Advice from people already in Dental School

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ConfusedLT

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Okay, so I need advice. Here is the deal. I got into my two top choice dental schools (Buffalo and UPenn).
So, now I can't decide. The big factor is the cost. If I go to Buffalo my debt would be less than half as much as my debt for UPenn since I am a New York resident. I will have zero debt when I graduate from undergrad in May and I don't really know if UPenn is worth living in a LARGE debt for many years after dental school and I also dont know how the two compare in dental trianing--Buffalo seemed a bit better, but that could just be from what I was seeing.
Where would you go and why? How much is a large debt going to affect you after you graduate dental school and try to move on in your life and also while you are in dental school? Please all advice is greatly appreciated.

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I would go to buffalo. I went to a school that promised no problem in getting patients, and I struggled to get any complex cases, at least patients that would follow through with treatment plans. I feel my experience was just average in oped, fixed, and removable. Above average in oral surgery and below average in endo.

Go to the cheaper school, you can always do a residency for 1 year if you don't feel prepared at the end.
 
As I've posted before, when comparing 2 quality schools such as Penn and Buffalo cost becomes a huge deciding factor. Both schools will give you a quality education and give you an outstanding chance with a good academic performance of getting into any residency if thats your desire. What the cost savings of Buffalo would equate to is alot more in your pocket each month upon graduation. Here's some real life numbers for you. I graduated with a little under 60,000 in loans from dental school and write a check for roughly $600 a month to the loan company. When you throw in the additional 80,000+ that my wife took out for dental school/orthodontics residency that puts our monthly loan repayment amount to a little under $2000 per month. Those numbers should give you a ball park figure as to what loan repayment amounts for Buffalo vs Penn would be.

Mind you, both are generally quite manageable, one just gives you a bit more each month for mortagage payments/car payments/IRA contributions etc. :D Hope that helps shed some light on your decision.
 
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