Dental School Loan Advice Please

Started by Dr.Toothenstein
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Dr.Toothenstein

Full Member
7+ Year Member
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I am very interested in going to dental school but have some concerns. My family went through a rough patch and our credit is pretty bad. Things have slowly become more stable but credit is still messed up. My sister is in pharmacy school and she gets her maximum federal loan amount but it is shy of her tuition and living expense. She does not qualify for grad+ loan due to credit. She works 30+ hours while going to pharmacy school full time. I have the utmost respect for her ability to do this but I am a different kind of student. I always have to study more than my peers (im a hard worker), and do not feel like it is realistic for me to work 30+ hours while at dental school. I believe my credit will be similar to hers and dental school is alot more expensive than her school.

I am an undergrad and do not know very much about student loans. She gets $16,000 a semester, my credit is similar so I would think id get about the same? Do student loans work the same regardless of the grad program?

Any advice would be very much appreciated. I am freaking out. I am studying for the DAT right now so it would be great to learn more about this (to get to the bottom of this and hopefully decrease some unrelated DAT stress). I am going to call a dental schools finical office but want to get as much info as I can from everyone.
 
what's your state school?
if your state school is on the cheaper end, you might do just fine with the maximum $40-44,000 unsub loan

there's also the hpsp (military) and nhsc (health corp) scholarships
 
sgv said:
what's your state school?
if your state school is on the cheaper end, you might do just fine with the maximum $40-44,000 unsub loan

there's also the hpsp (military) and nhsc (health corp) scholarships
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My state does not have a d.school. We have the wichie program (work for loan repayment) but seats are limited, I will apply but cant really bank on this.
 
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Seems like my best option is to get a better co-signer to get a grad+ loan (not the easiest thing to ask for)

Anyone have some insight into these questions?
I am an undergrad and do not know very much about student loans. She gets $16,000 a semester, my credit is similar so I would think id get about the same? Do student loans work the same regardless of the grad program (she is in pharmacy-less needed, dental would be alot more)?
 
Getting a better consigner will get you more loans. Or you could work on building your own credit. Get a credit card and pay the full balance off every month. I started doing this a few years ago when my credit was not great. I was able to get grad plus loans without a cosigner.

Just be careful if you do decide to get a cc. In the beginning your limit is really small and it's easy to go over.
 
Right,Just be careful if you do decide to get a cc. In the beginning your limit is really small and it's easy to go over.thanks
6PckcN
 
valkyrie08 said:
Do you have any relatives that can cosign to help you?
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No I dont.

Posting for anyone reading this in a similar predicament, I know my family isnt the only ones who have had a rough patch.

If you get denied you can appeal the decision. This is a list of adverse credit conditions that would show up on your equafax credit report and what you could do to fix it.

For example if you have any collections on your report you could either pay it in full or you could setup a payment arrangement. As long as you pay on time (missing a payment even by 1 day resets it), and can show records of 6 months of payments; you should be good.

https://studentloans.gov/myDirectLoan/whatYouNeed.action?page=credit
 
Respectfully to the two gentlemen above, a person's primary motivation to join the military should not be to bypass dental school loans. Suggesting to individuals this course of action is not usually in their best interests, or the interests of the service. And personally, I would argue that in many cases the hardships you will experience in the military will outweigh the hardships you face as a civilian dentist with dental school debt (assuming you don't go to one of the more expensive schools).
 
Dr.Toothenstein said:
No I dont.

Posting for anyone reading this in a similar predicament, I know my family isnt the only ones who have had a rough patch.

If you get denied you can appeal the decision. This is a list of adverse credit conditions that would show up on your equafax credit report and what you could do to fix it.

For example if you have any collections on your report you could either pay it in full or you could setup a payment arrangement. As long as you pay on time (missing a payment even by 1 day resets it), and can show records of 6 months of payments; you should be good.

https://studentloans.gov/myDirectLoan/whatYouNeed.action?page=credit
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I am two weeks from starting dental school and got denied for Grad Plus loan!! asked 20 people that I was 100% sure they could potentially be endorsers for loans but they said "NO"...At this moment in my life I realized that I have no friends or family.... just my luck!! 🙁
 
soydentista said:
I am two weeks from starting dental school and got denied for Grad Plus loan!! asked 20 people that I was 100% sure they could potentially be endorsers for loans but they said "NO"...At this moment in my life I realized that I have no friends or family.... just my luck!! 🙁
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Have you appealed it? My sister got denied this year then appealed and was automatically accepted. I think its a computer that rejects you then you get an actual human to look at it when you appeal.

Look at the info I posted above

Let us know how it goes
 
CraigHack said:
Respectfully to the two gentlemen above, a person's primary motivation to join the military should not be to bypass dental school loans. Suggesting to individuals this course of action is not usually in their best interests, or the interests of the service. And personally, I would argue that in many cases the hardships you will experience in the military will outweigh the hardships you face as a civilian dentist with dental school debt (assuming you don't go to one of the more expensive schools).
Click to expand...

Why not? It is a perfectly legitimate reason for joining the military. People join all the time to pay for education. I didn't experience too many hardships during my time serving 4 years in the Navy - other than a pretty intense GPR where we were treated like scum by the oral surgery residents - but its too be expected, it was residency. I did go to an expensive private dental school (Nova), so the military was a perfect option for me. I would not have joined the military if I didn't need it to pay for school.
 
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