Allow me to start by saying congratulations to all of you who have gone, and are going, down a very long road “less traveled by!” I’ve been reading post on this site for a while now and it’s extremely encouraging!
My name is Dan and I’m a firefighter/paramedic from GA. I’m 32 years old and have a B.A. in Music from Kennesaw State University (large 4 year university in Ga) from 2002. I have a 3.3 GPA from my B.A. and all of my post bacc stuff including my Paramedic degree is 3.83. I also went back and took precalc and calc from a community college and finished both with A’s. I’m currently enrolled in a private 4 year university taking Chem I and Bio I and, halfway through the semester I’ve got high A’s in both classes.
I’m both excited, and apprehensive, about what the future holds. I’m not married and I have no children so my life in many ways is somewhat simple. I am concerned about financing my education, however. My credit is perfect, but, as is the case with many I’m sure, I own a home and am not sure what to do with it if and when I get accepted into med school! If I do a short sale etc, will that effect my med school financing? Are there loans available for living expenses as well?
Any advice on this would be appreciated,
Sincerely,
Dan
Best of luck to all of you on your journey!
Dan,
I can tell you that for my school, financial aid was done very much similar to that as any undergrad education. They looked at my tax forms and I had to provide info regarding the amount of $ in my various accounts. So if you’re making $ on the sale of your home, it could affect your financial aid package.
Also, at least at my school, they did figure living expenses into the cost of attendance and financial aid was based on that, not just tuition.
As an aside, I had the option as a nontrad to either include or not include my parents’ income when determining financial aid. I believe (not completely positive, though) at some schools it is mandatory to include, even when you are completely independent and they don’t provide any funding to you.
Good luck in the journey!
Dan -
Regarding selling the house, are you asking if having income from the sale of a house would affect your eligibility for financial aid because you would be less needy?
Not directly. Bear in mind that many schools have very few if any need-based scholarships.
You can indeed borrow money for living expenses, and it is common. There are federal subsidized and unsubsidized student loans and Grad Plus loans and you can generally borrow the cost of tuition, and up to what the school states is the cost of books, supplies, and living expenses for that area.
Here’s where selling the house COULD affect you…you fill out a FAFSA which is used to calculate your expected contribution to the cost of your education. This takes into account your income (from your tax return). Having a large capital gain could increase your expected contribution, decreasing the amount you would be able to borrow. However, since borrowing less is to your eventual advantage, that will help you out. If selling will result in a loss, and affect your credit, THAT is a much bigger concern. You have to have no adverse events in your credit report to be eligible for all of the loans.
Many folks go the military route for scholarship for med school - you have much less control over your specialty afterwards, however. People also get scholarships or loan repayment from state sources.
Kate
Thank you, MD2B and Kate, for the feedback! Unfortunately for me, selling my house would result in a loss. Any chances of getting those loans if I have a co-signer?
Thanks,
Dan