Will someone answer this one for me?

[amena]

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Hey u guys, first off- congrats to u for getting into med school...you all are in the exact position we premeds want to hopefully be in a few years.

My question has to deal with the financial issue of med school. Since you guys know, how much financial aid can one get max? I heard from a friend about fellowships, scholarships that can pay in full for tuition..is this true? And if so , how does one go about gettin those?! As you can tell I'm pretty lost when it comes to this so if anyone can help id appreciate it Muchos gracias!!!

 

[AlexRusso]

You usally can get whatever the tuition is at your school as well as general living expenses (as figured by your school based on local rent and cost of living) covered by financial aid. A lot of that is going to be lonas that you will someday have to pay back. Some of the loans are subsidized (so you will only have to repay the prinicpal while the gov't takes care of the interest) and others you have to pay the interest and principal yourself. The financial aid packages differ a lot from school to school and that should be something you look into when you research different schools as well as something that will be adressed on interview days. If you're accepted to a school you can work with their financial aid office to see what they can offer you.

As far as scholarships and such, those are out there. I know several people who are going to school for free based on the undergraduate accomplishments. Others get scholarships based on their performance once in med school. Again, this differs from school to school based on the amount of money they have to give out, their alumni involvement, etc. And then there are always scholarships for random stuff out there like writing a song about what medicine means to you, or being exactly 5'2 110lbs with a nose that casts no shadow while standing on your head at the presice geographic center of Zimbabwe on the longest day of the year. You catch my drift.

Bottom line...talk to the finanial aid of the school you're interested in to see what they have to offer you.

 

[bjolly]

The maximum you can get in Stafford loans is 38,500. If the cost of attendance calculated by your school exceeds that, you can take out private loans to make up the difference. Basically the cost of attendance = the maximum total you can borrow. There are some scholarships you can apply for, varies depending on the school. Full tuition scholarships like those your friend mentioned are very rare though. Most scholarships are more like $1000 here, $2000 there.

 

[KyGrlDr2B]

Moving to financial aid. Also, read through past FA posts because these issues get discussed over there all the time.

 

[missbonnie]

it really depends on what school u are talking about ..schools like NYU give squat ( i hear this it was the standard 3K scholarship/grant) while other schools like Stanford & Columbia give generous aid. At Columbia, they CAP the first yr loans to $22,750 (ALL subsidized BTW), the rest is in grants. This is also including your EFC.

Don't preclude applying to any schools based on cost, you never know what kind if aid package you will receive.

bonnie

 

[amena]

wow thanks so much everyone who responded I am enlightened and am a little comfortable at least knowing there is something out there to help us all.