Taking out money during semester with a private loan

[kj8210]

Hey guys so the question I have is more of a financial one. I'm currently paying for medical school with a private loan from Sallie Mae but when I first accepted it, I didn't take out much more than the cost of tuition. However, now I'm starting to realize that I might need more than I thought and I was wondering what that process was like? Is it a simple process? I'm going to speak with my financial aid ad visor this week but I was hoping to get some input from anyone that has been through the process. Thanks!

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[Crayola227]

um, you need money to live on.....

 

[Crayola227]

taking out cost of attendence, which is tuition plus living expenses,

isn't going to cover any major purchases

you need to figure out if the "cost of attendence" covers
-any car or other transportation expenses like bus pass (typically not, sometimes you can get a loan for car repair, but purchase is often separate)
-any tech like a computer, ipad, phone, etc, (school aid allows you to add in a one time amount for computer purchase, some schools provide some of this tech or include the cost in COA)
-sometimes the book amount estimated by your school is way too low for the books you actually need
-to my knowledge the USMLE test fees are not covered, certainly the question banks are not, and travel for Step 2 CS is most certainly not
-when you interview 4th year for residency positions, this is NOT factored into COA
-when you move for residency, first month/last month/security deposit, and any expenses to live on until your first residency paycheck (which can take a few weeks or a month to get)
-don't forget health insurance or out of pocket med expenses, for residency
-suit for interviews, suitcase, etc travel stuff