<p>Hey! I am interested in pre-med, and Brown is definitely my top choice school. My family’s financial situation falls under the <$60,000 range, which would mean free tuition as a normal undergrad at Brown. I’ve looked at the PLME a little bit, and I know it would be great if I got in – you can’t beat a guaranteed spot in med school at age 17! However, I’m worried about the financial aid situation. I understand that generally, med school does not offer a great deal of financial aid with the assumption that debt can be paid back through a prosperous medical career. In the PLME, then, would the first four undergrad-equivalent years receive identical aid (i.e. free) as a normal Brown undergraduate enrollment would, or would I receive less aid overall over those eight years?</p>
<p>Medical school finances are always considered separately since the rules for undergrad vs grad are different.</p>
<p>Essentially, if you are under 24 and have nt finished undergrad, they tie your finances to your parents with no standing of your own.</p>
<p>if you finish undergrad, then you are considered independently and can have zero income. At this point everything depends on your own finances, and you need to decide whether you can take on loans to go to college or look for cheaper alternatives for tuition for the same loans.</p>
<p>Colleges can’t lower your aid in undergrad in order to spread it over 8 years. where will you get the rest of the money for undergrad?</p>
<p>Basically, med school financial aid is completely separate - you’ll figure it out when you’re a senior at Brown. Your Brown financial aid will be the same as any other Brown undergrad.</p>
<p>Things are of course likely to have changed substantially since I was in the MedSci program decades ago, and if bruno14 is currently on financial aid, being a PLME they are more likely up to date, but I would have you contact the financial aid dept of the medical school directly for the real / current scoop.
Medical school is expensive so if you are planning on doing primary care etc, the tuition can be a concern re paying back loans, particularly if you are comparing Brown’s Med tuition to cheaper in state if you come from a state where that might be a future option.
Undergraduate need for financial aid is the same for PLME students as for other Brown undergrads. (determined based on FAFSA) However, when I was in the program, (long ago) I was a high needs student. Brown did some creative things with my undergrad package to give me loans that were Brown loans for undergrad, so that I would not use up my loan eligibility for cheap government loans undergrad and could use them to the higher amount in my medical school years. I also received substantial scholarship still during medical school years at Brown (unheard of at most med schools, other than military or other similar programs.) We also had quite a number of students in our class who did Brown’s med school via those scholarship/service tracks,
I know that Brown must give some scholarships still in medical school. (at least they beg money from us alums for that specifically!)</p>