So I am sure I am going to be set ablaze for this post but please be patient with me because I am truly in need of some help and suggestions.
I am currently looking at going back to school for pre medicine. After graduating the first time with a bachelors both my parents fell ill and I came home to take care of them. After two years the V.A. finally denoted they needed an in house care budget and so they will have someone to take care of them other than me. It frees me up to go back to school. However this is where all of the trouble begins.
I am 28 and I have been sharing a 5 bed room apartment with 8 people and grabbing food from my parents when offered. I made less than 6k last year due to the fact that when I left to come home I moved to a place where my original degree, film, is useless. Also taking my parents in and out of the hospital, it was more affective for me to work a part time job and just barely make my bills instead of constantly having issues with scheduling at a full time job.
I have applied and gotten accepted to a few different colleges, however the issue remains that I have a previous degree and though FAFSA is telling me that I am eligible for the maximum of the Pell Grant as well as 10k student loans. The schools themselves are telling me that because I have a previous degree I am not. I do not understand how this works.
Also with scholarships I have noticed a lot of them apply only to younger generations and there are not many scholarships out there for people who want to go back to school. Any suggestions here would be greatly appreciated.
I know once I can get through all of the pre med requirements and get into med school I can take out graduate loans, however I really need to find a path there because after a year and a half I wont be able to take any loans out anymore due to maxing out the undergraduate loans.
Again please just help me I know that some of this is dumb and I know that as a 28 year old I should be better prepared and equipped for life, but I am not and that is my fault.
I know someone who graduated with a degree in engineering, then decided to go to med school after a couple of years. He took the missing premed classes (I think there are 7 but likely he was not missing all 7, perhaps you aren’t either) as post bac classes, non degree seeking student. That is probably the cheapest route. Obviously he had an very high gpa as his did get accepted.
As for aid, I never thought about it but I suppose FAFSA doesn’t ask if you .have a previous degree. But no, you are not eligible for Pell. Pell is only available to students who do not have undergrad degree. You can read the federal pages to ‘understand’ this. It says so plainly on these federal pages.
https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/types/grants-scholarships/pell
Yes you can get federal student loans to the cap of 52k for indie students. Otherwise you are going to have to spend a lot of time searching to see if you can find any grant funds. Usually you will need to apply to those up to a year in advance, they cycle for grants is often fall application for spring award, or a bit later.
http://www.finaid.org/otheraid/nontraditional.phtml
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2013/04/04/learn-how-to-pay-for-a-second-bachelors-degree
You aren’t eligible for Pell since you already have a degree. You may not be eligible for loans if you’re already at your max for loans.
Since your undergrad is in Film, you probably don’t have any of the premed prereqs.
As @BrownParent mentions about an eng’g major, that is different since E majors are req’d to take Gen Chem, Calc, Physics, and often OChem and Bio, so they would have fewer to take to complete the prereqs. Plus, as an eng’g major undergrad, that student would already have a strong science and math foundation.
I think you will have to take (someone needs to chime in and verify since the prereqs have very recently changed since my son was premed:
2 semesters of bio (the one for majors)
2 semesters of Gen Chem (the one for majors)
2 semesters of Ochem (the one for majors)
2 semesters of Physics (the one for majors)
1 semester of Calc
1 semester of Stats (optional, but recommended)
1 semester of biochem
1 semester of psych
1 semester of sociology.
I think this comes to about 50 credits total.
Can you live at your parents home and commute to a local community college? If so, that’s probably what you’re going to have to do.
Do you have any student loans from your first degree? if so, how much?
How strong were your bio and chem classes in high school? Did you do well in them?
My concern is that it’s been a long time and if you don’t remember much from your high school bio and chem classes, you’re going to have a much rougher time.
The student mentioned they have 1-1/2 yrs of loan capacity left, whatever that amounts to.
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however I really need to find a path there because after a year and a half I wont be able to take any loans out anymore due to maxing out the undergraduate loans.
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Ok, I missed this.
This is scary because as an independent, if he only has 3 semesters left of loan eligibility, then that means he’s already borrowed a lot.
If this student can tell us more about how much he’s already borrowed (in dollars), then we can advise better. If he’s already borrowed the max $27k for four years of undergrad (at the dependent level), then when he says that he only has 3 semesters left, does he mean at the max “independent level”, which I think would be about $9500 for the first year.
I am VERY concerned that this student, already with a good bit of debt, will take on another $4k+ of debt for his first semester, not do so well, and then leave.
I think this student needs to first discern whether the premed prereqs will be too difficult fo rhim.
Also…WHAT was your undergrad GPA?
Why do you want to go to medical school?
@kelsmom Can you chime in here? Since this student isn’t really seeking another degree, just the premed prereqs, is he even eligible for loans? I suspect that sometimes students in this case “pretend” to seek another degree (say Bio) so that they can get loans, and then leave school once they have their premed prereqs.
Hey! Thank you so much for your responses, I greatly appreciate the help, I will attempt to answer all of the questions as best as possible.
My original degree was from Full Sail University and I had a 3.4. However an issue that I am running into is that it isnt fully accredited so I am afraid MOST medical schools will not accept it as a bachelors even if I have all the pre req’s done.
I will have a job during my time in school however I was hoping to only do part time as to focus better on my schooling. As for biology and chem. I did well with them, however I did not try in high school so I know if I can apply myself I can do better. I have spent a lot of time (the last 4 months) shadowing doctors making sure this is what I wanted and making sure it was something I thought possible for myself. I surprised both myself and the doctors I was shadowing with how much I actually did know. I have spent much of my life in a hospital due to taking care of my grandmother and in recent years my parents.
So here is a few of the issues. Firstly the community colleges in my local area (I am not going to say which area) are notoriously horrible. The few credits that I have from the CC here didn’t even transfer into my original degree due to complications with the accreditation. While I understand that CC is the cheapest route, here where I live and after my experiences with it already I am not willing to risk it twice. Especially with something I view as this important. So I applied to a ton of schools. I am looking for options to be fully honest.
I have 19,500 out in student loan debt already. Of which 13,500 is Subsidized and 6000 is Unsubsidized.
@mom2collegekids I greatly appreciate your worry for me, it is a kindness to worry about a stranger in that way. Rest assured, I am hell bent on making this happen (pardon my language there). At a young age I watched a friend of mine be murdered, years later my grandmother passed from a miss aortic embolism, my father with lung cancer, and my mother with small fiber neuropathy and a genetic issue that is causing the disks in her spin to deteriorate. I also have a great passion for helping others and have a deep desire to take my medical degree to doctors without boarders or other none for profit organizations. This isnt something I am taking lightly, I have spent the last 7 months making sure of it.
Full Sail - is that one of those scammy for-profit schools?
What was your ACT or SAT score in high school?
OP- you sound like a wonderful person.
I think you need to take a blank sheet of paper and find a quiet tree to sit under and make a list of all the other things you could do with your life that would meet your personal goals that don’t involve Med school. Not because you wouldn’t make a wonderful doctor, but because the road between where you are right now (needing med school pre-req’s to even APPLY to med school but already heavily in debt) and finishing up your education is a rocky one.
You would make a fantastic nurse or physician’s assistant or radiology tech or speech/language pathologist. You would make a fantastic marketing person for Clinton Global Health Initiatives or the Gates Foundation (they make films you know- to illustrate the work they do with public health programs all over the world). You’d make a fantastic program manager for UNICEF or the Red Cross. You’d be wonderful leading social media for BE THE MATCH or another bone marrow donor service. You’d be great as a patient services advocate at a large teaching hospital, using what you observed with your ill family members to bridge the gap between the clinicians and the patient experience.
Some of these jobs you are qualified for right now. Some would require grad school- but not as much grad school as you’re looking at with an MD, and then years of residency. And best of all- some of these grad programs you could do while you are working (which you cannot do in med school). Working for a big academic medical center at some universities means you are eligible for tuition reimbursement for a grad program… so work in the PR/Media department at a big hospital making film/videos and other communication related vehicles while getting a degree in genetic counseling at night- with your employer paying your tuition.
Go find that tree and come back. You can have as much of an impact on society working in health care but without med school as you can with an MD. A friend of mine recruits patients for clinical trials for a big hospital (she is a nurse but it wasn’t required to get the job). She has become an informal coach/counselor/therapist for the patients enrolled in her trials. To see the impact she is having on desperately ill people is really amazing.
You sound like an amazing person. You could be launched in a health related career in a matter of months- earning a good living, paying off your existing loans, making a difference. Why not take an hour and sketch out what that would look like???
Full Said is not Regionally accredited, it is Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC).
Although you might find a small scholarship here and there it doesn’t seem likely that you can find grants that are going to cover 4 years of school. I think @blossom is on the right track that you need to consider more options. You need to make your remaining loan eligibility count.
What state are you in?
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My original degree was from Full Sail University and I had a 3.4. However an issue that I am running into is that it isnt fully accredited so I am afraid MOST medical schools will not accept it as a bachelors even if I have all the pre req’s done.
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Med schools will not accept that as a degree.
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So I applied to a ton of schools. I am looking for options to be fully honest.
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Where have you applied? Did you inquire about their FA policies for students who’ve already gone to college?
Since you don’t like the CC’s near you, do you have a public univ nearby that you could commute to?
@kelsmom What are this student’s options? He’s already accumulated in loans at the for-profit Full Sail university.
Med schools aren’t going to accept that as a BA/BS degree, so he does have to “start over.”
You should look into jobs at UPS or other companies that will pay for your college classes.
What about a masters degree? That would take two years, most likely.
A SMP would be fine for someone who had a legitimate undergrad degree, but this student doesn’t have one. His problem is that med schools require a BS or BA degree from a fully accredited school, and this student doesn’t have that. Plus, I doubt a legit masters program would accept his “degree”.
SMP = special masters program, often for those with real undergrad degrees who want to go to med school. Won’t work in this case.
I really don’t see a solution for this student because of time and finances. Sure, if he doesn’t mind going to med school once he’s in his 40s, fine. However, since he insists that his local CCs are not worthwhile, and he can’t borrow his way thru another school, what are his other choices.
Yes, he could work at a place that helps with tuition, but the online programs won’t work.
I think he has to suck it up and start at his local CC.
I wasn’t suggesting a special masters…I was suggesting a masters. Some colleges would admit this student for a masters in something.
^^Do you mean if he didn’t choose to go onto med school later?