, this is a LOT easier when you you're not trying to repair your GPA, but just get what you need.

just thoughts...

That's a fair point. I never considered that people might need to raise their GPA.

My GPA wasn't steller, but it wasn't so bad that I needed to take a bunch of courses to raise it. I just needed the typical AMCAS/AMCOMAS pre-reqs. I knew I'd do fine in the classes once I had access to them.

 

[sweetpea13]

my friend you are not alone. i couldnt even get govt loans when i was taking fulltime classes because the public univ i went to is too full to admit second bach students (but not too full that i could get into their science classes and pay more than the ugrads). i may have been better off enrolling as a second deg student at a local private school since they would have offered me fed loans...the interest rates on my private loans are thru the roof.

As post-bacs I think many of us are in a dark hole where we cannot get federal aid (unless on 2nd bachelor status)......and even if we get financial aid we have to be "full time" or they taketh away. Thus, we defer to the private loan.

So, how much post-bac debt is too much?

It has cost me ~40k so far, but that is a number that continues to grow thanks to interest.

I am alone? Or is this what everyone (those who don't come from $$$$) has to go through? I understand that med school could require hundreds of thousands in loans.......but will I be able to even get a loan with this much behind me? I plan to apply apply in the spring, after taking out another high interest private loan to pay for the very last of my pre-med classes.

Thoughts please.

 

[saylorsdad]

I am a little over 40k right now in debt after undergrad and masters. I have been really concerned about how much I can take out while in med school and spoke to loan department about this and they confirmed what was previously posted on there is practically no limit to the amount they will loan a med student.
One side note is that after receiving a Masters degree you are no longer elgible for student loans for undergrad courses. This was a pretty big shocker to me and am now working an extra job to pay for my 7 hours a semester pre-req's. I personally think med school will be easier than taking classes, working two jobs, and raising a newborn "20 days old".

 

[kronickm]

I don't really understand.

I am in a formal post-bac certificate program that is part time and I get sub and un-sub stafford loans. Luckily I will only go into med school with 10.5K in debt from this but I work full time so I can pay the bills. Working full time and going to school sucks btw.