I will second the statement about working part time while in med school, it is virtually impossible because of the amount of coursework. IIRC, the only time my daughter worked during the school year was an occasional hour or two of Latin tutoring.
I don’t think he will be able to work during medical school.
I think there are several hurdles…and I am not talking about a college acceptance, as it seems there are affordable options that are available to this student (?).
- I think it might be hard to volunteer right away- students may need to be 18
- The OP seems to be linking research with hospitals. My daughter did this during an off campus summer program, but you had to be 18 when you applied. And a lot of research, even for pre-health students, does not directly involve hospitals.
This is huge ^
Lastly- the OP should keep in mind that medical school applicants will be older and will have spent time working in seriously underserved communities for extended periods of time. Your son, despite his maturity and experience, may not stand out to the same extent as he does now.
I think the two most common “part time jobs” for med students are donating plasma and sperm (for men). And there’s a reason for that. Low time commitment.
OP- you need to be realistic about how much money an art student will make selling art (you’re looking at flea market/Etsy, not a Madison Avenue gallery with professional representation) and how much a med student CAN work, even if they’ve got valuable skills.
Your kids sound great– both of them. Wishing you luck as you navigate this….
The free tuition medical schools aren’t Ivies. They’re JHU, NYU and Mt Sinai. (And for the next 3 years, the Alice B. Walton SOM in Benton, AR.)
JHU requires students to have a gross family income under $300,000 to be eligible for full tuition remission.. (Family income will include both parents’ income, and a spouse’s income if applicable. Information is collected using the CSS Profile. )
The Ivy medical schools all requires the CSS Profile and generally require all students to take out the maximum in federal student loans ($50K/year) first before any school-based aid is awarded.
All medical schools require students to sign an enrollment contract. One common provision is that students are prohibited from all off campus employment of any kind. Violating that provision means a student can be dismissed from medical school.
On campus employment is usually a few hours here and there tutoring fellow med students. Please do not expect your son to earn anything other than a bit of pocket money by working during med school.
Thank you for your detailed comment. Med Schools usually do not require a CSS profile from a non custodial parent, so it’s easier at that level .
Tutoring seems to be a possible avenue while in Med School, it’s not too time consuming, and it’s pretty lucrative. My daughter as a AP Bio Tutor, and he is a Med School student. If you tutor extensively during breaks, you can make good money. Advanced Calculus Tutors make $500/hour. Even if it’s $50-$100, it’s still decent money.
Thank you for your comment. If my son is not accepted to Med School right away, he would probably pursue another degree. But he may also decide to drop Child Support-he did start his own business and 13 and it was profitable. I have no doubts that he will figure out how to make money while he is doing his BS. He does not want to take the father’s money and if he is making enough on his own, he may decide to drop it.
Being cynical , it’s not much money in the context of med school costs.
@WayOutWestMom , what do typical breaks in med school look like? I think they are not like undergraduate, correct?
My daughter is very aware of the fact that artists do not make any money, she will obviously be doing an additional major, like Business/Econ, Design. We do have a lot of friends and fashion/jewellery design that are doing great, and by BFF is a set designer for TV shows and movies-she already has internships lined up. But yes, she absolutely needs to have an additional major to be on the safe side. She is very interested in Medicine too, and is taking all the APs-Chem, Bio, she is taking Human Anatomy next year. But she has to choose one. Her dream is to major in Biochemistry and Art and the same time, which is impossible.
Brown/RISD joint program. BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and a BS from Brown (up the street).
Expensive unless the aid situation is clarified. But the joint degree program is for people who want both an intensive fine arts degree with fabulous studios and mentoring AND an intensive academic degree in a completely different area.
I think there are others!
I wanted to comment to everyone who is concerned about my son find money for Med School/Post BS.
He is financially savvy, he did have his own business, and worked since he was 13, including tutoring. The only reason he is not doing it now is because I asked him to focus on school. But he’s been managing my IRA for 3 years. He wants to make his own money, and it’s very likely that he will start his own business in college, and he will obviously work. We do not know what the future brings for him in terms of Med School, but he is not the person who would just sit and wait for the money to fall on his head. I think I should focus on getting him into the best college for him now and worry about Med School later, because he may change his mind and decide to go into Science/Research/Pharma, we cannot predict it right now. But he also knows our financial situation, he dad walked out on us when he was 9, and cleaned out our bank accounts, all our savings. There were times when we had nothing to eat and nowhere to live. But we made it through and the kids are very mature and do not expect to rely on child support-the dad can just stop paying it completely. So it’s never a guarantee.
I did read that Hawaii CAN grant child support to a child up to age 23, but that’s for a full time undergrad student. I’ve never heard of child support going through med school, even if the ‘child’ is under 23. Most states stop child support at 18/hs graduation. A few extend it to 21 for a full time student (and NY is 21), but I really don’t think any continue it through grad school.
You need to worry about undergrad tuition. Med school financing will have to wait, and I don’t think you can count on child support, even for a 21 or 22 year old’s first year. Only you know if his father wants him to go to med school enough to pay for it.
Even as an undergrad, getting $3500/mo in income to him (if father pays directly to him) is going to cut his Pell grant and maybe other need based aid. It is a balancing act. My daughter got scholarships that exceeded her tuition, so she had to pay taxes on the amount used for room and board.
Thank you. It does not say anything in the court order about Undergrad. It says the child will continue to receive child support as long as he/she enrolled into a college or university full time.
Again, we are not counting on Child Support, because the dad can go back to court at any time, stop working, move to another country, appeal. No, he will not pay for Med School.
Once he is out of high school, or perhaps 18 or 21, you are just a parent, not a custodial parent (or his father a non-custodial parent). Just a parent. So if a med schools requires a parent CSS, then it is a parent. Legally, you have no support obligation and neither does the other parent. And the med schools don’t care, they just want someone to pay.
This is a fantastic program, thank you for recommending it! Brown is a very long shot, but we will try.
The discussion was about room/boar/living expenses. Yes, obviously he cannot pay Med School tuition with tutorin money
I’m sorry, but it’s highly unlikely that he can pay room, board and living expenses from unknown tutoring. Many of us parents here have been through it with our kids, who all are equally as brilliant and motivated as your son. We are just trying to give you the facts we all know from our kids experiences.
I just dont think it’s possible to play so far ahead. His plans may change; he may decide to do something else/move/start his own business. We had to move countries twice in 5 years and none of it was planned. There are wars and economic uncertainty. I have to focus on his BS right now. He will be majoring in Econ/Business/Finance with pre med track, so he will have options if he cannot afford med school. I am doing everything I can right now.
But a court order can not go beyond what the law allows.
“Child support in Hawaii is managed by the Child Support Enforcement Agency (CSEA) under the Attorney General, using state guidelines based on income, time-sharing, and child expenses. Payments are mandatory until age 18 (or 23 if in college full-time) and typically deducted via wage assignment.”
Lawyers will go 10 rounds on whether ‘college full time’ includes medical school or even grad school. And I think they’d win, that ‘college’ does not include grad school of any kind, even for a 22 year old.
But again, we are straying. You asked what his chances were for MIT and Stanford and I think the agreement is that they are long shots for ANY applicant. You then said you have a list of 40+ schools. I think that’s plenty to work with, and probably 30 too many.