You can get by on a lot less than the max, but much depends on how many comforts of home you need, which is also why it is difficult to give an accurate cost breakdown. If you have a roommate, live like the natives rather than the tourists (as in no AC - which you really can get by without esp when you can study at the school) and live off campus and buy (mostly) used textbooks, I think you get buy quite reasonably. An "average" budget for a single person w/amenities would run $1000/mo for rent (you can find things in the $650-$750 range if you look). Books and supplies $500, Food and entertainment $250-300/mo. Plane ticket round trip highly variable but average about $800-$1000 (not everyone goes home every break). So, bottom line, add $5000 - $10,000 per semester for living costs depending on what you require, where you are flying from and whether you are frugal. Add in another couple of thousand that you will need to hold back for the costs of board review and testing expenses (again, depends on whether you do a Kaplan course or decide to make your own study plan), plus any costs you might have for the time between basic sciences and cores. Hope that helps.