- pathdr2b Said:
Personally, I'd suggest putting off med school until kids no longer need daycare and are in school all day.
I would agree with path on this one, however, I'd like to add the following:
1) school ends at 3pm, so you may still need after school care, which at my daycare costs 80% of all daycare (a ripoff)
2) Delaying yes and no. Yes because of course it is less money to borrow. No because this is a loss of future income. It all depends on how much you can borrow and where.
I will have one kid in daycare personally, but I will borrow only from the government, and may not even need Grad Plus loan. If I had to borrow private loans, I perhaps would wait at least another year, but it is not the case.
In my case, I have no retirement I can tap into, used my saving to get me through pre-req (so no debt right now). My wife will work and bring in 55 to 60K. My financial aid package for the first year that should cover cost of attendance + daycare for 1
40,500 Stafford at 6.8%
7,000 Grad Plus at 7+% (don't remember exaclty)
5,000 grant (free money, no repaying)
I also intend to work 5-6h a week, bringing about 1k/month (or possibly 12h/week bringing 2k/month). However the 12h/week would also entails some commute expenses and commuting time. So it is an option I am looking at, but I do not know. It is hard to decide without knowing what Med School is really like.
So hopefully I may be able to avoid borrowing the Grad Plus (at least it is a goal). I also will have very little commute expense.
Anyway, if I borrow full amount, I am looking at 180K after 4 years, which given that I have 2 kids, is not outrageous. My goal is to try to get that down to 130K, working if I can. I can also work during summer 1 and 2 and these usually bring very good money depending on workload. But I'd rather excel and chose a good residency than save a few thousand and do something that I don't want to.