<p>The thing is, applying to med school sucks. But you just have to do it.</p>
<p>Fitting in the prereqs. Doing all the extracurriculars. Missing the fun social stuff. Preparing for and taking the MCAT. Tracking down rec letter writers. Dealing with committee interviews. Filling out all the forms. Completing all the secondaries. Scheduling interviews. Missing classes. Explaining to professors. Figuring out travel arrangements. Packing, traveling to, and attending interviews. The list goes on and on and on.</p>
<p>Right now, it all seems really expensive. A few thousand dollars for a prep class; $250 for the MCAT; $400+ for primaries; $100 per secondary; $1000 per interview at least; $500 for new clothes. The list goes on and on.</p>
<p>I imagine you’ll check out some websites, breeze through their finaid section, and ignore the talk from the finaid lady at the interview. You’ll expect that because you’re such a rockstar student (as you always have been) that you’ll be one of the two people who gets a full ride, and thus you won’t have to worry about med school debt. (At least, you will if you’re me or my friends!)</p>
<p>Then you’ll fill out the FAFSA, and be happy that your EFC = $0 because you’re financially independent of your parents. Then you’ll get your measly finaid package that consists of one tiny grant and the rest federal loans. Then you’ll see that your loans have interest rates of 6.8 or 7.9%, and that interest started accruing yesterday. Then you’ll choose how much you want to take out, and you’ll have a little heart attack entering $37,000 into a box online. A few months later, the powers that be will divide that in half, subtract the fall semester’s tuition and fees and whatever, and send you the remainder to use for rent and bills. You’ll repeat this for a few more years, and all along the way this huge sum of debt will be following you around. “At least I’m investing in myself and my future–what better?” You’ll reassure yourself. You won’t even blink spending $560 to take the first board exam or spending $300 on practice questions for the same exam. </p>
<p>And then, one day, you’ll look back at junior-year-you and chuckle that you thought a $1200 MCAT prep class would break the bank. You’ll look back at your interview trips fondly. You’ll still wear the power suit and the shoes. </p>
<p>And then, every so often, you’ll decide to hell with all this crazy stuff, invite all your friends over, cook a delicious feast, drink too much red wine, and have a great time talking about things other than med school. And maybe every so often you’ll be happy because you know you picked the right path.</p>
<p>tl;dr–Yep, it’s pricey and time consuming. But it only gets worse. Try to enjoy the journey!</p>