Do students get paid in medical school? Do they get paid during medical residency? What is medical residency?
You don't get paid during med school and most people do not work because you have to learn the material. However, most schools let you borrow up to $25,000/year to cover the cost of living. If you are planning on going any time soon, learn how to manage your money. In undergrad, I lived on around $16,000 a year. I learned to cook my own food, wasn’t drinking a lot, and always made lunches from leftovers. I also had a roommate and we only had one bedroom, so we shared a room. Like learning the creativity of poverty is important.In residency, it’s basically just time for you to gear up and learn all of the things about your specialty you choose. You do get paid, but its around 50,000/year and you work long hours.
How do middle class/lower class students pay for medical school?
I am a pre-med student at UC Berkeley and my dream has always been to go to medical school and become a doctor. I am genuinely so passionate about medicine and harm reduction/prevention along with assisting the sick. Although I am worried about being admitted, application processes, my MCATs, GPA, etc, I am far more disturbed by how I would fund my way through a potential masters program before medical school, the application process itself, and medical school itself! I am already under a ton of loans through my parents (Parent Plus Loans) and couple direct loans to pay for my undergraduate tuition. It does not help that I am considered a "middle class" out of state student I wanted some advice on other middle class/lower class students that are in a similar situation where they have funded their undergraduate through loans and are pursuing their professional degrees with more loans or other possible options. I have looked into the HPSP military scholarships as well as the scholarships for underrepresented minority students that also are available through the National Medical Fellowships. This is a definite possibility, but I would like to know a variety of different medical students' opinions . Also, I am interested in what you guys may have done after graduating. I plan to do a post-bach to bolster my application/GPA and research. I also want to take some time to get some experience working as an ER scribe during my gap year(s). Once I have chosen a particular medical school and committed myself, I would attempt traveling for a short while before going into medical school. To summarize my questions: If there are any middle class/lower class students who have basically funded their education through loans, how did you go about your higher education financially? Is it true that the numbers look obscene as you are still in school, but until you make an actual salary with the career you have been working for, the value of the dollar is better understood? Any further advice about the financial aspects of medical school along with any pertinent advice of getting there will be greatly appreciated. -concerned student
How much debt does a student from a medical school expect to have?
I'm a sophomore in high school and I also want to be a doctor. My guess is that you want to go to a prestigious school for your undergrad so that you can go to a top-tier med school so you can discover the cause of scoliosis or something? me too. from what i've read online, this is what is financially important for people like us: 1) the undergrad school you go to probably will not greatly affect the med school you get accepted to. the name of your school does carry weight; obviously a 4.0 gpa from stanford is more meaningful than a 4.0 from a state school, but there are so many factors other than the prestige of your university that it won't be the deciding factor. also, the way i think of it is going to a less prestigious undergrad program may work in your favor because your classmates will probably be easier competition, which will allow you to more easily maintain a higher class rank. 2) medical schools do consider how much debt you're already in before they let you into their program. If you go to John Hopkin's without many scholarships/financial aid, you may be close to $200k in debt just for your undergrad. I'm sure you can expect to double that number after med school. If you're anything like me, and medicine really is your passion, then you probably don't want to put a price limit on your education, right? but what it comes down to is a group of people reading your medical school application, and if they think that your financial situation is unfavorable, then you can kiss your dream goodbye. with that being said... you may want to consider a cheaper undergrad school. I've been looking into Texas Christian University, and tution there is about $15k less than ivy league schools. One issue i have with that school is that they don't offer biomedical engineering as a major (i plan to major in that too, in case med school doesn't work out) but they have a fantastic pre-med program that supposedly places 80% of it's graduates into a med school. so my point is that there are many other, perhaps better, options out there. finally, keep in mind that doctors are supposed to be PRACTICAL and CAREFUL people, not spontaneous illogical people who accumulate $400k of debt in 8 years. best of luck to you.
Can international students study in American medical school after they studied undergraduate in their countries?
Yes, it's possible. It's very, very difficult. At most US medical schools, just a few seats (if any) are open to international students, and there are *many* applications for those seats. Doing well on the MCAT test can also be a major obstacle to international students, especially if they're non-native English speakers.When an international student comes to my office asking, "How do I get to medical school?" then part of my answer is, "Immediately start working toward citizenship or permanent resident status. Achieving it will make medical admission literally 100x easier."
If I plan to attend medical school after undergrad, how do I defer my undergrad loans until after med school to pay along with my med school loans?
Assuming we are talking only about Federal Stafford loans, then as long as your medical school is an accredited school recognized by the US Department of Education, you won’t have to do anything. They will report you as a full-time student to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), and your loans will go into an in-school deferment.However, a few caveats:You will use up some of the grace period on your undergrad loans. If your undergrad school reports you as graduating in June and your medical school starts in September, you will have used about 3 months of your 6 months grace. That means you’ll only have about 3 months left of grace for those loans when you graduate med school (or if you drop out or drop below half-time).Any subsidized loans you took out between July 1, 2012 and July 1, 2014 will accrue interest during that grace period. Subsidized loans taken before or after that range do not accrue interest while in grace.If at all possible, pay at least some of the interest on your unsubsidized loans while you are in school. While this is not required, you will have a high enough loan burden when you complete med school — don’t add capitalized interest if you can avoid it. And if you can only pay some, but not all, that still helps.There will be some time between when you have started med school and when that news will be transmitted to your loan servicer. If you are still getting statements from them indicating that you will be going into repayment soon, don’t worry about it — unless it has been at least two months since the term started and you are still getting them. If that happens, it’s time to contact the registrar or records office at your medical school.None of this applies to private student loans. Those may or may not be deferable while you are in med school. You will have to contact your lender(s) to find out if they offer that option, and if so under what conditions.
I am behind in my major? Pre-Med and Medical Students only please?
I'm actually in the same basic situation as you are. From what I've heard, it's a very bad idea to try to take more than one pre-med course in each semester, so I suggest spacing them out as much as possible. Also, try to take the class you have the most experience in during the summer. For example, I'm taking general chemistry in the fall and spring, and then will take biology over the following summer, since I took Pre-AP and AP Bio in high school already and am not worried about it being too hard for me. But if you're perfectly comfortable with your Chem skills, go for it. Just be aware that it will feel like the class is going really really fast! If you decide against the summer class, taking Org Chem in your junior year shouldn't be a problem. You might want to talk to your school's pre-med advisor, though. S/he will give you better advice than you can find here, I'm sure :)
Student Loans and Debt?
I’m a Pre-Med major going to Penn State in the fall. I’m an out of state student therefore tuition is considerably higher. I applied to no other schools except for Penn State and Loyola but I chose the former due to them having my major and also being the furthest from home. Tuition is $55,000 and I told my mother that I could take a year off but she insists on me going. I have no outside scholarships and i only get a $5,000 from FAFSA despite my family being considerably poor. Penn State gave me an extra $5,000 so now tuition is down to $45,000 which is still a lot to pay. I want to make my mother proud as she sacrificed her old life to bring me to this country but I can’t do that if I’m in debt straight out of college. What do i do financially because we’ve already committed to the school and orientation is coming up soon. I’d rather not back out now as I am excited about the prospect of college and realizing my goals. Any help is appreciated