cheapest way to get through dental school

[hockeydentist]

Besides the army,navy,airforce, route is there other ways to avoid getting into big debt while in school.

I have heard that there is a thing called the peace corp for dentist and they will pay for your way through school much like' the army does. however much they pay you have to pay back in service. anybody heard about this

for those of you lucky enough to being going to dental school in the fall how do you plan on paying for your tuition, bills, etc.

What average cost for first two years. Does tution go down as you progress through the four years.

when you take out money from loans do you get what you ask for.

How do you DETERMINE HOW MUCH YOUR GOING TO NEED PER YEAR?

SORRY FOR THE 20 QUESTIONS, BUT IT SOMETHING I HAVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT LATELY

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[Yah-E]

Q: For those of you lucky enough to being going to dental school in the fall how do you plan on paying for your tuition, bills, etc?

A: In general, over 90% of the dental students take out educational loans whether it's small or large. For some, spouses are there to support during the 4-year while the dental student is in school. Only the select few are fortunate enough to have 100% family contribution or armed service scholarships.


Q: What average cost for first two years?

A: It all depends on:
what school you go to
where you live
How you live


Q: Does tution go down as you progress through the four years?

A: In general, tuition does not go down as you progress through the four years, but what does decrease is the cost of instruments, supplies, books, and tools. Usually by the fourth year, there are no fees for books, supplies, etc.


Q: When you take out money from loans do you get what you ask for?

A: First, it depends what type of loan you're talking about. If you're talking about a consumer, car or mortgage loans, you can apply for what ever amount you want and how much you will recieve is completely based on your credit score on your credit report.

If you're talking about educational loans, then you do not dictate the MAX amount of loan you can apply for. Educational loans are divided into two major categories, Government loans and Private loans. Government loans, you will receive regardless of your credit score while Private loan approvals are completely dependent of your credit score (just as consumer loans). You will recieve the full amount of Private loan if you have a good credit score.


Q: How do you DETERMINE HOW MUCH YOUR GOING TO NEED PER YEAR?

A: It's not your job nor do you have any say in HOW MUCH YOU'RE GOING TO NEED PER YEAR! This responsibility belongs to your dental school financial aid office (FAO). FAO at every school will have a STANDARD STUDENT BUDGET (aka COST OF ATTENDANCE) for you which will have the breakdown of all the budgets including transportation, room/board, tuition, books, etc.

If the school's standard student budget is $50,000.00/year, then that will be your maximum amount of loan to apply for.


An example:

Standard Student Budget/Cost of Attendance = $50,000/year
Government loans will give you $38,500/year (MAX) [you will always receive this amount no matter what as long as you're in good standing in school and you're not a felon]

You will now need apply for $11,500/year to a Private loan lender to cover the rest of your Standard Student Budget. Whether you get this amount is completely based on your credit.

Great and good credit scores = your application for private loan will be approved

Bad credit scores, but not too bad = co-signer option will be available to you and your co-signer

Bad credit scores = flat out denial of your private loan with NO co-signer option

 

[hockeydentist]

If I get In to dental school, hopefully it will be in my hometown. H-town. I already have a house downtown, paid for and everything. So I would not need any board or housing cost. Hopefully that will cut down on the cost of school that way.

Here I was thinking I was going to get away with taking about 20000dollars a year, but I can see that I am totally misguided in my thinking.

 

[Yah-E]

Keep in mind, you don't necessarily HAVE TO borrow the amount that your dental school budgets you for. If you can swing it with less amount of loans, by all means, do it!

It's just that you can't never borrow more than the school's Student Standard Budget (unless you have children living with, in that case, you MAY be eligible for "judgement" loans beyond the Standard Student Budget amount), but you can always borrow less.

 

[DcS]

Also some schools like UNC (actually it's run by the State i think)have a program where if you practice in an underserved area you can get up to 70,000 of loans repayed for 7 years of service. If you only work 1 year or whatever you get credit for the amount of time you put in. It's really nice because say for example you wanted to live in Charlotte. You can find an "underserved" area 20 miles away and still live downtown. It helps that NC ranks 47th in the country for Dentist/Person ratio.

 

[FMLizard]

I read the other day on a website from the New Hampshire state dental organization that there were only TWO NH residents currently enrolled in dental school anywhere in the U.S.

Just go practice up there, live up there, get your underserved area benefits, live in a huge house that costs darn near nothing, and spend your money every weekend by driving into Boston or NYC to party and live the city life. Sounds ideal to me. All of the benefits of both lifestyles.

 

[GTchick]

There is a program called the National Health Service Corp that is probably the Peace Corp type program you were talking about. They pay all school related expenses and give youa monthly stipend and in return you have to work in an underserved area for 2-4 years depending on how many years they give you money. I have my interview for this on Tuesday so next week I will be able to give you more info

 

[hockeydentist]

let me know what happens

thanks again
hockeydentist

 

[eight143]

I just signed all my promissary notes a couple of weeks ago.

I'm borrowing $36,000 from the government this year:

$ 8500 Stafford subsidized
$ 7500 Stafford unsubsidized (approved for more but opted to take less)
$20000 Health Prof Student Loan

Total Educational cost: $39,251 (Tuition, required fees, books, instruments, clinical expenses, and misc.). Thank God my wife works!

 

[gsquared]

eight143--is the $20,000 loan subsidized while you are in school? (note: Sorry for the necro thread reboot...)

 

[Incis0r]

OP is probably a graduate by now

 

[shulk]

Beneath the username is a date that lists the join date of that user. Also, clicking on the name and viewing the profile of that user can yield valuable information, such as the last seen date.

 

[gsquared]

I swear that I know this. I just forgot to check. Sorry for the necro thread reboot...

 

[swindoll]

I was in third grade when this thread was created...

 

[Incis0r]

I was in third grade when this thread was created...

Man you're old.

 

[Bifenthrin]

I was in third grade when this thread was created...

That... is terrifying and makes me feel ancient. I was in high school.

 

[gsquared]

I feel privileged to help other SDN members relive happy moments of their education/childhood in this way.

 

[pulltheleverkronk]

Someone told me once that strippers can make up to 125k a year. Not sure if that's full-time, though. Although I'm a male so I'm sure I wouldn't make that much.