Financing Your Medical Education - Page 4
TIP 1
Avoid overspending
It is essential that you live within your budget
so that your need to borrow will be
under control and ultimately your debt load will
be restricted to an absolute minimum.
TIP 2
Avoid using credit cards
You must recognize that this form of payment
represents an expensive loan. Credit
cards should certainly not be used to purchase
items that you cannot afford; you should
restrict yourself to one credit card and it
should be held for identification purposes or
emergency use.
TIP 3
Understand your loan
The terms of all loans are different. From the
outset you should be aware of the
interest rate, duration of your loan, deferment
options, and consolidation conditions.
You will then know how to handle your loan and
avoid under- or overpayments and
possible default.
TIP 4
Check your mail
Psychologically, some students try to avoid
opening mail from lenders because they
do not like to read "bad news." This attitude
obviously can backfire and payments can
be missed. Your loan is then passed on to
another lender for collection. Also, you may
be sending your payments to a wrong address and
over a period of time this may result
in loan default.
TIP 5
Keep accurate records
To be sure that your payment is properly
credited to your account, it is obviously in
your best interest to maintain a complete and
up-to-date record of all your payments.
You should also note the remaining balances and
see if they correspond to that indicated
on the lender's statement. If there is a
discrepancy, contact the lender promptly and call
their attention to the apparent possible
error.
SCHOLARSHIPS AND LOANS
Scholarships largely come from two sources:
medical schools and the federal govern-
ment. All medical schools have some
scholarships or tuition-remission grants available
that are awarded on the basis of financial need
and scholastic performance. The school
catalogs usually give the necessary details.
The federal government provides most of
the funds that the medical schools, as well as
banks and other lending institutions, make
available to students.
Bottom Line
The following issues should be taken into
consideration when financing your profes-
sional education:
· Educational costs. Medical school has
become incredibly expensive over past
decades. On average, students pay an annual
tuition of around $12,000 at medical
schools in their home state, while
out-of-staters pay around $30,000. Private schools
obviously have far higher tuition levels. When
estimating your total expenses, you
need to consider costs beyond tuition, such
items as administrative and laboratory
fees, textbooks, and instruments, all of which
can be substantial. Additionally, a vari-
ety of expenses that are part of living
expenses must be included.
· Strategic planning. The understandable
goal of most students attending medical
school is to maintain a desirable lifestyle
while simultaneously repaying their
debt. Although this is an ideal situation, in
reality, to avoid excessive debt, one
may need to adjust one's lifestyle downward to
some extent. The key element is
staying within a budget that is designed to
keep your debt manageable. This will
serve to diminish unnecessary stress and
strain, and let you focus better on your
education.
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