A question I have not seen asked nor on a FAQ- If I need a loan for undergrad, and for Med school, will there be a grace period for repayment of Undergrad loans while attending Med School? And furthermore, Can you obtain loans for Med school on top of Undergrad loans?
Your loans will be in deferral while you are a full time medical school student.
One thing to consider, though, is that while the loans are in deferral, the unsub undergrad loans will be accruing interest. And that unless paid off annually, that interest will be capitalized and in turn will start accruing even more interest. You should try to minimize the amount you take out in undergraduate loans.
Medical students are eligible for unsub federal direct loans and Grad Plus loans.
You can obtain federal loans for medical school so long as you have not maxed out your federal loan limits. ($224,000 for medical students, total includes both graduate and undergraduate loans)
Grad Plus loans require that you have a good credit rating to qualify.
Federal loans are deferred, but private loans set their own terms.
Excellent point @twoinanddone
Federally funded loans like the Direct and perkins loans have grace periods and deferrals. Private loans…YMMV…but most actual start repayment immediately after disbursal.
But to the OP…keep your undergrad loans to a bare minimum…because you will be paying a ton to go to medical,school and most of that will be loans.
In your opinion, what would be a reasonable amount of loan per year that is doable to pay off? Right now I am looking at coughing up $19k /yr. and that is at my local state school! I am actively applying for outside scholarships but I also want to prepare for a worse case scenario.
So…you will have $80,000 for undergrad? In loans?
Add to that about $200,000 for medical school…if you actually go to medical school someday.
Do you have a less expensive undergrad option?
For undergrad, a reasonable amount of loan is somewhere around $5000-$8000 per year.
You cannot count on getting admitted to med school-- your goals could change, your grades might not end up being strong enough – etc. So don’t make the mistake of thinking you borrow for undergrad based on your anticipated future doctor-income.
Also medical school is a long haul - 4 years during which you really won’t be able to hold down any sort of outside job; in fact during the last 2 years medical students are essentially working full time with their rotations, and paying tuition in order to do that. After that there is a residency, usually 3-4 years, longer in some specialties – where pay is very modest and loan payments do have to be made.
And with the exception of subsidized loans, all other loans in deferment are piling up interest every year along the way. So be very careful about unsub loans —especially if you are expecting a long-term deferment. You will end up owing a whole lot more than you actually borrowed.
And…
There are no longer any subsidized loans for graduate or professional students. So…all loans would be accumulating interest along the way.
@Thumper1 - Yes $19k - its an in-state school. I didn’t subtract work-study (about 2500) and I only qualify for 5500 of Fed loan (which is still a loan). I just wanted to get an understanding of what I am up against. If at the last minute I can’t come up with at least half of that, I may have to stay at home and go to a local college- which I really do not want to do.
<<<
got in with an ACT score of 24 and GPA 3.56
<<<
I’m going to be very frank with you. Your current stats do not bode well as a successful premed or someone who can score high enough on the MCAT.
Oh please @mom2collegekids My high school stats will have no bearing on my MCATs. Who are you to judge what I can do and what I am capable of? Have you ever hear of Sir John Gurdon? If you are so smart, you would know that he is a British scientist whose schoolmaster told him he was too stupid to study was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine / physiology for his pioneering work on cloning. There are many more like him who just don’t “tow the line” sometimes. Wow, lady get off this forum and take your unconstructive criticism somewhere else and stop discouraging the young. I am sure I am not the only one you have been negative to.
@Ege20634 Whoa.
Pretty sure she has at least one kid in medical school so I’m thinking she knows a bit about how this all works. She never said you were too stupid. Your history of lower GPA and lower test scores indicates …something. It is true that you can change your future though and work super hard.
You should step back and at least try to objective with her thoughts. Is there some truth there? Perhaps. Is there a reason for your scores and GPA like an illness, caring for a family member?
Is there something you plan to do differently for your pre-med studies?
You don’t have to let her comment be predictive of your future, but it should be taken sharply into consideration and be something to keep in mind as you work harder on your studies and are really diligent with your MCAT preparation.
Good luck.
@mom2collegekids is one of the most helpful posters on this forumn, OP, so you might want to rethink your comments. She may be blunt, and that may be hard for you to take, but she’s right.
She is just pointing out that it is unusual for someone who doesn’t test high at one level to do so at the next. It may be that you got a 24 ACT because you don’t have a lot of experience taking tests, or were sick that day, or it may be that you didn’t prepare. Many years ago I had some fairly average test scores. Four years later when I took the LSAT I did much better because I learned how to take the test and I practice. I still didn’t become a top or top test taker, which is what you need to be to get into medical school. My nephew, who is a top test taker and had a 35 or 36 on his first attempt at the ACT, is very worried about the MCAT. He knows he has to get a top score.
But you asked will the loans be in deferral, and the answer is yes, federal loans will be. Interest may continue to accrue, but you will not have to make payments during grad school.
I should have posted more…
Please understand. Your high school GPA and your modest ACT score do suggest that you’ll likely find it very difficult to get thru undergrad and the MCAT with med school worthy stats. Impossible? No. But very difficult.
No one is saying that you’re stupid. Not at all. Your ACT is above average. However, those of us who have children who are med students and/or have been advising in this area have seen, time and time again, students with similar ACT scores really struggle as premeds and/or struggle to get a high enough MCAT score.
You’ve taken the ACT and the SAT, and as you’ve said…
[QUOTE=""]
I am a terrible test taker for standardized tests,
[/QUOTE]
My test scores were very low
[QUOTE=""]
[/QUOTE]
So, your ACT wasn’t just a fluke. Your SAT score is modest as well.
There is a correlation between how students score on the ACT and SAT and how they’ll score on the MCAT.
And the MCAT isn’t the end. There are many standardized tests after the MCAT.
The premed forum here on CC is quite popular and many of us have been following and participating in it for years. There is a common theme. The successful premeds have higher test scores (and GPAs). I also have a premed group on Facebook. The lowest scores for successful premeds have been around an ACT 30+
you’ve mentioned wanting an undergrad to prepare you for med school. Colleges don’t prepare you for med school. And, they don’t prepare you for the MCAT, either.
Again, I’m not saying that it’s impossible. If you get top grades and overcome your issue of being (in your words) “a terrible test taker for standardized tests,” then maybe you’ll get a MCAT score that is high enough!
Another issue… your parents aren’t paying anything towards college, and they’re not lowish income, so you’re asking about undergrad debt.
Please do not borrow a lot as an undergrad, if you want to go to med school…you’d have too much debt for med school. You’ll be limited to borrowing $5500 as a freshman anyway, and likely that will be in your FA pkg, so you wont’ be able to borrow the amount that your parents are expected to pay.
How will you pay for the “family contribution”?
Do you have a school that you know that you have all costs paid for?? If so, which one is that?
With all due respect, the OP asked a question about loans, not about chances for med school. I think it is premature to speculate on whether or not the OP will do well enough in college to qualify for med school – and mean-spirited to raise issues about high school grades (irrelevant to med school admissions) - and future test scores.
It’s also completely and totally irrelevant. The question was whether repayment of undergrad loans will be deferred until the OP completes graduate school - the OP asked about med school, but the answer is the same for any graduate program – the OP hasn’t even started college, and obviously may change focus and goals – perhaps eventually seeking another degree in a health-related field such as an MPH or a DPT – or perhaps shifting focus to a different field.
But the question and answer stays the same: how much is reasonable to borrow for undergrad? Will undergrad debt stand in the way of pursuing the graduate degree? How much will need to be borrowed for the graduate degree.
I’ve already weighed in with advice to limit amount of debt. In my view it doesn’t matter what the future aspirations are because I think that students should always keep debt manageable, and that should be an amount that could be paid back comfortably at any time the student’s education is interrupted.
But I don’t see any reason whatsoever to cast aspersions on the student’s goals at this stage. OP asked a legitimate question and deserves to be treated with respect in the answer. Whether or not the OP will ultimately become a doctor is not for us to decide. But the choices that the OP makes now based on finances may impact future opportunities – the OP is a high school senior who has already been admitted to several colleges and is facing choices on where to enroll.
So to @Ege20634 – you sound to me like a smart and capable student and you have asked a smart question. The answer is, try to keep your borrowing down if you plan on grad school, but don’t give up your dreams. Taking the college courses required for pre-med would provide a good foundation for any further study in the life sciences – so no reason to deviate from that plan before you even have taken intro level college courses. Just keep in mind that there is an opportunity cost associated with debt – so if you need to self-finance your education, it is always something of a balancing act.
<<<
With all due respect, the OP asked a question about loans, not about chances for med school. I think it is premature to speculate on whether or not the OP will do well enough in college to qualify for med school – and mean-spirited to raise issues about high school grades (irrelevant to med school admissions) - and future test scores
[QUOTE=""]
[/QUOTE]
I understand your point, and my post didn’t fully explain. Yes, the student is asking about loans for undergrad (because his parents won’t contribute anything for college.).
Many future premeds think it’s ok to take on a bunch of undergrad debt because they think, “doctors make a lot of money so it’s ok to take on a lot of debt, including undergrad debt.”
Not only is a bad idea for a premed to take on much undergrad debt, but someone whose current stats do not bode well for premed success should be especially careful. Imagine if this student borrows $50k for freshman and sophomore years alone but then must change career paths due to grades.
Of course high school grades are irrelevant for med school admissions. We all know that. But high school stats (GPA and test scores), can provide some insight as to how the student will score on a future MCAT exam. Again, after following the premed forum here for many years as well as my FB premed forum, I’ve yet to see a traditional with similarly modest high school stats get into any med school after 4 years of college.
No one is saying that the student shouldn’t try.
The warning was meant in light of borrowing money.
OK – I just think that the rational of “doctors make a lot of money so it’s ok to take on a lot of debt, including undergrad debt.” - is off-base and dumb for any student, no matter how strong their GPA and test scores. In a sense, the student who borrows a lot for undergrad and doesn’t make it into med school might be better off, because med school is so damn expensive. The whole idea that doctors make so much money is also a little misguided, because it takes so long to get to that point – given the very modest salaries earned during residency, when loans are no longer in deferment.
Doctors may do well in the end, but they certainly pay their dues getting to that point – and even the smartest and most capable of medical students can run into life problems that prevent their dreams of high earnings from coming to fruition.
So to me, a person with a strong prospect for getting into med school would have an even greater incentive to minimize undergraduate debt-- whereas the student who is a STEM major likely to enter the work force immediately after graduation may have a better argument for taking on higher debt.
<<<
just think that the rational of “doctors make a lot of money so it’s ok to take on a lot of debt, including undergrad debt.” - is off-base and dumb for any student, no matter how strong their GPA and test scores.
<<<<
Lol…can we quote this over and over again to the many students who think doing so is ok!?! (And to their parents who think it’s ok to cosign all those undergrad loans because 18 year old Junior (or Missy) is going to be a rich doctor one day.)
I didn’t mean to imply that it’s ok for higher stats students to take on a lot of debt. No way! 
Many/most med students end up borrowing a whole bunch of money during their med school years…and not just for COA! Thousand and thousands are also needed for STEP exams, residency app/interviews, and so forth.
ATM, I was more concerned that this student might think it’s ok to take on a bunch of undergrad debt, since his family won’t contribute a dime and they’re not low income.