All school and no work...paying for life with no income.

Question

How do people pay for life while in B-school? Is it really that people just get loans or what? Searched for a post discussing this and didn't come up with anything (didn't look all that long either).

riverripper · Answer

savings, loans, wealthy families, and wife/husbands.

So ideally you are married, come from money, and a very large savings account.

ryguy904 · Answer

Love this quote! :-)

solaris1 · Answer

Can I claim to be "diverse" if none of these apply to me? :lol:

isa · Answer

oh if only! :lol:

jallenmorris · Answer

There's very little "ideal" about it.
 
Yeah, I come from money and was told I could never go back.
 
It is very large, but empty.

terp26 · Answer

ha good one jallen +1

kryzak · Answer

loans, equity from house/condo, supportive spouses.

pelihu · Answer

I definitely know quite a few who are relying entirely on loans. It's a big chunk of money, but definitely a sound investment for most people at most of the top schools. Also, business school students average 4-5 years of experience and many come from high-paying industries so most have at least some savings they can tap into.

riverripper · Answer

I am betting the house/condo thing is a far bigger curse than blessing this year. Almost everyone I know who owns something either is negative on them or can't sell. I have talked to more than a few people who are either going to rent at a loss or will be floating a mortgage along with school expenses.

kryzak · Answer

yeah, unfortunately it is a bad time. I'm currently just holding it until August to see if it goes at all. But I bought mine early enough that I can drop it much more below market and still make a profit, enough to pay at least tuition and most of the living expenses. I'm just holding out to see if the current price can make it sell, since all the other units in my complex are selling around the same price.

togafoot · Answer

Getting rejected from more expensive schools helped me quite a bit

Savings for the most part, plus income from renting out my property in the UK. Also will get a big chunk of cash from my Japanese pension money, and just received a nice little `retirement allowance` from my previous company after I left. Fortunately, moving countries was covered by my wifes last employer. Back on the internet after almost a month!!! Felt like a decade! :shock:

jallenmorris · Answer

Living in Oklahoma, we've not really seen the poor economy that the rest of the country has. After all, we provide a lot of oil at $120+ a barrel, and we have 2 huge natural gas companies here Chesapeake (NYSE:CHK) and Devon (3rd largest privately owned in the US, and bigger than CHK even). We used some first time home buyer assistance from the state and have to pay it back if we sell the house within 5 years of purcahse (would be 2010) so I'd have to rent it out for a year before selling it, but if I can rent it out, why sell it at all unless we REALLY need the cash. I've thought about loans and that's probably the way to go. I've also had a discussion with my brother about the $$ (he's an ER doctor). He may be willing to help, plus he has some ideas for businesses in the medical field and would need someone with a top tier MBA to help raise the funds.

I have options, but in the end, it's still a ton of money. I figure $150k for 2 years + everything else. Maybe less with a part-time job 2nd year and a good internship between first and second years.

I have options, but in the end, it's still a ton of money. I figure $150k for 2 years + everything else. Maybe less with a part-time job 2nd year and a good internship between first and second years.

osbornecox · Answer

For me it will be a blend of savings, debt and family-financing (I've agreed with them for some small loans at the risk-free rate, so we'll just fix it to whatever Bernanke says it should be).

I'll have enough cash to pay for the whole thing but I imagine that I'll end up tying it up into equities/funds, and if credit is available I should be able to secure some.

shadow · Answer

for me it will be loans loans and more loans. i do have some decent change saved up, but that will barely put a dent in my loans.

unfortunately, my girlfriend was recently accepted to her #1 choice for dental school (which happens to be one of the most expensive ones in the country). somehow, my expected $150K in debt pales in comparison to her expected ~$350K in debt after 4 years. looks like we'll be Mr and Mrs Debt once we finally do tie the knot :cry:

DrSatisfaction · Answer

i'm gonna be purely on loans. i can also tap into a line of credit if necessary, cuz i have a sizeable chunk of my condo paid down, so basically i'm using it as collateral. my goal is to live comfortably as an MBA and worry about paying it back later when i have a higher paying job...

worst comes worst i've got family that can pay for it but i've firmly told them so far that i'd like to pay for the whole thing on my own and that i'll only go to them as a final backup...which doesn't seem to be necessary at this point.

i expect to be a full 100k in debt after a 1 yr program or 150k after 2 yrs.

gotta suck it up and do it though. you gotta spend money to make money.

osbornecox · Answer

Probably 40 per cent self-financed and 60 per cent debt-financed for me. Of that 60, 40 will come from a bank, and 20 from family at the Fed's interest rates (as a matter of principle, I won't take gifts from them).

osbornecox · Answer

Dr. Satisfaction, may I ask what your story is? I'm surprised that with a 760, you're not getting that many interviews...

sapphireka · Answer

Does fixing teeth really pay that well in the US?

3underscore · Answer

All private, so yes. Dental work can run into tens of thousands of dollars, is prime cosmetic work and means that people don't have teeth like English people.

All school and no work...paying for life with no income.

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