<p>OP, I see you’re a sophomore–glad you’re starting to plan early.</p>
<p>If you want to go to med school, your goal should be to finish undergrad with no debt, or at most just what you would receive from the federal government’s Stafford loans. That would keep you under the $8k of loans per year you’re comfortable with.</p>
<p>You won’t be able to get more loans on your own. Any private student loans require a cosigner, usually a parent. Your parents might agree to cosign…or they might say that they don’t want to be on the hook for loan repayment. Though the loans would be in your name, the cosigner is liable for repayment if you default. If your parents have little in retirement savings, they might be especially skittish about cosigning tens of thousands of dollars of loans for undergrad.</p>
<p>Since you’re a sophomore you’ve got plenty of time to create as strong an academic record as possible. You’ve got a strong GPA and you’re taking AP courses where possible. You have time to prep for the PSAT so that come junior year you can aim at getting a score high enough to qualify for National Merit (which offers some generous merit scholarships). That will get you ready to perform well on the SAT and ACT, making you a great candidate for merit-based aid at schools you’ve not yet considered but which will give you a great undergrad experience and get you ready for med school without crushing debt.</p>