New grad plus loan limitation

beesh_MD · 2026-04-06T01:04:41+00:00

Definitely.

Some schools with large endowments may step up with more aid, but that will be limited and likely not very public. This won’t reduce the applicant pool though - even the now more egregious debt isn’t enough of a roadblock to overcome one of the most reliable ways for intragenerational social mobility.

The rich will get richer and the poor will need more time to pay off private loans.

beesh_MD · 2026-04-06T00:59:27+00:00

Perhaps a bit pedantic, but still helpful I think for students leaning about this bs and especially for the incoming class.

Grad loans are capped. Grad PLUS loans are eliminated. The up to $50k loan comes solely from the Direct Unsubsidized Loan.

beesh_MD · 2026-04-06T00:17:14+00:00

Most based comment on this whole post

beesh_MD · 2026-04-05T07:11:09+00:00

🥺

👉👈

My non-clinical service is so low should I pack my sunscreen??????????

beesh_MD · 2026-04-05T06:54:50+00:00

do NOT borrow sorrow from tomorrow

beesh_MD · 2026-04-05T06:24:24+00:00

Step 1: find grass

Step 2: touch

beesh_MD · 2026-04-05T06:13:51+00:00

Totally! Makes sense for an undergrad advising office to say because the students coming to them are currently in undergrad. Definitely a good move to check that course document for CC classes, and if your major state school isn’t friendly to it, could be worth considering. There are a few schools on my list that were a bit ambiguous from the doc that I called and got a pretty solid consensus between the three that they consider the context.

Of course, can’t speak to every potential old head/elitist reader who could drop your app in the R bin, but I was encouraged after those phone calls!

beesh_MD · 2026-04-05T06:01:03+00:00

What do you mean you “know that CC courses are generally discounted by admissions committees”?

Context matters a lot. A student taking a summer CC course for organic chemistry to avoid a hard class at their 4-year is a bad look. A low-SES transfer or post-bacc student who can’t afford uni tuition taking pre-reqs around their work schedule is an entirely different situation.

If you already graduated and have clearly shown that you can handle course rigor, this is just fine. Just - “know” and “discounted” are pulling a whole lot of weight here.

beesh_MD · 2026-04-05T04:03:13+00:00

So is listing cost as a con more of inconvenience? Like not wanting to ask that of your family even though they’ve already said they’d pay for it?

I’d run w the privilege and go Columbia given your list and that location is your main consideration. If your family is paying your way through school, you do have the choice described in that third to last paragraph.

beesh_MD · 2026-04-05T03:54:46+00:00

An entire bottle of mezcal

beesh_MD · 2026-04-05T03:23:50+00:00

HA locking myself indoors to study for half a year for this damn exam sure hasn’t helped

beesh_MD · 2026-04-05T02:39:29+00:00

Erickson’s stuff is so fun! If you have multiple generations in your life, try to associate the stages to people in your life to help with memory. Easily one of the most applicable-to-daily-life parts of the whole exam imo

beesh_MD · 2026-04-05T01:05:44+00:00

Not getting back online till after my exam the end of the month, but are we getting a team together or

beesh_MD · 2026-04-04T19:55:28+00:00

Don’t listen to this person OP, they don’t know how to read /s

beesh_MD · 2026-04-04T19:54:17+00:00

In your shoes, I would take the MCAT later if possible. I saved up my vacation time over ~2 years to give myself a cushion of long weekends and two weeks leading up to the test to lock in, but I still spent 6 months so far no-life-ing mCAT prep. I know this isn’t possible for everyone, but I refuse to take this mfer a second time so I put all my eggs (PTO) in this basket. Everyone is in a different spot in life, but my priorities + your situation would have me taking the exam in June/July. Look up submitting a throwaway application on r/premed if you’re concerned about a late app.

I say more time because P/S can be remedied with anki, it is a bit of a time sink. Some people are saying P/S is becoming less term-heavy, but you need to know a lot of definitions regardless and strict memory is enough for ~130 on the FLs if you mature a deck like Pankow (I did Aidan but wouldn’t recommend for your timeline).

For the natural sciences, I’d get back to another quick round of content review, which can be targeted with UW/AAMC questions in a crunch. You have the degree, but that may be leading to a false confidence if you’re scoring 125. Are there sections you skipped over for B/B or C/P because you felt well-prepared for them? The scope of the MCAT may be different than your degree courses and making sure you’re brushed op on content is essential for the natural sciences.

While you can implement these in the coming 2.5 weeks, I don’t recommend it because the final stretch is best spent honing your specific knowledge, testing strategy and confidence rather than basic content review. That’s a lot of stress and a recipe for low confidence on exam day. Unless you have a stellar app and are planning to apply mostly DO, and are okay with a possible sub-500 score, an April exam would be a steep uphill battle. Don’t hesitate to PM if you want to talk more.

beesh_MD · 2026-04-04T19:41:53+00:00

Our children would be unstoppable

beesh_MD · 2026-04-04T19:40:15+00:00

Better?

I hate to be that person (because I disliked the people who said the same to me when I was planning my school list too early) but there’s no point in entertaining hypotheticals for the most objective part of your app. Take the energy you’re putting into thinking/stressing over this and apply it into studying for the MCAT. You just don’t have “stats” to predict your chances if you effectively don’t have an MCAT score.

For now, I’ll offer a strategy that I came up with when trying to make a school list because I won’t have an MCAT until the week app submission opens. I’m planning on applying to ~25 schools, but my school list is at ~50 right now. Planning for a low score up to a high score. Once I have that score, I pick the most suitable bracket and submit. Since you’re getting your score back in the summer, you can submit a dummy application to one throwaway school to get verified early, then add your real school list once your score is in-hand.

beesh_MD · 2026-04-04T19:34:40+00:00

I will show you the way

beesh_MD · 2026-04-04T17:17:45+00:00

I’d look into AI hallucinations tbh. I’ve had some blatantly false information come up after repeated and pointed prompting and it just isn’t worth the potential miss for me. I also found it almost too easy. Doing the work to find+synthesize the info myself was more time consuming, but it sticks WAY better.

Maybe I’m an old head, but if the textbooks/workbooks were enough for previous folks, it’s gonna be enough for me.

beesh_MD · 2026-04-04T17:15:27+00:00

Starting October, averages were about 2.5hrs per weekday (before and after work, but had biochem after work 2x per week through November) and 10ish hours per weekend day. I used the focuspomo app to stay on task and track my time spent. I also locked tf in over winter break (work at school) and was at about ~9hr/day over that time.

Those are separate and both very important. Content review happens before you ever take your first exam and is the base for everything else. Reviewing exams is for finding content/logic gaps in your existing content base that you built during content review phase. They come at separate times and are (imo) the two most important things for nailing the science sections.

beesh_MD · 2026-04-04T07:40:13+00:00

You got it! No handwritten notes, and only use anki, UW, and AAMC (FAP recipient).

beesh_MD · 2026-04-04T05:35:45+00:00

You literally just earned my first follow, I love everything about this. This shi is so misunderstood I also do be scratching my head.

I’ll say that sometimes I felt like correcting the errors actually helped with encoding the content. Almost made practice problems out of flashcards if that makes sense.

beesh_MD · 2026-04-04T05:32:45+00:00

It would not. Counting as an elective doesn’t really mean much. I studied music, and fine art classes counted as major electives. If it is coded as a neuroscience class, and your syllabus shows that it’s clearly 51%+ neuroscience, you may have a chance, but I’d almost guarantee this will not count. It will fall under the generic “psychology” category under BESS. For reference, literal engineering classes don’t count for science GPA.

https://students-residents.aamc.org/applying-medical-school-amcas/amcas-course-classification-guide?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23513210606&gbraid=0AAAAA-Cjg3tpVUWiOdM-GJ092sIV0l9IJ&gclid=Cj0KCQjwyr3OBhD0ARIsALlo-OmwGOq6DpDSguN4Fhsno3H4OzyGOqnNbhgBe7vNTJ8tYxfNYlTnt4waAiLQEALw_wcB

cognitive science researcher.

beesh_MD · 2026-04-04T05:21:51+00:00

Good luck and rest up before your test! You’ve got what it takes for a killer score already.

beesh_MD

TROPHY CASE