Questions about the financial aid process

[Espressso]

Grateful for an acceptance this past cycle and I'm set to move OOS for school this upcoming July. However OOS tuition is ridiculously expensive. Tutition alone for OOS first year is $52,700 and according to the office of financial aid, the estimated total COA is $83,600.

Anyways. I'm slightly confused on the whole notion of financial aid. Didn't take out any loans for UG (forever grateful) but this makes me sort of a rookie here. I completed FASFA (didn't enter any parental financial information) and FASFA got back to me with a finalized report (SAR). And this was sent to the school. They also have a very simple "financial aid application" that I completed and now am currently waiting on the results.

My question is, what other loans are common for med students? I hear about the Perkins/Stafford/Plus ones, but I'm unfamiliar with all of these.

Also, scholarships? Are private/outside scholarships common for incoming first years? Has anyone had success with this? If so, any tips/advice?

I'm really trying to get ahead of the ball here because I have a few upcoming international trips scheduled and I'll be out of the country for some time leading up to the start of classes.

Any advice would be great! Many thanks

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[SurgeDO]

Grateful for an acceptance this past cycle and I'm set to move OOS for school this upcoming July. However OOS tuition is ridiculously expensive. Tutition alone for OOS first year is $52,700 and according to the office of financial aid, the estimated total COA is $83,600.

Anyways. I'm slightly confused on the whole notion of financial aid. Didn't take out any loans for UG (forever grateful) but this makes me sort of a rookie here. I completed FASFA (didn't enter any parental financial information) and FASFA got back to me with a finalized report (SAR). And this was sent to the school. They also have a very simple "financial aid application" that I completed and now am currently waiting on the results.

My question is, what other loans are common for med students? I hear about the Perkins/Stafford/Plus ones, but I'm unfamiliar with all of these.

Also, scholarships? Are private/outside scholarships common for incoming first years? Has anyone had success with this? If so, any tips/advice?

I'm really trying to get ahead of the ball here because I have a few upcoming international trips scheduled and I'll be out of the country for some time leading up to the start of classes.

Any advice would be great! Many thanks

Really simply put:

You first want to use up all your stafford loans. If you still need more money, go for your Grad plus loans (generally higher interest rates and the lenders receive roughly 4% of every deposit you take from them).

I never touched Perkins loans and honestly don't know enough about them.

This will all become abundantly clear once you start school because receiving money is the only thing that is important to your school's administration. All you can do is sit back and take it.

 

[GUH]

Some people get small scholarships but full scholarships other than military or public service scholarships are much rarer than they are for undergraduates.
Stafford + Grad Plus loans are what most of us use to get through medical school.

 

[rrw1913]

When does the loan application process start? I'm also a rookie here.

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[trs88]

When does the loan application process start? I'm also a rookie here.

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Pretty much when your school says so. If you're an accepted student, your school when let you know when you need to fill out a fafsa. If you already did, then you can relax until your school emails you with the next step. The emails will have step by step instructions on how to access your account log ins to accept the loans.