I’m sure we’d all be thrilled to get into med school regardless of where, but the Huffington Post put out a list today showing the schools where students graduate with the most debt:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/24/medical-s…
At least 2 of these schools are on my want-to-go-here list. Eek…
Honestly, manage your non-student debt and you’ll be fine.
Most will defer their loans until they can start paying them back (usually after residency).
Don’t let lifestyle inflation grab a hold! Can’t state this one enough. Having an M.D. or D.O. after your name does not give you the ability to go buy a new house and a BMW. Live like a medical student/resident for a couple of years and you can pay off your loans quickly!
Good luck!
The AAMC compiles a yearly report on costs for each individual medical school.
Link to AAMC 2011-2012 Med School costs
BTW, virtually any data related to medical school applicants, matriculants, or medical residency, there is likely a report on AAMC, AACOM or other site to get it. For things where actual data is not available, such as cross applications to MS, DO, and Off-Shore, it is likely there is a reasonably good survey or study to get insight
Wohoo! We’re number 1! Actually my fellow classmates and I have been talking about this since it came out --we knew it was bad but didn’t realize we were number one. Bear in mind that average indebtedness of $229,000 includes instate students who pay I think $28,000 in tuition vs us out of staters who pay $50,000/yr. So it’s actually a bit worse for us: more like $280,000 to $300,000.
It is a lovely school, and I’ve been quite happy here so far —some really wonderful teachers. Is it $300,000 wonderful? For me it was but others disagree.
If you get a military scholarship, I’d say come here in a heartbeat. Or, move to WV a year before accepting admission and work and pay taxes. That’s what it takes for in-state tuition.
Kate
Quote: “…Medicine is a career with a fairly high income. Reuters reports that in 2010, primary care physicians located in the eastern U.S. held a median income level of $194,000.”
Huh? I didn’t think primary care made even that much a year…
Yeah, there was a thread on SDN around December that was “Ask an EM Resident anything?” and one of the most surprising things was his pay. Almost 1/2 mil a year. Medicine is still a lucrative career, I think some might not feel that way b/c you can get a business degree in 4 years and start making tons in banking, finance ect. While becoming a phsyician takes about 12 years to achieve.
Like Doc Gray said though, if you live modestly during your repayment period your debt will be gone pretty quick.
Very good point. One of the best things about starting this journey later is learning that lesson, for sure. I already went through my get-into-trouble-with-cre dit-card phase and it stunk. Paying them off took a long time and I vowed never again!
- Doc Gray Said:
Honestly, manage your non-student debt and you'll be fine.
Most will defer their loans until they can start paying them back (usually after residency).
Don't let lifestyle inflation grab a hold! Can't state this one enough. Having an M.D. or D.O. after your name does not give you the ability to go buy a new house and a BMW. Live like a medical student/resident for a couple of years and you can pay off your loans quickly!
Good luck!
Most will defer their loans until they can start paying them back (usually after residency).
Don't let lifestyle inflation grab a hold! Can't state this one enough. Having an M.D. or D.O. after your name does not give you the ability to go buy a new house and a BMW. Live like a medical student/resident for a couple of years and you can pay off your loans quickly!
Good luck!
This will probably get me in trouble, but… most doctors followed a traditional route and didn’t have a chance to make financial mistakes until medical school and residency, when they began to be adults and learn to budget, etc.
Sooo, being older and financially much wiser than I was 10 years ago, I will not do foolish financial things, and am only moderately horrified by the cost of my continuing education. 
Whew, none of these schools is on my list of “to apply to’s”…No offense to anyone intended, I’m just kinda focusing on in-state here in New York and only put two out of state schools on my list - still NE schools. I find it interesting that the Ivy league appears to be almost “affordable”?? Really?? Food for thought! I agree with Pixie, the price tags really do not surprise me…I paid (or the NHSC paid) 65,000 for my Master’s degree. And that was in 1996. I did end up, eventually, making enough to manage payments up until the NHSC kicked in. And it did involve living a simple lifestyle. No BMW for me!!Having worked for the State of New York and having been mentored by several psychiatrists, I knew the start salary was around 127,000.00 right out of med school. As simple and frugal as my lifestyle is…pretty sure I can manage! Helps at this point to no longer have kids in the house. They are like “alien pods” and really do drain you financially. (wink, wink) Don’t get me wrong…I LOVE my children, but they were expensive little suckers! Having already gotten rid of mortgage and credit cards at this point…looks doable.