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Financing Med School Abroad


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I might be missing something here - so please correct me if that is the case.:)

 

I'm under the impression that med school abroad (Aus, Ireland, or Caribbean) will cost ~$250-$300K in total for a four year degree, including tuition+living expenses, yes?

 

Canadian banks are willing to give ~$150K line of credit, plus there is the potential for $5-6K/year in Canadian student loans.

 

That leaves most students $110-$130K short. How does everyone finance this? Does everyone have parents with an extra $100K+ burning a hole in their pockets?

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Most banks in Canada cover up to 250,000 for medical schools. Plus you can get a maximum of about 800 a month from the government. So by the end of the 4 years you will effectively have [9,600 x 4 = 38,400] + 250, 000= ~290,000. So assuming you don't screw up you should be fine for most schools. Check out RBC. I know for a fact that they give up to 250,000.

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Most banks in Canada cover up to 250,000 for medical schools. Plus you can get a maximum of about 800 a month from the government. So by the end of the 4 years you will effectively have [9,600 x 4 = 38,400] + 250, 000= ~290,000. So assuming you don't screw up you should be fine for most schools. Check out RBC. I know for a fact that they give up to 250,000.

 

Thanks for the info!

...by not screwing up, I take it that means I shouldn't buy a yacht should I decide to go abroad? :P

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I might be missing something here - so please correct me if that is the case.:)

 

I'm under the impression that med school abroad (Aus, Ireland, or Caribbean) will cost ~$250-$300K in total for a four year degree, including tuition+living expenses, yes?

 

Canadian banks are willing to give ~$150K line of credit, plus there is the potential for $5-6K/year in Canadian student loans.

 

That leaves most students $110-$130K short. How does everyone finance this? Does everyone have parents with an extra $100K+ burning a hole in their pockets?

 

250-300k is probably a conservative estimate. That would just be for tuition. More likely closer to 350k. Depends how much tuition is and COL, relocation costs. etc. Flights.

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I might be missing something here - so please correct me if that is the case.:)

 

I'm under the impression that med school abroad (Aus, Ireland, or Caribbean) will cost ~$250-$300K in total for a four year degree, including tuition+living expenses, yes?

 

Canadian banks are willing to give ~$150K line of credit, plus there is the potential for $5-6K/year in Canadian student loans.

 

That leaves most students $110-$130K short. How does everyone finance this? Does everyone have parents with an extra $100K+ burning a hole in their pockets?

 

Probably not worth the risk unless your parents have that burning hole...

 

There are other fantastic health careers that you could go into here in Canada.

 

Or... you could buff up the ol resume and become a Canadian physician the old fashion way.... attend a Canadian medical school.

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You can get $200,000 from the bank, if you have a cosigner with collateral. You can get another 15-25,000 per year from the national student loan centre depending on which province you're from. The school I attended had a total tuition of about $25,000 per year ($100,000 total), and it was enough to cover all of that plus living expenses, 3-4 round trip flights per year, interview season + applications in 4th year, a used car and insurance etc.

 

If you went to a more expensive school it probably wouldn't be possible without other outside help.

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Most banks in Canada cover up to 250,000 for medical schools. Plus you can get a maximum of about 800 a month from the government. So by the end of the 4 years you will effectively have [9,600 x 4 = 38,400] + 250, 000= ~290,000. So assuming you don't screw up you should be fine for most schools. Check out RBC. I know for a fact that they give up to 250,000.

 

I did a quick google for RBC and came up with this link:

 

http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/lending/student-credit-line/abroad/

 

For medicine, it is $150k. I'm almost certain getting a LOC abroad requires a cosigner as well (this is to protect the bank in case the student runs off). Was there another page you were looking at that specified $250k?

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I did a quick google for RBC and came up with this link:

 

http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/lending/student-credit-line/abroad/

 

For medicine, it is $150k. I'm almost certain getting a LOC abroad requires a cosigner as well (this is to protect the bank in case the student runs off). Was there another page you were looking at that specified $250k?

 

Definitely would need a co-signer as I understand it :) (unless something interesting has changed in the last bit)

 

Depending on that co-signers credit/income etc the amount would vary.

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...Or... you could buff up the ol resume and become a Canadian physician the old fashion way.... attend a Canadian medical school.

 

Haha - well that would be optimal. Bottom line is that I have an MSc and since then I've been sitting on wait lists in Canada for the past few years, so I'm doing "okay" ...but I can't seem to break through that bubble. I'm assuming that by being put on a wait list, schools are interested in me, they just aren't that interested compared to everyone else per se.

 

I'm re-writing the MCAT, but starting to seriously look into options abroad.

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Haha - well that would be optimal. Bottom line is that I have an MSc and since then I've been sitting on wait lists in Canada for the past few years, so I'm doing "okay" ...but I can't seem to break through that bubble. I'm assuming that by being put on a wait list, schools are interested in me, they just aren't that interested compared to everyone else per se.

 

I'm re-writing the MCAT, but starting to seriously look into options abroad.

 

sounds fair - it is of course a harder route to take but in your case it might be worth exploring. What do you think is preventing you from breaking through that barrier here? Usually multiple rounds of waitlists of course says you are in fact close.

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sounds fair - it is of course a harder route to take but in your case it might be worth exploring. What do you think is preventing you from breaking through that barrier here? Usually multiple rounds of waitlists of course says you are in fact close.

 

Unfortunately, I've learnt that close only does count in horse shoes and hand grenades. ;)

 

It's the MCAT VR, with a score of 6, that is holding me back. Hence why I'm re-writing it. GPA of 3.6-3.7 (depending on how the schools calculate GPA), and ECs that seem to be graded much "higher" than a lot of applicants / current med students.

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Definitely would need a co-signer as I understand it :) (unless something interesting has changed in the last bit)

 

Depending on that co-signers credit/income etc the amount would vary.

 

The link s/he posted says cosigner required. Interestingly it says $150,000 and Prime + 1.75! The link is specifically for those studying medicine abroad. I wonder if things have changed since I graduated, as I received 200k and it was at Prime + 0%.

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  • 1 month later...
It might say 150 on the website but they always give 200 if you ask. 250 is once you're in residency.

 

I am attending UQ in Australia next year for medicine and had to sit down with all the banks to try and secure sufficient financing, so I have had in depth talks with all of them. RBC will indeed offer $250,000, but that is ONLY to domestic medical school students, if you are going international it is only $150,000 max (non-negotiable). The interest rate at RBC is set at prime +1.75%, but I told them I could get it at prime elsewhere and they were willing to be flexible. TD was willing to offer $200,000 at prime +0%. However, your best bet is CIBC, where they will lend $225,000 to international medical students at prime +0%. Ended up getting my LOC through them.

 

All of them require a strong cosigner, since they don't want to get burned if you just go abroad and dont come back / dont pay off your line. Your cosigner must be strong enough to qualify for the LOC alone even though you are the primary signer of the LOC.

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^ That sounds about what I got. Again I got 200k at Prime+0% via Scotia. I think they initially offered 150 but we increased it to 200 after a couple years. You will require a cosigner with collateral like a house. That only makes things slightly more nerve-wracking when the prospect of your failure means your cosigner loses their home.

 

Now that I'm doing residency in Canada I was able to change the loan to unsecured (so my parents/cosigners aren't on the line for my LOC anymore) and increase to 275k.

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  • 6 years later...
On 9/3/2013 at 4:16 PM, leviathan said:

^ That sounds about what I got. Again I got 200k at Prime+0% via Scotia. I think they initially offered 150 but we increased it to 200 after a couple years. You will require a cosigner with collateral like a house. That only makes things slightly more nerve-wracking when the prospect of your failure means your cosigner loses their home.

 

Now that I'm doing residency in Canada I was able to change the loan to unsecured (so my parents/cosigners aren't on the line for my LOC anymore) and increase to 275k.

Did scotia bank end up giving you 200K to study abroad? I'm trying to secure a student LOC but apparently scotia is saying that they don't give LOCs to med students studying abroad. If so, do you mind providing the contact info for the advisor that helped you? I'm finding that different advisors give people different information. 

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