Question: How much does medical school cost and how hard is it to get in? 

Answer: I am starting my 4th year of Medical School at UT San Antonio in Texas.  I am lucky because Texas offers its residents the least expensive medical school in the US with tuition and fees of about 11K to 12 K per year.  Books, living expenses, etc...all add up of course, but the federal student loan program allows anyone who is willing to live frugally (my budget for living expenses on loans only is about 1500 per month and this is not difficult to do) the ability to borrow all that is necessary to pay for school and live.  You will be borrowing probably 150K over the 4 years, but you can consolidate and pay it back over long enough that it is do-able if you really want to do it.  \n\nAnother option is the military program.  Any branch of the military offers a stipend that will basically give you the same amount of money that loans do per month, pay for tuition, fees and books and in exchange you will pay back year for year to the military.  So, you will not be in any debt at all when you complete your time committment to the military.  They are recruiting strongly now and allow many things, such as older than usual or past medical histories of some things, that they would not have allowed in the past.  This is a good option if you are not comfortable with debt.\n\nAs for how difficult it is to get in my advice is this.  When I decided to apply some people laughed at me and said I would never make it because I was a fine arts major and went to a smaller, less than impressive undergraduate school, but I DID get in and if you really want to - you will too.  Check the school web sites for necessary prerequisites and time lines to apply, do some volunteer work or work as an orderly or something like that in a hospital - this will prove that you are motivated, and then take the MCAT entrance exam (I HIGHLY recommend a preparation course prior to taking this exam - they are MORE than worth the money).  Apply - if you don't get in the first try - go in person to talk with someone in the admissions department at a medical school and talk with them openly about your application.  Take their advice and re-apply.  We need good doctors.  So, if you feel the calling, don't let anything get in your way!
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