<prompt> Human: Ive got a balance of 25,000 and have made payments keeping my interest down and my grace period ends in the next month. I make about 520 after taxes every two weeks from my part time job in a hospital while I live at home applying to medical school which has cost thousands of dollars but is slowing down now. Given my interview situation, I anticipate getting in somewhere and taking out plenty more loans and going into deferment on this one, then forbearance on all of them while in residency.I feel like I should try to reasonably minimize my current payments by getting a graduated plan, and maximizing the amount of my interim income that I can put in my measly savings. Really itll only impact the next ten or so months. I feel like paying less or more now will have a small impact on the total amount I pay down the road, considering the total loans Ill be taking soon too.Would an income-based plan do this better for me? Or would you advise I actually try to pay off as much as possible now? Would changing my payment plan down the road be advisable?The exit interview taught me a lot but didnt really make clear what my best option is. :P  <response>: Given my interview situation, I anticipate getting in somewhere and taking out plenty more loans and going into deferment on this one, then forbearance on all of them while in residency.Do not put your loans into forbearance during residency. Use an income-driven repayment plan preferably Pay As You Earn if you qualify. The treatment of interest is much more favorable and itll get the clock started on potential forgiveness. Given that you are going into medicine, there is a good chance you will qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness so youll want to get started on that as soon as possible.As for your question of which payment plan to select for now, I would lean towards either income-driven repayment or a hardship deferment. Both would most likely give you minimum monthly payments of 0... but because there are no prepayment penalties on student loans, you are free to make voluntary payments whenever you want.See also: rstudentloans 