How on earth does anyone pay for professional school?

Ugh I'm just looking up tuition for the vet schools that I want to go to and it's just so expensive. How does anybody actually manage to pay for their undergrad and for professional school?

By my calculations, I'll be roughly $40-50,000 in debt (in loans and paying back my parents) just from undergrad alone. Which, all things considered, really isn't all that bad. I lived at home for a loooong time and that really helped.

But if I went to vet school in my state (paying in-state tuition) it would cost about $100,000. And that's just in tuition! Not including lab fees, text books, living expenses...

Someone told me it was cheaper to go to a Caribbean vet school (Ross or St. George university). I looked them up, they're nice schools, perfectly fine places to get an education in veterinary medicine. But they are certainly NOT cheaper. It will cost something like $160,000-$18000 in tuition alone to go there. Not factoring in at all the cost of living on an island and airfare!

The thing is though, that with how competitive vet schools are now, I have almost no chance of being accepted to a vet school unless I went to one of the Caribbean ones. And it's not that grades aren't good (they are) I just don't have the 4.0 which seems to be required for American vet schools.

I even looked into joining the army (they have a branch for veterinarians and everything). But they don't pay for everything. They say they do but when you read the fine print they don't pay for everything.

I can join the army while enrolled in an American vet school but even after graduation I'll still be $40,000-60,000 in debt. Which isn't all that much in the grand scheme of things but still, that's a lot to pay off.

I can join the army upon graduation from a Caribbean vet school but would still need to pay off $100,000 + in loans.

So how on earth am I going to pay for all of this? How does anybody today become a doctor, vet, or a dentist? How does anybody actually afford to get a PHD in anything at all? Even a Masters? It's rough enough as it is to afford a bachelor's degree in anything.

And yes, I do work part-time and penny-pinch.

Ugh this is just so frustrating. Advice and sympathies are welcomed. Thanks for listening.

I always find it crazy how much americans have to pay for the tuition fees, makes me appreciate how lucky us brits are...

I am just about to graduate and then do my masters degree in a history here in england, but I know of someone from high school that went to london to do vet medicine, and she said there are quite a few americans on her course, and the reason is that the fees are a little cheaper to the US (she said they have to pay something crazy like 15K a year, and I was complaining about top up fees!)...maybe you could check the UK vet schools? You'll still end up with a lot of debt, but I suppose every little helps in this situation?

No scholarships available?

Paying off an educational loan from an IHL is rarely easy. The key is to get as many scholarhips as possible and major in something that pays a min. of ~$35,000 with a bachelor's degree. Some people have been working for 10, 20 and even 30 years and still have not paid off all of their student loans. The cheapest route may be 2 years of prerequisites in Jr. college and then 2 years of a four year univ. This will get you a nursing degree and a solid salary right out of the gate.

d lilah

Are vet schools over there super-competitive? Over here you basically need all A's to be accepted, and even then you may not make the cut. There's just too many well-qualified applicants and not enough slots. I never thought about going to vet school in England, although, it may be kind of fun!

Anu - I looked into scholarships and they are slim pickings. The Caribbean vet schools basically only say "over 85% of our students receive financial aide" but they won't actually say how you get this, what you need to do to qualify for aid, how much it is, etc...I've only seen one scholarship available and I can't find out how much it's for.

There are a few scholarships for American vet schools but it's really not much, and just like admission to vet school, they are extremely competitive. The highest scholarship I've ever seen for vet schools is a $15,000 scholarship from the AKC for students with experience with pure-bred dogs.

The army vet core is really considered a "scholarship" and it's really the best deal out there.

Someday Soon

I'm already almost finished with my bachelors and will be applying to vet schools next year. So I can't really backtrack and go the community college route, and I really don't want to be a nurse. My dream job is as a vet.

When I calculate my average salary (as a vet in the army and as a vet elsewhere) I'd be able to pay off my student loans in 2-6 years, depending on which vet school I go to and if I go the army route. Which in the long run is not a huge deal, but I don't want to be 35 by the time I start saving for retirement and buy a house. I want to be able to pay for my own wedding, and I'd like to get married when I'm ready.

It's just frustrating how expensive it is to go to school now. People who want to learn and have the true desire to learn are struggling to go to school because of the high cost. It's really quite sad. My parents were both able to work part-time to pay for school and it's really just not possible to do that with my generation.

d lilah

I've tried to look up some tuition costs for various UK schools. It appears to be roughly $24,000 per academic year, which would be roughly equivalent to what I'd pay as an in-state resident (if I got into an American vet school). Of course, that could be completely wrong, that was just a quick Google search.

But it does seem like most of the UK vet schools are a 6 year program as opposed to a 4 year program here...forgive my unculturedness but do you go to college straight out of high school over there? I wonder if I could get a year or two waived seeing as how I'm almost complete with my bachelors.

In the U.K what you call "college" is university to us. You can either go to University out of high school, or you can go to a U.K version college before you go to Uni which offers a range of subjects which are kind of-mid level, kind of pre-Uni entry stuff, but you can also do high-school level exams there.

And medicine/vet school is very competitive here also, especially if you want to go to one of the big name universities, you pretty much need all As plus a lot of relevant work experience/stuff that shows you're a good all rounded person.

I'm 2 years out of undergrad and starting to think about going to grad school part-time soon. I was really lucky to get a lot of merit and need-based scholarships as an undergrad. Did you fill out the FAFSA and get federal financial aid as an undergrad? They've recently increased the amount of federal financial aid available.

Honestly, though, I try not to think about the ridiculous amount of debt I hold now and how much more ridiculous it will get when I go to grad school. I make about $35K a year and have been paying on my loans for the year and a half I've been working full-time, and they just went under $20K. I'm expecting to take on at least an additional $40K for grad school. I know that all I can really do it make my payments on-time and pay more on them once I get a higher-paying job. It's pretty typical for folks who have JDs and PhDs to not finish paying off their student loan debt until they're in their 40s or 50s.

Pinnsvini

It does sound like it's just as competitive over there and not really much cheaper than in-state tuition. *Sigh* (There goes my dream of studying abroad!)

aneffigy123

I have applied for FASFA and get basically zilch. I'm not really sure why because my mother doesn't work, my father's salary is nothing amazing, and on top of all that my family currently has 3 kids in university (including myself). My siblings and I are all are all using loans to pay for college (parents have no more money to lend). I have applied for scholarships but have not received any so far.

I know that many people take a long time to pay off loans, especially from graduate school. It just breaks my heart to be in so much debt for so very long.

I know that many people take a long time to pay off loans, especially from graduate school. It just breaks my heart to be in so much debt for so very long.

I know this is the exact opposite of what a debt counselor would tell you, but I tend to think of my student loan debt as "not real debt" in order to keep my sanity. I mean, it's not like I'm spending outside of my means; it's not like I spent it on shoes or a fancy car or anything.

I know this is the exact opposite of what a debt counselor would tell you, but I tend to think of my student loan debt as "not real debt" in order to keep my sanity. I mean, it's not like I'm spending outside of my means; it's not like I spent it on shoes or a fancy car or anything.

You're right, if this is really my dream job then the amount of debt just won't change, so I'll have to change my attitude about being in debt. I'll just have to view it as an investment that takes awhile to mature.

Thanks

Oh um right. I didn't really know a whole lot, but I managed to chat to my friend on MSN.

She is at London, and it is a 5 year course . And yes, that is straight from high school. She said some people that have prior degrees are eligable to skip 1st year, so that would make it 4 years, and that it is £16,000 that she has heard non UK have to pay. Apparently not all vet schools in britain (theres some in England, Ireland and Scotland) are certified to practice in the USA after your degree, so you might want to check that out.

I think it is pretty competitive, I remember how stressed she was when she applied and had interviews. She said to give you this link: link removed

She said she found it useful when she was applying and you could start your own topic to ask people who might know more.

Hope everything works out!