What should I do?

[MyHobbyIsMedSch]

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I have about 80k in loans from undergrad.
I am paying my way through my postbac right now so I don't have enough money to pay the mini. payment on my student loans which is like 900/month.
I am applying to med school but I am worried with the interest rates I will have a hard time paying them off.
I was a dumb ass in college and ruined my credit.
My parents aren't going to help me pay for med school at all. My savings will probably me just be big enough to cover my applying and maybe 2 years of living expenses.
I will probably end up 300k if not more in debt with terrible interest rates. What would be the best way to minimize my student loan debt?

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I have about 80k in loans from undergrad.
I am paying my way through my postbac right now so I don't have enough money to pay the mini. payment on my student loans which is like 900/month.
I am applying to med school but I am worried with the interest rates I will have a hard time paying them off.
I was a dumb ass in college and ruined my credit.
My parents aren't going to help me pay for med school at all. My savings will probably me just be big enough to cover my applying and maybe 2 years of living expenses.
I will probably end up 300k if not more in debt with terrible interest rates. What would be the best way to minimize my student loan debt?

You have options here, but there are really no right answers. First, do you have a cheap state school that you're competitive at? If you do, then it's possible that you might not need to borrow beyond the stafford max of $189k, meaning that your credit is a non-issue (provided you're not in default on student loans) and that your total debt will be around average for med school graduates.

If you wind up going to a private school or an oos school, then you might be stuck with a pretty significant debt. Assuming you have 2 years of living expenses covered, med school would cost you around $200k. Again, it's doable, but you have to be prepared for some fairly large loan repayments. If you have to borrow beyond that $189k stafford cap, you'll need to get private or GradPlus loans (GradPlus are generally better), so you do have to be credit worthy or have a co-signer for those. The good news is that if you have no adverse credit events in the past 5 years before borrowing a GradPlus loan, you can get the loan without a co-signer. If that's not possible, would your parents co-sign for you? I know they won't give you money.

Anyway, it's all a non-issue if you don't get in, so I'd focus my thoughts now on doing well in your post-bacc and putting together a great application. Also, do as much credit repair as you can right now.

 

[MyHobbyIsMedSch]

Unfortunately, I am from California. I would like to stay here but we'll see.
What if I can't find a cosigner? Am I screwed?

You have options here, but there are really no right answers. First, do you have a cheap state school that you're competitive at? If you do, then it's possible that you might not need to borrow beyond the stafford max of $189k, meaning that your credit is a non-issue (provided you're not in default on student loans) and that your total debt will be around average for med school graduates.

If you wind up going to a private school or an oos school, then you might be stuck with a pretty significant debt. Assuming you have 2 years of living expenses covered, med school would cost you around $200k. Again, it's doable, but you have to be prepared for some fairly large loan repayments. If you have to borrow beyond that $189k stafford cap, you'll need to get private or GradPlus loans (GradPlus are generally better), so you do have to be credit worthy or have a co-signer for those. The good news is that if you have no adverse credit events in the past 5 years before borrowing a GradPlus loan, you can get the loan without a co-signer. If that's not possible, would your parents co-sign for you? I know they won't give you money.

Anyway, it's all a non-issue if you don't get in, so I'd focus my thoughts now on doing well in your post-bacc and putting together a great application. Also, do as much credit repair as you can right now.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Unfortunately, I am from California. I would like to stay here but we'll see.
What if I can't find a cosigner? Am I screwed?

Yeah, that does make life harder. The cosigner thing depends on how far out you are and what your past credit issues were. Scroll down to #10 on this page to see the credit criteria for the GradPlus loans.

http://www.northstar.org/GradPlus/F...eria_to_obtain_and_Federal_Graduate_PLUS_loan

As you can see, it's not that strict, so I don't know -- you might be OK now. However if you're not, it's possible you can hold off on getting the loans until your 3rd year since you said you can probably save enough to pay living expenses for years 1 and 2. If so, that gives you two years plus however many more years are needed for your postbacc and application year. If you're really concerned, you might even decide to take an extra year off before school starts just to give more time toward that 5 year mark.