It is my understanding that the interest on loans would cause us to pay much more than we actually borrowed. There are so many loan options out there, I do not know which ones will screw us over and which ones won't. I will not have a steady, significant income for several years after taking out my first loan so the idea intimidates me.

Do you have a suggestion as to where I may start?

Community college isn't an option because (1) transferring humanities classes to medical schools won't be a problem, but for the sciences it will be difficult, and several non-financial reasons. Anecdotes are great, and kudos to your friend, please do not compare me to a one-in-a-million miracle.

(2) my school actually prohibits people from applying to community colleges, and (3) where I live (Oklahoma) the community colleges are a joke. People do concurrent enrollment at a CC to avoid AP courses. I am aware that there are very nice CC's from which people accomplish great things, but none of those are near me.