an estimate of costs

[morning glory]

I am trying to get an estimate of the total cost of med school including tuition fee, accommodation and travel expenses...and i need some help from current and former saba students. I know the school website provides a estimated cost of attending saba..but i want a detailed breakdown of all the expenses involved..
First of all, what is the annual tuition fee? is it paid at the beginning of each semester or the beginning of the year? what is the fee in the former, and in the latter?
what is the annual cost of living at the dorms? i know this would vary depending on the individual, but roughly how much should i expect to spend on food each month?
how many times during the school year does one get the chance to travel? if you are a canadian, roughly how much would I be spending if I go home every break?
i also want to get an idea of how much would it cost for the 3rd and 4th year, while doing the rotations.
If someone could provide me with a rough estimate of this, it would be really appreciated.
Lastly, I am aiming for family medicine, and want to know how much does one earn on average in the first and subsequent years during this residency? I am only planning on taking 40,000 of loan from OSAP and wondering if it is realistically possible to pay off this loan and an additional 25,000 during my residency without accumulating any interest?

[buddababa]

it costs a lot..bring lots of moneys with you..okay thanks.

[morning glory]

you are welcome...that was a lot of help :rolleyes:

[mario345]

expect to keep a budget of 15K USD for each trimester on the island.

8K for tuition.
1 K for travel back and forth and all costs
3 K for your rent for the four months you will live there + WATER and bills
1-2K for food, groceries, eating out, etc
1 K for miscellaneous costs

there are always additional expenses you will have. if you want to keep a car on the island then that adds the cost.

try to get housing close to the school. you wont have to depend on anyone for rides or keep a car. plus, its convenient if you get lunch because during 2nd and 3rd semesters lunch time is only 30 minutes and you can potentially go back home and make yourself a quick sandwich and walk back instead of standing in the line and spend money on lunch everyday which can add up + risk hepatitis A ;)
try to get a house at the bottom even if it costs you a bit more...its VERY convinient...you can sleep a little more, go to the library when you want...its close to the gym...etc etc.

[mario345]

i just read your first post.

you need to go on saba's website and look at their tuition costs, and familiarize yourself with the estimated cost of education. its pretty much right on. OSAP wont cover even 20% of the costs...

by the time i graduate, i will have around $150 K USD in debt...you obviously cannot use OSAP to pay for this...you will need additional resources, like a line of credit from RBC or TD to pay off this amount.

[demayette]

i just read your first post.

you need to go on saba's website and look at their tuition costs, and familiarize yourself with the estimated cost of education. its pretty much right on. OSAP wont cover even 20% of the costs...

by the time i graduate, i will have around $150 K USD in debt...you obviously cannot use OSAP to pay for this...you will need additional resources, like a line of credit from RBC or TD to pay off this amount.
Wow...150 K USD. That is very good. People from St Georges University are talking about 300 K USD.... Saba is a bargain compare to St Georges.

[morning glory]

thanks for your reply mario345 :) although, i know the total estimated cost of education at saba... the breakdown of the costs that you provided is what i wanted..

[mario345]

thanks for your reply mario345 :) although, i know the total estimated cost of education at saba... the breakdown of the costs that you provided is what i wanted..

"Lastly, I am aiming for family medicine, and want to know how much does one earn on average in the first and subsequent years during this residency? I am only planning on taking 40,000 of loan from OSAP and wondering if it is realistically possible to pay off this loan and an additional 25,000 during my residency without accumulating any interest?"

The annual salary, pre-tax for a PGY1 in U.S. ranges from 42K to 52K, depending on the location. Most places, for PGY1 is between 46k-49K annual.

i dont know what you mean by paying of 40,000 of OSAP loan during residency, when obviously, you will owe a LOT more to the banks (unless you have 150 K saved up, you will be taking a line of credit loan). there is no way you can pay off >150 K of loans during residency - you barely make enough to survive as a resident - unless you have a spouse who works and supports you during residency; in that case you may be able to pay off around 50% of your loans.

you cant take more than 40,000 from osap anyway, as they give you MAX 10,600 every YEAR, which doesnt even pay for one trimester's tuition. its pocket change, nothing more. and to get osap, you need to write a letter, explaining why you need the money every single renewal period.

[woods]

expect to keep a budget of 15K USD for each trimester on the island.

8K for tuition.
1 K for travel back and forth and all costs
3 K for your rent for the four months you will live there + WATER and bills
1-2K for food, groceries, eating out, etc
1 K for miscellaneous costs

there are always additional expenses you will have. if you want to keep a car on the island then that adds the cost.

try to get housing close to the school. you wont have to depend on anyone for rides or keep a car. plus, its convenient if you get lunch because during 2nd and 3rd semesters lunch time is only 30 minutes and you can potentially go back home and make yourself a quick sandwich and walk back instead of standing in the line and spend money on lunch everyday which can add up + risk hepatitis A ;)
try to get a house at the bottom even if it costs you a bit more...its VERY convinient...you can sleep a little more, go to the library when you want...its close to the gym...etc etc.

Tuition is now 9120.00 a semester. I wouldn't be surprised if it increased again, so that's something to consider. Also, if you are Canadian take into account the exchange rate. It makes a big difference.
You won't have an opportunity to travel home during the semester. Sure, there are people who go home for a weekend for weddings, family emergencies etc. but most students don't go home. It's just too expensive, you have mandatory attendance in class and you are way too busy. Travel costs also depend on where in Canada you are going. Sometime you can get really cheap flights to say Toronto or Ottawa. But if you are going out to say, the East Coast, expect to spend a lot more (> $1K).

[mario345]

Tuition is now 9120.00 a semester. I wouldn't be surprised if it increased again, so that's something to consider. Also, if you are Canadian take into account the exchange rate. It makes a big difference.
You won't have an opportunity to travel home during the semester. Sure, there are people who go home for a weekend for weddings, family emergencies etc. but most students don't go home. It's just too expensive, you have mandatory attendance in class and you are way too busy. Travel costs also depend on where in Canada you are going. Sometime you can get really cheap flights to say Toronto or Ottawa. But if you are going out to say, the East Coast, expect to spend a lot more (> $1K).

well the budget i posted was 15K and i said that there are additional costs.
i used all figures in U.S. dollars.

couple of ways where you can save a lot of money on the island is by sharing a place with 3-4 people - so you can split the electricity, gas and water and it works out better.
and, in between semester breaks, take food from home. i know its a hassle to carry that food, but its WORTH it. you wont have to eat out everyday or cook food (if you like to spend time and cook food). all my roommates and i used to just bring food in the two luggage we had. we took dawn-2 everytime going to saba, so there was no issue in regards to suitcases coming 4 days later on winair. you can freeze it, and eat when you need it (every break i used to take steaks and meat servings with me - i.e. HIGH YIELD food). the food on the island is good...but the service is not...most places take an hour or so to make your food and its no efficient, besides being expensive to eat out if you plan to make that a habit. you will understand this when you are cramming for exams, and the last thing you wanna do is worry about whats for dinner and waste an hour waiting for christina (she made some great food!...but...)

the two real expenses you have on the island besides the tuition are food and rent. there isnt much to do on the island anyway and waste money on frivulous things, so it keeps a check on what you spend. if you already made the mistake of buying books for first semester and plan on taking that with you, then you will soon understand why you shouldnt make the same mistake in the future.