Jump to content
Premed 101 Forums

How about a new focus


Guest acarpent1

Recommended Posts

Guest acarpent1

Hey!

 

So I was thinking to help pass the time.. in a new an unique way (from the countdown.. haha), how about something else to think about..

 

What about scholarships? I know that NOSM has something like 13 million in scholarship money.. how much of that is accessable to the average student? For the students this year: how are you paying for school? How much OSAP, bursaries/scholarships, or LOCs can we expect to be able to potentially obtain?

 

thankya!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest bad boy buddhist

Each charter class student received something from the NOSM bursary fund with a wide range depending on financial need.

 

OSAP is paying out up to $12000 or so I hear. They gave me the run-around with audit after audit this year and eventually denied me funding outright despite quite obviously being in more financial need than most. Probably an error on their part but in the end it was too late to do anything about. I suppose OSAP works for most people but don't count on it.

 

Unless you have savings, lines of credit will be the bulk of financing for your life as a medical student. My Scotiabank LOC has been completely stress-free and it allows me $37500 per year for four years with flexibility to re-negotiate during and after if necessary. Other banks have similar plans or give you a lump sum in first year. Most students go with Scotiabank, Royal Bank or MD Management.

 

People will tell you that professional student debtload is stressful, but it isn't. All it takes is enough restraint to live modestly and refrain from going overboard which most of us are used to having been students for years and years. I'll probably be in debt until age 35 but as a classmate of ours said, "Med student debt is not stress. Stress is being a single mom and working two minimum wage jobs to pay the rent and feed your kids," and I wholeheartedly agree.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest PeedyR

Good morning.

 

I have been frequenting these boards for the entire post interview "wait period" but have never posted a message of my own. It was comforting knowing others were also pulling out their hair, chewing their nails, and looking for creative ways to burn up the time. I have also been thinking about the financials behind this life changing career "choice" ("" because technically we can't choose to go into med, others choose for us) and one of my current clients in my work is MD management. I have spoken with them on several occasions, and because they specialize in physician insurance / financial planning etc it was my impression that they would be the most accommodating when it comes to lending for med school. Not to suggest that other financial institutions would be less so, just that if someone specializes in something generally speaking they have the entire basis covered. Whoa, ok, message got a little long. Good luck to all of you who applied and interviewed. *holding my breath for one more day* ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest acarpent1

BBB,

 

I completely agree with what you said.. Med school debt is DEBT, but it's a hell of a lot less stressful when you know that you WILL be making the means to pay it back..

 

.... coming from someone raised with a hard working single mother who had debt while raising two kids... not even comparable..

 

I posted because I was wondering what scholarships/bursaries were like.. how much people usually get from banks etc.. and (since you seem somewhat frugal), I really wanted to find out.. WITH tuition and everything.. how much would you say you put out per year? Even with being able to pay it back, it's still nice to get yourself into as little debt as possible! (And living within your means is certainly a crucial part of that).

 

AND -- do you buy the laptops from the school?

also.. how long does your year go? Are you completely 'out' of school for the summer? What about 3rd and 4th year?

 

Waiting for tomorow..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest northerndoc

I would like to clarify Bad Boy Buddists comment that everyone from the charter class recieved something from the bursary fund. This was not true... there were actually quite a few of us who didn't qualify for assistance under their funding scheme. Yes, some people recieved some signifigant help, others recieved nothing, just so that the new students know that it isn't a guarantee source of money.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest bad boy buddhist

sorry northerndoc, i hadn't realized that the range went all the way down to nothing for some people.

 

acarpent, without OSAP this year i'm dangerously pushing the limit of my LOC. major expenses were tuition (including the laptop which pushed the total up to $16600), rent, food, gas and car insurance.

 

summer is about 3 months (june-august) after first year and 2 1/2 months after second year. most students are doing some form of elective or research for part of that time. a few are working and a few are taking the whole summer off. the schedules for 3rd and 4th year are not finalized at this time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...