Support group for those about to go $200,000+ in debt

[bobbo]

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I feel like I need one, so post here if you are in the same boat as me. Whatever calculation they use to determine aid, says my parents should foot the entire bill for my med school, which they are not (they already payed for my undergrad, they're not giving me anything for this) ...so I am going to have to borrow upwards near $220,000 to pay for school. How is this fair? Everyone who goes to med school will have about the same earning potential, yet some people will graduate with zero debt and others will start in a major hole.

Okay, so I just need to know that there are other people in my situation and how they deal with it. Or else we can all vent our anger at the system.

 

[g3pro]

For those whose parents will not contribute to med school tuition: ask them if it is OK for you to borrow money from them. What is better, borrowing from 3rd party sources or borrowing from your parents?

I'm lucky that I don't have a**hole parents not willing to help out a dime to help pay for tuition. Of course, I'll pay them back in the distant future.

 

[DrMom]

Life's not fair. The vast majority of those in med school graduate with significant debt.

 

[liverotcod]

I feel your pain. My current salary is going to kill my financial aid, so when I give up my job to attend med school it's going to be loan city. Although my spouse will be returning to work, her income will be much lower than mine, so we're going to have to take a major step backward in the normal earnings progression. On the plus side, we're not doing it because of layoffs, prison terms or disabling accidents or illnesses, but because we choose to.

 

[adamj61]

What if your parents are not able to pay? You are stuck with loans either way...unless you get scholarships, but that all depends on the entering class. I will be about 250 g's in debt...that is for sure

 

[meanderson]

I feel like I need one, so post here if you are in the same boat as me. Whatever calculation they use to determine aid, says my parents should foot the entire bill for my med school, which they are not (they already payed for my undergrad, they're not giving me anything for this) ...so I am going to have to borrow upwards near $220,000 to pay for school. How is this fair? Everyone who goes to med school will have about the same earning potential, yet some people will graduate with zero debt and others will start in a major hole.

Okay, so I just need to know that there are other people in my situation and how they deal with it. Or else we can all vent our anger at the system.

You aren't looking at it the right way. You either didn't get in to one of your state's public schools or chose not to go their because of prestige factors, geography, etc. So let's only choose to look at the average debt levels of private/out of state schools. The average debt for the class that graduated in 2002 from private schools was ~120,000. Factoring in the rising costs of medical school for the class of 2008(SIX years worth of rising costs), the average private school debt will likely be 150-155k or so for your class.

That means after taking out the HSTP and MSTP students, the students with wealthy parents willing to give their kids 50k a year, and the students who are truly talented and were awarded big merit scholarships, things came out pretty fair for you. I know plenty of people with middle/lower income parents who didn't get any $$ either. Many schools really don't care how much money your parents make.

 

[skiz knot]

I feel like I need one, so post here if you are in the same boat as me. Whatever calculation they use to determine aid, says my parents should foot the entire bill for my med school, which they are not (they already payed for my undergrad, they're not giving me anything for this) ...so I am going to have to borrow upwards near $220,000 to pay for school. How is this fair? Everyone who goes to med school will have about the same earning potential, yet some people will graduate with zero debt and others will start in a major hole.

Okay, so I just need to know that there are other people in my situation and how they deal with it. Or else we can all vent our anger at the system.

Your priorities in life are f'd up, man.

Oh boo hoo, for you. You have to take out loans to pay for the PRIVELEDGE to attend medical school, and have one of the highest average salaries of any profession.

The calculation that is used by your medical school that says your parents are expected to pay for everything, is a calculation that determines your eligibility for NEED-BASED aid. You already have had your undergraduate education paid for. You don't NEED ****. It is not as if you can't attend school because you can't get loans. You are just bitching that mommy and daddy won't pay for you to get an education while you receive a valuable education. I'm sorry that graduating with 200k in debt will delay buying that place in the Hamptons for a few years.

It sure isn't "fair" that I had to borrow money to pay to go to a state school, because my mother and father didn't even graduate high school. It sure isn't "fair" that I had to give up intercollegiate athletics and work 30 hours a week during college so I could pay rent and eat. It sure isn't "fair that I have to borrow even more money so I can get an education that will allow me to work in a well respected profession, doing a job that I will love, while bettering my financial situation in life. You don't see all the people in situations like mine starting threads to bitch about it.

Get a grip.

 

[Rugger81]

meow.

 

[prmd4555]

Some schools are much better than others.
1 school gave me zip in terms of financial aid for their 230,00+ tuition over 4 years.

Other private schools,which were cheaper to begin with, (even more prestigious than the aforemetioned) gave me 25000 or 80000 in grants (the 25,000 need based, 70,000 merit based, respectively.
Evaluate your aid packages, some school are awful others are much better.

Also ask you parents about taking out a home equity loan. Talk to relatives, search the web for scholarships.
Remember a little debt isn't a bad thing, it increases your purchasing power, and you can write off the debt for taxes. Also education, especially in an education as rewarding as medicine, is a good investment.

If you want to be a radiologist, don't fear. If you want to do primary care look into the health services corp scholarships and no interest loans.

 

[fourthyear]

Here's your future - I just finished intern year. All through school I had no idea what my payments would end up being, so I thought I'd inform you all who are about to sign up for it.

I've consolidated my total med school debt of $190,000 (for 4 years of private med school minus some living expenses b/c my spouse worked while I was in school, although we didn't skimp as much as we could on lifestyle or I might have slightly less debt). We have the lowest interest rates ever and I did the 30-year consolidation.

I chose to pay a graduated scale, so that I began repayment 6 months out of med school at a lower rate for the first 4 years, then I pay the same level from then on - this is $400/month the 1st 4 years, then $800/month for the next 26 years. You can deffer during residency if you want, based on your own income, not your spouses, and most residents do qualify for this defferment if they borrow enough (based on debt to income ratio) but I decided to just start paying it since we could afford to with 2 incomes and no kids yet. Of course you can pay back in les than 30 years, but with the interest rates lower than any house, car, or credit card rate, why would you? So I'm stuck with these monthly payments till I'm almost 60 years old. So that's a few thousand a year I can't spend on an extra vacation or car, but I think I'll live comfortably enough anyway.

Now, that said, I am enjoying my surgery residency, happier with my job than many of my other friends who started working in other fields earning good income while I was still in med school. You make sacrifices to do what you want to do. I know that I will be very unlikely to ever face unemployment - physicians are one of the very few whose jobs have such security. Yes, our income will probably continue to shrink over the years, but we'll all still have jobs, which is more than almost any other line of work can guarantee these days. Taking out these loans could be the best investment you could make.

By the way, as someone a bit more mature than most of you, I think those who have to pay back their med school debt appreciate it a bit more than those fortunate enough/spoiled enough for their parents to pay for it. We're all lucky enough our parents got us this far in education (just by emotional support if not financial) and we should thank them for that and not expect them to cough up $200 K so we can follow our dreams. At some point you need to become a grown up and start taking care of yourself.

 

[HollyJ]

Yeah, I'm pretty pissed that I don't have a trust fund, too.

 

[bobbo]

Couple things...I was in no way complaining that my parents won't pay for my med school. I am very appreciative of everything they have done for me, but as fourthyear said, I'm ready to grow up and take care of myself. It's not that they have refused, its that at this point they can't and even if they were able to pay, I wouldn't want them to. With that said, since any medical student will be able to get loans and all doctors financially secure enough to be able to pay off those loans, why should there even be need-based aid for med school? The system should probably expect parents to pay for undergraduate education, but why expect them to pay for graduate? I've been out of school and independent for a couple years, yet they're still supposed to take care of me?

Skiznot, you're right, I know I am privleged in a lot of ways and I have a lot of respect for people like yourself who had to work their way through college. Maybe I do need to get a grip, but just the sound of it is scary - $200,000 is a hell of a lot of money and paying off loans until I'm 55 is in a lot of ways even more scary. I guess I just needed to hear from others that I'm not alone and that its not a really big deal. Thanks to most of you for your perspectives.

 

[superdevil]

i really love it when people preface a statement like this:

By the way, as someone a bit more mature than most of you

man, that really gets me off. uh-oh, i have the feeling that i'm about to be enlightened......wait a minute, here it comes.....

I think those who have to pay back their med school debt appreciate it a bit more than those fortunate enough/spoiled enough for their parents to pay for it

really? and how would you know? is this always the case? if not, is it even worth mentioning? how about an over-acheiver savoring the fruits of their labor---like a scholarship? does he or she not appreciate it as much?
😕

 

[MNgrrl]

bobbo-

I hear ya! While I recognize the good and logical points that many of the posters made, I think this is more about sticker shock than anything else. My debt will be about $170K and the thought of it sort of makes me cringe. But if you think about your earning potential as a future physician, it doesn't seem quite as bad...

 

[Marvin O'Connor]

I'm pretty pumped that my Mom is retired with no income and my dad is a student for the next year. That should bode well for my financial aid situation. So, the motto is, it pays to have poor parents.

NOTE: If your parents have the capacity to loan you some cash for med school and want do it, that is messed up.

 

[JohnnieBlue]

I like to look at this thing as how many Lexuses (Lexi?) in debt I'm about to go. I see it as 3 LS430's and an ES330. Thats a lot of horsepower.

 

[g3pro]

LOL.

NOTE: If your parents have the capacity to loan you some cash for med school and won't do it, that is messed up.

Exactly.

 

[DieselPetrolGrl]

Your priorities in life are f'd up, man.

Oh boo hoo, for you. You have to take out loans to pay for the PRIVELEDGE to attend medical school, and have one of the highest average salaries of any profession.

The calculation that is used by your medical school that says your parents are expected to pay for everything, is a calculation that determines your eligibility for NEED-BASED aid. You already have had your undergraduate education paid for. You don't NEED ****. It is not as if you can't attend school because you can't get loans. You are just bitching that mommy and daddy won't pay for you to get an education while you receive a valuable education. I'm sorry that graduating with 200k in debt will delay buying that place in the Hamptons for a few years.

It sure isn't "fair" that I had to borrow money to pay to go to a state school, because my mother and father didn't even graduate high school. It sure isn't "fair" that I had to give up intercollegiate athletics and work 30 hours a week during college so I could pay rent and eat. It sure isn't "fair that I have to borrow even more money so I can get an education that will allow me to work in a well respected profession, doing a job that I will love, while bettering my financial situation in life. You don't see all the people in situations like mine starting threads to bitch about it.

Get a grip.

wow ur mean-ish...but im to scared to tell u that .. * runs back under the bed and says a prayer for the OP*

 

[Twitch]

NOTE: If your parents have the capacity to loan you some cash for med school and won't do it, that is messed up.

I'd say it depends on what their opportunity cost of capital is. That is they'd earn a higher return on their investment elsewhere considering their kid can get a loan for what is the lowest interest rate in 39 years on a student loan.

Not all debt is bad - where you can get an interest rate of 2.77% is an awesome good rate to be in debt. Financial instititions would go ga-ga if they could round up capital at these low rates - heck just read what United is going through.

Plus you can write off the interest you pay in taxes (when you finally start making some mollah). Some things to consider is that your repayment rate is typically slightly higher than your deferment rate is (by half or 3/4 a percentage point or so). Additionally, interest rates are probably going to go up but even if they do they inch their way up. If historical trends are an indication, it'll be awhile before it maxes out at 8.25% (approx).

Historically, index funds will return an average of just about 8%. I couldn't ask my folks for money considering the interest rates are so low and they have a much higher NPV elsewhere. However, if things were different, e.g. the student loan rates were hovering around the max, it'd be a different story.

 

[Whisker Barrel Cortex]

I'd say it depends on what their opportunity cost of capital is. That is they'd earn a higher return on their investment elsewhere considering their kid can get a loan for what is the lowest interest rate in 39 years on a student loan.

Not all debt is bad - where you can get an interest rate of 2.77% is an awesome good rate to be in debt. Financial instititions would go ga-ga if they could round up capital at these low rates - heck just read what United is going through.

Plus you can write off the interest you pay in taxes (when you finally start making some mollah). Some things to consider is that your repayment rate is typically slightly higher than your deferment rate is (by half or 3/4 a percentage point or so). Additionally, interest rates are probably going to go up but even if they do they inch their way up. If historical trends are an indication, it'll be awhile before it maxes out at 8.25% (approx).

Historically, index funds will return an average of just about 8%. I couldn't ask my folks for money considering the interest rates are so low and they have a much higher NPV elsewhere. However, if things were different, e.g. the student loan rates were hovering around the max, it'd be a different story.

Yeah, I am so happy I waited to consolidate. I now have 2.77 rate on my 190+ thousand in loans. With electronic payment, that falls by 0.25%. With 3 years of on time payments (shouldn't be hard with electronic payment), I get another 1% off. That means my loans will be at 1.77% 3 years out of residency. Can't beat that.

A couple of things. You can defer for 3 years in residency (economic hardship) if you have enough loans. For most residents salaries that is around 80-100K. If you can't defer, you can forbear, which means interest builds up on the subsidized stafford loans. I plan on forbearing until out of residency and fellowship.

Second, you cannot deduct your interest on loans from your income if your income is over a certain level. I believe it is around 80K. So pretty much no full time doctor will be able to do so.

 

[Brickhouse]

I understand the OP's point too - I don't think he meant to turn this into a war of the haves v. have-nots...

There's a certain discomfort in knowing you're never truly free of debt. I'm not complaining, I'm just thinking that 200K is a lot of money to not have when you're expected to have it. My debt will be slightly higher, as I will continue getting my weekly mani-pedi's and daily 10$ lattes from Starbucks. I'm gonna be the Elle Woods of med school F-ers, so look out!

 

[inshanesworld]

I could not agree more with Y_Marker and MNgrrl. I think that you are having a freak because you have never been in debt for anything before. Believe me when I was signing the paperwork on my first house I practically crapped my pants at the thought of the high number. Now? 200,000 schmauzin... 😎

I have never know a doc that did not have the ability to pay off all of their debts within 5yrs of residency. Granted I think that is not a wise move...as the point made by Y-Marker...anyone will tell you that student loans (esp. the staffords) are like free money. No matter what that interest rate does you can guarentee that it will be lower than the rate you could make on investment. This means, if instead of putting in extra money to pay it off I invest it in something that is earning 2% more, I am making money. So get a MD and get a financial advisor.

Last point from my grandfather...He ask me if it ever was that I lived my whole life and was still in debt because of my choice to be a doctor would it all still be worth it to me?

My answer ... Hell yes!! money may come and go but I will never regret the path I have chosen for my life.

Hang in there 🙂

 

[lorelei]

I'm glad I read this thread today.

The idea of being in debt freaks me out - you should see me with my car loan, every month I check my bank balance and see how much extra I can put toward the principal, and if I can't pay twice the required payment I feel bad. (And my idea of "can't" is a bit different from most people's; I also freak if my bank balance goes below a certain number, and that number has four digits.)

Basically I have huge money issues, so I worry about med school debt quite a bit, even though I know, as people have said, it's not going to be a hardship to pay it off.

But I'm working on looking at it differently - student loans are an investment, nothing like being $10k in credit card debt while working at McDonald's. If I remind myself that it's a totally different, responsible kind of debt, it feels better.

Also, my parents are not going to be able to pay all my costs, but might be able to pay my rent and groceries, or something along those lines. Taking even that much money from my parents is tough for me, but I think if we set it up as a loan it'll feel better. (Even though, of course, if they end up needing long-term care or whatever I'd provide whatever they need regardless, and once they're gone all the money will come back to my siblings and me anyway.)

Remind me of this post next time I start thinking about joining the Army.

 

[Hosehead]

Don't worry about debt, most people are in the same boat especially if you go to a public school. Worrying will only get you ulcurs and grey hair. The money will eventually come and then you can deal with being 200K in the hole.

 

[Gleevec]

I think the name of the support group you're looking for is "Almost Every Graduate of a Private Medical School"

 

[nina512]

Don't worry you are not alone...It is normal to for people who choose to attend professional schools to graduate +100k in debt.

Many of us still have loans from undgrad, which gets tacked on to the total debt from med school.

If medicine is what you want, there will always be a way to find the funds to achieve your goal.

I know it's easier said than done, but here's an example told to me by an senior investment banker at PWC regarding med school debt...

Since interest rates are so low, you aren't pressed to pay off the debt as quickly. However, people make the common mistake of spending all of what they earn and the key to paying off school loans is to live below your means. For example, if you're making 80k/year, live on 40k and use the rest to pay off your debt (I know, this might not work as well in expensive cities like SF and NYC). Med school is an investment that will pay off, as long as you don't spend every penny of your 6-figure salary on stuff you "need." I guess his main point is to at have a plan to pay things off and stick to it.

And yes...it's always easier said than done...
You're going to be doing the job you love, isn't it worth every penny to enjoy your chosen profession since you spend most of your life working?

 

[elephino]

Had to reply, because this hits home for me.
I was never so priviledged to have money growing up, therefore the federal government hooked me up to go to undergrad school. There wasn't a penny saved for me to go to college much less med school. I am all the better for it. Being in debt and having financial responsibility is a MAJOR life lesson that ought to be learned. Medical school is your decision, not your parents. It is to your benefit to really contemplate such a decision and the impact it has on your own financial security before you dive in. I know a guy who dropped out after 2 years at one of the most expensive schools. . . (~37000/yr.) of course mommy and daddy were footing the bill as well as his living expensive--the lesson he learned was to go back and live with mommy and daddy and complain some more about how they won't fund his next venture. Give me a break. You must be more mature that this to be a doctor.

 

[WatchingWaiting]

One of the big screw-jobs of the college/med school thing is being in the "upper-middle" class. If you are from a poor background, you can get 2/3 or so of your med school paid for through need-based grants/scholarships and roughly 1/3 with loans. If you are from a rich family, you can count on the parents to pay. But, there is an unfortunate group whose parents are wealthy enough that the school determines that the parents should be able to pay a decent chunk of the student's expenses, but who don't, and who then end up having to take out loans for the entire amount of med school. You just have to suck it up.

There really isn't any perfect solution, since you can't have the 20% or so of students from affluent backgrounds bankrolling the 80% of students with poorer and upper middle class parents. The existing system of 20% getting paid by the parents, 30% with loans entirely, and 50% with some combination of loans and grants and parental contribution is about as equitable as is realistically doable.

 

[ms2209]

One of the big screw-jobs of the college/med school thing is being in the "upper-middle" class. If you are from a poor background, you can get 2/3 or so of your med school paid for through need-based grants/scholarships and roughly 1/3 with loans. If you are from a rich family, you can count on the parents to pay. But, there is an unfortunate group whose parents are wealthy enough that the school determines that the parents should be able to pay a decent chunk of the student's expenses, but who don't, and who then end up having to take out loans for the entire amount of med school. You just have to suck it up.

AMEN to that! It sucks to be "upper-middle" class when you're trying to get reasonable financial aid...ah well, you really do have to just suck it up and move on 😡 .

 

[Indebt4Life]

I need support. I am so broke. Hence, my username. If there was a nice bright light at the end of the 4 yr tunnel, I don't think I would mind as much. But we will be making 30K (worse than a teacher's salary in some states) and working ~80 hrs/wk. Meanwhile, the interest rate on the loans is accumulating. Arrh!

 

[Ames980]

though, honestly, we'll all be in the same boat! it has to work out somehow! yes, i'll be paying back loans until im in my 60s [which will be upwards of 300K with my undergrad loans added in] but because we'll be paying them out for so long, its going to be do-able. 🙂 im sure that come finals of the first year im going to be wondering why im paying to be so stressed out.... but if thats the worst outcome of getting to go to med school, ill take it!

 

[Rugger81]

I need support. I am so broke. Hence, my username. If there was a nice bright light at the end of the 4 yr tunnel, I don't think I would mind as much. But we will be making 30K (worse than a teacher's salary in some states) and working ~80 hrs/wk. Meanwhile, the interest rate on the loans is accumulating. Arrh!

yeah, but after you finish your residency you will be working in one of the highest paid career fields on the planet. don't stress. if the $$ thing was so bad, you wouldn't see so many people banging down the door to get into med school.

 

[liverotcod]

If I had two cents for every time someone offered me their $.02, I could afford medical school.

I don't have an excuse for that one. Sorry.

 

[akpete]

Okay, I'm a little worried. Does your parents' info HAVE to go onto the forms for applying for financial aid for med school? My father REFUSED to file the FAFSA for undergrad; therefore, I've had to work through school and have about $5000 credit card debt right now (and that's before I've hit submit on AMCAS, had to apply for a new card for that). Is there any way I can get out of putting my parents' info in? I won't get much cooperation, plus my parents are going through a nasty divorce right now, so that doesn't help much.

So what happens if my dad refuses? Will I not get aid?

 

[DrMom]

Most schools don't require parent's info. Check with the fin aid ofc.

 

[Swiper]

In order to be eligible for my school's aid, FAFSA parental info was required. I could get federal loans without that information, but not any grants or scholarships provided by or through the school. Hopefully my school is the exception and not the rule, I was pretty annoyed with having to ask my parents for this after several years of independence.

 

[meanderson]

With that said, since any medical student will be able to get loans and all doctors financially secure enough to be able to pay off those loans, why should there even be need-based aid for med school? The system should probably expect parents to pay for undergraduate education, but why expect them to pay for graduate?

There is a small amount of need-based aid, but it varies depending on the school. At most medical schools, need-based aid comes virtually all in the form of loans. Sure, there are exceptions, but these are mainly top schools(Stanford, Hopkins, etc) where the need based aid is very generous.

If you are under the assumption that working class students going to most schools are getting lots of need based grant money, you're under the wrong assumption.

 

[DW]

One of the big screw-jobs of the college/med school thing is being in the "upper-middle" class. If you are from a poor background, you can get 2/3 or so of your med school paid for through need-based grants/scholarships and roughly 1/3 with loans. If you are from a rich family, you can count on the parents to pay. But, there is an unfortunate group whose parents are wealthy enough that the school determines that the parents should be able to pay a decent chunk of the student's expenses, but who don't, and who then end up having to take out loans for the entire amount of med school. You just have to suck it up.

There really isn't any perfect solution, since you can't have the 20% or so of students from affluent backgrounds bankrolling the 80% of students with poorer and upper middle class parents. The existing system of 20% getting paid by the parents, 30% with loans entirely, and 50% with some combination of loans and grants and parental contribution is about as equitable as is realistically doable.

I think you're exaggerating the contribution of need based grants and scholarships in MEDICAL school. With undergraduate institutions they may have the money and the desire to give out ~2/3 of free money to "poor" kids, but if you think this generally applies to medical schools thats pretty far off base. The med school that I attend fortunately has veeeeeery deep pockets and we can generously dole out financial aid grants like you have suggested here (hell, even kids I know whose parents are docs and other upper middle class jobs are for some reason or another getting 10-20K a year grants), but we are definitely an EXCEPTION, not the rule. Most middle tier private med schools don't give as much need based free money as colleges do, reason being in part that they fully expect you to be able to afford the costs of a medical education in the future. Plenty of people at private med schools who are in the same income bracket as I (i.e. broke as a joke) are getting not even a dime in scholarship/grant money to finance their medical education.

debt sux, but if you're going to med school, get used to it.

 

[WatchingWaiting]

I think you're exaggerating the contribution of need based grants and scholarships in MEDICAL school. With undergraduate institutions they may have the money and the desire to give out ~2/3 of free money to "poor" kids, but if you think this generally applies to medical schools thats pretty far off base. The med school that I attend fortunately has veeeeeery deep pockets and we can generously dole out financial aid grants like you have suggested here (hell, even kids I know whose parents are docs and other upper middle class jobs are for some reason or another getting 10-20K a year grants), but we are definitely an EXCEPTION, not the rule. Most middle tier private med schools don't give as much need based free money as colleges do, reason being in part that they fully expect you to be able to afford the costs of a medical education in the future. Plenty of people at private med schools who are in the same income bracket as I (i.e. broke as a joke) are getting not even a dime in scholarship/grant money to finance their medical education.

Well, I happen to be in medical school, so you're a bit off-base on that one. You may or may not be correct about mid-tier med schools and their financial aid packages not being very generous, but I do know that Stanford, Yale, and most of the Cali medical schools have quite generous grant packages if you are from a not-well-off background, with that 2/3 of total cost of attendance figure being fairly accurate (for the California state schools, I include the, admittedly shrinking, state subsidy in the form of lower fees in saying that 2/3 of the cost of attendance can get subsidized if your parents are sufficiently non-affluent).

Perhaps, more accurately, I should have said, of top-20 med schools and the Cali state schools, the expectation is that you shouldn't have to take more than $15-20K in loans above and beyond what your expected parental contribution is.

 

[mshheaddoc]

Okay, I'm a little worried. Does your parents' info HAVE to go onto the forms for applying for financial aid for med school? My father REFUSED to file the FAFSA for undergrad; therefore, I've had to work through school and have about $5000 credit card debt right now (and that's before I've hit submit on AMCAS, had to apply for a new card for that). Is there any way I can get out of putting my parents' info in? I won't get much cooperation, plus my parents are going through a nasty divorce right now, so that doesn't help much.

So what happens if my dad refuses? Will I not get aid?

Do they still claim you as a dependant? That is what it all depends on I'm pretty sure. I started filing two years ago independant from my parents so now everything is based on my salary. I am completely indepedant from them and about to go into about $70K in debt for loans (before i even get IN to med school). YAY! But you know what, wouldn't have it any other way. Its all on me and I'm glad I learned the value of money by earning it myself!!!

 

[Mr Reddly]

My debt will be slightly higher, as I will continue getting my weekly mani-pedi's and daily 10$ lattes from Starbucks. I'm gonna be the Elle Woods of med school F-ers, so look out!

Thanks brick! I needed that
BTW, no love for the elf anymore? 😕

 

[Swiper]

Do they still claim you as a dependant? That is what it all depends on I'm pretty sure. I started filing two years ago independant from my parents so now everything is based on my salary. I am completely indepedant from them and about to go into about $70K in debt for loans (before i even get IN to med school). YAY! But you know what, wouldn't have it any other way. Its all on me and I'm glad I learned the value of money by earning it myself!!!

This is exactly what I thought, but as it turns out I couldn't get any of my school's money without parental info. Federal money - yes, but school grants and scholarships - no. I haven't been claimed by my parents in over five years. Again, it depends on the school.

 

[45408]

I don't see how your parents are obligated for any of this, and I don't see why you'll be so far in debt. I might have to take out a loan for one or two semesters of undergrad, but only because I've paid for all of the other ones out of pocket, with money I earned by working every summer since junior high.

 

[Fumoffu]

I guess I'm in the same boat.

 

[samurai_lincoln]

I don't see how your parents are obligated for any of this, and I don't see why you'll be so far in debt. I might have to take out a loan for one or two semesters of undergrad, but only because I've paid for all of the other ones out of pocket, with money I earned by working every summer since junior high.

Private/Nonres. med school tuition is around $35k per year = $140k total
Living expenses in a city like Boston, SF, NYC at least $20k per year (and that is very low) = $80k for four years
Bam, there is your $220k debt

Unlike undergrad, your summers are essentially gone thanks to boards. If you are lucky enough to get into your own state school, this changes the calculus dramatically, but not everyone is in that boat, and it is still pretty easy to ring up six figures even then.