Current USC Students or students at other expensive schools

[dentalman85]

Looking at estimated COA, they're basically saying we'll be in debt 450k+.

Realistically speaking, have any of you out there begun payment or thought the process of repayment through?

I'm seriously considering taking a year off after a wake up call today. I realized just how truly long 450k+ will take to pay off, in addition to my undergraduate loan and how much that amount really is.

Any insight or help? Should I take a year off? I've only paid the deposit so I can withdraw without too much loss but can 450k+ really be paid back? I don't want to live like a hermit or anything haha.

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[little Buddy]

seriously consider the military...garunteed job after school, lots of experience, stipend for housing oh and they pay for schoooooooooooooool!

 

[dentalWorks]

Looking at estimated COA, they're basically saying we'll be in debt 450k+.

Realistically speaking, have any of you out there begun payment or thought the process of repayment through?

I'm seriously considering taking a year off after a wake up call today. I realized just how truly long 450k+ will take to pay off, in addition to my undergraduate loan and how much that amount really is.

Any insight or help? Should I take a year off? I've only paid the deposit so I can withdraw without too much loss but can 450k+ really be paid back? I don't want to live like a hermit or anything haha.

with 450k+, you will struggle (guessing) the first 5-10 years out of graduation. The smartest thing to do is to get a job right away and put 100% of your effort into paying off that debt while living as cheaply/frugally as possible (small apartment, ramen noodles lol, old beat up car, if your married then your spouse should work too, etc). And DON'T do 20-30 year repayment plan, you'll be paying like 3+ million (say thank you interest)

450k isn't too scary when your making 100k or more... its that glorified 6-7% interest rate. Think about it, every year, that 450k balloons by $27-30k (ouch ).

 

[7 Iron]

I think dentistry is a great profession but I would not go into it if it meant being in the hole 450k. It's foolish to take 450k of debt for a career with a starting salary of about 120k. That is crippling debt. And think of how much of that 450k will be those horrible Grad PLUS loans. As someone else said, have you considered military?

 

[lmaozedong1]

with 450k+, you will struggle (guessing) the first 5-10 years out of graduation. The smartest thing to do is to get a job right away and put 100% of your effort into paying off that debt while living as cheaply/frugally as possible (small apartment, ramen noodles lol, old beat up car, if your married then your spouse should work too, etc). And DON'T do 20-30 year repayment plan, you'll be paying like 3+ million (say thank you interest)

450k isn't too scary when your making 100k or more... its that glorified 6-7% interest rate. Think about it, every year, that 450k balloons by $27-30k (ouch ).

This is SO true! This biggest problems people have is over spending when they're in debt and just paying the minimums. You'll literally be paying 3+ million like dentalWorks said.

 

[seunglim87]

so do you apply tor military before you start school, during, or after?

 

[iwannabeadds]

so do you apply tor military before you start school, during, or after?

I have been considering dentistry through the military also, but have not looked into it too much. I asked around with a lot of people but as a married man, I think it would be difficult to have a relationship with my wife while possibly being deployed. I have heard from dentists that it is not the way to go if you're focused on opening a private practice, however, they did not do military service. I am also curious of the details- there is a military forum on sdn but I found it difficult to find the information I needed.

 

[iwannabeadds]

Seriously tempting though, and the opportunity to serve your country while doing what you love, getting paid to do it and have school paid off sounds pretty sweet...shoot.

 

[dentalman85]

Thanks for all your responses guys!

Anybody else?

I just cannot come to a decision so I made a poll. Feel free to decide my future! Seriously

Thanks

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=840859

 

[BoxerRumble]

I also looked into the military option. And as great as it sounds on paper, I read a few things that made me decide to not go with it. One main thing is that if you have a significant other, it will be kind of hard. It seems like the military pretty much owns you for those 4 years you have to give back and can tell you to do whatever they want. They can station you somewhere away from your family, forcing your family to move. For someone who plans to be single, and want to experience the military life, definitely go for it. Also, I didn't do the entire math on it, but you only come out slightly ahead in terms of finances so people suggest you definitely do not do it for the money. The biggest thing I want after I graduate is autonomy, something the military route will take away. I want the freedom to practice and go where I want. As for expensive schools, as much as I didn't want to look at tuition and fees as a reason why I would go to or not go to a dental school, it's become apparent that I must. Tuition is going to be a factor on whether or not I attend a school, if and when I have that choice.

If I don't get accepted anywhere except for a school like NYU, I will go there and realize I will have a couple more years of ramen and PB&J, and I am fine with that. It is better than losing another year of income, another year of my youth, and application fees.

 

[want to drill]

I have been talking to friends and family about this. My dad made the point that regardless of how the school is paid for (unless you have a rich relative) someone is going to own you for several years. EITHER the bank or the military will own you. Which would you rather have tell you what to do?

 

[LetsGo2DSchool]

Add another half million if you start your own practice or buy one and you're in the hole for $1 million. How are people going to pay off their loans before retirement age?

 

[LetsGo2DSchool]

I also looked into the military option. And as great as it sounds on paper, I read a few things that made me decide to not go with it. One main thing is that if you have a significant other, it will be kind of hard. It seems like the military pretty much owns you for those 4 years you have to give back and can tell you to do whatever they want. They can station you somewhere away from your family, forcing your family to move. For someone who plans to be single, and want to experience the military life, definitely go for it. Also, I didn't do the entire math on it, but you only come out slightly ahead in terms of finances so people suggest you definitely do not do it for the money. The biggest thing I want after I graduate is autonomy, something the military route will take away. I want the freedom to practice and go where I want. As for expensive schools, as much as I didn't want to look at tuition and fees as a reason why I would go to or not go to a dental school, it's become apparent that I must. Tuition is going to be a factor on whether or not I attend a school, if and when I have that choice.

If I don't get accepted anywhere except for a school like NYU, I will go there and realize I will have a couple more years of ramen and PB&J, and I am fine with that. It is better than losing another year of income, another year of my youth, and application fees.

Also, most military bases are in the middle of nowhere, hundreds of miles from civilization. It's even worse as you'll be surrounded by nothing but dudes.

I have been considering dentistry through the military also, but have not looked into it too much. I asked around with a lot of people but as a married man, I think it would be difficult to have a relationship with my wife while possibly being deployed. I have heard from dentists that it is not the way to go if you're focused on opening a private practice, however, they did not do military service. I am also curious of the details- there is a military forum on sdn but I found it difficult to find the information I needed.

It's a bad idea for a married person. I've heard so many stories of infidelity during deployment (both at home and away) and divorces naturally resulting.

 

[little Buddy]

Also, most military bases are in the middle of nowhere, hundreds of miles from civilization. It's even worse as you'll be surrounded by nothing but dudes.

Maybe land a job at area 51? That would be sweet

 

[doc toothache]

. And DON'T do 20-30 year repayment plan, you'll be paying like 3+ million (say thank you interest)

It is possible to end up paying 3+ million, but you are talking more like credit card interest rate of ~25%. At 7% it will leave one with a cool mil in payments.
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Military or other options for debt forgiveness, while viable, are limited in the number of positions available.
http://mortgage-x.com/calculators/amortization.htm

 

[camshaft]

Wait a minute, let's take a step back. DentalMan, which school is telling you $450k? USC? Tufts is one of the more expensive schools and even then they estimate about $92k a year, and that's with a pretty liberal budget for rent and living expenses. I know most of my class is spending roughly $2-5k a year less than budgeted on living expenses and still living in nice apartments. Take a look at the numbers and see how necessary that 450 you mentioned is.

 

[dentalman85]

Sorry about that.

I took a more detailed look and I"m talking about USC, accounting for inflation.
Right now for Class of 2014 it says on their website ~400K.

This first year for Class of 2015, that amount went up by ~15000.

I just figured ~450K as a rough number.
Obviously I'll try to keep it lower, maybe try to shave off all living and transportation expenses but it'll be hard. I'd be okay if I came out with 300K I think.

 

[Mr. Thirsty]

So what about Undergrad Debt?? that doesnt just dissapear while you are in dental school. In my case I will be about 100K undergrad with some private loans. Is this a normal number to tack on to dental school debt? With some of the private school tuitions this will make it about 400k+ once out of dental school....and after browsing around these forums for hours it seems like that is not easy to manage, especially if you want to open your own practice before your 45.