A few days ago
NY Chick

Should I work or take out a student loan?

I’m currently a junior in college and want to have a career in healthcare in the future. I plan on applying to the medical, p.a., and pharmacy schools in my area when I get my B.S. in Biology. The problem is that my overall g.p.a (3.0) and science g.p.a. (2.5) are considered terrible to admission boards and I have no significant extracurriculars, volunteering or shadowing hours to make up for my g.p.a b/c I always work part-time during the school yr. and full-time during the summer. Being unemployed isn’t an option for me because the Stafford loans I currently get don’t cover all my expenses (bills, rent, food). Also, my parents can’t help me because they both have extremely low incomes. Basically, my question is should I continue working and hope that the admission boards will take my financial situation into consideration or should I take out a private loan to cover my last 2 years as an undergrad and stop working in order to be able to participate in volunteering, shadowing, etc

Top 8 Answers
A few days ago
williamdefalco

Favorite Answer

Try working for around 75% of your tuition costs and obtaining a loan for the remainder. This keeps you in a healthy amount of debt by the time you graduate, plus depending on where you work they may offer tuition reimbursement during your last few semesters. Plus there’s just the inherent value earned that comes with working while going to college. You build a sense of responsibility of time-management, and more importantly, of handling your finances. Plus there’s a great feeling that comes from paying your own path to success too. It’s a great motivator to know that one day your hard efforts will pay off in having a great career with a really great pay.

I honestly don’t know how my friends (and by similarity most of the rest of students in todays universities) went into college with the mindset of getting EVERYTHING in loans. I have two friends that have well over $35,000 now owed in loans. That just seems so INSANE to me. To know that once you graduate you have $35,000 plus interest waiting to be paid off, along with all the other costs such as a new home, new car, living expenses, etc. I worked during my college years until my recent graduation, and at most applied for $4,000 in loans while I paid the rest through my earnings (no grants or scholarships for me) and I got by fine. Hope this helps.

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A few days ago
CaliGirl
If you can take out a loan for the last two years of school I suggest you do so. Because you work so much your grades have fallen. I think you should bring those grades up as much as you can because companies and the graduate schools you are interested in will be looking at your GPA.

Are there any internships that you can get involved in? Look in your biology department and see what is offered as for as internships, student jobs, or anything that can benefit your degree and allows you to also make money.

workonly 10-15 hours per week in the schoolyear and fulltime only in the summer. Internships are the best because they are flexible with your schedule and allow you to study when work is slow. Just do some research. You will find things if you look hard. And I forgot to mention look for all the scholarships you can! That really helps.

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A few days ago
misscarinne
Your best bet is to cut back on your work and take out a loan. Still work some so you can lessen the loan you’ll have to take out, but nothing beats experience or involvement. Try and get an internship that also pays – that’s always beneficial.

Definitely cut out your work time and take a loan. it will hit you with interest rates later but it will help increse your chances of success.

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A few days ago
tetlitea
Can you get a job in a hospital or medical/dental school? I work for a medical school and they have tuition reimbursement. Salary and experience and school paid for. You have to work a certain number of hours but it may be worth it to you to try to go for a job that will help pay for school and give you something to put on your applications.
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A few days ago
timemery73
Some hospital districts will pay for your graduate education, especially rural and the Public Health Service, U.S.Dept. of the Interior. This is in exchange for you promising to practice in that district.
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A few days ago
kpavich3
You’ll probably have to do both. Most American’s do.
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A few days ago
an_articulate_soul
anything you can do to avoid debt will be in your best interest
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A few days ago
Anonymous
both
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