Savings Needed to Pay for Med School in Full?

[whirlie10]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hi all -- I've been working for a few years now after undergrad is a pretty well paying job and have been very frugal to save up as much as I can. This semester I'm taking the rest of the classes I need to apply for the upcoming cycle. I'll then have another year and a half during the application cycle to continue working and saving up.

Hypothetically, with all of the costs associated with medical school, how much would one have to come into school with to graduate without debt? How much to graduate with a 'comfortable' (<$50,000) amount of debt?

I understand that need-based financial aid could change the numbers, but I am assuming that anyone coming into med school with a good amount of savings won't be able to get much of that. Any ballpark 'goal' number for me would be good to know, even if it's impossible for me to get to that point before matriculating.

 

[MusicDOc124]

Go to the various med schools' websites to which you'd be applying and look at the cost of attendance. Count all 4 years, add like $10k to buffer increases in tuition, and that's your minimum for no debt.

It's going to be different for every school due to differences in tuition, fees, cost of living/location, etc.

 

[sunshinefl]

Huge variety in tuition and fees, as well as cost of living. For my school you would need $400,000 probably to take zero loans. The in-state annual COA is currently $96,000.

 

[whirlie10]

Huge variety in tuition and fees, as well as cost of living. For my school you would need $400,000 probably to take zero loans. The in-state annual COA is currently $96,000.

Oh wow, definitely didn't realize it went up to that level. I was thinking around $200,000 on average, and while I couldn't save up that much beforehand I could maybe get to $100-$150k before matriculating.

 

[theITcrowd]

Huge variety in tuition and fees, as well as cost of living. For my school you would need $400,000 probably to take zero loans. The in-state annual COA is currently $96,000.

And people wonder why there's a shortage of primary care docs 🙄

 

[sunshinefl]

And people wonder why there's a shortage of primary care docs 🙄

I don’t wonder anymore. (But also still didn’t rule out IM PCP)

 

[Shotapp]

Oh wow, definitely didn't realize it went up to that level. I was thinking around $200,000 on average, and while I couldn't save up that much beforehand I could maybe get to $100-$150k before matriculating.

Become a resident of Texas, apply, and maybe your savings will be enough.

 

[RNthenDoc]

My school would be all-in for about a quarter million IIRC.

I got some small scholarship monies, but I understand such things are rare.

 

[chooks]

I paid for 1/2 of med school out of pocket and while maintaining a part time job for M1 and M2 years. Definitely glad to have student loan payment less than my mortgage now. Any little bit helps and you could probably do something like defer for an additional year or something to get some extra cash in the bank, but that also means you are one year farther away from being where you want to be.

All the "need-based" financial aid that I could determine was 100% loans. You can chip away by internal scholarships and some external ones (there were some very easy $1000 scholarships around that essentially just took an application form and short essay) but every little bit helps. Live frugally and within your means, and it will pay off in the long run.