I believe so. It turned out that he Is able to support me much more than I thought. I have talked to him and he said that he is preparing to support me for med school with at least 400k. I was honestly surprised since I thought I would be all on my own. Therefore, I feel fine to take out some loans for undergrad, and given that my mom will help me a little, I might only have to pay back about 1/4 of the total tuition from my pocket.
That still leaves the question of whether your mother has the borrowing capacity and the capacity to pay back the loans she will take (since you are unlikely to be able to help for a long time, medical school or no).
If you have to find only 1/4 of the total cost, then your share per year would be (based on the prices you list in post #18):
- $6k UCB
- $5.5k UCD
- $8k Smith
- $10k Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke, Kenyon
- $12.5k Scripps
Federal direct loan limit (without a cosigner) is $5.5k, increasing to $6.5k, $7.5k, $7.5k in later years. Any excess would have to be from work earnings during the summer and part time during the school year (a typical expectation by college financial aid offices is $3-5k â work study amounts in financial aid offers would give you a preference for some on-campus jobs during the school year). Be aware that pre-meds may need to do a lot of studying to keep their GPAs up (A = acceptable, B = bad, C = catastrophic, D = disaster, F = âŠ) as well as engage in time consuming expected pre-med extracurriculars, so that may not leave much room for a job unless you find a job that also falls into the expected pre-med extracurriculars (working directly with patients or serving disadvantaged / underserved people).
If your mother cannot pay now, how will she be able to pay that amount PLUS interest later on? Are you expecting a change in income?
Have you requested and received results for your financial aid review at Smith? Or tried to leverage the Smith offer against BMC, MHC, or Kenyon (not sure itâs even worth it though).
Are you not considering UCD? Considering your situation, it may make the most sense in terms of hedging your bets toward med school and, most importantly, affordability? UCD is a UC and itâs very well-known for anything related to biology and âgreenâ sciences, so you wouldnât lose out. Itâs also a very nice college town and itâs probably easier to find housing than at Berkeley.
Does your dad understand that, in order for you to get into Med School, you need to graduate from college first, unlike in most countries where both cycles of med school are âmed schoolâ straight out of HS? And, not only that, but does he get that you also need at a college where youâll be able to get the highest possible grades?
(As a result, if he does have moneyn he should probably not wait till you graduate, but invest in your college first, so that you CAN get to med school. Iâm guessing he doesnât have 400K for your college, or your FA at Smith wouldnât be like thisâŠ
BTW, college name doesnât factor into the med school algorithm, even not for the âhuman eyesâ stage when weâre talking Smith v. UCB v. UCD, so you want to find the best combination of âcollege where youâre in the top 25%â, âgood fitâ, and âaffordabilityâ.)
The UCB grade distribution shows that 25% or so get âmed school worthy gradesâ in basic courses. So, take all the best of the best from California, are all highly capable, then grade them one against the other, and in the end, 1/4 have the grades to continue on the med school path and 3/4 donât. Cool if youâre part of the 1/4 but what about the 3/4 others, who would likely have med school worthy grades in a less competitive environment? (And when the med school algorithms makes cuts, no, it doesnât factor in college name nor does it factor peer stats, ie., itâs not the same being within the top 50% at UCB and within the top 10% at UCM when it comes to that algorithm: it doesnât matter how competitive the pool of students was when it makes cuts. The same problem occurs at WashU or JHU.)
That being said, if you make it to the end, if youâre average-for-Berkeley you would qualify for DO med schools, which graduate doctors, most of them in Family Medicine. (Youâll have to explain to your dad that in the US there are many paths to a profession in healthcare, and for doctors there are two types of schools, both of which are considered Med Schools: MD and DO. MD is more competitive to get into and generally leads to more competitive specialties, but DO schools graduate doctors, too; thereâs also a path in Rural Medicine where doctors promise to work in âmedical desertsâ. Thereâs also NP and PA, which are shorter study paths that lead to good jobs in healthcare.)
https://pages.github.berkeley.edu/OPA/our-berkeley/gpa-by-major.html
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I just received the reviewed financial aid package from Smith, and the cost is now down to about 28k a year (compared to 24k a year at Berkeley).
Since Iâm not really close to my dad, I didnât really discuss with him about colleges that much. I just facetimed with him a few days ago and he said that he thought student loans have no interests. If the interest rate is that high, he said heâll cover the tuition for undergrad for me. He is a physician in another country so he doesnât make as much as American physicians, but as an Asian parent he really cares about my education. Iâm never good at discussing money with my parents so I really thought I wouldnât get any help from them.
I sincerely appreciate all of your replies and advice about my situation. If thereâs no more financial concerns, I think Iâm going to choose Smith!
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I think that Smith is a wise choice for you, because it might be a tad less competitive in the premed classes, and it will surely have smaller classes. Congratulations!
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Congratulations!!
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You will enjoy Northampton Take up cross country skiing Congrats
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