Hello, All!
Thank you for your participation in this community :O) I’ve really enjoyed reading your posts.
For those of you in formal, full-time pre-med/post bacc programs: how on earth do you pay for tuition and living expenses?
For the past year, I’ve been trying to complete med school pre-reqs part-time at the university where I work, because they pay for my tuition. Sadly, working full-time while trying to complete 10 credits/semester has not worked well for me. I’d like to seriously consider applying to formal, full-time post-bacc programs, but for me, this would mean leaving my full time job and moving back to the East Coast (from Ohio). I don’t have a spouse or family members who help me with living expenses so I’d be very interested to know how others are paying for their pre-med education.
Thank you in advance for your insights, everyone!
Terel
Hi
I understand your struggle with work and navigating prerequisite coursework. I too worked full time for the last 3 years while finishing my prerequisites and studying for the mcat. I managed to do fairly well in the courses but struggled to find dedicated mcat study time. I simply did not have the time to study working 90+ hours every two weeks. As an intraoperative neurophysiology tech I was often on call, disrupting any chance to study efficiently. I took the MCAT twice and managed to barely bump it up. A formal post bacc is an excellent way to dedicate ALL of your time towards matriculation. Obviously formal post baccs have entrance requirements. Depends on what you are looking for. If you are interested in a program that has linkage agreements and guarantees for acceptance, those requirements such as minimum MCAT and GPA will be more competitive. Due to the nature of these programs, the scores needed to get accepted to a post bacc are fairly reasonable. In my case it was my mcat that still wasn’t up to par but good enough for a post bacc. But how could I quit my job for a certificate granting program you ask. A mix of private loans and federal aid. My COA was around 55k for the year. I locked in a decent loan from sallie may to cover Living expenses (keep in mind you may need to find a creditworthy consigner). Even though my program was not degree granting it was still classified as a graduate education loan. Federal aid covered tuition all you have to do is fill out the fafsfa lol. My advice to you: it’s extremely hard to excel Academically when you work any type of full time job. In reality, your job always comes first. It is your means of survival. Post baccs are an excellent way to say: in reality, my goal of getting into medical school comes first. Nearly every program gets title funding for fed aid. So if you have a solid application I would strongly advise quiting your job that has been holding you back, take a loan, and get on with your life. Make sure the program stands by their guarantees and have a contingency plan in place just in case you get stuck with a 50k loan repayment and nothing to pay for it. Like yourself, it took me about four years to navigate the waters of an untraditional applicant. It will pay off in the long run…trust me it’s worth it.
PAT