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Student Loans

whygohomewhygohome Posts: 2,305
edited July 2010 in All Encompassing Trip
I am going into my 2nd year of doctoral study and I currently have 40K in student loans, which may grow to 50K by the time I graduate.

I'm just wondering if anyone else is in a similar situation, or, better yet, if anyone else has graduated with a large loan and has been paying it back.

I'm getting very worried that I may be mired in debt when I graduate, and that it will negatively effect my ability to buy a house, and, among other things, to simply enjoy post-graduate, professional life.
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Comments

  • marcosmarcos Posts: 2,112
    I don't think it will effect your ability to buy a house or car as they are secured debt an it will be easy to that away from you nor do I believe you will be charged a high interest rate or such as 50k is really not that much at all in comparison to others in you situation. I have a large loan and have been struggling to pay it back but most institutions are very understanding if you have a professional job. The credit card debt is frowned upon, not student loans really. Just stay away drom the credit card companies because you will be tempted to spend as they could often care less about your ability to pay it back.
  • rival.rival. Posts: 7,775
    student loans are considered good debt. as long as you pay them on time and do not miss a payment, they will not affect your credit when it comes to buying a house.

    credit card debit is what you must stay away from. that will destroy your credit and any chance of owning property/car.
  • TresentPenseTresentPense Posts: 551
    You'll be fine. Student loan debt is generally "cheap" debt (at least when compared to most other varieties) and isn't designed to be prohibitive. I left my MBA program with about $34K in loans, and I'm still paying it back. I could probably be done with it by now but I've blown too much money on "fun" in the past decade, none of which I regret one minute (or dollar!) of. My advice is just to focus on your education and establishing a career path afterwards, and hopefully the rest of it will take care of itself in due time.
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  • Slap upside the headSlap upside the head Posts: 904
    50k??

    What's that, about 4 months pay for a successful doctor?
  • soaks the pagessoaks the pages Posts: 91
    once those bills start coming in the only thing to do is just keep paying them off on time consistently. that's the only way to increase your credit score, anyway. the amount of debt you are in is not so much the issue as your reliability in paying it off. and i agree with marcos... avoid credit cards for as long and as often as you can. i work in retail and i have seen so many people hurt themselves with plastic that it's not even funny.
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  • 8181 Posts: 58,276
    docs make good coin.

    but yeah, i graduated with 30K plus of student loans and anouther 12K or so of credit card debt. i wasn't the most fiscally responsible person back then. took some time, but i'm not debt free, well, other than the house.

    short term it sucks, long term it worth it.
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  • whygohomewhygohome Posts: 2,305
    Slap upside the head wrote:
    50k??

    What's that, about 4 months pay for a successful doctor?

    A doctoral program for my PhD....not MD, although I regret not thinking more about becoming a "real" doctor when I was younger.
  • justamjustam Posts: 21,408
    whygohome wrote:
    I am going into my 2nd year of doctoral study and I currently have 40K in student loans, which may grow to 50K by the time I graduate.

    I'm just wondering if anyone else is in a similar situation, or, better yet, if anyone else has graduated with a large loan and has been paying it back.

    I'm getting very worried that I may be mired in debt when I graduate, and that it will negatively effect my ability to buy a house, and, among other things, to simply enjoy post-graduate, professional life.

    Well, at this point, it seems foolish not to finish so I think you're better off not worrying about it.

    My husband and I both got doctorates and we managed to pay the student loans off while raising our sons and buying a house. With only one set of student loans, you'll probably be fine. ;)
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  • BinauralJamBinauralJam Posts: 14,158
    It's such a small intrest rate, you can't go wrong. When my wife graduted we owed 38,000, six years later it's down to 28,000, only pay 250 bucks a month, it's gona take years to knock it all out but it's not one of those bills i worry about. You can also call them and set up something cheaper if need be, there nice and flexible about it. It's not like dealing with back Taxes or a Credit Card company. So Don't Sweat it.
  • The JugglerThe Juggler Posts: 48,639
    whygohome wrote:
    I am going into my 2nd year of doctoral study and I currently have 40K in student loans, which may grow to 50K by the time I graduate.

    I'm just wondering if anyone else is in a similar situation, or, better yet, if anyone else has graduated with a large loan and has been paying it back.

    I'm getting very worried that I may be mired in debt when I graduate, and that it will negatively effect my ability to buy a house, and, among other things, to simply enjoy post-graduate, professional life.

    as long as your debt ratios are fine with the student loan payment included you will not have a problem buying a house......just, whatever you do, DO NOT be 30 days late on them. it will destroy your credit. also--if you ever refinance or consolidate them--follow up and make sure all of your loans were included. a long time ago i consolidated mine and for some reason this small one for like 2k was not included. i didn't realize it until i was about 60 days down....BOOM----my credit scores tanked. be careful with that stuff.
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  • pj.uw.laurapj.uw.laura Posts: 553
    What are you studying?

    I'm in my last year (heading to internship in a month) and finishing up my dissertation in psychology.

    I've racked up about 70,000 in student loans. I'm not too worried about it. I've already begun paying back a little bit, but I have great credit, and I've been told by multiple people that student loans are good debt, as someone else said. Over time, I'll try to make higher-than-minimum payments, and I'm keeping in mind that there are loan forgiveness programs depending on what job you land. I think it's worth it over time, although currently it sucks to know I owe a lot.
  • unlost dogsunlost dogs Posts: 12,553
    Echoing others, just make sure you never miss a payment.

    I'm assuming that whatever your field is, you'll be compensated at a higher rate because you have a postgraduate degree. That's true for my field. Thus I sailed happily into it carrying undergrad and grad school loan repayments.

    Totally worth it. Didn't affect our ability to buy a house or my ability to buy a car. However, and again as others have stated here, the plastic debt nearly killed us because both of us had been careless in the not-so-distant past.

    Thank God for online banking! No late payments, ever...
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  • dcfaithfuldcfaithful Posts: 13,076
    I've considered changing my major as I am a little uncertain now as to what I'm studying is what I really want. But I'm afraid of a student loan, to be honest. :?
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  • pj.uw.laurapj.uw.laura Posts: 553
    For me personally, I understand how money can be a huge stressor. But it's difficult for me to understand how money can prevent people from doing what they want in life to be happy.
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