<p>Ok...as some of you have been following my crazy threads, if I went to my first choice school (Duke), I would be in more than $100,000 debt over 4 years. Since I am planning on going to medical school afterwards, my parents will not let me go...instead I will be going to University of Michigan Ann Arbor, where I will have around 40k$ debt or so over 4 years (I'm out of state btw, got a huge scholarship)...which my parents can most likely cover.</p>
<p>So, my thing is, if I had gone to Duke, and had the 100$k debt on my head, and then wanted to go to medical school where I would pretty much HAVE to take out a loan of at least 150k, would I even GET that loan since I'd have so much $$ from undergrad looming over my head?</p>
<p>Don't know if you will get it, it depends a lot on your co-signers. Anything outside a simple Stafford load will likely require cosigners, unless you are a trust baby.</p>
<p>Listen to your parents. Anything over $40k loan that you will be paying off yourself is too much. It sounds like your parents are willing to pay off the $40k which will allow you to go to med school debt free (if you still want to do that 4 years from now). This is THE smartest course of action. Many doctors nowadays make "only" $200-$300k, after quite a few years of experience. $200k of debt is crippling, even on that kind of salary.</p>
<p>I agree with GroovyGeek, especially because you want to get a medical/graduate degree. The school where you get your graduate degree is far more important than the institution you get your undergraduate degree from in terms of the impact on your employers. Duke may be more prestigious and has greater resources than Michigan does, but are they really worth $60K of debt difference to you? Because I doubt it would make that much of a difference in terms of what your future employers think or how difficult it will be for you to get into medical/graduate school. </p>
<p>I'd say $10 - 20K of debt is reasonable if you're thinking of med/law/business schools, so even $40K is a little daunting. </p>
<p>...but it's your life and your money. Be careful with both, though. :)</p>
<p>Ok, here's something I just thought about recently. If a Democratic president comes into power this fall....and since both Hilary and Obama wish to have a universal health care system, won't I get shafted if I become a doctor? I mean they were saying how it would lower salaries and decrease the financial aspect/benefits of being a doctor. Obviously I don't want to become a doctor just for the $$ but it sure does come with its perks. I'm wondering if the Democratic president comes into power, the universal healthcare system would make private practices in medicine much less lucrative..</p>
<p>And the whole point of going to UMich was to come out with as little debt as possible so I could go to med school....but then <strong><em>if</em></strong> a Democrat comes on, and then I decided not to go into medical school, then I would've wasted a Duke education lol (if I wasn't planning on going to med school, I would've just gone to Duke hands down).</p>
<p>Predator - you need to just embrace the decision you have made to go to UMich and stop with the what ifs and maybes. Even if you do not go to medical school $100K+ in loans is a horrendous amount of debt to be saddled with. In 4 years time you are going to be so pleased that you do not have the weight of that debt hanging round your neck. You will have so many more choices available to you when you can base those choices on what you want rather than basing them on what you have to do to pay of that debt. </p>
<p>Just let it go - start looking forward to your education at UMich and stop looking back at Duke. You are preventing yourself from moving on and getting excited about your future with all this what iffing and maybeing.</p>
<p>The way things have been going, it is very possible that doctors will be making less. You say you aren't going into it for the money. If that is so, then don't worry about it. It is unlikely that doctors will be suffering financially. Health care professions are way up there overall in terms of pay. Yes, there are other professions where there are superstars making much, much more, but in medicine, the minimum is usually not that far from the midpoint. </p>
<p>Also Michigan is a wonderful school. You will do well graduating from there even if you decide not to go to med school. To be a UMich graduate is a prestigious thing.</p>