“How much does medical school cost, and how am I going to pay for it?”

I’ll address these questions in three parts:

• Part 1: The Cost of Medical school
• Part 2: Medical School Loans
• Part 3: Medical School Scholarships

If you want to become a doctor, you should start thinking about how to pay for medical school right away because worrying about the costs of medical school are a big distraction from the most important parts of the application process.

Once you understand more about how you are going to pay for medical school, you can shift your focus to the pieces of your application that are going to give you the edge over your competition, like your personal statement, letters of recommendation, and volunteering.

How Much Does Medical School Cost?

Here are the facts, straight from the AAMC:

For the 2011-2012 academic year, the average medical school tuition at a state school was about $25,000 for in-state residents and about $46,000 for out of state students.

That was a six percent increase from the 2010-2011 academic year.

At private medical schools, tuition ran about $43,000 for in-state residents and out-of-state residents alike, an increase of about five percent from the previous year. Medical school is getting more expensive every year.

What’s the bottom line? Four years of medical school tuition alone will cost $100,000 to $180,000. Factor in living expenses; about $13,000 per year, to round out your total bill to approximately $150,000 to $230,000.

Medical School Debt

Approximately 86% of medical school student graduate with some debt. After graduation, the typical student carries about $160,000 in debt from financing tuition, fees and living expenses.

That’s a big stack of cash that can take years to pay back, but there are many ways to pay for medical school that have favorable terms and conditions.

The Most Common Way to Pay For Medical School

Loans are the most common way to pay for medical school. Part 2 of this article series discuss the specifics of common medical school loans, and Part 3 discusses the scholarships and grants. But if you’re interested in some alternative ways to pay your tuition and expenses, check out my free report “How to Go to Medical School For Free.”

There are six ways that you can get a free ride to medical school that I reveal in “How to Go to Medical School For Free.”

The six different ways to go for free are overlooked in most articles about paying for medical school, so this is a great opportunity to discover 6 attractive free ways to pay for med school as you begin to weigh your options.

Some of the ways to go for free aren’t very well-known, and others are ignored because premeds assume they are “too hard to get,” but it’s worth your time to see whether any of the ways to go for free appeal to you, because you could potentially save $200,000 or more if you land a big scholarship.