affording medical school

[angel-60]

guys do u know how is it possible to afford American medical school,

 

I have interview invite from wayne, but my dad told me dont go to interview if can not afford the school, Do you know if I get loan , how much monthly I have to pay?

 

thanks:(

[Alastriss]

Line of credit for around 150k can be given out, if you have a cosigner.

 

Of course that line of credit can be negotiated and that all depends on your parent's reputation with the bank and how much the value of your parents LIQUID assets really are.

 

It has been done before. I suggest if travelling costs are not too much and you don't have other options, go to the interview, get in, and THEN decide on going or not.

[KennethToronto]

guys do u know how is it possible to afford American medical school,

 

I have interview invite from wayne, but my dad told me dont go to interview if can not afford the school, Do you know if I get loan , how much monthly I have to pay?

 

thanks:(

 

This is why you look into whether you can afford going to the US BEFORE applying!

 

For the lucky few, there are scholarships that significantly offset the cost. Otherwise, it's loans and family support. You need to realistically sit down with your parents and figure out whether this is affordable (and not just affordable, but is it WORTH IT to begin with).

[angel-60]

I know, but my gpa is now 3.5 for Canada and I have 33 MCAT, if I go for masters and write MCAT again there is no guarantee to accept here, but state is much easier to get in , I feel I can pay up to 1000 a month for the ineterst but i think I have to pay my loan up until I become 35 , I dunno I am scared to go to master and then after that I see I can not get any where! I am already 25:mad:

[token]

Where else did you apply? Wayne doesn't seem like the best place to rely on if money is an issue. Are you reapplying to Canadian schools this time?

[bona_verba]

I know, but my gpa is now 3.5 for Canada and I have 33 MCAT, if I go for masters and write MCAT again there is no guarantee to accept here, but state is much easier to get in , I feel I can pay up to 1000 a month for the ineterst but i think I have to pay my loan up until I become 35 , I dunno I am scared to go to master and then after that I see I can not get any where! I am already 25:mad:

 

Angel I dont think affording a medical education should be a problem once you've got an acceptance at hand. The Canadian government provides student loans as well, through OSAP for example. Look into as many student loans as possible, and in the end it really should be worth it. If you really think medicine is for you, don't use lack of directly available finances as a reason to not pursue your dreams

 

go to that interview. do your best.

[KennethToronto]

Angel I dont think affording a medical education should be a problem once you've got an acceptance at hand. The Canadian government provides student loans as well, through OSAP for example. Look into as many student loans as possible, and in the end it really should be worth it. If you really think medicine is for you, don't use lack of directly available finances as a reason to not pursue your dreams

 

go to that interview. do your best.

 

I respectfully have to disagree with you.

 

If you don't have the wherewithal to significantly offset your educational costs through personal means (whether they be family or personal savings and contributions or giant scholarships) and instead will have to rely entirely on loans, then attending the US, nay, attending one of the most expensive US medical schools, is a recipe for financial hardship.

[Alastriss]

I respectfully have to disagree with you.

 

If you don't have the wherewithal to significantly offset your educational costs through personal means (whether they be family or personal savings and contributions or giant scholarships) and instead will have to rely entirely on loans, then attending the US, nay, attending one of the most expensive US medical schools, is a recipe for financial hardship.

 

I have to agree with this.

 

Wayne estimates approx 80,000 per year. that's 320,000 of cash that you need. Getting that amount or anything close to that amount is going to be tough to get and if you do get it, will be tough to pay back.

 

OSAP gives out 8.6k only or something so small it is not a main source. The bank is your bestfriend on this one, and not a good one either.

 

Except if medicine is your dream and you realize the financial hardship, then by all means go (in which case I would be disagreeing with Kenneth). If you think that you can improve your chances by investing a little more time to improve your application and expand your options, then I would recommend the latter.

 

All this is irrelevant. You need an acceptance first. That's why I say go now, get the acceptance, THEN worry about it. If anything the practice you get would be worth the trip.

[n00b]

How do US students afford medical school? Don't the majority of them rely on loans as well? They can't all have huge assets and scholarships.

[token]

For Americans financial aid takes off a huge chunk of the cost right off the bat. Average indebtedness is only something like $150K right? Which means that either the school or their parents are contributing a lot upfront. But OP is thinking about financing $320K with loans...I don't think that's even possible (would be approaching lifetime limits?) let alone wise.

[n00b]

Yeah good point, financial aid at top tiers helps significantly. Also, in-state tuition is usually much lower. But there are still a lot of students who are paying OOS or private tuition levels and they can't all go to top tiers?

[token]

That's a good point, the "top tiers" and public state schools do whatever they can to be accessible to students. I don't know where that leaves those attending private mid-low tiers.

 

Even if they are forced to rely on loans, they'd be cheap, guaranteed federal student loans that they don't have to worry about until after residency.

 

And there are very few schools that approach 80K a year in costs.

[Alastriss]

For Americans financial aid takes off a huge chunk of the cost right off the bat. Average indebtedness is only something like $150K right? Which means that either the school or their parents are contributing a lot upfront. But OP is thinking about financing $320K with loans...I don't think that's even possible (would be approaching lifetime limits?) let alone wise.

 

 

Well if you live conservatively and rely on your spouse's income to support the both of you while your physician salary goes to paying the loan then it can be done, but again, tough.

[token]

Well if you live conservatively and rely on your spouse's income to support the both of you while your physician salary goes to paying the loan then it can be done, but again, tough.

I'm sure it has been done...especially since if you're working 80-90 hours a week as a resident you won't have time to spend money.

 

But if you could exit with $200K instead of $400K in debt either by begging your family for money or just choosing a cheaper school to begin with, it wouldn't hurt.

[Alastriss]

Yeah, I was doing some calculations where most of my residency pay and the first few years of my physician salary of around 200k was going to the loan repayment and I would be living very modestly for some time (and this is operating under the assumption that money going to student debt is tax-exemptable - which it is I believe).

 

Pretty much: hold off on the home theatres and 7 series bmws for a while haha.

 

You know what I hate? How the first thing that people say when you tell them you wanna go into meds is how much money you will be making, without regard to student debt, working >40 hours, and not making big figures until you are in your 30s.

 

I think that's why I like the undergrad system in the end. In high school we used to just look at the career lists and their corresponding salaries and everyone wanted medicine or law. I don't know much about law, but the physician salary has an big unofficial footnote that is realized only by exploring the career in undergrad.