<p>I'm only a rising sophomore, so med school is 3 years away, but I definitely want to think about how I am going to pay ahead of time.
I go to a private college where the total yearly cost currently stands at about $58,000. I got a merit scholarship that pays for about 50% of the tuition, so I end up paying around $28,000 per semester. I don't really like my school (in fact, I never really wanted to go here), but I did it because I am pre-med and knew that medical school would be expensive, so I wanted to go to the cheapest UG possible (it's about the same price as a state school would end up being). Because I dislike my UG school so much, I really want to be able to choose a medical school that I love, even if it's a little more expensive.
So my college fund will take care of all my UG tuition, and I am 99% sure I will have no loans after graduation. My parents have always said they will pay for undergraduate but not graduate or medical school, and I agree, they have already given me enough, I would feel terrible if they had to pay my medical school tuition. They aren't cruel so I am sure they won't completely cut me off (like hopefully they will keep me on their insurance and phone plan).
But the problem is, I know literally nothing about taking out loans. Is it a really bad idea to finance my entire medical school education with loans? I will make a little bit of money from basic summer jobs and maybe a job during the school year, but I did a few calculations and found out that with my current hourly wage, my summer job will pay for 3 weeks of medical school. So it's something, but not much.
I guess my question is, are there any places I can learn about taking out loans (preferably not a source written by someone who profits from giving out loans, I don't want to be scammed), and is there anyone else who went through a similar situation who can tell me how they handled it?</p>
<p>I should have added this:
My parents are in their early 50s, so my dad is still a ways from retirement (mom doesn’t work). They are comfortable, but not wealthy enough that paying for something as expensive as medical school would be a significant burden. I also have a younger sister who will eventually attend a community college, but she is disabled and will never be able to support herself, so they need to set away money to make sure that she can live without them (obviously she will be living with me if something did happen to my parents).</p>
<p>Honestly, dont worry about med school finances until senior year. I used to be worried about the same things as you are, but I did well in school and the mcat. Ended up with full tuition scholarship to med school. I will graduate from med school with no loans (went to undergrad on full ride). The best thing you can do now is focus on your schoolwork and ECs</p>
<p>Is it common for students to get merit scholarships for medical school? Do you know what percent of students, on average (I’m sure it varies from school to school), get any aid at all outside of loans?</p>
<p>Some things for you to read:</p>
<p>1) Tuition and fees reports for all US public and private medical schools</p>
<p><a href=“https://services.aamc.org/tsfreports/[/url]”>https://services.aamc.org/tsfreports/</a></p>
<p>2) AMCAS’s fact sheet on medical student debt</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.aamc.org/download/152968/data[/url]”>https://www.aamc.org/download/152968/data</a></p>
<p>3) AMCAS How to Pay for Medical School</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.aamc.org/students/aspiring/paying/[/url]”>https://www.aamc.org/students/aspiring/paying/</a></p>
<p>Here’s how it works: private medical schools will require your parents’ financial information. Even if you have graduated from college. Even if you are 24 years old. Even if you are married. Even if you have been fully self-supporting for several years after college graduation. Based upon your family’s financial information, you will have a EFC (expected family contribution). If you don’t want your parent’s to contribute–that’s your option, but you must find some way to cover the expected amount yourself. Usually by taking out additional loans.</p>
<p>Small merit awards are not uncommon (<$5000), but the bigger ones are very uncommon unless you’re a extremely competitive applicant. </p>
<p>Med students generally finance their education thru a variety of loans (federal direct loans, grad plus loans, school-based loans and private loans). </p>
<p>Some medical schools require an applicant to have a good credit record as a pre-requisite for admission.</p>
<p>The military will pay for your medical education (up to $40,000/year), but you must accept a military residency and will owe 4-6 years of full time active military service upon completion of your residency.</p>
<p>There are also loan forgiveness programs, but only if you are willing to be a primary care provider (pediatrics, family medicine, psychiatry, OB/GYN, general internal medicine) AND work in a medically underserved area (generally either poor inner city or poor rural). You can have up to $40,000/year of FEDERAL loans forgiven. There is 2 or 4 year minimum requirement for the program.</p>
<p>Thank you for the links! Seeing the list of schools and their tuitions was particularly helpful. Why are some of the public schools more expensive for non-residents than private schools are? Seems strange, I would think they would be about the same, like it generally is for UG.</p>
<p>I had 2 pre-med students this year get full ride scholarships, so I would not give up hope. I would look at net costs carefully though.
Dr. Hack</p>
<p>Torchwood (loved the series, BTW)–the reason why OOS tuition for med school is so much higher is the cost of educating a MD far exceeds the cost of tuition and fees–even at a private med school.</p>
<p>Public med schools charge OOS students a significantly higher tuition that is closer to the actual cost of educating them. (Private med schools use their endowments to help offset the cost of educating all students–partly why private med schools may cost less than an OOS state public one.)</p>
<p>Must be nice to get a full ride scholarship to medical school 
</p>
<p>WayOutWestMom: Ohh that makes sense. Thanks!</p>
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<p>Most publics have a pretty big gap between IS and OOS tuition for UG as well.</p>
<p>Oh no I meant that the tuition for an OOS public school is about the same as the tuition for a private school.
For example, my private school costs 58k a year, University of Michigan is 53-55k for non-residents.</p>
<p>^Sorry, I missed that :o.</p>
<p>“Some medical schools require an applicant to have a good credit record as a pre-requisite for admission.”</p>
<p>Interesting! I did NOT know this. Since I’m transferring to a 4-year university this fall, I’ll be able to get a credit card for the first time. Looks like I should get it ASAP and start building up my credit… thanks!</p>
<p>That’s alright, entomom 
</p>
<p>Yeah I didn’t know that about having good credit either, but it makes sense. Luckily my parents pay my credit card bills for now and they both have credit scores over 800 so I trust them haha.</p>
<p>That’s nice that your parents pay your bills for you :P</p>
<p>Mine don’t.</p>
<p>At least you know how to pay your own bills. I would have no idea how to do that… I dunno how I will ever live independently! I gotta marry a rich, smart businessman who can do that stuff for me hahaha.</p>
<p>lol at least you have nothing to worry about either living wise or tuition wise. All that I get covered with either financial aid or working.</p>
<p>Well, I will have to start worrying in about 3 years 
Can’t my parents just take care of me forever??</p>
<p>LMAO wouldn’t that be nice wouldn’t it :P</p>
<p>I have to worry about my tuition until aftermy undergrad degree (UP 2 5 yrs) and my living expenses after 2 years. I hope I don’t have to take out loans for the living part :P</p>
<p>I can’t even imagine having to finance my own undergrad, I have a lot of respect for you for being able to do that.
I would probably not be able to afford going to med school if I had to take out loans for undergrad.
Life would be so different if my parents didn’t have money. I’m lucky, my dad dropped out of college and was working for minimum wage, until he got lucky and someone offered him a high paying job. I wonder what my life would be like if he hadn’t gotten that job.</p>