Looking back to before first year of dental school

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USC ($400K+ Debt) vs Wait a year, hope for a cheaper school

  • USC ($400K+ debt)

    Votes: 71 68.9%

  • Wait for other options

    Votes: 32 31.1%
  • Total voters
    103
D

dentalman85

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I just cannot make a decision.

So I'll leave it up to you SDN.
I will literally follow whatever this poll decides.

I'm set to go to USC, paid my down payment ($3000, I can get back $1500 not a problem).
But I don't want to be in debt $400K+ after graduation.

So two choices for you guys.

Looking back, if you were me, would you still go to USC? Or wait a year and hopefully go to a cheaper school?

Thanks
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Dentalman,
I'm sure this must be such a tough decision for you. Is military an option for you at all? Have you considered it? If you aren't willing to take that path, I, personally, would not attend USC..I just can't fathom carrying that amount of debt on my shoulders as a new grad.I'm sure you have a specific situation and I'm not aware of all the details. Maybe try to show interest in your state schoo-visiting, working in a lab, etc?
 
Worst case scenarios :

1) You decide to go to USC
Very Roughly speaking:

You borrow 400K, if you pay back in a 10 year plan, at 6.8%, you owe 553K at $4600/month. so thats 55K a year you will be paying back. Say you get a 100K/ year once you get out, then you are essentially making 45K/year pre-tax. When you eventually get to own your own practice, lets say you make 120K/year. Your salary after loan payments would be 65K/year. This will last for 10 years.

2) Your decide to NOT go to USC

-you dont get into dental school next cycle, and the cycle after that, and after that.
 
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I wouldn't go unless I had terrible scores and no chance of getting in anywhere else. And if that was my only choice, I would first make sure I could get an army/navy/air force scholarship.

$400,000 is too much money, imagine if you broke your wrist 2 weeks before graduation, or fail in your 4th year because of professor problems. Sounds risky!
 
Did you look at the cost before applying? If not, that was a poor oversight. If so, how did you rationalize your application?

I voted for "other options" IF AND ONLY IF your scores are at least average for acceptance to dental school AND you will not be devastated if you can't get in again AND you have a good plan for what to do during your gap year.
 
dentalman85 said:
I just cannot make a decision.

So I'll leave it up to you SDN.
I will literally follow whatever this poll decides.

I'm set to go to USC, paid my down payment ($3000, I can get back $1500 not a problem).
But I don't want to be in debt $400K+ after graduation.

So two choices for you guys.

Looking back, if you were me, would you still go to USC? Or wait a year and hopefully go to a cheaper school?

Thanks
Click to expand...

If you could have gotten into a cheaper school this year then you would have (unless you applied really late). I don't know what your app looks like but unless you plan on doing a legit master degree or something like that then I doubt your chances will significantly be increased next cycle. I bitch a lot about my school, I'll be 360k in debt, close to 400K with accrued interest at graduation, but I have no regrets. This economy sucks right now, so unless you have an awesome paying job at the moment, why not go to school and wait it out. Hopefully there will be more opportunity when you graduate. Plus I heard USC was restructuring their curriculum which will make it a better school. Anyway, I wouldn't let SDN decide your fate.
 
It would help if you provided your stats.
--If you have great stats, then it might be worth it to wait a year to see if you can get into a cheaper school.
--If you have low to mediocre stats, then getting into your cheaper state school would be very difficult, in which case you should be happy that you got an acceptance, even if it's from one of the most expensive schools.
 
You should post your stats so we can give you a more informed opinion.
 
sorry for the late stats. That was a probably a good idea.

I have

non-sciGPA: 4.00
sciGPA: 3.5
cumGPA: 3.7

DAT
RC: 21
QR: 25
PA: 20
OC: 19
GC: 18
BIO: 17
AA: 21

I only got in to private schools. Ideally I would have gone to UCSF as I'm from NorCal, but hahah obviously out of reach. I got in to Western, Tufts, NYU and Indiana.
I didn't want to go out of state because I need to stay in CA for family reasons and the only other school in CA was Western but I didn't get a great vibe there.

I'm not too sure, but with my DAT scores, I guess I'll get in to similar schools next cycle too. Unless, I take a year off, study my butt off and get great DAT scores.

Any other insight would be helpful! Thanks guys! 66% to attending USC for now!
 
dentalman85 said:
sorry for the late stats. That was a probably a good idea.

I have

non-sciGPA: 4.00
sciGPA: 3.5
cumGPA: 3.7

DAT
RC: 21
QR: 25
PA: 20
OC: 19
GC: 18
BIO: 17
AA: 21

I only got in to private schools. Ideally I would have gone to UCSF as I'm from NorCal, but hahah obviously out of reach. I got in to Western, Tufts, NYU and Indiana.
I didn't want to go out of state because I need to stay in CA for family reasons and the only other school in CA was Western but I didn't get a great vibe there.

I'm not too sure, but with my DAT scores, I guess I'll get in to similar schools next cycle too. Unless, I take a year off, study my butt off and get great DAT scores.

Any other insight would be helpful! Thanks guys! 66% to attending USC for now!
Click to expand...

Your stats are pretty decent. Is this your first time applying? You were very fortunate to get into so many schools, whether they were private or not. I would have picked Indiana, it's a solid school. Although their out-of-state tuition is higher than my private tuition. Anyway, it appears you're really aiming for UCSF or even UCLA. I don't recall what their admission averages are but I imagine they're pretty high. So you could re-take the DAT and maybe take some more science classes, but it's still a gamble. Next cycle you might have a hard time explaining to these other schools why you declined their acceptances and stayed back a year.
 
Go to USC now and apply to transfer to UCSF for next year with family considerations as the reason.

If you delay dental school for a year, you also lose a year's salary ($100-120K) as a dentist.

Although transferring from one DS to another is rare, if you do well at USC, it would be as much of a positive for you as a higher DAT would be. Even if you cannot to a public DS, you will still be a dentist in four years.
 
A bird in the hand is better than 2 in the bush....

If Western U is significantly cheaper than USC, then you should at least consider it. You can't have it all sometimes. You also wouldn't be the first Cali resident to not get accepted into a UC dental school, look at all these CA students who fly across the country to attend NYU, Boston, Tufts, etc.
 
You can transfer?????? I've never heard of that. It'd be great if I can move back to NorCal.
I just got GG'ed. Really? You can transfer in dental school?

Also back up to 64% haha. It seems SDN is as unsure as I am.

m1817 said:
Go to USC now and apply to transfer to UCSF for next year with family considerations as the reason.

If you delay dental school for a year, you also lose a year's salary ($100-120K) as a dentist.

Although transferring from one DS to another is rare, if you do well at USC, it would be as much of a positive for you as a higher DAT would be. Even if you cannot to a public DS, you will still be a dentist in four years.
Click to expand...
 
dentalman85 said:
You can transfer?????? I've never heard of that. It'd be great if I can move back to NorCal.
I just got GG'ed. Really? You can transfer in dental school?

Also back up to 64% haha. It seems SDN is as unsure as I am.
Click to expand...

Transfers are extremely rare, especially from USC to UCSF. I would venture to guess that it has never happened.
 
setupben said:
$400,000 is too much money, imagine if you broke your wrist 2 weeks before graduation, or fail in your 4th year because of professor problems. Sounds risky!
Click to expand...

Sounds risky???? That is very easy for you to say since you go to a cheap TX school as I do. Imagine not getting another letter of acceptance - ever again or at least for a couple years. I think turning down the ONLY school you have had to date is the most risky thing the OP could do. Yes, $400k is a lot of money, but not getting another chance is is whole lot more expensive!
 
Wait a year. You have good stats and you will get in somewhere else next year. 400K is just too much debt in my opinion. It would suck big time to graduate after all that hard work and have to make payments that high. Thats really going to be a strain on you.
 
I might be late to but if I was in your shoes I will take it.

You have an spot today. Tomorrow you might not have it and may NEVER have it again. Can you live with that possibility?

Personally I think someone will regret not going a whole lot more than 400K in the debt. You can pay back 400K. If money is tight with family situation, so be it. So can't treat yourself to things and have to penny pinch for a while. there is something you can do about the debt. But what you can't do is turn back the clock and say yes to attend.
 
Remember that if you wait a year you will lose out on 1 year of salary in the future, so it might be worth it to just go ahead and start. I find it surprising that with those stats the only school you got into was USC. Good luck with the decision.
 
You should Definitely apply for a deferral of admission for a year. Tha's what I did. This allows you to keep your spot in the class, not have to apply or interview again, and if you feel comfortable you can apply to other school.

At least you are keeping your options open. Talk to any dentist, and I'm sure they will think its a good idea.

Good luck.
 
If I were you I would accept the USC spot and look into military 3 year scholorships for the remaining time you have at the school.

Like others have said you will be putting it off a year when you really have no assurance you'll get in next year. Even if you did you're postponing your life for a whole year - why not just look into millitary or department of health service scholorships/repayment plans?
 
i say go to USC. you never know if you get into another school though you have good stats. also, don't bet you'll again get into the schools that you rejected for the next cycle.
 
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