Is USC worth full tuition?

SDMom56
Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:20:30 +0000

Where you go to medical school and HOW WELL you do will determine where you get an internship. These are the 2 key factors that you should concentrate on. (medical school and internship) These are what are important, not where you went to undergrad (as long as it is a good school). If you want to go to Chapel Hill, IMO, you will be better off going to one of your schools on the east coast. If you want to go to a medical school in California, then USC may be a better choice. The other advantage of USC is that they will accept you into their medical school with a lower GPA than you would otherwise need if you are in their pre-med program. That is a plus.

My Nephew is finishing his first year of medical school and he has calculated that his loans will be about $120,000 when he finishes. Add that to $200,000 in undergrad loans that you will have from USC. Do you really want to put yourself under that kind of financial stress when you are just starting your career? I calculated the cost of your loan below from a financial aid site. You will be paying nearly $200,000 in interest! The loan payment is equal to or more than a mortgage payment! Of course, the monthly payment will be less if you take longer to pay off the loan, but then you will be paying even more interest.

USC and Medical School loans
Loan Balance: $320,000.00
Adjusted Loan Balance: $320,000.00
Loan Interest Rate: 6.80%
Loan Fees: 0.00%
Loan Term: 15 years
Minimum Payment: $0.00

Monthly Loan Payment: $2,840.59
Number of Payments: 180

Cumulative Payments: $511,305.74
Total Interest Paid: $191,305.74

Medical School alone
Loan Balance: $120,000.00
Adjusted Loan Balance: $120,000.00
Loan Interest Rate: 6.80%
Loan Fees: 0.00%
Loan Term: 15 years
Minimum Payment: $0.00

Monthly Loan Payment: $1,065.22
Number of Payments: 180

Cumulative Payments: $191,739.82
Total Interest Paid: $71,739.82

I can also tell you that the more prestigious the internship/residency program, the LESS they pay. My husband went to UCSB undergrad, UCD for medical school, UCLA for Intern/Res. and UCSD for a GI Fellowship. At the time, UCLA only took students who graduated in the top 3 spots in their medical school classes. Hence, they did not compensate them very well.

When my husband was an intern, he made $1000/month or $12,000/year (2days/month off) . First year of residency - $24,000 (3 days/month off)- second year of residency - $36,000 (4 days/month off) - Gastroenterology Fellowship - can’t remember, but around $40,000. This was 25 years ago, so you need to adjust for inflation. He did supplement with extra money during his second year of residency and fellowship by moonlighting in urgent care clinics. He did this on 2 of his 4 days/month off. During his last year of fellowship, we had 5 jobs between us and we made $56,000. The only debt that we had was our mortgage and it was still tough living in San Diego.

But, the point is that he was 30 when he went into practice and started to make decent money. Physicians do not make the kind of income that you are going to need to service that debt for years. It will be a stone around your neck.

With the new National HealthCare plan, who knows what physicians will be making in the future. My husband thinks that there will be a great need for primary care doctors and they are paid less than specialists. Medical doctors tend to make less than surgeons. These are all things that you need to consider.