What if student budget is not enough?

[FDoRoML]

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Hey everyone,

I want to know if any out there have been through a situation where the "budget" was not enough (even if you qualified to borrow the total budgeted amount on top of any grants)... what are options available to borrow more money? Say, budget is 50k/year but you need 58k/year to live and pay all bills... what are your options? Student loans still an option or do they go strictly by the school's budget? If not student loans, then "personal" loans?

Obviously, I'm going to live as frugally as possible, but with a family and some meager consumer debt, it's tough to cut too many places.

Thanks to any for advice!
FDoRoML

 

[EM Junkie]

I received a personal loan from Bank of America in my 2nd year which enabled me to pay off all of my credit card debt and part of a vehicle, and have it deferred until after residency. There are not too many of these out there, but if you look you can find them. You want to look for loans that do not require certification by your school. If a loan requires certification by your school, oftentimes they will simply add your loan into your financial aid package and give you less in Stafford Loans.

In your fourth year, you can get a "Residency/Relocation Loan" for $10-$15K with payments deferred until after residency. You can get up to 4-5 of these if you really wanted to and have good credit (although I would recommend against getting more than 2).

Keep in mind that, if you haven't started school yet, there is always the possibility that you will decide that med school isn't right for you. This happened to about 10 people in our class in the first semester. These people got stuck paying back those loans immediately - so be careful with the loans before you have even started med. school!

Also be aware that exceeding the maximum allowed by your school may force you to limit you options for specialty training. If you want to go into FP or Peds, you may have a hard time making student loan payments and starting a practice if you took out loans in excess of what the school would give you. Paying loan payments of ~$1200-1500 per month is a lot harder making <$100K per year than it is at >$200K per year.

Hope this helps! If you need any more info. just ask!

-Scott, MS4

 

[double elle]

Have you looked into some of the repayment programs? Military? Some of these programs give you an extra stipend on TOP of paying for your tuition and books, etc.

I can't remember the names...national health corps scholarship? Something like that.

However, if you make a committment to these programs, you are stuck for a few years after graduation meeting their requirements. Perhaps someone else reading this could give you more information than I have.

 

[FDoRoML]

Hi, thanks both of you for replying.

The BoA loan sounds just like what I might need. I'm starting MS1 in August, and no, I will not change my mind. I've come this far and am changing careers to go into medicine. So, the loan type I am looking for is "personal" and not "student", right? I figured all student loans will be part of an Aid package and count against me for other loans.

I think I wil only need it for hte 1st year, as I'm transitioning from working full time for 10 years. I'm married and older, so the military scholarship is not a viable option, and the NHSC is not b/c I'm going into a surgical subspecialty. I will be looking into the NIH LRPs if they still exist when I'm at that point, b/c I'm staying in academic med and want to do research part-time anyway. Or mayeb I'll get a generous offer from a University wanting me as faculty-- they pay off some of my loans (yeah, in my dreams!).

Knowing that the loans are out there makes me a heck of a lot less nervous. Like I said, it probably won't be necessary every year, but this first one promises to be a doozie.

Thanks so much again, and if anyone else wants to chime in, please do! Once I get my aid package, I'll start the search for that "special" loan....

FDoRoML

 

[DOctorJay]

dump your aid checks into an interest bearing savings account (like ING or some other money market fund). Your money has to sit around somewhere, might as well make some money for you.

J

 

[pseudoknot]

I received a personal loan from Bank of America in my 2nd year which enabled me to pay off all of my credit card debt and part of a vehicle, and have it deferred until after residency. There are not too many of these out there, but if you look you can find them.

Thanks for posting this. Did you find it difficult to get this loan, or was it just hard to find it in the first place? Is it your perception that pretty much any med student would be able to take out such a loan, or would they have to have collateral or unusually good credit?

 

[FDoRoML]

dump your aid checks into an interest bearing savings account (like ING or some other money market fund). Your money has to sit around somewhere, might as well make some money for you.

J

I do agree with putting things into an interest-bearing account, but who wouldn't do this in the first place? I mean, well, not that the old mattress isn't a good hiding place.

I figured I would find the bank with the currently highest savings interest rate, but I am not planning on factoring earned interest into my financial portfolio b/c it'd only pay for ~1-2 tanks of gas (which I am never denying is a good thing to get!). I was most concerned with a discrepancy when I looked at the student budget for living and transportation expenses and figured out what I'd actually need for real.

I know I will probably need some extra loans above the student budget, but wasn't sure if there were loan terms that were good for med students (deferred payments, fair interest rate, not counting as part of your aid package, etc). Anyone else out there with some experience in this?

Thanks!
FD

 

[LO281OK]

I'm also interested in this thread bc I am married with kids and cannot/willnot commit to primary care or HPSP (maybe FAP). Particularly interested in the details of the BoA loan mentioned above. Is there a name or any other details as to how you got the loan?

Thanks.

 

[heech]

Hi there,

There's another thread out there discussing this... but just wanted to let you guys know about prosper.com as an option. It's a loan source / internet platform, where private individuals/netizens (collectively using prosper.com) loan you their money.

Interest rates will be higher than a subsidized loan... but it will also be easier to get, and still a lot lower than carrying a balance on a credit card. The final interest rate depends on how reliable/dependable these private lenders/investors believe you are. Assuming you have good credit, your rates will be as low as 8-10%.

See here for details:
https://www.prosper.com/public/groups/group_home.aspx?group_short_name=doctors2be