How will YOU take out loans? You will need a qualified cosigner…your loan limit is $5500 for freshman year. Anything above that will either need to be cosigned by your parent or taken out by them.
You will not be able to take very much in the way of loans for undergraduate without a cosigner (and cosigned student loans are a bad idea).
You may not get into medical school.
You may only get into expensive medical schools.
You may not get into your desired high paying specialty even if you do get into medical school.
Much of the physician pay will also go to such costs of doing business as startup costs for a practice, malpractice insurance, and income taxes.
It takes money to make money. You don’t graduate from residency and get handed a $400k salary. You have to build a practice. That requires infrastructure.
Getting back to @angiepie
She says her parents are struggling financially despite their high incomes now. It is very possible, the don’t want to see her in the same financial situation…struggling with loans…when she graduates from college.
I agree that their debt to income ratio isn’t really onerous. But they sound like they are very concerned about finances from month to month. I’m guessing they don’t want this to happen to their daughter as well.
Let’s face it. Nothing in life is a free ride. I know that if I put my full effort I will end up where I want. Average ortho salary is between 600-700 a year.
Let’s face it though. Anyone can achieve what they want if they put their minds and actions into it. I don’t have a lack of intelligence. I will succeed, I am smart enough for it. I would be concerned if say my best friend who tries hardest were to tell me he wanted to be a doctor. He is not even close to the same level.
Besides, my family has a history of doctors. 6/8 of my great uncle’s were practicing physicians. One of the other ones was CFO for Budweiser Mexico at a time during the early 50s and 60s. I come from a line of success, I am not scared to fail and I won’t let a sticker price deter me from the best education.
SS, life throws curve balls. Imo, the wise advice is CYA, cover your a**. And my mantra, “Don’t Assume.” My bright kid (her grandfather and uncles were docs, lots of family at Ivies,) was certain she wanted medicine, got weeded out. It was for the best, she used college to discover other interests and how to use some very real natural assets. She’s in a far better position now, as an educated young woman, doesn’t look back. A high percentage get weeded. Or blocked in other ways.
The issue is: you don’t know. Confidence is good, but too much certainty carries risks. Watch the line between narrow thinking (how it is for you, in your community, among your local peers, what’s offered in your district, what some relatives did, etc,) versus what it’s like over the horizon, in real life.
You should be aware of sticker price, what loans really mean and do to young graduates, how competitive the top medical specialties are, and more. have you looked at what payback will be expected from, say, 50k in college loans plus 2-300k from med school? Or what the payback options really are? If yes, good. If not, the proclaiming you come from success and will be successful are insufficient.
Unfortunately, this isn’t how life works. Wanting something really bad and doing everything possible often results in failure in real life. For premeds who are quite smart and hard working, the moment they realize this truth is when they take Orgo. Everyone else has been weeded out. Everybody works hard, consistently, has a history of success. And still lots of them fail, or fail to reach the level of mastery required for med schools.
In real life (not premed life), you’ll find your own limitations. You’re not superhuman 
so your mind and actions will hit a wall at some point, and/or you’ll be thrown curveballs that will derail everything you’ve worked for.
Your confidence is relatively common among kids who are well-off and not ill, but anyone who hasn’t been privileged enough to think that “you can achieve what you want if you put your mind and actions into it”, can explain it to you through experiences.
You’re lucky, and perhaps your luck will hold.
But you shouldn’t bet everything on it.
Make several plans and “getting my parents in debt to their eyeballs, risking their retirement and their house” should NOT be an option.
@Angiepie: what’s up? Have you talked with your parents?
Be careful what you say. My son was the golden boy who had everything going for him, and then he fell ill with schizophrenia as a freshman premed major. NOTHING is guaranteed. You want to know my son’s silver lining? His first Social Security disability payment was enough to pay off his modest student loan. Whoo hoo.
MTA: You have a 1 in 100 chance of developing schizophrenia. A little higher odds than winning Powerball.
You know what I would love to see you and your parents do? Sell everything, buy an RV, go spend a year together traveling around the country. Your entire family needs a gap year, perhaps even a couple of years to free yourselves of this horrendous debt and never-will-ever-keep-up-with-the-Atherton-Jones lifestyle.
From your post, your parents are in the hole over half a million dollars (if I read it correctly that your parents have a total of about $300K in student loans.) What good is $250K-300K in income if they have $300K in non-bankruptcy-dischargeable student loans and owe $510,000 for the house? If they owe $510K on a house they purchased for $600K, then, obviously, they put hardly any money down (not even 10%) - they could not really afford that house, and that would be the case even if they had no school loans. Low interest rates enabled their purchase, I would guess, and that is so unfortunate. I bet the house has become an albatross around their necks (and it is irrelevant that $600K may be a deal in that area.) I feel so bad for them that they earn that kind of money and are still robbing Peter to pay Paul, and strategically paying the bills. Where exactly would they get $25K a year to give to you? I have a sneaking suspicion that your parents may plan to tap home equity in order to get that $25K a year. Do they really need to be digging a deeper hole? Your parents are never going to dig themselves out of this hell hole unless they make some drastic changes. Are you finally beginning to sense the stress they are living under? Do you have any concern that you might fall into that hole with them? What a nightmare.
You mention they are in their late 40s. Because you go to school in an area filled with stock-rich tech people, perhaps one or both of your parents work for one of those companies, even as engineers (if not, what I am about to type still applies.) I know so many engineers (and others in mid-career) who, in their late 40s and early 50s suddenly dealt with major health issues (too much sitting, too much constant connection to technology, high stress, etc) What if one of your parents was to unexpectedly get sick? In my time in Silicon Valley, it happened often - California clean eating and that great weather can only prevent so much. One of my husband’s engineer coworkers, a health nut, left the office at lunch one day to go on his lunchtime run, and he dropped dead on the road less than a quarter mile from the office. If one parent got sick, obviously, half of your household income could go away. If your parents are counting pennies now, just think how it would be then.
And is it worth it anyway? Living, working, going to school in Atherton, and spending the next decade (even longer) paying off all of that debt? What if you go to college, and then get a job out of state? Your parents might be stuck in California, unable to relocate to be nearer to you, imprisoned by their debt, unable to make career changes because of the income.
Your parents are obviously talented, but they cannot enjoy the fruits of their labor because they have enslaved themselves with debt. You have had the privilege of going to an exclusive private school, and that education, if you applied yourself, should be good enough for a year of exploring the country. You are not going to forget what you learned and you should have learned how to think outside the box, get creative, get resoureful. You and your parents could restart, sell that house (hopefully for a tidy profit that could pay off most of that student loan debt along with the house), and get back to enjoying the joy that comes from being truly free. Plus, I think it would just sound cool and intriguing to at least some of your independent minded classmates and you will not lose anything by postponing college for a year while your family gets it house in order.
Best of luck to you. I hope your parents can find a way out, and be thankful that you can learn from their experience and save yourself some grief.
@MYOS1634 << know that Cal Lutheran will give you a a full tuition scholarship if you were admited to any UC.>>>
? Is that true? I thought Cal Lutheran’s policy is if you’re accepted to a UC, then they’ll reduce their tuition to the rate of a UC (which is about $14k per year).
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Let’s face it. Nothing in life is a free ride. I know that if I put my full effort I will end up where I want. Average ortho salary is between 600-700 a year.
Let’s face it though. Anyone can achieve what they want if they put their minds and actions into it. I don’t have a lack of intelligence. I will succeed, I am smart enough for it. I would be concerned if say my best friend who tries hardest were to tell me he wanted to be a doctor. He is not even close to the same level.
<<<<
Your posts are sounding like a Pop Warner player counting his future NFL earnings. You have a whole lot of hoops to jump thru first…or should I say, you have a whole lot of touchdowns to make first…and, truth be told, there’s not going to be folks out there blocking for you.
Right now, your stats are “ok,” but they’re not the stats of most successful premeds. Your high school foundation is weak and it’s going to really show once you’re in college.
I hope you get into a school that “meets need” and gives you a NCP waiver, but if you don’t, you have to face the reality that no one is going to loan you large amounts of money for undergrad without a qualified cosigner.
What is your back up plan if you don’t get into a school that gives you full aid? Again, no one is going to lend you more than the small amounts of fed loans.
So, at that point, what will your plan be? Do you live in NY? If so, did you apply to any SUNYs? Do you have financial safety schools?
chesterton - you are wrong in your assessment of OP’s parents’ financial situation. 510K in mortgage is nothing, especially when the real estate market is still appreciating in silicon valley. They could sell their house and able to pay off their mortgage any time they want. It is an excellent investment. The parents’ monthly payment for 300K student loans is about 3000. With monthly gross income of 25,000 and net take home of 16000, they can very well afford 3000 monthly payment.
Simple math:
16000 (net pay) - 4000 (mortgage and tax) - 3000 (student loans) = 9000. If the parents were to pay 2000 per month for OP’s tuition, they would still have 7000 a month to pay for living expenses. A very doable situation.
I am sure the parents work for companies that have matching 401K program, they could be putting away 12% of their income each year. Not a chump change by the time they retire.
My father came to this country in his mid 30s. He was an engineer making middle class wage. We were on FA because he couldn’t afford to pay for 4 kids to go to college, but we weren’t exactly in the poor house. At the same time, he always fret about money. We never went on vacation, drove old cars and I never remembered buying new clothes. But when he passed away, he left my mother a very nice estate. My mother said the reason he was able to do that was because of his frugality. I wouldn’t be surprised if OP’s parents are being extremely conservative, like typical first generation immigrants.
I agree with Oldfort that this family has the income to support the debt we are hearing about. But the OP says her parents are scraping money together every month. It is possible they have other consumer debt we don’t know bout…car payments for example. Or maybe thy lived on credit cards while they were in school and have huge balances.
This family should not be scraping every dime together with the income they have…even with their mortgage and college loans.
They have given their HS kid a budget amount that they feel comfortable paying. That is what the student needs to understand and work with.
@mom2collegekids: you’re right, I just checked and the UC scholarship means students can attend CalLutheran for $23K, which is the cost of a UC. I didn’t go back to check because I didn’t think it’s what OP is looking for and I hope I didn’t create false hopes.
@Seniorstruggling: where have you applied?
Why shouldn’t they accelerate their debt payments, considering the school.loans total 250-300k?
Why shouldn’t the approximate cost of instate be the limit they set?
I don’t want to derail the thread further so I’ll keep this short. I know my history isn’t great, I didn’t try or really care about school. Originally I didn’t want to go to college, I wanted to go pro in my sport or get a d1 scholarship. That didn’t work, I was never going to be big enough to go to anything bigger than a mid major d1. I dealt with a lot of issues on my school team and left hs after sophomore year. Last year a second semester error took a 3.9 gpa to a 3.2(i failed 3 classes because my work was never received by the teacher). So moving forward, I hold a 4.0 gpa this semester with 9 courses including last semesters courses. I am not an unintelligent person, and I know how to work hard in school. I never wanted to go to college though. I have changed my sights though and want to pursue pre med since my coach had to quit his professional career to a knee injury and doctor malpractice(didn’t see meniscus tear). Now I am working hard and have balanced out my schedule.
I want to go medical because that’s where my natural strengths lie. I am not as good in school at anything other than math and science, not as good. I enjoy watching surgery and can see myself in that position. I have backup schools, but I will try and be an ra to keep cost down. My mom can afford a good chunk of the tuition and debt should be no more than 20k worst case scenario. My backup plan is being a dentist, and beyond that a business major and start a business with my friend(I hope to provide capital and help him as he wants to start a business). If I have to though, I know I can be a good sales rep for pharmaceuticals or other companies. Basically, pre-med/dentistry or business.
Also, I am a first gen immigrant. I know my family is successful, but when your mom has her first job and makes a career with 2 kids in middle school…you learn a lot.
The parents could very well be accelerating their student loan payments, and maybe that’s why they are tight on cash
@SeniorStruggling Your last post would make me even more hesitant about taking on debt as an undergrad. To go from not wanting to attend college at all to emphatically stating you have what it takes to attend for 4 yrs of UG, 4 yrs of medical school, plus 4-5 yrs of residency is a huge leap.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek I mean, max debt I’ll accumulate is 20k, I definitely have what it takes. I don’t have an issue getting grades and studying. I have natural abilities and talent in the field. It’s not really far fetched.
Being a doctor is something that I wanted to do as a job, I’ve always wanted to be a doctor. It just so happened that my pro aspirations were quickly shut down with a lack of growth.
People can do what they put their minds to, within limitations. I know my limitations, I don’t have limitations in math science and the like. I do however have limitations in english and history. Being an english major would be the death of me.
We all have set predispositions in what we are good at and what we are not. What exactly would be your idea of a backup plan for me? Knowing very well that I am not good at reading, history, or anything besides math and science.
@SeniorStruggling you need to look at the new required courses for medical,school applicants. There is a new increased emphasis on the humanities, ethics and social sciences. It’s not all math and science.