Advice on student debt

[thonipad]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

My daughter is a high school senior got into following 3 dental colleges and I would like your advice on which college to choose:

New York University College of Dentistry: 3 year undergrad + 4 year Dental: Approx. cost: $625,000

UCONN School of Dental: 4 year undergrad + 4 year Dental: Approx. cost: $325,000

CWRU School of Dental Medicine: Combined 6 year program: Approx cost: $ 500,000

Thanks

 

[UCSFx2017]

UConn. Not only is considerably more affordable but it's generally the more reputable school by most accounts. You'll have to calculate how much those few years saved by going to CWRU or NYU is worth.

P/F, medical school curriculum (helpful for preparing for CBSE if she were ever interested in OMFS), in-state tuition after first year, and a nice safe location.

I don't have a daughter but I would prefer that my sister attend UConn out of either of those schools. I think it's better to attend to an affordable state school for undergrad and then going to an affordable state dental school.

 

[Kabek]

My daughter is a high school senior got into following 3 dental colleges and I would like your advice on which college to choose:

New York University College of Dentistry: 3 year undergrad + 4 year Dental: Approx. cost: $625,000

UCONN School of Dental: 4 year undergrad + 4 year Dental: Approx. cost: $325,000

CWRU School of Dental Medicine: Combined 6 year program: Approx cost: $ 500,000

Thanks

Without hesitation or reservation go the most economical route. Secondly, at UCONN she will be able to "experience" college (typical 4 year undergrad). Life doesn't get much easier or fun then undergrad. College is one of those experiences while in the moment you know it is good but retrospect truly enables a realization of how good it real was.

 

[thonipad]

UConn. Not only is considerably more affordable but it's generally the more reputable school by most accounts. You'll have to calculate how much those few years saved by going to CWRU or NYU is worth.

P/F, medical school curriculum (helpful for preparing for CBSE if she were ever interested in OMFS), in-state tuition after first year, and a nice safe location.

I don't have a daughter but I would prefer that my sister attend UConn out of either of those schools. I think it's better to attend to an affordable state school for undergrad and then going to an affordable state dental school.

By going into CWRU:
What is the opportunity cost for the first 2 years as a dentist?
What is the opportunity cost for the first 2 years as a orthodontist?

 

[thonipad]

My daughter thinks that OMFS takes lot longer than ORTHO (3 years residency). Is that true?

Thanks

 

[CMistry]

My daughter thinks that OMFS takes lot longer than ORTHO (3 years residency). Is that true?

Thanks

It is true. Ortho programs are 2-3 years long, whereas OMFS programs are 4-6 years long. She will discover which field(s) she likes while in dental school.

As for the schools you have posted above, the best financial choice is CWRU. The additional cost over UCONN is easily offset by the 2 years of income she gains. Essentially she would be gaining 2 years of average dentist (or specialist) income, which can be valued at $250k (conservatively).

As others have mentioned above, many people enjoy their college years in a way that cannot occur during dental school. This is a decision she will have to make, but unfortunately she may not know what she's missing out on until it's too late.

 

[thonipad]

BTW...she also got into Boston University Goldman School of Dental Medicine. But that is probably in the same boat as NYU from a cost perspective and hence being ruled out for consideration.

Talking about Ortho (or OMFS)....should that be a consideration now before deciding which college to select? In other words, do we have a choice on where residency can be done or are we stuck with the Dental college where graduation was done?

Thanks for all your feedback.

 

[CMistry]

Talking about Ortho (or OMFS)....should that be a consideration now before deciding which college to select? In other words, do we have a choice on where residency can be done or are we stuck with the Dental college where graduation was done?

Thanks for all your feedback.

No, that should not be a consideration at this point. She can attend a residency anywhere after dental school, if she so chooses at that point.

 

[gryffindor]

UConn

If she ends up specializing in Ortho or OMS, she maybe looking at adding another $200K+ of debt to whatever she already had. Unlike medicine, the majority of residencies in dentistry do not pay you a stipend. Very very few ortho residencies pay you a stipend. All OMS programs pay you a stipend, but if you go to a 6 year program (around 50% of OMS programs are 6 years), they usually do not pay for the medical school part of those 6 years. The alternative is a 4 year OMS program which generally does pay you for all 4 years.

It is hard to tell you about "opportunity cost" for the 2 years she saves by going to Case. It is hard to get decent full time work as a dentist or orthodontist. The best chance at financial success in this field comes from owning your own practice - either buy a practice for sale or start one on your own. This means taking out more loans to buy/start a practice. I did a 7 year program and when I graduated, I took the first year to do a GPR (general practice residency) which is common. Many graduates do one of these especially on the east coast. You get paid around $50k to work in a hospital and you gain a lot of extra experience. I did the GPR because it was a chance for me to move to a new location and not have to worry about school anymore. Eventually I went back and became an orthodontist and worked as an orthodontist for a few years as well. If you want a figure, you could conservatively use $500/day as an average GP salary and $1000/day as an ortho salary. These numbers are pre-tax and most dental field jobs do not offer any benefits like medical insurance, paid vacation, disability insurance, etc. These numbers also vary greatly (I have seen $400/day GP and $600/day ortho) and full time work is hard to find in many many parts of the country.

Although 6 years sounds tempting, at the prices you wrote, I would stick with the 8 years at UConn.

UConn is a great dental school - small class size, P/F curriculum, takes classes with the med school. As a dental school, I would choose it over Case.

She should take as many marketing and basic accounting or business courses in undergrad for any electives that she has room in her schedule for. This is probably my only regret from my undergrad education.

 

[Silent Cool]

My daughter is a high school senior got into following 3 dental colleges and I would like your advice on which college to choose:

New York University College of Dentistry: 3 year undergrad + 4 year Dental: Approx. cost: $625,000

UCONN School of Dental: 4 year undergrad + 4 year Dental: Approx. cost: $325,000

CWRU School of Dental Medicine: Combined 6 year program: Approx cost: $ 500,000

Thanks

I'm going to come out and say it: these numbers are insane. If your daughter chooses NYU and then specializes in Ortho, she will probably owe close to 800K when all is said and done. Is becoming an orthodontist worth 800K?

 

[Halcion]

I'm going to come out and say it: these numbers are insane. If your daughter chooses NYU and then specializes in Ortho, she will probably owe close to 800K when all is said and done. Is becoming an orthodontist worth 800K?

And I'll answer. In short... no, absolutely not.

 

[thonipad]

Thanks for all of your responses.

NYU is ruled out based on cost

Looking at 2 year opportunity cost, CWRU & UConn are almost the same.

I deduce from your comments that UConn is better from academics perspective.

From my daughter's perspective, she would rather be in Cleveland than in Storrs, CT.

It is a tough choice to make and we want to make an informed choice. I would like to hear from more professionals like you so that we do not regret the choice we make.

I really appreciate all of your prompt responses. We do have 4 weeks before making a final decision.

Thanks

 

[tingting]

Uconn

 

[thonipad]

What is the reason you recommend Uconn Tingting?

 

[Golfguy]

I'm going to come out and say it: these numbers are insane. If your daughter chooses NYU and then specializes in Ortho, she will probably owe close to 800K when all is said and done. Is becoming an orthodontist worth 800K?

You mention this in every thread. Are you in the dental field?

 

[gryffindor]

Thanks for all of your responses.

NYU is ruled out based on cost

Looking at 2 year opportunity cost, CWRU & UConn are almost the same.

I deduce from your comments that UConn is better from academics perspective.

From my daughter's perspective, she would rather be in Cleveland than in Storrs, CT.

It is a tough choice to make and we want to make an informed choice. I would like to hear from more professionals like you so that we do not regret the choice we make.

I really appreciate all of your prompt responses. We do have 4 weeks before making a final decision.

Thanks

UConn undergrad is in Storrs. The dental school is in Farmington. It looks like there are over 3,000 undergrads that start UConn at Storrs each year as freshman. Surely your daughter can find a few interesting people to hang out with in that group of 3,000.

I disagree with the idea of looking at "opportunity cost" and calling the two options the same. $175k of extra student debt is not equivalent to earning $90k a year for 2 years. $175k of debt is more like $1200 a month for 30 years straight. On top of the loan repayment for the other $325k.

At UConn, if she changes her mind for whatever reason and doesn't want to pursue dentistry, she will have a 4 year degree to do something else. I'm not saying your daughter will do this, but she won't have this flexibility at Case.

 

[Golfguy]

UConn undergrad is in Storrs. The dental school is in Farmington. It looks like there are over 3,000 undergrads that start UConn at Storrs each year as freshman. Surely your daughter can find a few interesting people to hang out with in that group of 3,000.

I disagree with the idea of looking at "opportunity cost" and calling the two options the same. $175k of extra student debt is not equivalent to earning $90k a year for 2 years. $175k of debt is more like $1200 a month for 30 years straight. On top of the loan repayment for the other $325k.

At UConn, if she changes her mind for whatever reason and doesn't want to pursue dentistry, she will have a 4 year degree to do something else. I'm not saying your daughter will do this, but she won't have this flexibility at Case.

I generally agree. Those accelerated programs are notorious for high dropout rates (I would check on this thonipad).

In 7 years a new dentist will make more than 90K, heck they make more than that now. But 175K of more debt isn't worth 2 years of earning potential. Especially when you consider taxes and the interest capitalization. I personally would rather have two more enjoyable years in college if the finances were equal (and they're probably close).

 

[thonipad]

Thanks for your perspective.

I am in IT field and hence have little to no understanding of all things Dentistry. So things which you may assume to be second nature or basic information to you may be news to me. Hence I appreciate it all the more.

Don't you think that 2 years of additional work experience would be more beneficial for her career? We are inclined towards CWRU, but after hearing from all of you who are living and breathing Dentistry, I get a sense that CWRU probably is a wrong choice.

I really appreciate all of your continued advice as I know it is coming from your real world experience.

Thanks.

 

[Putitinabiscuit]

Congratulations on your daughter's accomplishments, it sounds like she has worked pretty hard.

I would definitely have to agree with this comment, "I disagree with the idea of looking at "opportunity cost" and calling the two options the same. $175k of extra student debt is not equivalent to earning $90k a year for 2 years. $175k of debt is more like $1200 a month for 30 years straight. On top of the loan repayment for the other $325k." Student debt is a really big deal and you don't really get a full appreciation for how big of a deal it is until you are actively paying it off AND looking for your first dental job. I would recommend going to UConn to save money. Additionally, as others have said previously it also has a great reputation. The dental school program your daughter goes to won't have too much of an effect on her employment prospects upon graduating or limit her ability to pursue further training, if she does indeed desire to do so in the future. I did not attend any of these schools, although I did interview at NYU long ago but I've been around the block enough to know what I'm talking about.

I would seriously urge your daughter to go the UConn route. She will thank you later.

Good luck!

 

[thonipad]

Thank you for your feedback.

One of the new developments is that we have learned that my daughter does have the option to complete the 4 year undergrad in 3 years if she chose to. We have not yet visited Storrs and we are planning to visit next Saturday. We are now seriously giving Uconn a second look based on all of your feedback.

Thanks

 

[CMistry]

I fail to understand how these experienced, well-respected dentists overlook that starting practice 2 years earlier does not equate to 2 years of starting salary. It is equivalent to 2 years of average salary, which MAY outweigh the additional debt burden.

 

[Toothshucker]

I fail to understand how these experienced, well-respected dentists overlook that starting practice 2 years earlier does not equate to 2 years of starting salary. It is equivalent to 2 years of average salary, which MAY outweigh the additional debt burden.

It's equivalent to your last 2 years of salary, assuming you retire at the same AGE. So in theory, those last 2 years could be near or at the maximum salary you will earn during your earning years.

 

[alxspider]

It's equivalent to your last 2 years of salary, assuming you retire at the same AGE. So in theory, those last 2 years could be near or at the maximum salary you will earn during your earning years.

No, the last two years will probably be your lower earning years based on the ADA data. You have really just increased your average salary by 2 years.

 

[UCSFx2017]

I fail to understand how these experienced, well-respected dentists overlook that starting practice 2 years earlier does not equate to 2 years of starting salary. It is equivalent to 2 years of average salary, which MAY outweigh the additional debt burden.

I thought about that too but then I considered this. Banks generally require you to have a monthly 30% debt-to-income ratio in order to qualify for a loan. The way to make real GP salary is to own your own practice. By attending a more expensive school, you will have a higher monthly debt due to higher loan repayments. If the total difference in debt is high enough, maybe >$150K more, you could possibly be stalled (1-2 years) in opening up your own practice because you couldn't qualify for a loan. Meanwhile a dentist who graduated 1-2 years later but with much less debt already qualified for loan and is making real GP salary much earlier. Now the average dentist salary comparison gets hazy. But then what if the dentist who ended up at the more expensive school financed for a 30-year plan in order to thin out monthly payment? What bank regulations are there that would prevent a loan applicant from simply financing loan repayment to 30-years to reduce monthly debt, qualify for the loan, and then immediately refinance back to a 10-year plan? Are there any restrictive loan condition clause?

What do you think?

 

[CMistry]

I thought about that too but then I considered this. Banks generally require you to have a monthly 30% debt-to-income ratio in order to qualify for a loan. The way to make real GP salary is to own your own practice. By attending a more expensive school, you will have a higher monthly debt due to higher loan repayments. If the total difference in debt is high enough, maybe >$150K more, you could possibly be stalled (1-2 years) in opening up your own practice because you couldn't qualify for a loan. Meanwhile a dentist who graduated 1-2 years later but with much less debt already qualified for loan and is making real GP salary much earlier. Now the average dentist salary comparison gets hazy.

What do you think?

Your logic makes sense, and it is not something I've looked into. However I will point out that the average general dentist does not open their own practice for quite a few years after graduation (if ever).

The more I think about it, however, the two years your gain must also provide for living costs. Considering this, I think the value may be with UCONN.

 

[Toronto77]

Your logic makes sense, and it is not something I've looked into. However I will point out that the average general dentist does not open their own practice for quite a few years after graduation (if ever).

The more I think about it, however, the two years your gain must also provide for living costs. Considering this, I think the value may be with UCONN.

The elephant in the room that no one has mentioned is the "tax man." You pay your loans after taxes (net) income. So you make $120k, take home 80K, now pay your 3-4K loan payments, etc. Your income also negates now the ability to write off interest on these loans.

Also keep in mind you will be paying all your insurance (disability, malpractice, health) and finally you are able to pay for the things to live, car, home, dinner with the wife, etc.

I am typing fast, sorry to ramble.

 

[UCSFx2017]

The elephant in the room that no one has mentioned is the "tax man." You pay your loans after taxes (net) income. So you make $120k, take home 80K, now pay your 3-4K loan payments, etc. Your income also negates now the ability to write off interest on these loans.

Also keep in mind you will be paying all your insurance (disability, malpractice, health) and finally you are able to pay for the things to live, car, home, dinner with the wife, etc.

I am typing fast, sorry to ramble.

I thought you pay federal loans with gross income first and then get taxed on the remaining amount.

 

[CMistry]

I thought you pay federal loans with gross income first and then get taxed on the remaining amount.

Nope, all of your income is taxed (before loan repayment). Hence why loans can eat new, young dentists whole.

 

[sw4gger]

I'd like to say off the bat the best years that I had were in my undergrad. Based on what others have said that financially it is very close (less debt. vs 2 years of opportunity), and as I am nearing completing dental school (and being somewhat drained), I see value in being freed from the shackles of dental school red tape, and having that extra 2 years of freedom to go and do what you would please. There is no doubt about UCONN's reputation, but as a student if you work hard at any school you are at, all options will be available when you graduate.

 

[Toronto77]

Nope, all of your income is taxed (before loan repayment). Hence why loans can eat new, young dentists whole.

Mistry,

Are you currently in the med school portion of your program? I can't imagine you would have much time for SDN while on service. Either way congratulations for doing what you are doing.

I myself am trying to prep for the NBME, 1 month from today. I will see how it all works out over the next year.

 

[J2OS]

UCONN 110%

Reason: 1) P/F 2) They average the highest board scores year in and year out 3) Cost 4) She will have a real undergrad experience

If she wants the door open to specialize with less stress, a P/F curriculum is where its at. Think of opportunity cost this way. 1) go to a school with grades and not get into specialty but you are out two years early as a GP vs 2) go to a P/F school get out two years later with less debt and get into a specialty.

UCONN is no brainer if career opportunity is the only goal.

 

[thonipad]

What is a board score? And how does it reflect on the quality of a dental school?

How often do students typically go back & forth to home / year? At ~ $ 750 per trip between Cleveland & Connecticut..maybe this does add up?

Is there any Uconn or CASE alum/student on SDN? We would love to hear from you.

What strategies have you employed to pay off debt? Pay as much as possible upfront?

If you have opened your own practice, how soon after graduation did you start?

Thanks...all this information from you is a real eye-opener to me.

 

[KittySquared]

Can't say much about UConn, but I loved everything about Case Western when I went to interview. The other allure I had is that it is close to Cleveland Clinic, and I have family who work for the Cleveland Clinic. The research opportunities were vast and.

There's definitely some benefit to graduating in 6 years as opposed to 8. When she is done, she will be a 24 year old dentist, and additional training of ortho would put her at 27, and that's a fantastic age as a graduate. And if she was to go the OMFS route, she could be a 30 year old oral surgeon or 28 year old oral surgeon. The route to specialization can be very lengthy, the more years she has to practice as a specialist, the more it makes up for that fact. Plus, she may also want to start a family, so the less time she spends in training, the better 🙂

I personally thought undergrad was just OK. But it was tempting to make a lot of mistakes fresh out of the nest. I probably would have made up my mind earlier about dentistry had I not gone to such a large liberal arts university haha. I'd love to have finished undergrad in 2 or 3 years instead of 4.

Another thing about UConn and Case Western

- UConn dental does a pass/fail system, which means the classes are much less cut throat and you can thrive more on learning for the sake of learning, instead of keeping up with your rank. i.e. being top 10% of your class, etc, in order to specialize.
- Case Western eliminated several blocks of couses on embryology etc which traditional dental school curricula have because dental boards realistically don't test much on those obscure developmental questions. This makes 1st year dental school easier to get through than if they had to learn so much excessive material that will appear in only 3 or 4 questions on the dental boards. However, Case does traditional ranking, I believe.

Ultimately, it's a tough decision. I'm not entirely sure about living costs, but Cleveland is quite affordable. Not sure about UConn area, however.

 

[gryffindor]

I thought you pay federal loans with gross income first and then get taxed on the remaining amount.

Wishful thinking!

I have thought that if I ever had to do dental school over, I would have gone to either UConn or Harvard if the finances were right. Small P/F schools with no ranks known for producing rock star board scores. Also both schools had lots of students who specialize since I knew I wanted to specialize. Since I went to a school where we were ranked, stressing about trying to stay in the top 10 during dental school was really hard.

 

[gryffindor]

How often do students typically go back & forth to home / year? At ~ $ 750 per trip between Cleveland & Connecticut..maybe this does add up?

Maybe 3 or 4 times a year? Even at 4 times a year, the cost for 16 trips back and forth will not add up to $175K.

 

[gryffindor]

I fail to understand how these experienced, well-respected dentists overlook that starting practice 2 years earlier does not equate to 2 years of starting salary. It is equivalent to 2 years of average salary, which MAY outweigh the additional debt burden.

Because in the 9 years since I have been out of dental school, I have only made a "real dentist" salary for 2 of them.

As precisely as I tried to plan my post-school career like I did for pre-dental and dental school, reality got in the way.

Despite having the stats, I did not get into my desired specialty right away. It happens. So 2 years were "wasted" here doing a GPR for 1 year and working part-time at really crappy GP jobs for another year. The pro was that I lived in New York City and had a great time.

Then I "lost" 3 years of earning potential while I was an Ortho resident.

I wanted to buy a practice right out of residency but I got engaged and my fiance did not agree with the location. Someone had to compromise and it ended up being me. So I got a job as an orthodontist and finally made some "real dentist" money for 2 years. During the third year, I got really fed up of working for other dentists. So I quit to start my own practice. Now I am back to making close to dirt waiting for the practice to grow and finally get to the point of making "real orthodontist" money.

I don't know when I want to retire to really know if graduating at 24 really netted me more money overall compared to those graduated at 26. I might get tired of having fingers in people's mouths at age 50. I might work til 80+ as some orthodontists I have met.

Whatever you choose to do with your dental career, paying less out to student loans makes reality a lot easier. Especially in the beginning.

 

[dmdluffy]

I've always been curious, when people think about the opportunity cost lost for not practicing for a year they always think to the first year out of school. Wouldn't it be more accurate to consider it a years worth of income lost at the tail end of your career? Either way, you start out and bring home whatever a new dentist makes. But by starting a year later, you lose the year you would be practicing later on down the line.

 

[UltimateHombre]

Something that needs to be addressed is the interest that will accrue over 20 years on the extra 175K in loans. If you use most interest calculators, at 8%, you will pay almost 150K in interest alone on that extra 175K... thus making the total to 325K difference. This will never be made up for in 2 years of practice salary as a GP.

I am of the opinion that less debt will always offer more options to you than more time.

 

[Silent Cool]

Because in the 9 years since I have been out of dental school, I have only made a "real dentist" salary for 2 of them.

As precisely as I tried to plan my post-school career like I did for pre-dental and dental school, reality got in the way.

Despite having the stats, I did not get into my desired specialty right away. It happens. So 2 years were "wasted" here doing a GPR for 1 year and working part-time at really crappy GP jobs for another year. The pro was that I lived in New York City and had a great time.

Then I "lost" 3 years of earning potential while I was an Ortho resident.

I wanted to buy a practice right out of residency but I got engaged and my fiance did not agree with the location. Someone had to compromise and it ended up being me. So I got a job as an orthodontist and finally made some "real dentist" money for 2 years. During the third year, I got really fed up of working for other dentists. So I quit to start my own practice. Now I am back to making close to dirt waiting for the practice to grow and finally get to the point of making "real orthodontist" money.

I don't know when I want to retire to really know if graduating at 24 really netted me more money overall compared to those graduated at 26. I might get tired of having fingers in people's mouths at age 50. I might work til 80+ as some orthodontists I have met.

Whatever you choose to do with your dental career, paying less out to student loans makes reality a lot easier. Especially in the beginning.

Yeah, seriously--people entering these programs are making a career decision awfully young. OP may not even want to continue with dentistry. Who knows. Also, I think actually getting a degree (ie, UCONN) is wise. Plus as has been mentioned previously they have an amazing reputation. Back when boards were scored, I always remember reading that UCONN and Harvard were tied for #1 in boards. Their class is also small. My impression is that students coming out of UCONN, Harvard, and UCLA are more or less guaranteed a specialty position. That seems to have been the case for many years now.

 

[thonipad]

One of the local dentist implied that Cleveland have a larger patient pool (Cleveland Clinic?) than Farmington and hence the student maybe better prepared in CWRU.

Should this be a factor in our decision?

Thanks

 

[Silent Cool]

My daughter is a high school senior got into following 3 dental colleges and I would like your advice on which college to choose:

New York University College of Dentistry: 3 year undergrad + 4 year Dental: Approx. cost: $625,000

UCONN School of Dental: 4 year undergrad + 4 year Dental: Approx. cost: $325,000

CWRU School of Dental Medicine: Combined 6 year program: Approx cost: $ 500,000

Thanks

OP,

Do these figures include interest?

 

[Golfguy]

One of the local dentist implied that Cleveland have a larger patient pool (Cleveland Clinic?) than Farmington and hence the student maybe better prepared in CWRU.

Should this be a factor in our decision?

Thanks

No. I don't think UCONN is hurting for patients, so it's a non-factor.

If it were me I would choose by cost and the better place to be.

 

[thonipad]

These figures do no include interest. The other factor is that we would not be taking on these debt right on day 1. They would accumulate every year as and when the due date comes up.

 

[Bereno]

I fail to understand how these experienced, well-respected dentists overlook that starting practice 2 years earlier does not equate to 2 years of starting salary. It is equivalent to 2 years of average salary, which MAY outweigh the additional debt burden.

I am thinking that looking at the summed value of these costs is not the best approach. An increase in the monthly pmt to income ratio will disproportionately increase the time it takes to own a practice since starting salaries are not affected by school choice.

Example:
Starting as an associate at either school will net her, say, 80K after tax (or some other amount so long as both starting salaries are assumed to be the same from either school). Assuming 500K is owed on the day of graduation at CWRU at 7.9% for 25 years, annual cost 46k a year leaving 34k. Assuming 325K is owed on the day of graduation at UConn at 7.9% for 25 years, annual cost 30k a year leaving 50k. This 16k difference can go to saving for a down pmt for a practice loan, or even help pay a practice loan pmt. Assuming that salary potential is much higher for an owner than for an associate (say, +60K after taxes), it is seemingly much more important (IMO) to get her into a position of max income potential as a practice owner asap. It seems to me that the cheaper school is able to make the dentist own their practice sooner, and thus be in a position to make a higher income sooner, despite starting two years later.

I really don't know if my ramble here makes sense, but I tried lol 😀


EDIT: I just saw post #24 and #25.

 

[Silent Cool]

These figures do no include interest. The other factor is that we would not be taking on these debt right on day 1. They would accumulate every year as and when the due date comes up.

thonipad,

can you calculate the final owed amounts with interest? I think those numbers will make the decision even easier. My vote is still UCONN.

 

[thonipad]

The final owed amounts would really depend on how soon one is able to pay. In other words, the term of the loan. Do you know how long does the average dentist take to pay back the student debt?

We went to UCONN (Storrs) yesterday & we liked the campus. We will be going to UCONN dental school (Farmington) this week. While there was no mention of UCONN medical ranking, they did brag about UCONN dental ranking being # 1 along with Harward (I took that with a grain of salt) for the past many years.

Based on your feedback & the actual visits, we are now leaning towards UCONN. We will be making a final decision this week.

Thanks for all the feedback so far and we would love to hear any more pros and cons.

 

[Silent Cool]

The final owed amounts would really depend on how soon one is able to pay. In other words, the term of the loan. Do you know how long does the average dentist take to pay back the student debt?

We went to UCONN (Storrs) yesterday & we liked the campus. We will be going to UCONN dental school (Farmington) this week. While there was no mention of UCONN medical ranking, they did brag about UCONN dental ranking being # 1 along with Harward (I took that with a grain of salt) for the past many years.

Based on your feedback & the actual visits, we are now leaning towards UCONN. We will be making a final decision this week.

Thanks for all the feedback so far and we would love to hear any more pros and cons.

I would say that, with the amounts listed, especially NYU, you are looking at a 30-year amortization.

 

[Bereno]

The final owed amounts would really depend on how soon one is able to pay. In other words, the term of the loan. Do you know how long does the average dentist take to pay back the student debt?

We went to UCONN (Storrs) yesterday & we liked the campus. We will be going to UCONN dental school (Farmington) this week. While there was no mention of UCONN medical ranking, they did brag about UCONN dental ranking being # 1 along with Harward (I took that with a grain of salt) for the past many years.

Based on your feedback & the actual visits, we are now leaning towards UCONN. We will be making a final decision this week.

Thanks for all the feedback so far and we would love to hear any more pros and cons.

I know you said you would be visiting this week, but if you stop by next week (we have an exam next Monday the 22nd so I am studying full time till then), I would be willing to show you around the school.

 

[gryffindor]

While there was no mention of UCONN medical ranking, they did brag about UCONN dental ranking being # 1 along with Harward (I took that with a grain of salt) for the past many years.

Dental schools are not ranked anymore. However, of all the dental schools in the country, UConn is the most similar to Harvard in terms of class size and board scores. So they aren't too far off if they are bragging about it.

 

[thonipad]

Thank you for all your feedback. We have decided on UCONN. I appreciate all the insights which you have provided.