- Joined
- Dec 13, 2016
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The forum users over at Dental Town suggested I post over here on the predental section of SDN to show you what you're up against. Yes there will be some dental students who go to school and succeed against the odds, but many of the dental school deans are lying to you.
No dental school is not a good financial decision. The cost of attendance they hand you is about 30% lower than it will actually be because it doesn't include accrued interest, tuition increases, or origination fees.
I've ran breakeven analysis on when it makes sense to go to dental school vs taking a job straight out of undergrad. For corporate dentistry, the breakeven for the class of 2021 is in about 2089. For practice owners, that breakeven is about 2054.
Here is the truth. If you go to a private dental school, your average debt will be about $550,000 when you graduate in four years. If you go public, it will be around $400,000. The average starting salary adjusted for inflation is going to be around $130,000. You will rely on federal student loan policy just to survive financially.
If you go to one of the more expensive dental schools like Pacific, NYU, Tufts, etc, the average student will leave with something between $600,000-$650,000 in loans, especially if you already have some from undergrad.
Feel free to challenge my numbers or ask questions. If you go to dental school in fall of 2017 or later, you must be so passionate for it that literally nothing on earth would allow you to be happy, otherwise you're destroying the financial future of you and your family.
No dental school is not a good financial decision. The cost of attendance they hand you is about 30% lower than it will actually be because it doesn't include accrued interest, tuition increases, or origination fees.
I've ran breakeven analysis on when it makes sense to go to dental school vs taking a job straight out of undergrad. For corporate dentistry, the breakeven for the class of 2021 is in about 2089. For practice owners, that breakeven is about 2054.
Here is the truth. If you go to a private dental school, your average debt will be about $550,000 when you graduate in four years. If you go public, it will be around $400,000. The average starting salary adjusted for inflation is going to be around $130,000. You will rely on federal student loan policy just to survive financially.
If you go to one of the more expensive dental schools like Pacific, NYU, Tufts, etc, the average student will leave with something between $600,000-$650,000 in loans, especially if you already have some from undergrad.
Feel free to challenge my numbers or ask questions. If you go to dental school in fall of 2017 or later, you must be so passionate for it that literally nothing on earth would allow you to be happy, otherwise you're destroying the financial future of you and your family.