Cost of Dentistry

[MolarBear541]

Is anyone appalled by the ridiculous tuition prices most of these dental schools have? Does anyone know why or how dentistry became such a expensive career? It's amazing to see and compare the prices of dental schools from 10 years back even 5 years back and how much it has increased. It's also very sad to see that a lot of kids will be discouraged to even try to apply to dental school due to the ridiculous prices. It is almost unbelievable to think that some people are going to be or are currently in 500k plus in debt. Have we all just gotten accustomed to the idea that living in debt is normal?

This may not apply to all dental schools and I know there are many dental schools that offer reasonable in state tuition but not everyone is fortunate to get in to those schools. I am not here to discourage anyone from applying but its just some thoughts i have on my mind. Im currently studying for the DAT, and this is a reality I will have to face in the upcoming future.

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[Likkriue]

The absurd tuition amounts are affecting everyone not just dental schools.

Your best bet is to get super high on the dat to qualify for scholarships.

 

[I-hate-alginate]

It is what it is. Dental schools will fill up their seats no matter how much they charge.

 

[deleted738762]

The absurd tuition amounts are affecting everyone not just dental schools.

Your best bet is to get super high on the dat to qualify for scholarships.

When do schools offer these scholarships? When you're applying to them or when you're in and how do you know they will offer it?

 

[Likkriue]

When do schools offer these scholarships? When you're applying to them or when you're in and how do you know they will offer it?

They notify you when you get accepted. Sometimes you can request a scholarship. Worked for me at one school.

 

[deleted738762]

They notify you when you get accepted. Sometimes you can request a scholarship. Worked for me at one school.

How high are we talking? I see a lot of people on SDN with high scores but rarely hear of any scholarships.

 

[Likkriue]

How high are we talking? I see a lot of people on SDN with high scores but rarely hear of any scholarships.

I don't want to name people but I've met many people on sdn alone who got scholarships from schools such as UoP Columbia Upenn BU and VCU. In terms of grades, 3.7+ gpas and 23+ dats.

 

[allantois]

The absurd tuition amounts are affecting everyone not just dental schools.

Your best bet is to get super high on the dat to qualify for scholarships.

Hmm, no one is affected as bad as dental students.

 

[MolarBear541]

Hmm, no one is affected as bad as dental students.

Anyone who wants to get an education is gonna be screwed over with tons of loans by the next 4 or so years. It's crazy how there are no reforms or something to uplift people into education. I know of people who didn't go to college not because they didnt want to but rather cause they couldnt afford it. Hell, some of my friends now graduated undergrad with 50k+. Its insane how education is primarily being treated as a business. All these prices get jacked up year by year, university directors get a nice bonus, professors get little to nothing and we have no other choice than to assimilate and pay

 

[FeralisExtremum]

Anyone who wants to get an education is gonna be screwed over with tons of loans by the next 4 or so years. It's crazy how there are no reforms or something to uplift people into education. I know of people who didn't go to college not because they didnt want to but rather cause they couldnt afford it. Hell, some of my friends now graduated undergrad with 50k+. Its insane how education is primarily being treated as a business. All these prices get jacked up year by year, university directors get a nice bonus, professors get little to nothing and we have no other choice than to assimilate and pay

University directors don't really get bonuses, and tenured professors actually get paid pretty well. Only associate professors get paid very little.

 

[Namelessking]

Anyone who wants to get an education is gonna be screwed over with tons of loans by the next 4 or so years. It's crazy how there are no reforms or something to uplift people into education. I know of people who didn't go to college not because they didnt want to but rather cause they couldnt afford it. Hell, some of my friends now graduated undergrad with 50k+. Its insane how education is primarily being treated as a business. All these prices get jacked up year by year, university directors get a nice bonus, professors get little to nothing and we have no other choice than to assimilate and pay

You can always flip the bird and change careers. At the end of the day, no matter how one may romanticize it, dentistry is just a career like any other. Debt for dentistry has reached disgusting levels for many schools now. If you like having money at a young age, get out of dentistry. Granted, if you manage to get into one of the cheaper schools, then dentistry is definitely a worthwhile career.

 

[MolarBear541]

You can always flip the bird and change careers. At the end of the day, no matter how one may romanticize it, dentistry is just a career like any other. Debt for dentistry has reached disgusting levels for many schools now. If you like having money at a young age, get out of dentistry. Granted, if you manage to get into one of the cheaper schools, then dentistry is definitely a worthwhile career.

Very true, i just find it crazy how expensive school is overall. I am all for dentistry, its been a passion of mine for a while but i really wished things were a little bit more comfortable in terms of expense. At the end of the day we all gotta make sacrifices to follow our passions, i wish everyone who's applying for this upcoming cycle luck! As i will need it too

 

[MolarBear541]

University directors don't really get bonuses, and tenured professors actually get paid pretty well. Only associate professors get paid very little.

There are many issues in academia. I dont think this applies to every university, didnt mean to generalize

 

[fit2]

did you guys know how much universities presidents make? it's OBSCENE!!!

 

[Big Time Hoosier]

Does anyone know why or how dentistry became such a expensive career?

Because of a complete absence of free market forces in the student loan and higher ed businesses.

Big Hoss

 

[allantois]

Because of a complete absence of free market forces in the student loan and higher ed businesses.

Big Hoss

This is universal across all disciplines, yet dentistry is leading the trend

 

[wengerout]

Because of a complete absence of free market forces in the student loan and higher ed businesses.

Big Hoss

100% this. When schools know we can get loans like candy what did we expect?


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[whaleofatale]

Is anyone appalled by the ridiculous tuition prices most of these dental schools have? Does anyone know why or how dentistry became such a expensive career? It's amazing to see and compare the prices of dental schools from 10 years back even 5 years back and how much it has increased. It's also very sad to see that a lot of kids will be discouraged to even try to apply to dental school due to the ridiculous prices. It is almost unbelievable to think that some people are going to be or are currently in 500k plus in debt. Have we all just gotten accustomed to the idea that living in debt is normal?

This may not apply to all dental schools and I know there are many dental schools that offer reasonable in state tuition but not everyone is fortunate to get in to those schools. I am not here to discourage anyone from applying but its just some thoughts i have on my mind. Im currently studying for the DAT, and this is a reality I will have to face in the upcoming future.

There are a lot of very complicated factors that have contributed to the cost of higher education as a whole, but one of the factors that is unique to dentistry is the cost to maintain a good faculty. Dentistry is a lucrative profession, so schools are forced to compete with the salaries professors would earn in private practice in order to keep them on-staff. If the pay was not as competitive it would be much harder for schools to maintain a quality teaching pool.

 

[Medin2017]

The absurd tuition amounts are affecting everyone not just dental schools.

Your best bet is to get super high on the dat to qualify for scholarships.

among the schools I applied to, all of them were needs based/minority based scholarships. Kind of regretting not applying ivies but oh well

 

[allantois]

There are a lot of very complicated factors that have contributed to the cost of higher education as a whole, but one of the factors that is unique to dentistry is the cost to maintain a good faculty. Dentistry is a lucrative profession, so schools are forced to compete with the salaries professors would earn in private practice in order to keep them on-staff. If the pay was not as competitive it would be much harder for schools to maintain a quality teaching pool.

Medical and Nursing faculty are also expensive to maintain. Moreover, why would it become so much more expensive to maintain faculty in the course of 10 years.

 

[MolarBear541]

Medical and Nursing faculty are also expensive to maintain. Moreover, why would it become so much more expensive to maintain faculty in the course of 10 years.

Exactly this. There are a lot of factors that a lot of us are unaware of, but that is no reason for the ridiculous increases in tuition dental, as well as any other graduate programs have experienced over the last few years. Tuition just never seems to stop increasing

 

[Dr.CinnamonRoll]

I'm beginning to wonder if there will be a day that dental schools start losing seats, and will have to stop raising tuition? On the flip side, i'm sure there are many students willing to pay up to millions to go to dental school, with the schools promoting dentists' salaries as 220k+.... we've all read this many times, but unless there's some government interaction, we will be the very last generation that will enjoy dentistry as a valuable career. Many believe we've crossed the line already...

 

[670206]

among the schools I applied to, all of them were needs based/minority based scholarships. Kind of regretting not applying ivies but oh well

What ivies have these types of scholarships? All three (Penn, Columbia, Harvard)?

 

[I-hate-alginate]

Columbia offers strictly need-based scholarships and Penn offers merit-based scholarships. Not sure about Harvard.

How much would Penn scholarship cover for someone let's say with?... 3.96 GPA and 23 AA (me )... if he gets any?

 

[FeralisExtremum]

How much would Penn scholarship cover for someone let's say with?... 3.96 GPA and 23 AA (me )... if he gets any?

I have no idea how they select the Dean's Scholarship recipients, but with those stats I think your chances are pretty good. How much gets awarded can be highly variable, I think the max is something like $30k a year but not all recipients get that much.

 

[I-hate-alginate]

I have no idea how they select the Dean's Scholarship recipients, but with those stats I think your chances are pretty good. How much gets awarded can be highly variable, I think the max is something like $30k a year but not all recipients get that much.

Oh I see... Thank you!

 

[Big Time Hoosier]

unless there's some government interaction, we will be the very last generation that will enjoy dentistry as a valuable career

It was government involvement that caused the tuition bubble in the first place. Why on earth do you think they are now capable of fixing it?

Big Hoss

 

[fit2]

I have no idea how they select the Dean's Scholarship recipients, but with those stats I think your chances are pretty good. How much gets awarded can be highly variable, I think the max is something like $30k a year but not all recipients get that much.

Does Columbia not have merit based?
I think penn also looks for very high involvement in either research or community work along with good stats

 

[wengerout]

I'm beginning to wonder if there will be a day that dental schools start losing seats, and will have to stop raising tuition? On the flip side, i'm sure there are many students willing to pay up to millions to go to dental school, with the schools promoting dentists' salaries as 220k+.... we've all read this many times, but unless there's some government interaction, we will be the very last generation that will enjoy dentistry as a valuable career. Many believe we've crossed the line already...

Judging by the numbers of applicants to seats right now, I don't see this happening any time soon. At least, not until the student loan bubble burst.

And the only government intervention that will fix anything is putting a hard cap on how much loan money people can take out.

 

[FeralisExtremum]

Does Columbia not have merit based?
I think penn also looks for very high involvement in either research or community work along with good stats

Last I heard it's all need based, the school itself doesn't offer any merit based scholarships.

 

[Big Time Hoosier]

Rule of thumb: Don't expect to receive any scholarships for dental school. If you do, just be pleasantly surprised.

Big Hoss

 

[Medin2017]

Rule of thumb: Don't expect to receive any scholarships for dental school. If you do, just be pleasantly surprised.

Big Hoss

agreed. Especially if you aren't URM or extremely financially not well off

 

[Likkriue]

Extremely rare to get them however they are a pleasant surprise when they offer them to you.

 

[MolarBear541]

http://www.adea.org/publications/tde/documents/allpredoctoralstudentdebttuitiongraphs.pdf
Came across this, worth a look to put everything is perspective