Question: How to survive financially?

<p>Other than time and hard work, money also poses as a challenge to becoming a physician. Although physician salaries are quite high, that's only after everything is said and done; in the meantime, that's 12 years of my life after high school (I am including residency+specialty fellowship). Undergraduate debt is an issue. Professional school debt is also a bigger issue. While debt accumulates, I won't be generating much of an income at all. Does this mean I am doom to eat ramen noodles everyday for the next 10 years of my life (Just kidding. But you get the point)? And how much faith should I have in the belief that after residency, I should be pretty secure?</p>

<p>background: My expectation is that my only aid will come from the government. And what is expected of me is that I need to support my family (they are getting old with no place to live and no money saved up). Would it be selfish of me to pursue the path of a physician given these circumstances?</p>

<p>What grade are you in?</p>

<p>15th grade</p>

<p>If you are in 15th grade, you should already know how much you are borrowing to finish through grade 16. No one can tell you how much you should borrow more to go to med school or get out and support your family. It is a personal decision.</p>

<p>Well I know what to expect for my undergraduate years. However, I am pretty clueless when it comes to professional school. I believe professional schools are more expensive and they give less aid? If so, I just want to know how other pre-meds dealt with and shoulder their debt? Because the only solution I can think of is borrow more loans to combat your old loans; are there insight as to if this is a plausible plan given the projected entry salary? </p>

<p>And forget about my end question about debating between family and med school. I primarily just want to know how “difficult” the debt was for people who stuck with the pre-med route. I understand every person’s situation is different; but the more insight I have to work with then the better I can project an estimate for my own situation.</p>

<p>You need to educate yourself about this issue.</p>

<p>Here are places to start:</p>

<p>[Medical</a> Student Debt](<a href=“http://www.amsa.org/AMSA/Homepage/About/Committees/StudentLife/StudentDebt.aspx]Medical”>http://www.amsa.org/AMSA/Homepage/About/Committees/StudentLife/StudentDebt.aspx)</p>

<p><a href=“https://www.aamc.org/download/152968/data[/url]”>https://www.aamc.org/download/152968/data&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>(BTW, the only reason the average debt is so low is that there are a substantial number of students who are supported, in full or in part, by their parents, spouse or SO during medical school. It also includes all those who have HSPS and military scholarships–and whose full COA is paid for. This skews the data. Approx 17% of med students graduate with ZERO DEBT because someone has paid all their expenses.)</p>

<p>All federal loans for med students are unsubsidized and the current interest rate is 6.8%. Loans above the federal max ($40,500/year) require either Grad Plus (current interest rate 7.9%) or private education loans (both of which may or may not require a co-signer). Grad Plus and private loans are not eligible for income based repayment (IBR) and are not eligible for public service loan forgiveness. Most physician jobs will not qualify for public service loan forgiveness for federal student loans.</p>

<p>Grant aid for medical school is hard to come by unless you are a truly exceptional applicant.</p>

<p>The cost of medical school is much higher than the cost of undergrad. Here’s the 2012-13 tuition & fee report from AMCAS:</p>

<p><a href=“https://services.aamc.org/tsfreports/select.cfm?year_of_study=2013[/url]”>https://services.aamc.org/tsfreports/select.cfm?year_of_study=2013&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Private medical schools run in the $47K-$57K range for tuition and fees ONLY. That number does NOT include your living expenses or mandatory health insurance. </p>

<p>Public medical schools are a bargain for most in-state residents. OOS residents will pay a premium to attend a public med school–which puts the OOS cost pretty much in the same price range as a private med schools.</p>

<p>I need to support my family (they are getting old with no place to live and no money saved up). Would it be selfish of me to pursue the path of a physician given these circumstances?</p>

<p>So you’re an undergrad now? </p>

<p>Are you an only child? How old are your parents? Are they still working? Are you saying that they can’t work for another 5+ years? </p>

<p>When will they qualify for Social Security payments?</p>

<p>You’ll be able to borrow the max COA for your med school. That often enough to pay for med school, an apartment, and food. If your parents were able to work at least some amount to bring in some money, then perhaps you all can get a 2 BR apt near your med school?</p>

<p>If you’re planning a specialty fellowship, it could be longer than 12 years post high school.</p>

<p>4 years undergrad + 4 years med schools + 4 year residency </p>

<p>[Length</a> of Residencies](<a href=“http://residency.wustl.edu/Residencies/Pages/LengthofResidencies.aspx]Length”>http://residency.wustl.edu/Residencies/Pages/LengthofResidencies.aspx)</p>

<p>Fellowships will add another 1-4 years to the 12</p>

<p>(I was just having this length of residency +fellowship discussion with D1 this morning. She’s looking at surgical specialties and knows her training will likely last 5-9 years after med school.)</p>

<p>@WOWM: thank you for the information and links. I really needed that brief explanation so I can start researching this in the right direction. Your help has been tremendous. </p>

<p>@mom2collegekids: Thank you for the concern. At first I was contemplating about writing a more detailed response, but I am going to omit some details to protect my identity. Only child. Single parent. Low income combined with the fact that he is not smart with money. He is living with grandparents+relatives right now because of all those combined facts; but they aren’t in an amazing position either.</p>

<p>And I didn’t mean to ask such personal questions on a forum. I was just thinking about finance and this just happens to come up since it was pretty intricately related. I was primarily concerned with if I will have enough financial aid to go through all this schooling. However, WOWM pretty much answered this. It seems like I would be able to accumulate enough money through loans without having to venture through ultra-high interest loans. Otherwise, I don’t know how else to get money without burdening my already penniless father.</p>

<p>Actually 6.8% and 7.9%–the current interest rates for student loans ARE relatively high interest. (Consider that D1 can take out private student loan thru our local credit union for 4.25%.)</p>

<p>Also consider that federal loans are UNsubsidized which means interest will accrue during medical school and be capitalized when you roll over your interest payment into next year’s loan. You probably won’t make enough money during residency to do much other than keep paying off the new interest so it doesn’t capitalize.</p>

<p>Use a loan calculator to see how quickly the $$$ add up.</p>

<p>[FinAid</a> | Calculators | Loan Calculator](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Loan Payment Calculator - Finaid)</p>

<p>Also you will ONLY be able to borrow enough from federal direct loans if you attend a in-state med school. A private or OOS public will exceed the annual federal loan max.</p>

<p>The medical school loans go under the student’s name unlike undergrad where parents may need to cosign.</p>

<p>So the real question is whether your parent can survive if you don’t go into workforce after undergrad. You do have a livable income during residency.</p>

<p>If I get into med school, I intend to take an Air Force Health Professions Scholarship. Part of that is because I want to see the world before I settle down. But they pay for all of med school and give you a stipend each month. If you stay in active duty for twenty years (you’re only required to do four), you also get military retirement pay, though Obama is cutting it drastically. The way I figure it, if I stay in for the full twenty years, I’d still have many years of civilian practice ahead of me. </p>

<p>Or, you can also do what I’m contemplating doing now - sell out to all those Wall Street recruiters. Those lucrative jobs are hard to pass up and they recruit heavily at top schools. If you’ve got a 3.5+, you’re golden - or at least that’s what I’ve heard. They’re snatching up all the pre-meds.</p>

<p>So you are saying Princeton premeds are ending up on wall street?</p>

<p>No, I’m saying that I am considering Wall Street. I did not say anything about Princeton pre-meds. I’m saying that many pre-meds in general are ending up there. Each year, at the top universities, many pre-meds enter in each class and a significantly lower number do not graduate as pre-meds. At one point, over 40% of Princeton graduates ended up in finance jobs. </p>

<p>Here is an interesting article from Yale: [Science</a> majors trade the lab for Wall Street | Yale Daily News](<a href=“http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2005/03/02/science-majors-trade-the-lab-for-wall-street/]Science”>Science majors trade the lab for Wall Street - Yale Daily News)</p>

<p>Presumably, Wall Street firms are snapping up those science-y majors (pre-med is no exception) for their analytical abilities.</p>

<p>@mom2collegekids: Thank you for the concern. At first I was contemplating about writing a more detailed response, but I am going to omit some details to protect my identity. Only child. Single parent. Low income combined with the fact that he is not smart with money. He is living with grandparents+relatives right now because of all those combined facts; but they aren’t in an amazing position</p>

<p>Well, you should proceed with your dream. </p>

<p>In regards to your parent, this is what I would do if I were you. I would encourage him to work as long as possible, even if it’s only a minimum wage job. If he can agree (and follow thru) with contributing a set amount immediately from each pay period to cover his share of rent, food, utilities, etc, then it might be able to work out that you could afford to have him live with you while you’re in med school. </p>

<p>I wouldn’t tell him how much you’d be able to borrow to cover YOUR living expenses, because if he’s bad with money, he may think that your room and board money can cover him as well. He may also not understand that while you’re in med school you won’t be able to work to earn money.</p>

<p>texaspg, DS has had one kind of institution loan from school which needs to be cosigned by parents.</p>

<p>Federal loans are indeed on students only.</p>