So my goal in life is to become an emergency medicine doctor (maybe trauma surgeon) and I’m aware that comes with a decade of schooling and massive debt. Here’s where I’m stuck: I got admitted to a few schools, including my dream school NYU and my state school that I’m not fond of, Rutgers. My parents will not be supporting me financially and there’s no way I can be declared independent from their financial information + I’ve already called both financial aid offices and I won’t be getting more aid.
NYU:
– 274k tuition ALONE for four years
– the commute to NYC is gonna cost me time and money, if not then slap on another 100k to live in a shoebox dorm in Manhattan.
– It’s literally my dream school, I cannot fathom a better environment for me, right in the center of my dream city.
– Proximity to top-tier hospitals for internships/research
– I’m starting in spring of 2027, not fall of 2026.
– Starting salary of a degree in biomedical engineering is 100k right out of college, assuming I get a job and take gap years before med school, that’s still not enough to realistically cover what I’ll need to take out in federal + private loans and ISAs.
– The only scenario I see myself being able to afford this school is if I separate from my parents and qualify for a dependency override and therefore the NYU promise (which is not happening anytime soon).
Rutgers NB
– 60k in-state tuition as a commuter (round it up to consider other expenses)
– Degree in biochem (not as high of an ROI as biomedical engineering).
– I can’t put into words how much I hate this school, the campus, the culture, the fact that nearly everyone from our high school goes there. I don’t plan on competing with the other bajillion bio majors for a spot in their research labs or at RWJ.
– Parents were pressuring me to go here (which is silly because they still aren’t paying for tuition anyways).
3rd Option: Paramedic School through my employer
– I got two part-time job offers from a major hospital network near-by since I already have my EMT license and two years worth of experience. Now I just need to graduate in June.
– Both jobs would pay me a part-time salary of roughly 1900 pre-tax.
– The recruiter I talked to said if I wish I can pursue paramedic school and the hospital would cover the costs.
– I can do the 18-month program and start as a paramedic with an estimated salary of anywhere between 50-60k.
– Since I wouldn’t be in college I could entertain the idea of working full-time and doubling my salary to save up.
– I could get my associates through the program and then try to transfer to a four-year university (including NYU) and finishing my bachelor’s there.
– I’m assuming not only would my paramedic clinicals look good for med school but I could use this time to study for the MCAT in advance.
– Biggest con about this would be if my transfer applications don’t go well and I’m stuck with an associate degree and no progression towards a bachelors.
I don’t have many reliable adults in my life to ask for this kind of financial advice so I’m asking here for more input. I have about a week to decide where to commit and put down a deposit, and I’m at such a loss on what to do.
Please help this high school senior decide what to do with the next four years of her life 🙏
byu/Chai_Tea_In_My_Veins inStudentLoans
Posted by Chai_Tea_In_My_Veins
16 Comments
NYU is not an option. Period.
That amount of debt, most of which would be private loans, would be life-ruining.
I know that’s not what you want to hear, and I’m sorry, but you need to hear it.
You would probably be close to $600k in debt by the time you’re done with med school. Do yourself a favor, I wish I would’ve done this at your age. Go on a loan calculator and calculate what your loan payments would be on a 500k loan at 8% and then imagine paying that for 20 years.
Option 3 for sure. NYU with full debt/private loans is a really bad idea and you’re dead set against Rutgers, well that leaves option 3.
Ok – so this is all for med school. I can’t think of a worse way to start off med school is in already 200k+ in debt.
I’m sure you’re aware of the OBBB loan changes – you will no longer be able to borrow all of your med-school loans (Or undergrad for that matter) through the feds – there’s caps now and they’re serious.
Why does this matter?
That 300k+ in debt + another 300-400k+ for med school will amount to 700k+ BEFORE INTEREST.
Private student loans accrue interest the ENTIRE TIME.
Lets say everything works EXACTLY as planned. You go to NYU, get 300k in debt – get an insane MCAT score and get into an MD med school first application cycle. You then get another 300-400K in debt, you’re now 700k in debt (+about 100-200k in interest already on your 10% interest student loans).
Then you get to match day. Lets say you match REALLY good – you match into a really good upper mid tier specialty like OBGYN. You start your residency. Your debt is ALREADY around 800k. 4 more years of 10% increasing debt per year. You graduate, you’re now at a 1.2 MILLION DOLLAR debt.
But you’re an OB, right? It’ll be fine – your income is insane! 400K MGMA average!!
Lets say you continue to live in your dream city – New york. Your 400K income is now 240k due to taxes. Of course – you’re financially savvy, so you refinance your loans SUPER low – 2% interest rate! Amazing! A dream rate. Paid over 15 years? That’s 8300 a month. After all of that, everything lining up – PERFECTLY. The dream scenario. You now have 140k after tax earnings per year to live in New York City.
Even one of those things goes wrong? You don’t get into med school first cycle? You don’t match into a good specialty, or don’t match at all? Interest rates don’t go down?
Then – you’re in absolute financial ruin. Remember, these numbers are BEST CASE SCENARIO. Your plan, best case scenario is take home 140k a year.
You end up as family med in New york? Your income is now about 250k. Your take home is now 160k after tax – guess what that means? After paying your monthly loan debt (This is 15 whole years of payments, might I add), you’re left with a whopping 60k left a year! But, what if rates DON’T crash? Lets say rates stay 5-6%. Now your debt obligations are 11k a month. 11k a month with a family med salary leaves you with a whopping 28,000 US Dollars a year to live in New York city as a doctor.
tl;dr Don’t you dare sign up for this.
NYU is almost certainly off the table. I don’t think the NYU promise applies to transfer students.
Consider taking a gap year and applying to schools that are likely to give you significant merit scholarships (think full ride / full tuition). Don’t start your associate’s degree since the best merit scholarships are for first time first year students.
NYU the way you’re presenting it—
#is a nightmare.
Either state university, or EMT, or another job.
Get NYU out of your head and go to a school that’s realistic please, You said your parents aren’t helping you pay, please don’t do financial suicide because it’s your “dream school”. People who can go to private schools and stuff have rich parents who pay for it. You could go to NYU and end up with a worse job then a cheaper school it’s all about Networking in the end
I didn’t get enough financial aid to go to the university I wanted. I went to the state school I didn’t want and graduated debt free. I got into vet school without an issue. Having experienced the burden of significant student loan debt from vet school, going to the state school was the right choice.
Rutgers
I am a resident anesthesiologist and my biggest piece of advice would be to minimize debt and the number of gap years if the ultimate goal is becoming a doctor. Ideally, you wanna be ready to apply by senior year so you can start right after college. Each gap year is a lost income from your attending salary. For your case, that would mean going to Rutgers to save money. I recommend going in with an open mindset so you don’t write it off completely from the very beginning.
As unfortunate as it is the other commenters are right. NYU would be financial ruin. This is exactly why I chose to give up on my dream job of veterinary medicine rather than be in debt that would completely negate the income. Thankfully the paramedic option sounds fantastic, they will even pay for some schooling. Work and save as much as you can, use that resource. If you do take out private loans do thorough research on the provider; some are severely more predatory than others.
You’re probably going to hate my response even more than the Rutgers option, but if you truly are being driven to considering paramedic school instead of pursuing college due to finances, what about banging out your first 2 years at local county college.
I feel like I can speak to you this on a few levels:
1. I’m a 43 yo dad with a 14 yo hs freshman in NJ & we are starting to look seriously at college finances. She’s interested in pursuing her BSN. Unfortunately, we have nothing saved for her education- so we plan to share loan burden with her.
2. I’m still paying off *my* last undergrad loan & I graduated from an out of state school in 2004. If I had a time machine I would slap 17 year old me into taking the nearly full ride to Rutgers instead of my “dream school” of Penn State.
3. I’m also a paramedic, though I got off the truck a few years ago -completely burned out during covid and went back to a 9-5 desk job that my degree is in. It is not nearly as fulfilling as paramedicine but it pays better & has infinitely better work life balance.
4. EMS can be a black hole especially for a younger person. You fall into the life & it gets hard to get out. I was an education director/EMT program coordinator & had many college kids come through on their way to PA/nursing/medical school. Far too many get into & fell in love with getting paid being independent & put pursuing med school on hold- some indefinitely.
My advice- follow the most direct path to your dream in the most budget friendly way possible. 2 years at community College, transfer to Rutgers or another in-state 4 year university that offers you the best aid package. Then onto medical or advanced practice school. Minimize your undergrad debt as much as humanly possible. I wish you well on your journey.
Hey older doc here đź‘‹
If you are so certain about being a doc, have you considered entering a combined baccalaureate/MD programs? They usually take 6 years combined which cuts down the cost of education tremendously. You’ll get to make 6 digits income much faster, in your 20s even.
If that option interests you, here’s a link for you to start your search. https://students-residents.aamc.org/medical-school-admission-requirements/medical-schools-offering-combined-baccalaureate-md-programs-state-and-program-length-2025-2026
I’m in healthcare & I would do the EMT/associates route.
You want to take the least expensive route & working as an EMT is what pre-med students are doing anyway in 2026 to beef up their applications.
NYU is not an option at that level of cost. You’ll be so deep in the hole before even starting medical school and that’s assuming you even get into medical school. There’s literally tens of thousands of students every year entering college thinking they’ll be doctors one day and never get anywhere close. So don’t bank on an uncertainty to be able to pay your way out of a debt that massive.
Never take out that amount of loans for a bachelors regardless of the school. Go to community college, the first two years is just your general Ed classes. After that transfer try to maintain a decent gpa so you can potentially qualify for scholarships