Any Good Pre-Med Schools For Me?

College Search & Selection
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<p>Remember that most pre-meds do not get into any US MD medical school, due to the high selectivity of all US MD medical schools. And medical school is expensive, so you do not want to have a large amount of undergraduate debt following you around to be added to medical school debt.</p>

<p>Realistically, your main choices are likely to be less selective CSUs (if you are even eligible – check the a-g course requirements carefully), or start at community college, do well there, and then transfer to a four year school if you want to aim for a more selective school that you can get into as a frosh. If you start at a community college, you should note that many medical schools prefer that you take at least some chemistry and/or biology courses at a four year school (if you are not a chemistry or biology major, that may mean taking some pre-med courses or advanced chemistry and/or biology courses outside your major after transfer).</p>

<p>Some other states have state flagship universities which have low baseline selectivity so that you may have a chance of admission for (e.g. Arizona, Alabama), while still also having top students and courses catering to them. But they are likely to require far too much debt.</p>

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<p>Some portion of the interest (not principal) on student loans may be tax deductible - but if you’re making 6-figure income, the amount you should anticipate being able to deduct is zero.</p>

<p>I suspect you’re going to be held up at the “no one will lend me enough money” stage, though.</p>

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<p>You made a few assumptions that you need to be aware of. </p>

<p>1) Most premeds never make it to med school. I just went thru this process with my younger son. Many kids dont’ have the grades, and many don’t have the MCAT score.</p>

<p>2) Getting into med school is no guarantee for any particular specialty. Plus, many change their minds once they’ve been exposed to various specialties that better suit them.</p>

<p>3) Student loans are not 100% tax deductible.</p>

<p>4) Doctors do not immediately start out making huge incomes. And, some specialties never seem to make huge incomes. </p>

<p>Student loans are 100% tax deductible (from my knowledge) and a surgeon can pull off numbers in the mid 6 figure range. If</p>

<p>No, they’re not. At most, only the interest is tax deductible. So, if you borrow $150k for undergrad, and $200k for med school, none of that $350k in deductible…only the interest that will added on top.</p>

<p>That said…Are your parents willing and qualified co-signers? Will they qualify to co-sign every year (each year that they cosign, their credit takes a hit). </p>

<p>If you don’t know, ask them. If they won’t co-sign, then you will not be able to borrow very much for undergrad. The following amounts are the amounts that you can borrow by yourself.</p>

<p>$5,500 frosh
$6,500 soph
$7,500 jr
$7,500 sr</p>

<p>As you see, those amounts are very low and would not even cover the costs to commute to a local CSU.</p>

<p>You may be able to deduct interest you pay on a qualified student loan. Generally, the amount you may deduct is the lesser of $2,500 or the amount of interest you actually paid.</p>

<p>The deduction is claimed as an adjustment to income so you do not need to itemize your deductions on Form 1040, Schedule A (PDF).</p>

<p>You can claim the deduction if all of the following apply:</p>

<p>You paid interest on a qualified student loan in tax year 2012
You are legally obligated to pay interest on a qualified student loan
Your filing status is not married filing separately
Your modified adjusted gross income is less than a specified amount which is set annually, and
You and your spouse, if filing jointly, cannot be claimed as dependents on someone else’s return</p>

<p>the above suggests that those with high incomes can’t deduct the interest either.</p>

<p>Edit …</p>

<p>Here is the info about how much you can deduct each year AND the income limits.</p>

<p>You may be able to deduct up to $2,500 of the interest you paid on student loans on your federal individual income tax return. The deduction is not limited to government-sponsored loans, but does not apply to loans made to students by family members. The Tax Relief Act of 2010 extended the student loan deduction through 2012. After 2012, the deduction will revert to a previous tax law in which interest on a student loan is deductible only for the first 60-months of repayment.</p>

<p>Income Limits</p>

<p>The amount of your student loan interest deduction will be phased out if your modified adjusted gross income is between $55,000 and $70,000 ($110,000 and $140,000 if you file a joint return). You will not be able to take a student loan interest deduction if your modified adjusted gross income is $70,000 or more ($140,000 or more if you file a joint return).</p>

<p>Doesn’t look like a doctor’s salary would qualify for student loan interest deductions.</p>

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<p>Go to the Resources sticky thread at the top of the Premed Topics forum, it will give links to several very helpful threads about how to pick an UG college.</p>

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<p>Entomom and mom2collegekids are two of the most respected posters on CC, Barian. </p>

<p>I would echo the advice to attend a California CC and try to transfer to one of the UCs. I am very skeptical of your chances as a freshmen, although some of the CSUs may be reachable. </p>

<p>CC would also allow you to gauge how well you will fare in med school admissions. I would try to aim for 3.9s and 4.0s to be competitive for transfer admissions. </p>

<p>You have the right idea here, back when you thought you had a 3.8 GPA: </p>

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<p>Did you take the SAT once?</p>