By the time I enroll (if i get accepted to a good enough school),...I should have 80k saved up. God willing.

Hmmm... since I'm married and because housing is obscenely expensive in Boston, my budget for the 2 years is actually closer to $200k (student budgets don't include summer months for rent which is sort of crazy). As far as personal savings go, I'm in for 0% since the current interest rate on my loans are pretty low. Fellowships will take me up to 25% and if my wife finds a job, that'll take us to 50%. Even assuming I get an internship, I'll still probably have about $100k in debt when I graduate.
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99% loan + 1% of personal savings.

Without taking into consideration Scholarship

I'm actually fairly lucky in terms of finances. I will be using the Post-9/11 GI Bill to cover 100% of my expenses, so no loans & nothing out of pocket. >;-]

I'll have been working 3 years this August, and have saved up over 20k towards my MBA fund. By the time I matriculate (if I'm admitted the first go round), I might have somewhere between 25 and 30k.

Not considering any scholarships, I don't think my savings will cover more than 20% of the cost.

I should have roughly $25K-$30K saved by the time I matriculate in Fall 2012. I guess that would cover between 15-20% of the cost (including living expenses). I'm applying for any scholarship I can get my hands on so hopefully I can get at least 50% of the cost covered before needing loans.
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To give you guys an idea as to what I did...

Savings: $50K
Loans: $105K (with accrued interest, this became ~$115K at graduation)

I basically covered all non-tuition expenses with savings and tuition came completely out of loans. I had more savings that I could have used to pay for tuition, but they were in long-term investments that I didn't want to mess with.

My pre-MBA spending habits were about $25K per year all in, so I figured the $50K would cover me for the MBA and it did, I had about $20K left over at the end. However, that includes the $20K or so that I made during the summer internship, so in reality my estimate of $50K was pretty accurate.

However, one thing to keep in mind is that you not only have to pay for the 18 months or so that you're doing an MBA, but also the period before you start working. A lot of jobs leave you with 1 or 2 months of vacation before you start and, if you're moving, you'll be responsible for a lot of expenses before you get your first paycheck. For example, I had to move a long distance, find temporary housing, then find a place to live. So I was looking at a deposit and two months rent before I ever got my first paycheck (or moving expenses reimbursed). Came to about $10K, so I'm glad I still have some savings in reserve.

RF
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Very good point!
Also, if you are an international applicant, you can't start working before the OPT kicks in (which may be a few months too) or if you are not as lucky finding a job of your dreams (one reason many MBA grads stay less than 12 months on their first job - they need something to pay the bills and they keep looking).

I would highly recommend over-borrowing (can anyone blame me - that's the amereican way of life ) since the interest rates are quite low and the cost of that cushion is not much.

I had a different issue when I started - the living expenses that schools often recommend budgeting for are often unrealistic and assume a few things: you have a car (which I did not), you are going out to drink only once every few weeks, no clubs, etc - you get the idea. I would say my school under-reported the living expenses by about 50% in my case. It may not be a big deal but you can only borrow to the extent of the expenses the school specifies, so I was limited at about $20K per year in being able to borrow for living expenses (today's dollars). I want to see one of the finaid officers living on that for a year! I was able to get by having an easy job on campus through the year and then an internship in the summer but it was still pretty tight at the end.

Finally, keep in mind that the loans don't come in until some time in late August or early September, so if you are planning to tie up your money in Rent/Car/Las Vegas/etc and counting on loans, do have some money to last you at least a few month that you can use if the loan check is late. There will always be a trip abroad or something else that may come up: car expense, you may have to move to a more expensive apartment, or get a kid (one of my classmates did.... another one got sued, all while at school).
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I have not familiarized myself with the process yet, but this is what I want to do. I'd like to keep my savings intact while in school to use as a safety net. Then once I have a post-MBA job, I'll use my savings to start paying off my debt.

However, I have a question for you. Did the EFC (expected family contribution) come into play when you took out loans for 100% of your tuition + living expenses. Don't you have to show the bank or financial aid office your savings/checking/brokerage account and prove how much money you really have saved up? Or does the EFC just apply to federal loans.

I guess I am under the impression that you cannot take out loans for 100% of tuition + living expense if you have savings of that size.

Any information about this would be helpful...
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