Paying for Med School!

[UTHSCSAHopeful]

First, thanks to everyone out there doing this. It is very helpful and inspiring to alot of students. I am currently a freshman at a community college. I am 26yrs old (i wasted time I know). I am an X-ray Tech attempting to make a dream of being a doctor a reality. I have the drive, the passion, the wit. The thing that I am lacking is the finances. I am going to pay for my freshman and soph yr out of pocket but that is going to be more of a challenge as a jr and sr and med school. My question is how can I pay for Med School? What are my best options if credit is a problem? Thanks in advance

UTHSCSAhopeful

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[GetnMyFtNtheDor]

If credit is an issue try a program in one of the armed forces. When you finish school, you will be an officer. Try the navy or army.

 

[MAF]

First, thanks to everyone out there doing this. It is very helpful and inspiring to alot of students. I am currently a freshman at a community college. I am 26yrs old (i wasted time I know). I am an X-ray Tech attempting to make a dream of being a doctor a reality. I have the drive, the passion, the wit. The thing that I am lacking is the finances. I am going to pay for my freshman and soph yr out of pocket but that is going to be more of a challenge as a jr and sr and med school. My question is how can I pay for Med School? What are my best options if credit is a problem? Thanks in advance

UTHSCSAhopeful

Radiology or Primary care??

LOL, if you are serioulsy considering the latter, there are many programs out there that pickup your med school tab, considering that you repay with your time.

Alternative: You have some years ahead of you before you reach med school. There is sufficient time for you to get credit counseling and become pro-active in restoring your FICO score (I've managed to do something similar). Consequently, this will allow you to stack up on loans for med school and move one step closer to your dream.

 

[UVABranch]

if you maintain a good credit history from here on out then you will likely be eligible for the Grad PLUS loan which is based on creditworthiness not credit score. Meaning if your recent history is ok then you should be fine since your score is not factored in (although your score will improve if you continue to make payments on time, and pay a little over the min payment).

You might get a scholarship if you do really well in your UG classes, so don't let finances stop you before you have begun.
Hope this helps!

 

[elwademd]

honestly, i'd tell you just to worry about getting the best possible grades you can, doing well on the mcat, and getting into medical school.

if you can do that, the financing will take care of itself (unless you go to an offshore school, where things are drastically different).

If credit is an issue try a program in one of the armed forces. When you finish school, you will be an officer. Try the navy or army.

you'll either pay with money, or pay with your time. i know a few people who chose to pay with their time, and while the debtload isn't there, they don't have certain choices available to them as i do.

1 year or 2 years owed for every year funded... and residency doesn't count... and military residency slots are not as widely available, potentially wreaking havoc on any semblance of plans you may have had. if you don't care where you end up, or how long it takes you to get there, that's cool. if those sorts of things matter to you, then it ends up benig not so cool.

 

[deleted74029]

Are you talking about paying for Med school or undergrad? If its the former then everyone is eligible for a loan regardless of credit so you'll most likely pay through loans. Thats what 95% of people will do.

 

[UTHSCSAHopeful]

Thanks for all the great advice. It is greatly appriciated.

UTHSCSAHopeful

 

[njbmd]

First, thanks to everyone out there doing this. It is very helpful and inspiring to alot of students. I am currently a freshman at a community college. I am 26yrs old (i wasted time I know). I am an X-ray Tech attempting to make a dream of being a doctor a reality. I have the drive, the passion, the wit. The thing that I am lacking is the finances. I am going to pay for my freshman and soph yr out of pocket but that is going to be more of a challenge as a jr and sr and med school. My question is how can I pay for Med School? What are my best options if credit is a problem? Thanks in advance

UTHSCSAhopeful

Start strong and shoot for all As in your community college work. Make sure that you achieve every academic honor that you can while in community college. Also, go to the counseling office and find out about any and every scholarship that is available. There are scholarships for folks who are doing well so apply for them and earn those As.

If you have excelled academically at your community college, you can put yourself in good position to get scholarships when your transfer to the four-year institution. If you are transferring in with greater than a 3.7 GPA, you are likely to be eligible for some scholarship money. Get your financial aid stuff done early and keep bugging the Financial Aid office at the college/university that you apply to.

if you maintain a good credit history from here on out then you will likely be eligible for the Grad PLUS loan which is based on creditworthiness not credit score. Meaning if your recent history is ok then you should be fine since your score is not factored in (although your score will improve if you continue to make payments on time, and pay a little over the min payment).

You might get a scholarship if you do really well in your UG classes, so don't let finances stop you before you have begun.
Hope this helps!

Definitely keep your credit history good. This means learning how to manage credit and not carrying a credit card balance from month to month. Set yourself a budget and live within it. Put money into savings with every paycheck rather than spend it. If you have a bunch of credit cards with balances, pay them off right now and get rid of all of them except one for absolute emergencies. If you have a car payment, don't be late. Pay off every bill that you can pay off and don't make any more so that you life stays simple.

As UVABranch said, you might get a scholarship if you do well in your UG classes so do your best and aim for total mastery of every course and class that you take. If you start with excellent scholarship, you can find money so enlist the aid of the counseling office, financial aid and other resources to get what you need. The money won't find you but being a good student and proactive about making sure that you ferret out every scholarship opportunity out there can help you.

 

[ChinJewel]

first of all...it's never too late to start doing what you were destined to do or what you feel God has called you to do. You may feel like you've wasted time, but you're back on track and that's all that matters.

So the whole paying for med school thing has been a concern for me as well. Right now i'm focusing on going the military route and also the national health services corps (for docs who want to work with underserved populations). it is true that you either pay with for med school with money or with time like someone mentioned above. and at this rate, i'm leaning more towards time. i've done extensive research on the military scholarship (health professions scholarship program or hpsp) and on the nhsc. both have the same basic concept. with the military scholarship you need to figure out which branch of the armed services will work for you: army, navy, or air force. each one works a little different.

it's understandable if you don't want to or are afraid of being caught up in the whole paying back with time thing. a friend of mine kinda discouraged me from applying to these scholarships and she told me that if i was avid about looking for scholarships that don't have to be paid back that i could easily pay for most if not all of my med school education. that's all fine and dandy but i know myself and i know i will prob not devote a lot of time to searching and applying for these scholarships during med school. but at the same time, others might be willing to do this.

and then there's the whole thing of you'll be making mad bank by the time you're a full-fledged doctor so you'll be able to pay it all back anyway. ;-)