Let's talk finances, current students please chime in

[sweetvalentin]

I'm thinking about how we are going to pay for this. My top school is one of the most expensive and I can't be the only one thinking "Is it worth it?" for that particular school. (Context for me, a lot of the less expensive schools are in areas unsafe for my wife and I to live in, so location is in some ways more important than cost. ) But honestly, I don't know much about post-bacc student loans. Surely the government won't give me enough to cover 4 years? Will I have to take out private loans? What if I'm at the end of year two and I don't have the funds to make it to year three? Thoughts? Feel free to add your own personal concerns as well.

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[EngrSC]

Go to your cheapest option, it’s only 4 years of your life then you can live wherever you want. Vet school is so incredibly time-consuming that the years fly by.

And in my opinion, if it’s going to cost you more than like $200k in loans, it’s not worth it. You can play around with numbers and see what loan repayment will cost you monthly and in interest here: Loan Calculator | Bankrate

Many vet students are on grad PLUS loans because they need more than the federal limit. But just because that additional money is available, doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to use it.

 

[EB73674]

I'm thinking about how we are going to pay for this. My top school is one of the most expensive and I can't be the only one thinking "Is it worth it?" for that particular school. (Context for me, a lot of the less expensive schools are in areas unsafe for my wife and I to live in, so location is in some ways more important than cost. ) But honestly, I don't know much about post-bacc student loans. Surely the government won't give me enough to cover 4 years? Will I have to take out private loans? What if I'm at the end of year two and I don't have the funds to make it to year three? Thoughts? Feel free to add your own personal concerns as well.

I'm not going to comment on whether certain areas are safe for you & your wife since I don't know your situation or limitations, but I did decide to attend a school that is, on paper, in a state where I have reduced rights & protections based on my demographics, and I've found the university & city to be SUBSTANTIALLY safer/more accepting/welcoming than I would have ever thought. You might consider making a brief visit to the campuses before you entirely rule them out - you might be surprised about the actual environment present on each campus, as opposed to some possible wider cultural impressions. Keeping your out-of-state residency can also potentially help with safety options, such as if you find yourself needing to *ahem* go camping out of state.

You'll be approved for the full cost of attendance (including tuition & costs of living) for any AVMA-accredited school with full federal loans, you shouldn't need to go for private loans unless you pick a school that is not accredited. BUT, I honestly agree that just because you'll get the money doesn't mean you should go there. I was lucky enough to receive multiple acceptances last year, and I turned down seats in competitive programs close to home purely because I knew the cost was more than I could stomach. I wasn't prepared to increase my loan balance by more than 100k simply to be closer to home & go to an Ivy. I also specifically made my application decisions based on cost - I didn't bother applying to high-cost programs even if I knew I'd be more likely to get in (newer schools, Caribbean schools, etc). I spoke with countless vets in my personal life who MAJORLY regretted going to vet school due to their debt, but they also 1) only applied 1 cycle, and 2) only applied to a few high-cost schools. I don't necessarily blame them for their lack of knowledge as young college students...but yeah, that probably WAS a bad financial decision. I wasn't willing to put myself into over 500k of debt because I couldn't wait a cycle.

Also, not to be the downer, but you never know what might take you out of school & leave you with debt and no degree. I've seen people fail out & be stuck with debt that they never in their life thought they'd have without at least becoming a doctor from it. I am having to tack on an extra full year of debt just because I got diagnosed with a major illness & missed the withdrawal deadline from spring classes, and have to restart. I'm not saying any of this is likely, but it's not impossible. This is why I prioritized going to the cheapest school I got into, because I still won't even have as much additional debt as I would have if I was attending that more expensive program.

 

[sweetvalentin]

I'm not going to comment on whether certain areas are safe for you & your wife since I don't know your situation or limitations, but I did decide to attend a school that is, on paper, in a state where I have reduced rights & protections based on my demographics, and I've found the university & city to be SUBSTANTIALLY safer/more accepting/welcoming than I would have ever thought. You might consider making a brief visit to the campuses before you entirely rule them out - you might be surprised about the actual environment present on each campus, as opposed to some possible wider cultural impressions. Keeping your out-of-state residency can also potentially help with safety options, such as if you find yourself needing to *ahem* go camping out of state.

You'll be approved for the full cost of attendance (including tuition & costs of living) for any AVMA-accredited school with full federal loans, you shouldn't need to go for private loans unless you pick a school that is not accredited. BUT, I honestly agree that just because you'll get the money doesn't mean you should go there. I was lucky enough to receive multiple acceptances last year, and I turned down seats in competitive programs close to home purely because I knew the cost was more than I could stomach. I wasn't prepared to increase my loan balance by more than 100k simply to be closer to home & go to an Ivy. I also specifically made my application decisions based on cost - I didn't bother applying to high-cost programs even if I knew I'd be more likely to get in (newer schools, Caribbean schools, etc). I spoke with countless vets in my personal life who MAJORLY regretted going to vet school due to their debt, but they also 1) only applied 1 cycle, and 2) only applied to a few high-cost schools. I don't necessarily blame them for their lack of knowledge as young college students...but yeah, that probably WAS a bad financial decision. I wasn't willing to put myself into over 500k of debt because I couldn't wait a cycle.

Also, not to be the downer, but you never know what might take you out of school & leave you with debt and no degree. I've seen people fail out & be stuck with debt that they never in their life thought they'd have without at least becoming a doctor from it. I am having to tack on an extra full year of debt just because I got diagnosed with a major illness & missed the withdrawal deadline from spring classes, and have to restart. I'm not saying any of this is likely, but it's not impossible. This is why I prioritized going to the cheapest school I got into, because I still won't even have as much additional debt as I would have if I was attending that more expensive program.

Thanks so much for your detailed response. I appreciate you not assuming my situation, I will definitely keep in mind that the immediate areas of the colleges may be safer than we expected. I will rearly consider all of the info and options you gave I appreciate it a lot.

 

[Trilt]

I'll echo that about the university microcosm often being different than the state as a whole. I attended and live in NC (which is one of the absolute cheapest OOS options if you have a good GPA and variety of experience!) and the school vs. rural areas are extremely different in demographics and politics.

 

[DrBoopSnoot]

You shouldn’t have any issues with federal loans paying for all four years of school, but only you can decide if it’s really worth it. However, I can say it’s currently a good market for veterinarians. Salaries have skyrocketed over the past several years. I have ~ $175k in student loans and won’t have any issue paying them back. So if you truly want to be a veterinarian, I would say don’t let that be a deterrent.