Hi Gracie and Zedpol, your advice is most appreciated, truly.
I am thankful to have those benefits available, but really wrestle with taking the safe route and paying for the rest of undergrad with it, or saving it for med school and taking out loans sooner. Basically one year of benefits = $10,000 now, or $30,000+ later if I wait with no guarantee of entry.
My local university is a moderate walk/short bike ride away, and costs less than Gracie's school per year. There is nothing I can do to move to a lower cost area when residency is taken into account (plus the tuition rocks) and we LOVE the neighborhood. The medical school is nearby on another campus, which can also be easily accessed by bike for me. On days when I drive to work, it is on my route. A daily kick in the ass, if you will. They've historically been very unfriendly to OOSers so that keeps my hopes high. As a nontrad, I'm not in the least concerned about the prestige of a school. I care about what I can do with the information taught.
I understand that a resident's ~50k isn't a trifle, and I take that to mean that student loans can be deferred during that time? If I can get in the local program my debt will likely not cross $100k, which is my goal ceiling limit. We're used to living frugally, and were both raised that way.
There is no set specialty in my mind, but my current leanings are toward neuro, psych, or physiatry. No surgery here, thanks! I was originally interested in the therapy and rehab PT/OT/SLT fields, then quickly realized how little autonomy they have with certain aspects of healthcare. The more research I do about physicians, the more I realize that I will have no idea what it's like until actually there in it. I've been volunteering slowly and steadily in the community and will up that as my work schedule is lowered.
Let your kids see study.
This is the only part that makes me feel funny. My little mustache is from the prior marriage; currently a horribly anti-mustachian household with TONS of waste. Does one person really need 3-4 cars at any given time? There has already been innocent comparisons as to why we have so little here
when mommy works so hard when it's parenting time at the other place. The kiddo and any subsequent siblings will be going without terribly fancy stuff for a very, very long time. I can study, but worry about having enough time for my loved ones.