@gladitsover19 certainly understand view point of finance vs opportunity. What are other options you may have?
something does not add up here from your description. As decision day is looming next week, i want waste further time and reach out to NU financial aid office directly and clarify things that may not be obvious at time of application, some colleges also require CSS profile that has more details than FAFSA.
Edit: If you are truly able to demonstrate financial need to NU, based on their track record they will do everything possible to help out student.
@gladitsover19 itās a terrific program and donāt miss this opportunityā¦ if you have to take loan for half of the program itās very doableā¦ if you have other instate opportunity you can evaluate itā¦
@gladitsover19 - If finances are prohibitive donāt stretch yourself and go to BSMD Yes, getting to T 20 is tough for ORMs but itās not impossible and itās slightly easier for girls. It needs careful planning from first semester. More and more schools are offering merit scholarships so in 3-4 years your D may have more choices. I know I am the lone voice here but since you asked I am pitching in
Feel free to PM me if you want to discuss more in private.
@gladitsover19 It is the american way to finance education via loans. If you do not qualify for need based aid, then it means you have enough income and financial assets to pay for NU tuition as determined by NU financial aid office. It is a different issue that you may not want to do it and preserve your assets. You are not poor enough to qualify for need based financial aid. She must have applied to more than 1 school.
@gladitsover19 I want to amend my earlier post to state that the options described in that article only work for federal loans taken by the student. It does not work for parental loans. However, the student can finance the entire cost of medical school with Plus loans and use the above method to repay at a greatly reduced cost. Depending on your family situation, this might change the picture for you.
@gallentjill As far as I know, the loan forgiveness program does not apply to UG part, only for Medical school financing part. Most loans for UG will need a cosigner ( likely a parent or a third party guarantor). It seems that most OP here are financing their kidās education but advise freely to take on loans to others.
@grtd2010 The PSLF program applies to any federal student loan taken by the student. It does not apply to any Parent Plus loans. It can apply to the small amount of loans that students are allowed for undergrad. I am not suggesting that any family take on more loans then they can afford. I am only saying that knowing there is a program to make the medical school portion of expenses more affordable might change the picture for some families. I have found that many people in my area donāt know about this program yet.
@gallentjill The small amount of loans that student can take on their own will not be able to pay for NU tuition. I think it is $5600 in first year of UG and similar amounts for 2nd, 3rd and 4th year.
Yes. I understand that. My point is that a family may change their mind about what is affordable for undergrad if they know that medical school debt will be more manageable. I have said this same thing a few times now so Iām bowing out of this conversation. Its something every family should consider with knowledgeable advisors.
Let @gladitsover19 review all the responses and may get back and share if needed.
@srk2017 you are not the lone wolf for voicing to try via regular route. After the experience my D has gone thru UG and applying thru regular cycle, I feel that is also a viable option. But it can not be generalized. It depends on specific student profile, which college s/he chooses for UG, MCAT scoring capability and having a clear plan from day 1 of UG for EC.
Though I am following all the threads of SDN (I didnāt create any account), I am not getting a feel that whatever aid students getting are mostly merit. First, mostly the top20 or 30 only throwing the net since they have so much endowments and second mostly those students are extremely accomplished with few years of accomplishment in research or service and probably need based also. Agree there is so much aid given, not just tuiton, many places gives COA as aid (more).
I am confident most of the BS/MD students can get admission, but not sure they all will be able to get merit aid.
@GreenPoison What is the SEPTA station closest to UPenn ?. Is it the Market Street station on a train from NJ to Philly ? You also need to add time from TCNJ to Trenton NJ Transit station. It may be more than 1.5 hr and may cost around $15 each way from TCNJ plus parking at Trenton. It may be preferable to driving from NJ to Philly during peak hours.
I am in the same situation: got into 2nd tier bamd(30th ranking med school) and also 60th ranking med school (bsmd). The lower tier allows applying out and is very generous with scholarships. Better ranking will be 600k in loans. I am leaning towards lower tier, as parents will only be able to cover small portion of first year loans.
@dooblydoo Go with 60th ranked school. Save money and that is best choice later you will realize. For all you know your lad may end up doing MD in higher raked medical school in 3 or 4 years. Donāt spend $600k for BU.
The SEPTA station closest to Penn is 30th street station. From the 30th street station, its either a 5 minute free shuttle or 15 minute walk to CHOP.
Trenton to 30th street station is only 50 minutes each way.
TCNJ to Trenton Transit Center is a 10 minute Uber, plus when you split it between multiple kids going from TCNJ to Penn to do research, the cost is negligible.
So overall, at worst, total commute is 15+50+10 which is only 1 hour and 15 minutes. If you spend a whole day doing research at Penn once a week, the commute really is not that bad.
@dooblydoo Take Temple with full-tuition scholarship for UG (if this is the 60th rank school) vs $600k loan for BU( if this 30th rank school), as suggested by @GoldenRock . BU is not worth a large amount in loan with lower 3,2 GPA (BU) vs 3,6 GPA (Temple) IMHO. All US accredited medical schools are equally good.
@@dooblydoo If one chooses Temple, one can do research and medical ECs at UPenn, Temple or Thomas Jefferson. All three are easily accessible by subway and/or public transportation.
Just curious which direct MD program costs you ā600k in loansā? That means the other options you have got you covered all the way till the med school right away? As far as I know one is covered at most only for undergrad with full rides (meaning you still will land up with a significant loan in med sch based on your above calculations). Med school portion is not covered in any of these programs. So you need to only look at price difference between your options in your decision. If the difference is around 200k and you can afford, I will definitely recommend going for a better school. Unless of course you know for sure that your second option is almost as good in quality and exposure you can get. If it may help, I know students who went to better programs with no financial awards of any kind, leaving instate full rides (for UG only as mentioned) direct med programs.
Also donāt count on the free rides for med schools in future through traditional (or direct) routes that are being touted here often. It is a very long shot, with the competition getting extreme for a limited spots and so many other factors like URM, socio economic, rural or primary care and who knows what else playing major factors.
Not to hijack this conversation, but @GoldenRock and @srk2017 both mentioned viability through traditional route with ācareful planning from day 1ā. I realize it depends on the specific UG school, but would you mind sharing your thoughts on what that plan could look like? Thanks
Of course you got to do what you got to do. But another data point for your consideration in case you happened not to know. Among the direct med programs with reasonable intakes (i.e. not single digits), despite the high costs associated, BU and NU programs had the highest matriculating/enrolling rates last year. (percentage of those among accepted to the programs enrolling there actually). To my understanding 85 and 95% respectively. I am sure most of these students are not from filthy rich backgrounds. Typical matriculating rates for most of these direct med programs are 50-60%.
