Advice Needed: Should I quit pre-dental?

[mascue]

Background: upper-middle class, parents are both dentists. Wasn't raised poor or anything like that & I had most of the things I wanted in life because my parents were generous enough to give them to me. That being said, I'm a rather frugal person and don't spend too much money

Hi everyone, I'm a rising junior in undergrad and I'm seriously contemplating if I want to pursue dentistry. I grew up with parents that are both dentists, so from a younge age I was exposed to the dental environment quite frequently. I grew up in a country where it's extremely hard to find a source of income without having an academic background (that is MS, MD, DMD/DDS, or PhD) so a lot of people in my country tend to take this academic route. I sortof "accepted" as my own fate as well, until 6 years ago my mom came with me to the US. The first few years I didn't know what I was doing, but over the past year or so I've come to realize there are so many other ways to earn a lot of money (I'm talking at least $200k+ a year) without pursuing an academic path.

I'm not complaining that I want to drop out of pre-dental because my stats are bad. I have a 3.98 cGPA and 3.96 sGPA from a top 40, grade-deflated university. Up until last year, I felt like the hard work & sacrifices I was making was worth it because I was getting a step closer to becoming a dentist. Now, knowing that there are other opportunities for me to earn a lot of money in (particularly real estate), I feel like I'm wasting time trying to make this predental thing work.

I was honestly never an academic person -- unlike many others I don't find the academic courses I'm learning interesting/useful at all, and I'm honestly just doing it because I want to get into dental school and get a DDS degree (sorry if this sounds very blunt, I wanted to get straight to the point). As mentioned before, I'm looking into real estate, and a particular business model that I've been researching seems like something I would instrinsically be passionate about doing. Of course, it has exponential risks than pursuing a stable 9-5 job, but I really want to invest in myself and make that risk than being stuck at a chair job for the rest of my life.

People of SDN (already-dentists/physicians in particular, but all inputs are appreciated): Am I being too naive (in believing that I can be successful in real estate) or would you support this risk?

Edit: If I pursue dentistry, my parents said they would pay all my tuition. This is a big incentive but I just lack the passion to actually do dentist things lol. If I were to take the leap of faith, I am expecting minimal financial support from my parents

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[doc toothache]

Real estate it is.

 

[PerioDont]

How old are you? Why not pursue real estate or anything else for a bit and if you feel like you change your mind or want to pursue dentistry you can do it later on.

Your whole life does not have to be determined by the age of 22.

 

[mascue]

How old are you? Why not pursue real estate or anything else for a bit and if you feel like you change your mind or want to pursue dentistry you can do it later on.

Your whole life does not have to be determined by the age of 22.

I'm turning 20 in August, a rising junior in undergrad. My parents insist that if I delay my academic career any further, it will be harder because it's just hard to have that mental stamina of going through a dental school curriculum at an older age. They also think I'll be extremely behind my peers bc they would all have graudated and started working in corporate/transitioning into owning a private practice, while I would still be hammering the books as D1 or D2 lol

 

[PerioDont]

I'm turning 20 in August, a rising junior in undergrad. My parents insist that if I delay my academic career any further, it will be harder because it's just hard to have that mental stamina of going through a dental school curriculum at an older age.

So my parents told me the same thing, I got into dental school at 19. After going through it, I don’t really believe it to be true.

some of the best students in our class were in their 30s, who had done other things. I’m gonna assume a bit about your cultural background, but if I’m right it’s a culture that doesnt really value time for exploration and failure.

this is a good time to do that imo.

get a job and start working now so you are not dependent on your parents completely. Then explore whatever. You may realize that you don’t like real estate etc and then come back to school if you want to. Your parents will most likely still be open to paying if you were 24 instead of 22.

or you can start shadowing etc in other offices and see if you like it. Go through with your DDS and pursue other things afterwards with having a degree in hand. Use your cash flow from dentistry to support other goals.

 

[Soleus715]

Being behind your peers should have zero effect on your decision making.

Whether you need to change your career path once or three times, you should only settle for doing something you would be happy doing (and hopefully something that you won't end up hating).

Since you have a lot of time on your hands (you are so young!), I'd try out real estate and see how that goes.
Dental school is expensive whether you're paying for it or your parents.
If you have a solid enough plan, you can take that tuition money your parents would have given you, and instead invest it intelligently in which ever career you head into.

 

[PerioDont]

Being behind your peers should have zero effect on your decision making.

Whether you need to change your career path once or three times, you should only settle for doing something you would be happy doing (and hopefully something that you won't end up hating).

Since you have a lot of time on your hands (you are so young!), I'd try out real estate and see how that goes.
Dental school is expensive whether you're paying for it or your parents.
If you have a solid enough plan, you can take that tuition money your parents would have given you, and instead invest it intelligently in which ever career you head into.

If I’m guessing the cultural background correctly, his/her parents will not give them the money to invest but will only pay for their schooling as that is the only ‘reliable’ investment in their thought process.

 

[mascue]

So my parents told me the same thing, I got into dental school at 19. After going through it, I don’t really believe it to be true.

some of the best students in our class were in their 30s, who had done other things. I’m gonna assume a bit about your cultural background, but if I’m right it’s a culture that doesnt really value time for exploration and failure.

this is a good time to do that imo.

get a job and start working now so you are not dependent on your parents completely. Then explore whatever. You may realize that you don’t like real estate etc and then come back to school if you want to. Your parents will most likely still be open to paying if you were 24 instead of 22.

or you can start shadowing etc in other offices and see if you like it. Go through with your DDS and pursue other things afterwards with having a degree in hand. Use your cash flow from dentistry to support other goals.

I see you around a lot in the forums, and I truly appreciate you providing this feedback. And yes, back in my country it's too late to catch up once you start falling behind. That sort of competition is engrained in the culture and I've experienced a little bit of it too for the 14 years I lived back there.

I actually started wondering if dentistry was right for me when I first shadowed a busy practice -- I didn't really enjoy the environment or the work they did because they were either 1. sitting down treating patients or 2. running to another room to treat the next patient. It just seemed like work work work, lunch, and work work work work. I'm not saying making money should be any easier, but this was when I really understood the infamous phrase: trading time for money. I really wasn't a fan of it

Anyways, I'm happy to hear that opinion from someone who actually attended dental school in the states, it really helped my mind clear up a little bit. Being an only child my parents tend to put a lot of pressure on me to make these decisions 😆

 

[mascue]

Being behind your peers should have zero effect on your decision making.

Whether you need to change your career path once or three times, you should only settle for doing something you would be happy doing (and hopefully something that you won't end up hating).

Since you have a lot of time on your hands (you are so young!), I'd try out real estate and see how that goes.
Dental school is expensive whether you're paying for it or your parents.
If you have a solid enough plan, you can take that tuition money your parents would have given you, and instead invest it intelligently in which ever career you head into.

If I’m guessing the cultural background correctly, his/her parents will not give them the money to invest but will only pay for their schooling as that is the only ‘reliable’ investment in their thought process.

@PerioDont nailed it. The stereotype is true I have Asian (korean) parents haha

I wish they were able to acknowledge the potential of other careers. But that's what I've come to realize in the past few years, is that they fear to see what is beyond them as well. I am pretty financially dependent on my parents so I'm just scared to take a step outside the comfort zone (I was never poor or anything like that thanks to them).

 

[LaughingGas]

Background: upper-middle class, parents are both dentists. Wasn't raised poor or anything like that & I had most of the things I wanted in life because my parents were generous enough to give them to me. That being said, I'm a rather frugal person and don't spend too much money

Hi everyone, I'm a rising junior in undergrad and I'm seriously contemplating if I want to pursue dentistry. I grew up with parents that are both dentists, so from a younge age I was exposed to the dental environment quite frequently. I grew up in a country where it's extremely hard to find a source of income without having an academic background (that is MS, MD, DMD/DDS, or PhD) so a lot of people in my country tend to take this academic route. I sortof "accepted" as my own fate as well, until 6 years ago my mom came with me to the US. The first few years I didn't know what I was doing, but over the past year or so I've come to realize there are so many other ways to earn a lot of money (I'm talking at least $200k+ a year) without pursuing an academic path.

I'm not complaining that I want to drop out of pre-dental because my stats are bad. I have a 3.98 cGPA and 3.96 sGPA from a top 40, grade-deflated university. Up until last year, I felt like the hard work & sacrifices I was making was worth it because I was getting a step closer to becoming a dentist. Now, knowing that there are other opportunities for me to earn a lot of money in (particularly real estate), I feel like I'm wasting time trying to make this predental thing work.

I was honestly never an academic person -- unlike many others I don't find the academic courses I'm learning interesting/useful at all, and I'm honestly just doing it because I want to get into dental school and get a DDS degree (sorry if this sounds very blunt, I wanted to get straight to the point). As mentioned before, I'm looking into real estate, and a particular business model that I've been researching seems like something I would instrinsically be passionate about doing. Of course, it has exponential risks than pursuing a stable 9-5 job, but I really want to invest in myself and make that risk than being stuck at a chair job for the rest of my life.

People of SDN (already-dentists/physicians in particular, but all inputs are appreciated): Am I being too naive (in believing that I can be successful in real estate) or would you support this risk?

Edit: If I pursue dentistry, my parents said they would pay all my tuition. This is a big incentive but I just lack the passion to actually do dentist things lol. If I were to take the leap of faith, I am expecting minimal financial support from my parents

why not both? If your parents will pay for schooling, become a dentist, have stable 9-5 job with potential to make more if you decide to put more commitment. Work 2- 3 days a week as a dentist and work the remaining 2 - 3 as real state. If you are struggling financial when you are doing full time real state, you can cut down some days and temp jobs as dentist that will pay you 5-800 per day depending on location. And don't worry about doing dentistry without passion. Many dentists practice dentistry NOT because of passion.

 

[2TH MVR]

Stay in school. Become a dentist and take advantage of what your parents are providing you. Sorry, but at your young age ..... you have no real knowledge or experience in real estate investing. You're obviously a smart, intelligent individual based on your stats.

Like the above poster said. Do BOTH. Take the sure thing. Dentistry with no debt will allow you to acrue discretionary assets which can be used to invest in Real Estate. No dentist income means you will be leveraging yourself which brings risk into the equation.

You are in a fortunate situation. Take what has been given to you and build on that.

 

[allDAT]

don’t apply to dental school. Complete the prerequisites and prepare to apply but don’t do it. You can apply later if you want. Spend a year or two or three exploring and chasing your passion. Get a job, start a business, travel, enjoy life. Many people in my class were older, some were even career changers. They brought unique perspectives and were competitive students.

Between undergrad and dental school I intentionally took a year off. Spent time with friends and family, travelled, built a small business. Learned more about myself. It was one of the best decisions I could have made.

Almost all the trends in dentistry are negative and there are so many other ways to make a good living now. If you don’t have to be a dentist, my genuine advice is to do something else. I’ve been in practice for 6 years at this point.

 

[setdoc7]

Get a combined DDS-MBA. Then you will be prepared for anything the future brings.

 

[2TH MVR]

Love the internet. OP asks for an opinion and of course ... OP gets opposing viewpoints. I've noticed that the view points expressed here are obviously from the vantage point of where the posters are at this very moment. Younger posters are ingrained into discovering themselves. Only natural. Taking the necessary time to "find themselves". Their attitude is that they have tons of time on their side. Older posters have different values. Most of us have been there. Done that. Yes. Without risk .... there is no possibility of hitting it big. I've made many risks (Real Estate, etc) in my life and I can tell you that I've made more money being a dentist (ortho) as compared to Real Estate. Real Estate is all about timing. I probably sucked at real estate lol. With risks comes success and failure. And again .... to get ahead .... you will usually have to take some risks. That is true.

Your parents are giving you an unbelievable gift. A sure thing. Do Both. If you hate dentistry .... then don't do it.

While you are contemplating your future .... please be aware that your parents are also planning their future retirement. Every year that goes by .... older parents are getting closer to retirement and wanting to spend money on themselves. That free DS tuition may not be available years down the road.

 

[charlestweed]

I wish they were able to acknowledge the potential of other careers. But that's what I've come to realize in the past few years, is that they fear to see what is beyond them as well. I am pretty financially dependent on my parents so I'm just scared to take a step outside the comfort zone (I was never poor or anything like that thanks to them).

If you are scared to step outside this comfort zone and still have to rely on your parents, then I think obeying your parents and choosing dentistry would be the safest route. When you are still scared, this means that you are not 100% confident if choosing the real estate route is right one for you. If you are still scared of the failure, then I don’t think you are ready. It's completely understandable that you are scared because you don't have any experience in working in the real world. When you talk about going into real estate business…..are you talking about buying and flipping houses? Or are you talking about becoming a real estate agent? If it’s the former one, I am afraid that no bank would lend the money to a person, who has no money, no good stable job and no credit history.

It's hard for you to make decision because you have other choices. It’s much easier to make the decision when you are poor and don’t have any other options. Both of my parents were poor. Going into dentistry was my only option. A BS degree in Bio was pretty much useless and my undergrad GPA and MCAT score weren’t high enough for med school. If I picked a non-dental career and failed, no one would save me. At least being a dentist would help get me out of poverty ….and a decent girl would find me attractive enough to marry me🙂.

I think 2THMVR gave the best advice. He and I are parents of college kids and kids who are about to enter colleges. We both have been there and done that. Time flies and we don’t have a lot of time. The pathway to become a dentist is a very long one.....at least 8 years. It sucks being a broke 29-30 yo person without good paying job. At this age, you should at least have a house and an entry level BMW. What about getting married and having kids? A few of the older 30+ yo dental classmates of mine actually regretted for not going into dentistry a lot sooner. A few of my general dentist friends actually regretted for not doing well in dental school and specializing afterward.

Like your parents, I put aside certain amount of money for my kids’ college education and only help pay for their education if they choose either dentistry or medicine. If they pick a different non-healthcare career, this amount of money will still be used to help them in case they fail at that career.

 

[Xoxox139]

age I was exposed to the dental environment quite frequently. I grew up in a country where it's extremely hard to find a source of income without having

please if you have no passion for dentistry, don't do it!!!! For the sake of your future patients, please don't do dentistry.

 

[LaughingGas]

please if you have no passion for dentistry, don't do it!!!! For the sake of your future patients, please don't do dentistry.

I disagree. What is more dangerous is unskilled and/or unethical dentists.

 

[PerioDont]

I read a book recently that made me think of this thread.

Essentially, the book was saying that the internet and social media makes people believe that you can be 'successful' in your 20s doing things like flipping houses, rentals, amazon, dropshipping, penny stocks etc. However, the reality is that most of the people who advocate for these things actually make money selling you courses on how to do them, i.e. they are all mostly fakers and liars with rented mansions and lambos.

The reality is that the vast majority of people will not be successful in their 20s. You have a huge head start if you can start a dental career with no debt.

If you have a solid plan of exactly what you are going to do in real estate, then do it. If you have just watched the graham stephan show, then that is not really how life works.

A friend of mine (28 yr old MBA grad) got a real estate license and started working as a realtor 8 months ago for a major real estate company. He has not even sold one house yet (i.e. he hasn't made a single dollar as its all commission.) He has been at it literally every day for the last 8 months, doing tours, making videos, trying to reach out and cold call people. There are tons of people trying to do that and it's not that simple. Not saying you cannot be successful doing other things, but it is definitely not as 'easy' as how it is portrayed on social media.

However, being a dentist at 26 with no debt is almost a certain pathway to success. Just some thoughts that came to mind.

Basically @charlestweed and @2TH MVR are right on as usual 🙂

 

[PerioDont]

What was the name of the book if you don't mind sharing?

Hype: How Scammers, Grifters, and Con Artists Are Taking Over the Internet―and Why We're Following by Gabrielle Bluestone​

this book specifically talks about the Fyre festival scam but goes into a lot more things as well. Pretty interesting read

 

[PledgingForDDS]

Hey, go try something else for a few years. If you like it, stay. If you don't, you can always come back to dentistry. Maybe by then you will appreciate this career more. I have a lot of classmates who are 30+, so career changers are not that uncommon.

At least you're from a good family and have the opportunity to goof around to find out what you really like, take advantage of it. There's no shame.

 

[LeagueofLigTies]

If you aren’t in love with dentistry, don’t go to dental school. It will be the most miserable experience of your life and you’ll hate your career. Do something else if you’re just in it for the money

 

[sharkdent]

Background: upper-middle class, parents are both dentists. Wasn't raised poor or anything like that & I had most of the things I wanted in life because my parents were generous enough to give them to me. That being said, I'm a rather frugal person and don't spend too much money

Hi everyone, I'm a rising junior in undergrad and I'm seriously contemplating if I want to pursue dentistry. I grew up with parents that are both dentists, so from a younge age I was exposed to the dental environment quite frequently. I grew up in a country where it's extremely hard to find a source of income without having an academic background (that is MS, MD, DMD/DDS, or PhD) so a lot of people in my country tend to take this academic route. I sortof "accepted" as my own fate as well, until 6 years ago my mom came with me to the US. The first few years I didn't know what I was doing, but over the past year or so I've come to realize there are so many other ways to earn a lot of money (I'm talking at least $200k+ a year) without pursuing an academic path.

I'm not complaining that I want to drop out of pre-dental because my stats are bad. I have a 3.98 cGPA and 3.96 sGPA from a top 40, grade-deflated university. Up until last year, I felt like the hard work & sacrifices I was making was worth it because I was getting a step closer to becoming a dentist. Now, knowing that there are other opportunities for me to earn a lot of money in (particularly real estate), I feel like I'm wasting time trying to make this predental thing work.

I was honestly never an academic person -- unlike many others I don't find the academic courses I'm learning interesting/useful at all, and I'm honestly just doing it because I want to get into dental school and get a DDS degree (sorry if this sounds very blunt, I wanted to get straight to the point). As mentioned before, I'm looking into real estate, and a particular business model that I've been researching seems like something I would instrinsically be passionate about doing. Of course, it has exponential risks than pursuing a stable 9-5 job, but I really want to invest in myself and make that risk than being stuck at a chair job for the rest of my life.

People of SDN (already-dentists/physicians in particular, but all inputs are appreciated): Am I being too naive (in believing that I can be successful in real estate) or would you support this risk?

Edit: If I pursue dentistry, my parents said they would pay all my tuition. This is a big incentive but I just lack the passion to actually do dentist things lol. If I were to take the leap of faith, I am expecting minimal financial support from my parents

Mascue,

I'm a dentist that graduated 18 years ago. Sounds like you're a smart kid and I'm sure what ever path you choose you will be very successful. Dental school right now it's a rip off. Paying $500K for a dental education is financial suicide. Dental insurance companies are killing the dental industry. Dental insurance been reimbursing lower and lower fees. Dental salary has gone down every year for the past 20 years. All other careers, salaries have gone way up. It's only going to get worse. There are states now passing laws to allow dental therapist to practice minor dental dentistry. They are cheap labor that will compete with general dentists for their jobs. That will further suppress our salaries. It's really sad.
Real estate is definitely an excellent career path. You do not need any degrees, and you are building capital that can be tax deferred. My family is in real estate and they are doing quite well.
If I'm in your shoes right now, I would choose the tech industry. Look at dentist with 10 years experience. Their salary is around $160-180K. That salary is about the same as new dentists. Dental salary doesn't go up with time. Look at computer engineer. You can go to a coding bootcamp and get a coding certificate. Then apply to google and they will start you off at $120K. The kicker is that you get stock options. That stock option can boost your salary to $200K a year. That's insane. I know people deciding on what career to go into is to look at "Starting salary". But you are only at that "Starting Salary" stage for the first couple years. You have to look at 10 years down the line. Your lifetime money earned, the bulk of your money is from 10 to 30 years into your career. You look at computer engineer with 10-15 years of experience, their avg salaries' are $400K-600K! Go look it up. There are websites that posts real salaries.
Right now we have politicians crying foul, pointing that dentistry cost are too high and too many poor people are not getting proper dental care. We will see more and more states passing Dental Therapist laws to allow them to practice dentistry. Dentists are getting screwed left and right. It's just sad.
Do not go into dentistry.