@WayOutWestMom does this option still exist…and is it guaranteed that a doctor can do this?
And please please don’t consider the military unless you want to serve in the military. This should not be used simply as a means to pay for college.
And I’m pretty sure @tsbna44 means PSLF, not PLSG**. That’s the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. This program ONLY applies to federally funded college loans…which are limited now to $200,000 per student including undergrad for those attending professional school. It does NOT include any private loans you or your family might take. If medical school costs $100,000 a year, and is four years long…you will need some private loans to help fund…and those cannot be forgiven by the PSLF program.
At this particular point in time, there is some discussion regarding the future of PSLF. There has been for years, but it is really ramping up. I would be hesitant about it being available for doctors in the future. It very well may be, but it is not a given.
My D has a friend who joined the army in order to get med school paid for. It worked out extremely well for her. After her OB/GYN residency, she worked at a local VA hospital. Then she was stationed in Japan. It might not be for everyone (D has another friend who went to med school with the one who was in the military, and she chose not to do the military route) - but it is awesome if you don’t mind the military requirements.
Its very good if your parents can pay for Rutgers as a commuter (I suppose they’ll cover tuition, not room&board?).
So, do you think they’re understanding that loans aren’t the way to go?
It certainly was a difficult conversation to have, kudos to you
It’s really too bad none of the “free tuition guaranteed if family income=$X” colleges work out, I figured they’d be in the 15k range BUT they were always going to be high reaches anyway.
Don’t neglect the other NJ publics&apply to all the honors&special programs there in case one offers you big merit. Some even have housing stipends in addition to honors scholarships.
I am glad you figured out a plan for Rutgers. Hopefully the plan works for your siblings as well, if/when they go to college. I also hope that your parents are not jeopardizing their own finances. I would consider the CC option as a good backup….just in case.
As far as medical school, I would put that on the back burner for now. Somebody needs to take out loans for this; government loans are capped at $200,000.
How do you know that you can work at a non profit that can pay it off? What if those programs end one day? Those programs do not apply to private loans.
I am not suggesting that you forget about medical school. I AM suggesting that you focus on undergrad with as little debt as possible. If you figured out Rutgers, that’s great. Once you are set with undergrad, you can then decide if medical school is realistic. As noted, there are less costly options for careers in healthcare.
This is your problem, @Kingo You can only borrow $200K in federal student loans over a lifetime and you can only borrow a maximum of $50K/year during professional school Many med schools already cost nearly $100K year.
At best federal student loans will pay for 1/2 of your medical education. You will need to take out private loans for the the rest. Private loans are not eligible for PSLF (assuming it still is available in the future).
Right now if you work for a non-profit the Dept of HHS can exclude it from the PSLF program basically at will if it offer services that conflict with the Administration’s directives (pregnancy termination services, healthcare for transgendered individuals, healthcare for undocumented people….) This is endangering the PSLF eligibility of many academic and community hospitals. There is a lawsuit working its way through the courts on this issue, but I wouldn’t count on it being decided in the medical community’s favor.
IOW, don’t count on PSLF.
Also be aware than all scholarship for service programs like NHSC only repay federal loans, not private loans, and only at rate of $40K/year. (BTW, funding for NHSC has been drastically cut and the scholarships have become incredibly competitive to get.) Even the HPSP has a upper limit on the amount of scholarship funds a recipient can get and it your med school costs exceed this you will need to take out private loans.
So plan on taking out significant private loans to attend med school. That sucks, but many, many med students are in the same position right now.
Please note that PSLF doesn’t apply to private loans, which will have their own terms and repayment requirements.
I’m not trying to discourage you from trying for med school, but you need to be aware that it will be expensive and that you need to conserve as much money for med school as you can during undergrad.
Ok, so 10k or so per year?
Hopefully your job at the pharmacy and the 5.5k federal loans will cover the rest (btw your federal loans might be divided into subsidized and unsubsidized, and you’re perfectly allowed to take the subsidized part only, or if it’s all unsubsidized -more likely- to just borrow some of what you’ve been granted and not the whole thing. Or you can borrow the whole thing and only sur a part, “banking it” for later.)
Your SAT score is quite high - not high enough for Princeton but still roughly in the top ~3% nationally.
Once you’re done with NJ publics (including any Honors& special program), you can try your chance at these colleges that have both merit&FA in case they end up cheaper than Rutgers - unlikely but not impossible and their apps are on CommonApp so you can use 2-3 slots to roll the dice. Their EA deadline is Dec 1 and they’re supportive for premeds/pre health students (Juniata had a strong record of getting B+/A- HS students into med school, for instance. Drew is in NJ. Sewanee may be the most prestigious of the bunch. Your current test scores WOULD be competitive at all of them.)
Hendrix
Allegheny
Drew
Juniata
Washington, MD
Sewanee
