1. Just because you can borrow more doesn't mean you should.
Lenders are going to try to get you to take as much money as possible. Don't do it. Only borrow what you need. The less money you take, the lower the interest is going to be.

2. I still say buy versus rent.
Even with the housing slump and bad economy, it might still be better to purchase a home rather than rent. Think about it, if your in a college town where the turnover rate is pretty good, you'll be able to re-sell that same home for a profit later on. Meanwhile, your fellow classmates will be dumping their money into a black hole called an apartment. The economy can only get better from here, so why not go for a house?

3. Max out your subsidized loan borrowing power first.
The government usually gives out two types: Subsidized and unsubsidized. You want to go with subsidized first because the government subsidizes the interest on the loan for the duration of your education. This means that you don't pay interest while you're in school.

4. Pay interest on your unsubsidized loans if you can.
Your unsubsidized loans, unfortunately, will be charging interest all through school. So, if you have extra money here and there (which is pretty unlikely, but just in case you do...) go ahead and pay some of the loan off. It will make it easier to pay off the whole loan when it comes time.

5. Avoid private loans if possible.
If you can avoid private loans, do it. Private loans usually don't allow you to not have to pay during residency. Think about it, your stuck in the middle of your first year of residency, making $40,000 a year, and you have to pay off your HUGE loan. Not the best of circumstances. So just avoid it. Go with federal loans. Consolidate if you can.

6. Get those credit cards paid off.
Credit cards are notorious for having huge interest rates. Don't let your credit card debt stress you out even more. Take care of it before you get to med school. It would be better for you to take out more money in a federal loan, and use that to pay off your credit cards. This is called consolidation. You shouldn't do this very often, if you could avoid it.

7. Consolidate your loans while you're still in school.
If you come into medical school with multiple loans, you're going to have all sorts of interest rates going on at the same time. It would make finances pretty crazy for you. Take care of this problem by putting them all under one loan. This way you are only worrying about one loan, and one interest rate, and one bill.

These 7 tips were taken from the original "7 Tips For Managing Your Student Loan Debt"

Article by Adam Christensen