TOURO financial aid and budgeting

[Aisujin]

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I was wondering if any TOURO students could help me on some financial issues. I will be attending TOURO in '06 and would like to prep beforehand. I currently work and reside in Boston, MA, so a cross country trips seems to be in my future. My parents say they will help with the living expenses during medical school (and have talked about buying a condo in the area) but they are not going to pay for my tuition. 🙁

The questions:
Do you have any scholarships?
How did you go about discovering these?
How are you paying for medical school?
What kinda of monthly living expenses should I expect if I want to live in Benicia or the surrounding area?
How much do you spend on books and schools supplies?
How is your commute? What is your average daily schedule?

Thank you
Tom

 

[DrB]

Hi Tom, I hope I can answer a few of your questions...

I am not sure if you are going to attend NV or CA Touro, but I will at least explain things for TUN.

A few of my classmates take part in the military HPSP scholarship program; they get most things paid for by the government. I think they’re a few other scholarship programs out there, but I did not participate in any of them (reasons for another post). For the rest of us who did not have a scholarship we rely on savings, family and/or loans. You will be entitled to all the money you need (based on the school budget) through various lenders. I will refer you to the financial aid board for more info on how that works.

The budget this year gives me about 1700/month for living expenses (based on a 12/month calculation... if you plan to work in the summer then you can increase this budget). Rent in the area is from $760-900 for a one bedroom apt, but many people share a two bedroom. We have apartment complexes within walking distance from school... I ride my bike from my apartment.

The best advice I can give you is to keep track of your spending now and practice living within a tight budget. See how much you spend on your basic things (food/gas/ins/clothes/etc). Buy a good budget program like Quicken, to get your finances organized.

Another thing you can do, is to start networking with your future classmates. Last year we had a private online forum at Google where we could chat and help each other out. We planed pre-class trips to the area to meet each other and to find housing.

You are lucky to have a long time before school starts, but don't put off planning for your future now. Congrats and welcome to the Touro Family.

-B

If you need additional info, send me a PM

 

[bth7]

The questions:
1. Do you have any scholarships?
2. How did you go about discovering these?
3. How are you paying for medical school?
4. What kinda of monthly living expenses should I expect if I want to live in Benicia or the surrounding area?
5. How much do you spend on books and schools supplies?
6. How is your commute? What is your average daily schedule?

1. None.
2. 100% loans. Federal and Private
3. The school estimate for ~56K is reasonable if you budget, this includes tuition of course.
4. A lot, a whole lot. You could spend less if you shop carefully, buy used, use the books at library. Book expenses get sort of insane really quick. You want to buy them all, but you really don't need to. You have to learn to hold off. Do NOT buy a single book before you come to first week of school.
6. I live in El Cerrito. Commute is no problem. 25 min. Carpool sometimes. We are all in school pretty much everyday from 8-5. It's sort of crazy. I went to school here to live close to SF. El Cerrito/Albany/Berkeley are 25min from school 15min from SF on I-80. There is no traffic since its a reverse commute. Several people live in these areas. Most live in Bencia/Vallejo. Some live in Napa(25min), one in SF(50+min).