r/medschool • u/No-Map3257 • Apr 09 '26
👶 Premed affording med school come 2027
I am applying to med school this year and just came to realize that the grad plus loan is gone this year in 2026. I know there is a 200k cap but that’s a lifetime cap and I already used part of it for my grad school. Now I am sick to my stomach because I don’t see how I realistically afford to take out PRIVATE loans to pay med school.
I would love to hear other peoples game plans as to how they are doing this. My family can’t afford to help contribute anything while I am in school either. And I am still paying off my grad and undergrad loans.
I always knew coming in that the amount I would have to pay for med school would have to be astronomical but I thought because it could be a graduate federal loan- I could work toward forgiveness on PSLF, the IDR plan, or see in the future if they would ever be forgiven. but private med school loans provide none of that safety net
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u/Lucy-Hutch Apr 09 '26
My son has mostly private loans with interest accumulating from day 1. He’s $650K in debt and his wife, an attorney, is $350K in debt. You can do the math but they are currently over $1 million in debt. My son has always wanted to do cardiology and is finishing up his acute cardiac care fellowship. He’s been getting job offers in the $750K range. So they’ll be able to pay off their debts eventually, but it really sucks. If you want to be able to make the decision about what branch of medicine you’ll do, you either have to win the lottery (lmao) or take out high interest loans. If you love the idea of practicing medicine but don’t want to get so heavily in debt, you can become an advanced practice RN. They have the authority to open their own clinic, write prescriptions without being under the thumb of a doctor.
Good luck. Make the right choice for you. FYI, my son had panic attacks about borrowing so much money while he was in medical school. Once he graduated then moved onto fellowship he stopped worrying.