payng for grad or med school

[Tiggeroo]

If you did this how did you pay? Is it better to be an independent student and not need to list your parents income. What if your parents will have three in college?
What if you have a good gpa, not outstanding, 3.2 but do very well on the GRE's or MCAT's?
What year in college did you start the process.
This will either be for bio, bio/chem or med degree. An eye towards research.

 

[arminnie]

Whether or not to list your parents depends on whether or not they are willing to help you financially. If there is no possibility of that then list yourself as independent.

My parents only helped with undergraduate. We were all on our own for grad programs. If they are willing they may not be deemed "able" since there are the three other children in college.

I was independent and applied for scholarships and loans from the schools that I applied to.

You need to really do some research about where to apply. You need places that you have a good chance of getting accepted. No matter how good your MCAT is, you are probably not going to get accepted at Harvard Med School with a 3.2 unless you have some other really strong asset to bring to the table.

If it's grad school you will probably have some good work opportunities open to you for the summer and maybe even during the year.

Do you have a counselor at your undergraduate school? They should be able to help.

 

[icebrat001]

I can answer your medical school question, however, I urge you to check out studentdoctor.net there is tons of information there for pre meds, med students, residents, everything and it talks about fin aid as well.

Technically speaking, as soon as you get your BA or BS degree you are no longer considered a dependent student for financial aid and you automatically become independent, you can take out $120,000 in federal loans total for the 4 years of medical school (which is considered a professional school, we have higher loan limits than graduate students). Although you are an independent student, some school still ask for parental information, and you can deny it if you like.

Some medical schools, not a lot but some do offer Merit scholarships but I wouldn't count on that because they are very hard to come by.

With a 3.2 GPA and a high MCAT say 35 or higher the student will have a chance at some medical schools but be prepared to explain why the GPA is so low and if your gpa is that low, you need to have more clinical and volunteer work as well as some pretty strong recommendations. Getting a high MCAT is VERY VERY VERY VERY difficult, it is easier to control your GPA than predict what you will get on the MCAT. I highly recommend trying to boost the GPA to at least a 3.5 but a 3.7 will be a lot better with a 30-32 for the MCAT.

Good luck and if you have any questions, feel free to PM me.


ETA: If the student wants to begin medical school right after they finish their undergrad then you take your MCATS April of your JR year and you apply in June of your JR year and then you spend your entire SR year (Oct-Feb) flying to interviews. It is a costly process.

If the student is not a strong student, I would work on the GPA and or do a 2 year masters program do really well and then apply.

MCAT scores are only valid for 3 years and the average age for a 1st year medical student is 24 years old, they really prefer the mature older student that was able to experience the working world or traveling and helping those in need. I'm not saying they won't admit younger students because they do. I'm just telling you the averages.

 

[Tiggeroo]

Would you recommend spending an extra year in undergrad to boost the gpa? What if the max loan ammount comes up quite a bit short. I would assume it's difficult to work during med school. There is no othe financial aid program that goes toward med school?
DD wants to do med research or pathology. Unsure if she wants to go with med degree or grad degree in bio or bio/chem. Undergad degree will be bio/chem molecular biology with a cert in forensics.

 

[icebrat001]

Spending an extra year in undergrad is an option yes.

Has she done her volunteer, research and clinical work?

You said her gpa is a 3.2 is that her overall gpa? What is her BCPM GPA? The BCPM GPA is weighted more heavily. BCMP stands for Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Math.

If the loan amounts fall short, she can explore private loans, or you can cosign a loan for her or something. It can be a real pain when aid falls short.

Goodluck! If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask.

 

[Saphire]

My son just started his second year of med school. He is on his own financially, as we have another in college and a third college-bound in two years. He was able to take out loans to cover his living expenses. No med students work, it is almost impossible. He signed a contract with his school that he will work for hospitals that are underserved for four years after graduation. They, in turn, pay 2/3 of his tuition. The other third was covered by scholarships, which do exist for med students. This is how he is doing it, there are many different ways.
GPA is important, but just like with college, it is one piece of the whole. They like to see volunteer work (my son was a Big Brother for 4 years and volunteered in a children's oncology unit) and want to see that you have done some research (he did cancer research as an undergrad). His college was a huge help in guiding him through the intense task of applying to med schools, as it is quite daunting. He took one year off after college and worked in research while he applied and visited schools. Most students apply to 10, and it is expensive to apply! Oh, I could go on and on, please let me know if you have other questions. My son is happily settled into his school and is working so hard...it is an amazing experience. Best wishes to your daughter!

 

[Tiggeroo]

I don't know what her BCPM gpa is. She started out pre-med then decided she didn't want to go that route. Wanted to go with the bio grad programs and do research. Now she is leaning toward med again. She is very bright. Had a very serious family illness last year and it side-tracked her badly. Her gpa dropped and she will end up doing an extra semester to graduate, more due to sequencing of courses then anything else. Her courseload is very heavy and she takes very few non-major specific classes. She's volunteered with handicapped students on a horse farm and spent the summer working in a water quality processing lab as an intern. She will be doing a research project with a professor in the fall. She's fairly quiet and I don't think has been getting the help she needs from her advisor. I'm going to be a jerk of a mom and insist that the two of us sit down with her advisor after the first week of school.
We visited some schools in Maryland while we dropped my son off at UMBC last week.