Financial Aid?

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MorningLight2100

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Hi everyone, hope you're having a nice weekend. . .

Does anyone have any information regarding when we should apply for financial aid? My palms become sweaty when I think about paying for medical school. My family already funded my college education, although I helped all that I could, so I want to finance my medical education on my own. I have a brother in high school who's a shining star, and there's a solid possibility that he'll strive toward an Ivy. . . I'd much rather ensure that my parents can fund HIS college education than take more from them so I can be a doctor. (The one obstacle I have to surmount is the fact that my parents' income is too much to allow me to qualify for aid in some cases. . . how do I get around this? Are there any special loans?)

Does anyone have any advice? Thank you so much, in advance.

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morninglight--
Hey. i'm new to this board. i noticed you have been accepted to NYU and was wondering if that is where you will probably end up going. I interviewed the same day as you and got the email the same day, too! wonder if we spoke at all. Anyway, CONGRATS and i'll be keeping up with this post about financial aid, cause i sure as hell will need it in the city...
 
Take out loans like everyone else. You'll get a great rate because med students are the best sort of debtors. The lenders absolutely know you'll be able to quickly pay them back and if the lenders aren't worrying...you definitely shouldn't be.
 
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talk to the financial aid officers at the schools you're interested in for tips. you'll want to file a FAFSA (federal app for student aid, or something like that) by mid-march for priority evaluation. it's similar to the college financial aid process. you indicate on the app what schools you want your info sent to, and schools will use it to determine your financial aid packages, which, in general, will consist mostly of loans, if not completely--but it depends on the school. there are lenders and loan packages specifically for med students.

i'm not sure where this perception comes from, but people pay their med school loans back fairly quickly because they're REQUIRED to--their monthly payments are pretty hefty, especially considering loan repayment begins when you're a resident. some people refinance their loans, but all this does is stretch out how long it takes to pay it off.

hope this helps. hopefully a current med student will respond and give you a more in-depth scoop...
 
Thank you for your responses, everyone. I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to write them.

I'll keep my eyes peeled...as I said before, I'm just a bit nervous.

Senioritis, I just sent you a private message. . . click on "my profile" at the top of the screen to receive it. :) And welcome to SDN!
 
Just curious - how much debt is average after medical school and undergraduate? I have no debt after undergrad (scholarships, working in the summer, cheap school), but if I decide to go to Duke or Stanford or something (Canadian = no financial aid), I'll rack up $170 000 for medical school. Is that really high? As in unmanagably high?

Thanks for your help everybody, and sorry for intruding into your thread, MorningLight... :D
 
Hey Morninglight, I was at an interview the other day and the financial aid guy says they definitely take into account whether there's another sibling in the family in college. Supposedly, that gets you more aid or something. Maybe you should call up whichever school you're looking at and talk to they financial aid office.
 
I just interviewed at UCSF today and their Financial Aid folks were really helpful. You can start filling out the FAFSA in January. It is online this year. YEAH, we all want to fill out another application for a five letter acronym agency again, don't we!!! :D

Seriously, the sooner the better they said. Also, if you are going to be less than 30 years of age when you enter med school, your (biological) parental financial info is still needed, so you can start getting them to fill out their tax return ASAP. They do not have to file before you send that info into FAFSA though.

Also, he suggested that we all look at this website: <a href="http://www.finaid.org/" target="_blank">FinAid</a>
 
Hey Epi, question for you:

I was just at an interview last week and the financial aid people there said we don't have to put our parents info on the FAFSA since as professionals students we are regarded as independent. Does it vary from school to school?

If anyone else has info on this that would be great.
 
WildChild - i believe putting down parental income varies from school to school. On the other hand, if you plan on receiving help (loans/grants) from the government, you need to supply them with your parents' income.
 
I think the financial aid policies vary from school to school - for instance, at USC, they don't care if you've been independent for several years - they still expect your parents to provide for you (that is, unless they are poor). As for all of you worried about debt - get used to it - I think we all knew going into this process how much we would owe coming out - it's just that now that it's finally starting, it can be kinda intimidating. So unless your parents are super-rich and can afford to pay your whole way, most people I know at USC (who don't have their parents paying for anything) have taken out the full financial aid package - $50,000 per year (that includes money for your living expenses, etc), which means - yup: $200,000 when you graduate (and don't forget the interest that will have compounded by then). What differs per financial aid package for schools that don't give grants, is the amount of subsidized loans vs unsubsidized. Generally, the less wealthy you are, the more subsidized loans you will get. But the total loan amount can often be the same for everyone. It's not as easy as it was in college to dole out grants and scholarships - I mean, there are a few, but most schools just expect you to take the loans. (oh and before anyone really freaks out, I am talking about private schools - state schools are obviously not going to cost as much).
I've pretty much come to grips with the whole money thing, though I understand the pain of seeing all those numbers. I've been trying to work like crazy to lessen the load of the living expenses loans when I start school, but it's not gonna' last long. Also, it might be worth looking for some private scholarships - local, or cultural scholarships - people have even told me they have gotten small scholarships from their parents' companies - worth a shot if your folks work at a big place. Good luck you all - it'll all work out in the end. It's especially hard for those of you who have never had debt at all, but it's actually not that bad - when you graduate, you'll just have monthly payments - and from what I have heard, it's not as bad as you think it'll be.

Oh and one more thing - even if your folks make a lot of money, there are always additional loans that you can take out because you don't want them to go broke putting you through med school - as a med student, companies are thrilled to lend money to you - private loans (ie : from Citibank) often have great interest rates for loans taken out for education.

Hope this helps.
 
I do not know about the differences at each school in regards to the FAFSA, but I do know that Stanford also does not care how old you are, they calculate your parents assests as well.

Another item the Fin Aid person mentioned was to check out your credit report now. It is easier to fix any mistakes now then when you are applying for a loan, etc. This might help to clear the way for you down the road when you need it.
 
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