Student Loans vs. Working?

[jamjam]

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I posted this in the Financial Aid forum but I think Non-Trad would be more helpful.

Here's the deal... I've transferred to the local university and I'm currently 3 credit hours shy of Sophmore status. My freshman year was spent at a community college in another state and I worked 40-60 hours a week while taking a full-time course load, so that isn't a problem for me.

I spent nearly 3 months unemployed when I moved back to my home state, and I hated not having a job. However, I'm now working an 8-5 and my advisor is worried that I won't be able to finish my undergrad degree in a reasonable amount of time because there are very few evening options (or none at all) for some of the required courses. As much as I hate not having a job, I want to put my education first so I have a better chance of getting into medical school.

However, because the fafsa is filled out using my previous year's income, I didn't get much at all in loans because I was making a decent amount of money and I was married.

How viable is it to get enough student loans to pay tuition/fees/housing, etc? I'll continue to work full-time this school year but I'd like to be able to focus on my grades/EC starting next fall, and hopefully only work part-time. Is that even possible without getting a private loan?

 

[DrMidlife]

However, because the fafsa is filled out using my previous year's income, I didn't get much at all in loans because I was making a decent amount of money and I was married.

Federal loans aren't need-based. You may get better interest repayment terms if you demonstrate need, but the amount you can borrow isn't based on previous year income. Your reported income should have no impact, positive or negative, on your ability to borrow federal loans. If you visit the financial aid office at your school, you should still be able to get federal loans for the school year that's about to start.

Don't get private loans, unless you can pay them off before you start med school.

How viable is it to get enough student loans to pay tuition/fees/housing, etc? I'll continue to work full-time this school year but I'd like to be able to focus on my grades/EC starting next fall, and hopefully only work part-time. Is that even possible without getting a private loan?

Federal Stafford loan limits for independent undergrads, from finaid.org:
$9500/yr freshman
$10500/yr sophomore
$12500/yr junior & beyond

You can borrow up to cost of attendance using PLUS loans, which have less favorable interest rates. For undergrads these are considered parent loans.

Get the financial aid office to advise you on what you should be doing to get PLUS loans in addition to Staffords.

Best of luck to you.

 

[yankswin2011]

"As much as I hate not having a job, I want to put my education first so I have a better chance of getting into medical school."

I agree with your decision -- if you end up bombing your courses because you didn't have enough time to study, then you can pretty much kiss your Dream goodbye. You should focus on your courses now and the MCATs and if everything goes well, then you can get another job during the time period between your last course/MCAT and the start of medical school, which I'm guessing is a good solid year.

 

[isoquin]

it's going to cost you much more in the long run if you try to make some part time money and stall on coursework. medicine is risk and sacrifice, unfortunately.

 

[Lefty Doodle]

Yeah I agree with trying not to work, or doing so maybe 10 hours per week. When I went back for my post-bacc I tried to live on loans, but what my school considered to be the cost of attendance was not enough to survive on (and my rent was only $300 a month!!), so I worked a bit, used some savings, and my parents chipped in as well. But, yeah, I never worked much in my undergrad either, and the pre-med stuff is hard to balance with work especially because of the constant exams, lab reports, etc.

 

[jsp132]

day courses would cost me about 730 a credit hour while night classes would take me 485 a credit hour

also, if I do go fulltime, it would cost me 16000 each semester, for about a total of 48000 if I do go fulltime

I would get a scholarship of about 7000 a year but then my cost would be only down to 32000 versus if I went part time and paid about 23-24000 for my total schooling

plus if I took out the cost of living.........since my rent is about 535 plus all the other miscellaneous costs ..........i'd think it was safer for me to go part time to cover the living costs and try to go part time for now to finish my degree

there's no guarantee that you will get into medical school either.

 

[yankswin2011]

there's no guarantee that you will get into medical school either.

True, but you can control that uncertainty as much as you can. Your odds of getting into medical school is MUCH BETTER with a HIGH MCAT and HIGH GPA -- there's no way around this. Another words, the higher the MCAT and GPA, the less uncertainty there is. Obviously, it's not just MCAT and GPA but to even get an interview, your MCAT/GPA needs to be on par with your competition.

Bottom-line: Is it worth saving $500-1000 bucks, but feeling tired all the time trying to study dense material while your competition has been studying all day -- I'm not saying that studying all day means that they will get a better grade but GENERALLY SPEAKING -- you get what you put into it. But if you're gifted (someone who picks up things quickly without much studying), then this part-time thing might work for you.

Lose the small battles (i.e. battles = loss the income) but win the war (war = getting into med. school). Long term thinking.