<p>Thanks! The real physicians are hard to contact… And honestly, they’re scaring me away from the profession altogether! They predict bad things to come and actually make me question whether medical school will be WORTH it. Ten years and $300k of DEBT is a big sacrifice to make for a low-paying, high-stress job, even if it was my dream.</p>
<p>I’ve actually spoken to a medical adviser at OU about a year ago. And there is a campus in my city, so I’ll see what I can find out :D. Thanks again, mom! (Assuming I still want to go medical…)</p>
<p>*Thanks! The real physicians are hard to contact… And honestly, they’re scaring me away from the profession altogether! They predict bad things to come and actually make me question whether medical school will be WORTH it. *</p>
<p>Yes! When a person goes to the doctor these days, he shouldn’t be surprised to hear a rant about the proposes changed in healthcare. They are worried. They’re naturally worried about how they’ll be able to run their businesses and such. You can imagine that the younger ones with big loans would be very concerned. And, many doctors who are personally opposed to abortion are afraid that they’ll either be required to perform them or be a part of the surgical team (an anesthesiologist friend is afraid he’ll lose his right to refuse to participate.). Along with those doctors who outright oppose abortion, there are many doctors who might support abortion legal rights, but for personal reasons will not participate in any way. The two groups combined make up many/most of the OB/GYNs and anesthesiologists.</p>
<p>But, it’s still a profession worth pursuing. Make some appts with some university pre-med advisors and get that info you need! :)</p>
<p>"With interest and everything my loans are up to $38k, and the interest rate is ~3.6% (lucky). I’m not making nearly what I thought I’d be making though, but I guess I’m fortunate that I at least found a job.</p>
<p>I’m trying to figure out if I should pay these off as soon as possible, since I’m still living at home and my only bills are cell phone and car insurance."</p>
<p>pokey: If you can make more than 3.8% on the money you have saved up or have better use for it then don’t repay. If the money is just sitting there getting 1% may be you should accelerate your payment schedule.</p>
<p>The general rule is do NOT borrow in total for four years more than you will make in your salary for one year when you graduate. For most people that is 30k-40k. If you can borrow less, good.</p>
<p>If Rutgers wont help you then transfer and submit FAFSA to your new school and see what they give you and compare before you commit to leaving or staying.</p>
<p>^^^
That seems like good advice. The problem is that kids sometimes over-estimate what they will be earning right out of college or soon after. See below from a post a couple of pages back. </p>
<p>*I have to start paying my loans next week </p>
<p>I took out $31k, went to school for economics, and **I expected to be making about $45k out of school. **</p>
<p>With interest and everything my loans are up to $38k, and the interest rate is ~3.6% (lucky). I’m not making nearly what I thought I’d be making though, but I guess I’m fortunate that I at least found a job.
*</p>
<p>Yes the $15k is going towards a down payment on a home. Obvioulsy I’ll be adding more to it once the student loans dwindle.</p>
<p>And yes, like most college students I overshot my expected salary at graduation. You should take a lot of things into account when looking at average salaries for different majors. I couldn’t tell you how many friends and acquaintances I have that were “going to be making 50-60k out of school” with useless degrees. Now, they can’t even find jobs.</p>
<p>I couldn’t tell you how many friends and acquaintances I have that were “going to be making 50-60k out of school” with useless degrees. Now, they can’t even find jobs.</p>
<p>I think we all hear that a lot - even on CC. When cautioned against borrowing too much, these kids will say, “I’m going to be a ____________,” and they get paid $$$$, so I’ll have no trouble paying that loan back."</p>
<p>I do think it’s interesting that people with so-called “useless degrees” would think that they would start out at $50-60k.</p>
<p>There are no useless majors, but there are some that are on lower demand, some that have more competition and have to gradually make your way up etc…</p>
<p>As long as I’m pre-med, my major is psychology. If I change my mind about going medical, then I’ll probably find something else… I love psychology, but there’s no money in research, and I don’t want to be a therapist or psychiatrist. /shrug</p>
<p>Okay… So then… Which majors are not very useful for purposes of employment and have low immediate or future earning potential than others? Or where can I find a list of good/bad majors, in case I need to reconsider my career choice?</p>
<p>I’d second Debruns’ recommendation for the USN&WR. You might want to take a hard look at some of the professions that you can make a living with a BA/BS and then perhaps increase your earning potential with grad school if that is the direction you choose later.</p>
Make some appts with some university pre-med advisors and get that info you need! :)</p>