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How tight are finances and do you have a safety net?
If you think this year won't add anything, I'd just go for the postbac right now. A year you finish earlier is a year of an attending salary. If you'd be more comfortable with more a better financial situation, there's nothing wrong with waiting. You're still very young and you want to do it right.
If you don't have a safety net and finances are really tight, wait a year. Med school isn't going anywhere. You don't want to deal with the stress of school AND worry about food and money.
Have you done any research?
Med schools aren't going anywhere. Save up the money-Will have 200+ clinical and nonclinical hours by the end of this year, and should also have several pretty solid LORs from a recent online stats course. Also should have a really strong personal statement as my "why medicine" comes from a very unique and intense recent experience.
-On paper, I should be ready as I will ever be to apply to the top career-changer post-bacc programs (Bryn Mawr, Scripps, GWU, etc.). An extra year would give me an extra 200+ hrs in clinical experience but I'm not sure if it'll significantly improve my odds. My odds of getting accepted to these programs are essentially the same this year versus next year.
- I thrive under a structured, linear program and am risk averse so I would much prefer these structured programs with a strong track record and vetted professors rather than the variability in experience that can come from a DIY post-bacc.
-After communicating with officials at the top programs, I was informed that taking some of the pre-reqs beforehand (e.g chem 1/bio 1) could potentially be a detriment to admissions into the program. So, if I'm interested in these programs I'm kind of in a standstill with regards to taking on more pre-reqs.
Finances:
-After this year of saving aggressively and living back at home with parents immediately before the start of the program, I should have about $45K saved liquid. With about $24K provided in loans (post-baccs don't generally qualify for the full spectrum of grad school loans), this will be ~$70K. If I pull out from my 401K (definitely want to avoid this bc insane taxes), I might be able to get $15K extra.
-Tuition for these post-bacc programs are generally $40K, with around $40K in living costs for the year. The Scripps COA is around $84k.
-In short I MIGHT be able to afford the program if I applied this year and started the post-bacc in May, but it would be REALLY tight. I'm honestly not sure what I would do if **** hit the fan and I simply ran out of cash.
-This also doesn't apply to application costs in case I don't manage to link to a school.
Alternatively,
-I wait another year. This should give me another $25K or so in saved money. So total, around $70K in liquid cash. With $24K in loans, this is approx. ~$95K.
-This would give a bit more breathing room with finances.
-Might be able to give me a little bit of extra cash to survive on during gap year/potentially even medical school as well. An extra $20K can definitely go a long way as a student.
tl;dr - Wait a year and save up more money for more breathing room during post-bacc/med school (if I get accepted) or just say yolo and pursue post-bacc and risk everything as I pursue my dream/post-bacc?
It is really frustrating that if I wait a year, I'm kind of in limbo. To maximize my chances at these post-bacc programs I'm not supposed to take Chem 1 or Bio 1 so I'd simply just be volunteering and working to save money. I volunteered a ton this year and I should be ready to apply to these post-bacc programs. I also don't want to apply this year, get accepted and then have to beg them to either defer me or deny the acceptances if I don't think finances pan out. However, I will at least apply to Goucher this year since they provide graduate student level loans. It's probably the most competitive post-bacc right now, though so I'm not counting on getting accepted.
While I am fortunate to have a well-paying job that allows me to volunteer, I REALLY want to move forward and pursue these post-bacc programs. I should have JUST enough to barely afford the post-bacc and COL, but another year would give me a lot more breathing room. Every waking thought I have is towards med school and the thought of waiting a year not pursuing it and being in corporate drives me nuts..I'm currently 25 and simply want to get started asap.
Thoughts?
You may be able to do a "hardship withdrawal" on your 401k. It appears you can take up to 10k out per year for school without paying the 10% penalty but you still have to pay normal income taxes. The funds have to be used to pay for school and you can't have other cash/monetary assets to pay for school. I've been looking into this but haven't done it so definitely do some of your research before you blindly follow my unproven advice lol.If I pull out from my 401K (definitely want to avoid this bc insane taxes), I might be able to get $15K extra.
This also reminded me of a 401k loan where you borrow money from your 401k and pay it back. Not all plans provide this so I’d check with the 401k plan first thoughYou may be able to do a "hardship withdrawal" on your 401k. It appears you can take up to 10k out per year for school without paying the 10% penalty but you still have to pay normal income taxes. The funds have to be used to pay for school and you can't have other cash/monetary assets to pay for school. I've been looking into this but haven't done it so definitely do some of your research before you blindly follow my unproven advice lol.
Oh yeah I forgot I read about that too! Mine didn't offer this option because it's a pension but if OP's does this is a smarter idea since you'd pay all the loan interest back to yourselfThis also reminded me of a 401k loan where you borrow money from your 401k and pay it back. Not all plans provide this so I’d check with the 401k plan first though
You may be able to do a "hardship withdrawal" on your 401k. It appears you can take up to 10k out per year for school without paying the 10% penalty but you still have to pay normal income taxes. The funds have to be used to pay for school and you can't have other cash/monetary assets to pay for school. I've been looking into this but haven't done it so definitely do some of your research before you blindly follow my unproven advice lol.