How much do you owe thread. We need to have this morbid discussion lads.

[geraltoftrollvia]

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How much do you guys project your costs to be after accounting for interest rates and all 4 years of dental school. I'm gonna be in UMB dental and I'm projecting my costs to be 420k after 4 years or 530k after 4 years (if they decide I'm not getting in-state tuition). Just curious to see what you guys are gonna pay to the good ol government that thoroughly shafted us. You folks getting any outside help? Me, just a lone dude and his debt, parents can't help unfortunately.

 

[geraltoftrollvia]

Just graduated w 700. I didn’t have any help w college. At least I got in my first attempt and didn’t have to add a post-bac or masters to the pot.

700k? That's pretty high. Did you specialize? Pathetic world we live in, that school is allowed to be this expensive. With over a trillion dollars in US student loan debt, this bubble's gonna burst and it's gonna be bad. Either way, you're a dentist now and that means something, it's gonna be hard and I wish you the best of luck killing that loan. Kick its head in hehe.

 

[Bugzbunny22]

I think that person was saying 700k with undergrad included. But you're still right, cost is too high for school all around.

 

[321931]

Undergrad was paid for by parents/scholarship.

Graduate School 2014: 200k. 2014 Graduate. Parent's helped. If I didn't have help, I would of graduated with 350k+.

Honestly, I have no shame asking parents for help.

 

[BasicG]

I should be at 106k at the end of dental school. No interest because my school is giving me 40k of the 5% subsidized health professional loan per year

 

[geraltoftrollvia]

Undergrad was paid for by parents/scholarship.

Graduate School 2014: 200k. 2014 Graduate. Parent's helped. If I didn't have help, I would of graduated with 350k+.

Honestly, I have no shame asking parents for help.

What shame is there in that? If anything I envy you. If I end up with kids I'm going to make sure I take a huge chunk of their tuition burden off their shoulders too. Kinda a parent's job honestly. But I don't blame mine at all. They were foreigners and just didn't have the financially savvy mindset.

 

[321931]

What shame is there in that? If anything I envy you. If I end up with kids I'm going to make sure I take a huge chunk of their tuition burden off their shoulders too. Kinda a parent's job honestly. But I don't blame mine at all. They were foreigners and just didn't have the financially savvy mindset.

My parents (well mostly my mom) had this idea to invest in the sp500 since the day I was born. Ever since I was born, she would sock away any excess money into index funds. 18 years later and ready for college, she had accumulated enough funds to pay off everything. But she wanted me to work off some of the debt to teach personal responsibility. So technically her savings technique...and the value of compounding interest in the stock market worked out well. My dad? Well he just day traded and sorta gambled away alot of his money. My mom is holding long since literally the 80's 90's and just into safe "boring" funds.

I will do the same for my kids.

 

[pubhealthdent]

Graduated with $513k. All from dental school and the MPH program I did during dental school. no undergrad loans.

 

[Cold Front]

I'm projecting my costs to be 420k after 4 years or 530k after 4 years (if they decide I'm not getting in-state tuition).

Does your projections include the daily compounding interest? If not, those numbers will be closer to 500k for in-state or 600k out-of-state.

I graduated 9 years ago with 270k with cost of living, with the compounding interest. If I went to that same program today (BU), I would be graduating with 550k with cost of living . So the cost went up 203% in 9 years! - mostly because the compounding interest at higher loans is like higher lethal dose!

 

[princeafrica]

~$80,000

 

[deleted903013]

Mine will be ball park $200,000. My school gives a lot of performance based scholarships based on how I do during D1, up to full tuition even, so mine could be a lot less than that.

 

[geraltoftrollvia]

Damn some of you guys really hit the jackpot. My grades were above average but my volunteering was non-existent, just barely got turned down by my state school based on the feedback they gave me over the phone.

 

[geraltoftrollvia]

Does your projections include the daily compounding interest? If not, those numbers will be closer to 500k for in-state or 600k out-of-state.

I graduated 9 years ago with 270k with cost of living, with the compounding interest. If I went to that same program today (BU), I would be graduating with 550k with cost of living . So the cost went up 203% in 9 years! - mostly because the compounding interest at higher loans is like higher lethal dose!

It does. 270k sounds like heaven now. I know full well these schools don't cost anywhere near what they charge on paper. But the sad part is I've been training my whole life for this and it rubs me the wrong way that this is the fruit of all my labor, to be on the **** end of unchecked interest rates and exponential increases in tuition annually. But these corporate suits really don't give a damn about us, the usual, the usual.

 

[Cold Front]

It does. 270k sounds like heaven now. I know full well these schools don't cost anywhere near what they charge on paper. But the sad part is I've been training my whole life for this and it rubs me the wrong way that this is the fruit of all my labor, to be on the **** end of unchecked interest rates and exponential increases in tuition annually. But these corporate suits really don't give a damn about us, the usual, the usual.

I hear you. The sad part for me is, the quality of education went down with less clinical graduation requirements and the experienced faculty have moved on or retired at my program since I graduated. So students today are paying more for less in their dental education.

 

[2TH MVR]

As another data point for comparison. I graduated from DS in 1990. Graduated from ortho residency in 1993. In TOTAL ..... I accrued around 100K in loans. Mostly for dental school. Undergrad was negligible (scholarships) and my unicorn ortho residency provided us with a stipend. Another data point for comparison. My youngest daughter will be attending Northern Arizona U. this year. Her in-state tuition for 4 years will be around 80K. This includes tuition, meals and board. Ten years ago ... that number would have been around 60K.

It's not just DS. It's all schools. 😡

 

[geraltoftrollvia]

I hear you. The sad part for me is, the quality of education went down with less clinical graduation requirements and the experienced faculty have moved on or retired at my program since I graduated. So students today are paying more for less in their dental education.

Not surprised honestly. Quality/ethics often take a backseat in the face of greed. I hate how they try bs'ing us that these ridiculous tuition hikes are being used for crap like "technology" and staying "ahead of other dental schools." Honestly just shut it, I don't give a crap if you're using an A.I drill that says hello and to your patient and remembers the names of your their wife and kids. Dentistry has not changed significantly since the 50s outside of advances in scanning technology, some materials, and 3d-printing. I doubt that warrants the tuition explosion we're seeing now. This is purely a scheme that's gonna get busted eventually, as soon as some intelligent politicians come along. And if they don't the economy is just gonna implode on itself. With the coming recession, this ****'s gonna hurt everyone....bad. My backup in accounting is starting to seem more sensible by the second. Dentistry is a great profession but not at the cost of sacrificing my 20s and 30s to the federal government.

 

[deleted903013]

I accrued around 100K in loans

Crazy to think the costs were ever this low.

 

[2TH MVR]

Crazy to think the costs were ever this low.

Might have been lower.
I worked in HS, sold my car and had money going into undergrad. I also had a scholarship that paid for my 1st 2 yrs in undergrad. So with the money I had plus the two yrs of paid tuition .... I only owed about 1 yrs worth of tuition. I also worked PT in undergrad.
Went to a cheap DS. Was accepted to USC, but even back then ... that crazy school was expensive. It was a no-brainer to attend a cheap midwest DS. I also worked PT during DS on sat/suns my last 2 yrs.
Received a stipend in ortho residency. The stipend paid for EVERYTHING. Wifey worked which brought in food and play money. I moonlighted a little (worked in one of my attending's ortho practice on sats). So ... residency cost me nothing. I actually came out ahead.

It can be done.

 

[shaqfu2019]

Never dawned on me how expensive dental school is actually going to be until I saw the first billing statement for my first semester in dental school. I worked as an undergrad and had summer fellowships in labs which supported the merit scholarships that the school provided. Thus, I only had to pay ~20k for the four years at my state University. I'll be expecting about $240k+ in students loans to be taken out for the next four years in dental school. Hopefully, I can pay them off as a dentist after graduation.

 

[geraltoftrollvia]

Graduated with $513k. All from dental school and the MPH program I did during dental school. no undergrad loans.

Seems about what I'll end up paying if I don't get in-state tuition, which I assume I won't, given Maryland's fussy and obnoxious policies regarding this.

 

[321931]

Never dawned on me how expensive dental school is actually going to be until I saw the first billing statement for my first semester in dental school. I worked as an undergrad and had summer fellowships in labs which supported the merit scholarships that the school provided. Thus, I only had to pay ~20k for the four years at my state University. I'll be expecting about $240k+ in students loans to be taken out for the next four years in dental school. Hopefully, I can pay them off as a dentist after graduation.

You will be even more sad when you realize your "150-200k" income is way way way less after taxes and living expenses.

To many people think...I graduate with 500k debt, and i can pay it off in a few years because I will make 200k. No it doesn't work that way. After taxes and life expenses you will be looking at a long way to go to pay it off.

That being said, 200k of debt is awesome. Doable. Easy.

 

[geraltoftrollvia]

You will be even more sad when you realize your "150-200k" income is way way way less after taxes and living expenses.

To many people think...I graduate with 500k debt, and i can pay it off in a few years because I will make 200k. No it doesn't work that way. After taxes and life expenses you will be looking at a long way to go to pay it off.

That being said, 200k of debt is awesome. Doable. Easy.

Agreed. Paying off 500k loans is brutal but IF I go into this hellish misery then I know what I'm going into. I suspect it'll be 8 years of living on a 30k salary which isn't terrible considering I'm living in what is essentially a space that is the size of two closets right now lmao. I'm 24 now so I'll be 28 when I'm done with school, likely 36 by the time I can actually start enjoying what I busted my ass for. But seriously contemplating a career switch at this point. People need to start saying no these absurd loans but I realize how hard that is.

 

[LFA20]

Agreed. Paying off 500k loans is brutal but IF I go into this hellish misery then I know what I'm going into. I suspect it'll be 8 years of living on a 30k salary which isn't terrible considering I'm living in what is essentially a space that is the size of two closets right now lmao. I'm 24 now so I'll be 28 when I'm done with school, likely 36 by the time I can actually start enjoying what I busted my ass for. But seriously contemplating a career switch at this point. People need to start saying no these absurd loans but I realize how hard that is.

I would not go to dental school with 400k debt and no help

 

[Cold Front]

Never dawned on me how expensive dental school is actually going to be until I saw the first billing statement for my first semester in dental school.

I hear this all the time. Why didn’t you check tuition before you accepted the offer to go to that program?

Also, your $240k after compounded interest will be closer to $300k. You’re still in the “average” in terms of dental school debt.

 

[geraltoftrollvia]

I hear this all the time. Why didn’t you check tuition before you accepted the offer to go to that program?

Also, your $240k after compounded interest will be closer to $300k. You’re still in the “average” in terms of dental school debt.

300k isn't high considering there's people like the dude a few posts above sitting on 700k and myself at 500k and another dude at 513k. These averages are always skewed somewhat as many students often have parents helping pay their loans down somewhat. Schools in the dense urban areas are almost always the big spenders and make their students foot the bill. Looking at: Temple, Tufts, NYU, USC, UMB, etc.

 

[TanMan]

220k when I graduated. 0 now. That's why I think ownership is important. If you are an associate, it feels like the amount never really goes away, v. if you owned an office, the amount can be paid off in months to a year.

 

[Cold Front]

300k isn't high considering there's people like the dude a few posts above sitting on 700k and myself at 500k and another dude at 513k. These averages are always skewed somewhat as many students often have parents helping pay their loans down somewhat.

The students with rich parents who pay off the loans are part of the stats, because who pays for the debt (the student or parents) doesn’t matter... it’s still a cost charged by the school and the cost of living will also be an expense related to dental school. So if this was a bell curve stat, and if we consider $300k debt on the low side number (not too low), $500k +/- $200k would be in the median range of the bell curve. Meaning an equal amount of students will have $300-500k and $500-700k in loans. The next standard of deviation would be +/- $300k from the $500k median number. So another 2 groups who have equal debt of $200-300k and $700-800k. Finally, the last 2 groups in this hypothetical bell curve of debt would be $100-200k and $800-900k being equal. So anyone who expects to be in debt for less than $200k, there is someone who will be in debt for over $800k. Ofcourse this will require a lot of actual data to confirm this, but we are not too far off.

 

[Cold Front]

220k when I graduated. 0 now. That's why I think ownership is important. If you are an associate, it feels like the amount never really goes away, v. if you owned an office, the amount can be paid off in months to a year.

Easier said than done. But generally, yes, a “committed” dentist who owns a private practice can be pay off student loans in months. There was a time when I chose to invest the money I wanted to pay off my student loans with in somewhere else - because I was getting better returns. 6.5% interest rate in student loans vs 12% ROI in another business. But that’s a different conversation all together.

 

[shaqfu2019]

I hear this all the time. Why didn’t you check tuition before you accepted the offer to go to that program?

Also, your $240k after compounded interest will be closer to $300k. You’re still in the “average” in terms of dental school debt.

I'll be attending my state school. Definitely, considered tuition as among the top factors (Thanks bigHoss!) but there were no cheaper options as all other schools that offered letters of acceptance had a higher tuition + cost of attendance.

 

[geraltoftrollvia]

The students with rich parents who pay off the loans are part of the stats, because who pays for the debt (the student or parents) doesn’t matter... it’s still a cost charged by the school and the cost of living will also be an expense related to dental school. So if this was a bell curve stat, and if we consider $300k debt on the low side number (not too low), $500k +/- $200k would be in the median range of the bell curve. Meaning an equal amount of students will have $300-500k and $500-700k in loans. The next standard of deviation would be +/- $300k from the $500k median number. So another 2 groups who have equal debt of $200-300k and $700-800k. Finally, the last 2 groups in this hypothetical bell curve of debt would be $100-200k and $800-900k being equal. So anyone who expects to be in debt for less than $200k, there is someone who will be in debt for over $800k. Ofcourse this will require a lot of actual data to confirm this, but we are not too far off.

A huge part of the problem comes from the whole IS vs OOS thing. I never understood that since you're essentially providing a crap tone of dental care to the immediate population. In my mind, that negates the whole "you didn't pay taxes here" argument. I do despise schools that make such a stink over that designation. NYU doesn't care (they charge everyone to high heaven lmao) and at the very least some schools guarantee in-state tuition.

 

[deleted903013]

I never understood that since you're essentially providing a crap tone of dental care to the immediate population

I think part of it is they want people who are going to stay in the state to practice, preferably in a more rural area. If you go to Nebraska from California, there's a good chance you're gonna leave.

 

[Cold Front]

I think part of it is they want people who are going to stay in the state to practice, preferably in a more rural area. If you go to Nebraska from California, there's a good chance you're gonna leave.

Yes. State schools (just like private schools) charge all their students equal, but they adjust the state residents fees down and the state pays the difference with subsidies. Each state has counties with dentist shortages, but like you said - the state appropriates funds for state residents to keep dentists in that state and to discourage them from leaving after they graduate. Some states give residence after 1 year of living there (like my state), so even OOS students may only pay first year OOS fees and their next 3 years of dental school would be IS fees.