Cost of Attendance

[sweetpea]

Hi guys, I recently emailed a admisssions assistant about the cost of attendance and she emailed me back a summary, so I thought I'd share it with you guys.


Hello,

Below is the breakdown of expenses for the first year.


Semester 1 Semester 2 Semester 3



Tuition $7900 7900 7900

Fees 375 375 375

Computer 3000 0 0

Books 800 800 800

Equip 500 500 500

Rm/Brd 6320 6320 6320

Utilities 1272 1272 1272

Phone/net 960 960 960

Trans 1224 1224 1224

Health Ins 480 480 480

Misc Exp 1000 1000 1000

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total $24231 $ 20831 $ 20831

[SMU_Information]

It should be noted that that is the upper limit estimate given out by the Fianancial Aid office, and not an average cost.

[footdoc]

I know the tuition and fees are correct, but according to the catalog the standard room in the RH is $4100 per semester with utilities included. If this has not changed then this should lower your costs for the first semester.

[justdoit]

I know the tuition and fees are correct, but according to the catalog the standard room in the RH is $4100 per semester with utilities included. If this has not changed then this should lower your costs for the first semester.
If it has changed to 6320 not counting utilities.......that's crazy! If that's per person that's way too expensive for my pocket book. I can't imagine what your final four year loan would come to. Ouch!
Is it really more expensive in the cayman's?

[SMU_Information]

It is more expensive on Cayman than in suburban or rural parts of the U.S., but the cities are pretty similar.

Again, those are upper end estimates. You can absolutely live on Cayman for less than that. I'll let people who have lived there speak more in depth about it. (3000 for the laptop seems way up there, too. I know mine was pretty hot stuff when it was new a year ago, would still meet all the reqs, and was only $1800 then).

For those of you that are already accepted, look at your New Resident Guides for an average pricelist, figure your own needs, and see what you come up with.

And a private room at the hall is still 4100, double less, and so on. Once you move off campus, you can also keep that cost down, especially if you share a 2 or 3 bedroom place with other people.

[Sebastien Guilbard]

Dear All,

The costs of living on Cayman depend on how you will deal with your budget.
You can spend a minimum of 1.500USD per month all the way to 150.000USD.
If you share a house with some other students, your rent could go down to 500 to 600USD/month.
If you don't call the US everyday for 30mn, your phone bill could be less than 40USD/month.
If you eat only Angus beef in the supermarket and go to the top restaurants three times a week, your food budget will be close to 5000USD/month. Or you could check prices, go to free happy hours buffet and spend 500.
What I am trying to say is: yes the island is not cheap, as JP said, comparable to downtown big cities, but your budget is what you decide to do with it.
The single room at the RH is still 4100USD/semester everything included (twice a week maid service, internet, electricity, water, pool and so on)
I had a student who was trying to minimize his costs of living on the island while studying and he manage to spend less than 1.000USD/month, so it is doable.....

Carpe Diem

[jguru2]

Cayman is expensive....value of CI against US dollar is more...but there are ways to save/budget...there is a common kitchen in the RH that students could utilize. Don't go out too much, bars are expensive...Gas is expensive also...bottom line is you just have to watch your spending...it is doable with a small budget, you just have to be smart with the money...

[rossj2180]

I am also in the throes of determining costs in order to apply for financial aid and, very unfortunately, this topic leaves me rather frustrated and somewhat annoyed. Mr. Yates gave me completely different and seemingly more reasonable figures than those documented by "sweetpea," but my biggest frustration stems from the fact that I don't understand why all SMU administrators can't give everyone the *same* baseline figure from which the student can decide whether or not he/she wants to invest more?!? It should not be at the whim of the school to determine how much more than the bare minimum a student needs to pay in order to go to school/live in the Caymans. As of right now, I have the total cost per semester calculated out to roughly $17,958, which seems more than sufficient enough; this would make the cost of 2 semesters $35,916 and that of an entire academic year $53,874. I'd be more than happy to share the price breakdown that I was given if anyone is interested, as one shouldn't have to pay more than is absolutely necessary (well, depending on the individual, that is!). In comparison to other schools, I certainly can't imagine paying much more than $50,000/year to go to medical school, Grand Cayman Islands or not.

Breathing... :?

[sweetpea]

I am also in the throes of determining costs in order to apply for financial aid and, very unfortunately, this topic leaves me rather frustrated and somewhat annoyed. Mr. Yates gave me completely different and seemingly more reasonable figures than those documented by "sweetpea," but my biggest frustration stems from the fact that I don't understand why all SMU administrators can't give everyone the *same* baseline figure from which the student can decide whether or not he/she wants to invest more?!? It should not be at the whim of the school to determine how much more than the bare minimum a student needs to pay in order to go to school/live in the Caymans. As of right now, I have the total cost per semester calculated out to roughly $17,958, which seems more than sufficient enough; this would make the cost of 2 semesters $35,916 and that of an entire academic year $53,874. I'd be more than happy to share the price breakdown that I was given if anyone is interested, as one shouldn't have to pay more than is absolutely necessary (well, depending on the individual, that is!). In comparison to other schools, I certainly can't imagine paying much more than $50,000/year to go to medical school, Grand Cayman Islands or not.

Breathing... :?


Well I really am interested in attending :arrow: SMU. My application will be reviewed soon. Hopefully I will be attending SMU in May. "rossj2180," with your calulations you stated that you estimate attendance to be 53,874/yr, but then you say that you can't imagine paying more than 50,000/ yr. Does this mean that you are looking for somewhere else for medical school? I hope not. SMU_info stated that the expenses were all relative to the individual person so hang in there. :wink:

[Donno70]

It don't know if it makes the issue any more palatable, but it is the Caymans that are outrageous, not SMU tuition. Then again, you're getting arguably the most civilized location in the Caribbean. Other places may cost less to live, but do you want to? Plus tuition may be greater elsewhere depending on which school. So it's 6 in one hand...

Bottom line, I may have to cut corners vs. going elsewhere, but I'm not going to GC for leisure; with the dual degree program, I'll have my face in a book most of the time anyways. I'll take vacation later. I figure, if I don't live high on the hog (i.e. budget sensibly) I can still leave the island with my shirt on.

DM 8)

[justdoit]

I am also in the throes of determining costs in order to apply for financial aid and, very unfortunately, this topic leaves me rather frustrated and somewhat annoyed. Mr. Yates gave me completely different and seemingly more reasonable figures than those documented by "sweetpea," but my biggest frustration stems from the fact that I don't understand why all SMU administrators can't give everyone the *same* baseline figure from which the student can decide whether or not he/she wants to invest more?!? It should not be at the whim of the school to determine how much more than the bare minimum a student needs to pay in order to go to school/live in the Caymans. As of right now, I have the total cost per semester calculated out to roughly $17,958, which seems more than sufficient enough; this would make the cost of 2 semesters $35,916 and that of an entire academic year $53,874. I'd be more than happy to share the price breakdown that I was given if anyone is interested, as one shouldn't have to pay more than is absolutely necessary (well, depending on the individual, that is!). In comparison to other schools, I certainly can't imagine paying much more than $50,000/year to go to medical school, Grand Cayman Islands or not.

Breathing... :?

My sentiments exactly! I feel the same way....it's very nerve racking.
I would definitely like it if you could share your breakdown of prices with me. It's really hard to decide between two schools that will probably give me overall the same education (MUA/nevis and SMU) but with such variations in over all living expenses.

Exasperated..... :? :(

[khamilton]

Here is my breakdown for the year I was in Cayman

Tuition - $7900 per semester

Fees - $375 - $450 for insurance

Books - about $250 per semester. I bought a lot of used books from Amazon and Ebay

Computer - if you spend $3000 on a computer you got ripped off. I just bought a brand new top of the line Gateway for $1500. You can get good one for a lot cheaper if you shop around

Equipment - The onyl thing I bought until my 4th semester was gloves for labs. For my 4th semester i purchased a stethoscope, tuning forks, reflex hammer and oto/opthalmascope and they all cost me about $500.

Rent, water & electric - $1300 per month (1BR on the ocean in WestBay 10 minutes from school)

Food - For myself and my husband we spent about $50 per week on groceries. And about $100 per week eating out. You can do this for mush cheaper and for a lot more.

Cable - $80 per month (some houses/apartments include this in the rent)

Internet - $30 per month for the slowest high speed with Weststar

Telephone - When I had a land line it was about $100 per month including long distance. After the first couple of months I got a VoIP service for $20 a month for long distance and a pre-paid cell phone for local calls.

Car - I bought a good running car for $900 and my husband bought a jeep for $2800. If you don't want to buy a car, you can bike from most places and walk from some of them. Some people went in together to get a car and split the cost.

I hope this gives you a little better idea of what it will cost. Let me know if you have any specific questions I can help you with.

Kela

[FaithRocks]

Hi there,
For those of you who have done it before, how does the health insurance thing work? Can a dependent be added to the policy (spouse)?

Also, for those of you who have been down there with your spouse, what was your budget like, if you don't mind me asking? I would really like to see a budget breakdown if possible. Thank you so much!

*****

[justdoit]

Here is my breakdown for the year I was in Cayman

Tuition - $7900 per semester

Fees - $375 - $450 for insurance

Books - about $250 per semester. I bought a lot of used books from <a HREF=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=valuetheplace-20&path=subst/home/books.html>Amazon</A> and Ebay

Computer - if you spend $3000 on a computer you got ripped off. I just bought a brand new top of the line Gateway for $1500. You can get good one for a lot cheaper if you shop around

Equipment - The onyl thing I bought until my 4th semester was gloves for labs. For my 4th semester i purchased a stethoscope, tuning forks, reflex hammer and oto/opthalmascope and they all cost me about $500.

Rent, water & electric - $1300 per month (1BR on the ocean in WestBay 10 minutes from school)

Food - For myself and my husband we spent about $50 per week on groceries. And about $100 per week eating out. You can do this for mush cheaper and for a lot more.

Cable - $80 per month (some houses/apartments include this in the rent)

Internet - $30 per month for the slowest high speed with Weststar

Telephone - When I had a land line it was about $100 per month including long distance. After the first couple of months I got a VoIP service for $20 a month for long distance and a pre-paid cell phone for local calls.

Car - I bought a good running car for $900 and my husband bought a jeep for $2800. If you don't want to buy a car, you can bike from most places and walk from some of them. Some people went in together to get a car and split the cost.

I hope this gives you a little better idea of what it will cost. Let me know if you have any specific questions I can help you with.

Kela

The apt. that you rented for $1300 (is there anything cheaper?...good grief) that was 10mins. away.... is that 10mins in walking distance or driving distance from the school.

I definitely do not want to bother with the worry and expense of a car. I'm starting to realize, yes you can be frugal and penny pinch....but all in all it's just gonna be more expensive in the cayman's period. :roll:

[khamilton]

Justdoit - That was 10 minutes driving and about 30 minutes by bike. There are alot of stuff that is cheaper. My place was right on the ocean and the rent included water and electricity. That is a big deal because electricity can run several hundred dollars a month if you run the AC alot. Water is also fairly expensive. So all in all it was a fairly good deal. I had friends that found 1BR apartments for $6oo but that did not include any utilities. You will end up spending about the same about you would living in a moderated sized city in the US or UK. Things get a lot cheaper if you get a roommate(s) to split the costs with.


Faithrocks - I don't beleive you can add a dependent on the insurance you get thru the school. It is designed to cover the basic emergency need of students. That was the budget for myself and my husband (and our pooch). My husband secured a job in Cayman so that we didn't have to borrow money for living expenses. If your spouse gets a job he will most likely get health insurance thru them. We ended up spending about CI$2200 to CI$2500 (US$2750 - US$3125) per month for everything not counting the schools tuition and fees. All in all this is only about $300 more than what I paid for housing and living expenses when I lived in the US before moving to Cayman.[/quote]

[sweetpea]

Hi khamilton,

In regards to cars... how much money do you spend for gas during a week to a month? Do you pay for car insurance and maintenance? I am thinking about just getting a bike... would that be too much hassle in going to school, grocery store, etc? Will all my needs be close by to walk or ride my bike?

Thanks

[rossj2180]

Dear All,

I hope my previous post didn't come across as too "Puff the Magic Dragon" and I apologize if, in fact, it did. Perhaps I've just been experiencing one of those times wherein I wish some of the variables involved in getting ready to start medical school weren't so confounding: namely, that all administrators/school officials (granted I'm not pointing fingers at anyone in particular) could give simplified answers to seemingly basic questions (i.e. the issue of financial aid, trying to fund the dual degree program without a Stafford Loan, etc.) and keep the guesswork involved to a minumum with respect to expenses (maybe this is presumptuous, but I don't think any of us is out to spend an arm and a leg beyond what we absolutely have to in order to attend SMU)...

In any event, I really appreciated "khamilton's" additional price breakdown and, if anything, wanted to say thank you for that :). However, as a single and very cost-conscious female who plans on living on solely the bare necessities (while still being "comfortable"/not lacking to any major extent), I also wanted to share what I arrived at between Mr. Yates' exceedingly helpful input and my own calculations:

Tuition and Fees: $8,200
Books: $600
Housing + Utilities: $5,500
Food: $1,000
Miscellaneous/Emergency: $1,000
Roundtrip Plane Ticket Home for Break: $1,000 ("priceless" :wink: )
Insurance (if you are under 30): $329

Total Cost Per Semester --> $17,629
Total Cost Per 2 Semesters --> $35,258 (TERI Loan figure)
Total Cost Per 1 SMU Academic Year --> $52,887 :shock:

In the interest of time and after doing an exhaustive amount of research over the past couple of months, I think I'm going to roll with the $35,258/2 semesters estimate at this point. I'd be interested to know if anyone came up with a similar figure and/or already requested a loan for a similar amount.

Best wishes and happy thoughts... :o

[khamilton]

My cost for gas ran about $20 per week at the most $40 if I did a lot of driving (like to the other side of the island)

Insurance cost me about $160 for 6 months. This was for a Susuki Alto. Jeeps and Jeep like vehicles or soft top cars are more expensive. You have to pay for inspection and registration which cost about $120.

Bikes are a good alternative. It sometimes sucks on particularly rainy days. If you fo this route get a good waterproof backpack to keep your stuff dry. For days you go to the grocery, if you are close enough walking is a better option. You can also catch the public buses for $2.

Rossj2180
I think most of your estimates are probably spot on. I must warn though if you are living in the dorm it will be very difficult to stick to the $1000 food budget for a semester. It is reasonable if you are able to shop frugally and prepare you own meals but in the dorms you don't have a stove or oven and only a small fridge and microwave. Eating out can really add up.

Kela

[Sebastien Guilbard]

Again and again, apart from a minimum of 600$ for rent, the money you will spend on the island depends on the way you like to live....
If you want an apartment right next to the school, with ocean view and catter your diners every night, you will spend way over 50.000$ per year.
But, getting a good apartment in West bay, going to the supermarket to buy food(not only angus beef) and study the rest of the time, you can spend as little as 30.000. I know that because as i mentioned before, one student did it (for acutally cheaper than 30K). He was still healthy when he left cayman and is finishing his rotations in Atlanta as we speak. He will be here for Graduation if you are willing to speak to him.
Bottom line: you will spend pretty much what you allow youself to spend. Be careful and budget well, your time on Cayman will be not that expensive.

[mo5225md]

can all of it be covered through loans, or will you have to have a savings or another source. Im reading here that food will cost, etc, and cars will cost etc. But will all this be covered by the loan so that expenses is the least of my worries when studying at a medical school..