As you begin to prepare for medical school, one of the most important steps to take is to prepare yourself for the costs.  A keen understanding of the financial undertaking that you are approaching is critical to your long-term fiscal well-being.  Use the resources provided here to help you discuss and make sound decisions regarding your financial aid.

With the rise of medical school costs, we highly recommend that you find a roommate.  It will decrease your room and board expenses by as much as 50%.  To learn more about the importance of a roommate and how to choose one, click here.

Your Budget

If you aren’t used to living on a restricted budget, start practicing now! Financial aid budgets for medical students are based on a low to moderate cost of living.  Each year we create a medical student budget or Cost of Attendance Budget from which we determine the amount of financial aid our students are eligible to receive.  Review it carefully and try to budget your own expenses accordingly.  NOTE FOR THE CLASS OF 2011: Because aid does not disburse until the end of the first week of class, you need to plan for matriculation expenses such as: moving expenses, housing and utilities deposits, summer reading, etc.  You will not be able to rely on financial aid to get you started.

There are sometimes circumstances in which students are eligible for a budget increase.  To become familiar with allowable increases click on Instructions for making an appeal to the Student Educational Budget.

Financial Resources

Before you begin the application process, we recommend that you review the Types of Financial Aid Chart, as well as check the FAQ for any questions that you may have.

If you began medical school with as out-of-state student, you can apply for Ohio Residency once you have lived in the state for 12 months.  Find out how to Apply for In-State (Ohio) Residency.

Your Tools

If you have accumulated educational or other debt prior to medical school, this is also a good time to understand how to manage that debt. Good record keeping, understanding deferment options and knowing the combined limits of the loan programs are very important in this process.  Use our Money Management Tools to explore things like your credit report, find out how much money you will need to earn to make your student loan payments, and create a personalized budget.