Hi, M4 at a relatively prestigious USMD here but an international student. Mainly used some of the residency stuff on this site before to try out, but just finding this side. I feel like most MD students before this year don't know much about the downsides of private loans (as the vast vast majority are covered federally).

Private loans have literally 0 safety nets, and competitive specialties are becoming increasingly difficult to match. There are no guarantees anymore, and because of this bill, pretty much every med student will be gunning for high paying specialties, so I wouldn't count on doing something competitive tbh.

Also, often times even if the lender offers "residency deferment", this is way worse than the income based options for federal loans in residency (which truth be told are getting destroyed by this admin as well lol). Your loan will keep accruing interest, and it will balloon. Generally, private lenders care the most about their financial gain, so the killer will often be in the fine print you'll find out later, even beyond the very high interest rates.

I got a pretty solid financial package, but definitely not a full ride, and even I'm stressing. Thankfully I have a good number of interviews in a specialty which pays pretty high, so that takes some of the stress off, but for those of us who don't have parents who could drop a million dollars, please try to avoid these predatory loans.

I'm NOT saying don't pursue medicine if you need private loans, this is a nuanced and individual decision. It's a great career, and tbh, I have 0 regrets. But what I am saying is if one MD school offers you a no private loan option, and another forces you to take significant private debt, I would avoid private debt.

TLDR: Avoid private loans if u can!