How much your first year??

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quantumhead

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Hello everyone,

A question for all the Dental students out there. I am looking for someone who is married and has children. How much are you getting to live on per year and where is the money coming from. I will be attending VCU in the fall in Richmond, VA and I am trying to come up with a budget so that I can possiably buy a house or condo or something.

I have all the information that the school sent, although I have not yet recieved an award letter. I understand that they do not give married with childern folk any more than any other student gets but they also alude to other loans. Where do these come from, how much are they and how do you go about getting them. Is there anything I can do prior to starting to secure some aid for the school year?

Thanks in advance.

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My wife and I got married before dental school, had our first child the middle of second semester in second year and then our second child the middle of the first semester in fourth year. I went to San Antonio dental school. The cost of living in San Antonio is very low. I only took out Stafford loans and my wife did not work. I had a little help from my parents. We lived in an apt., but if I had the chance again I would buy a house or condo. first year and then sell it or rent it after I graduated. My loans were 1st year = 18k, 2nd yr = 20k, 3rd yr = 23k, 4th yr = 23k. Our apt. was a nice one and ran about $640/mo. for a 2BR/2Bath about 950 sqft. If your wife works then that will help even more, however if you have kids the nursery bill will be high. My wife stayed home with the kids. It can be done!! However, I was the only person graduating in the top 20% of the class with kids and only two or three others were married. It is very important to budget, cuz the loans are dispersed in two lump sums. Beginning of the year, and then beginning of the second semester. Second semester was always the worst cuz we had to make the money last through summer. Hope this helps.
 
hi
tho i have no childrens yet i am terrified abt the huge amt of loans in nyu.do u think its worth going to nyu and putting all efforts for allthose years!!
thx :rolleyes:
 
I've posted many times some advice that a mentor of mine gave me when I was a sophmore in college looking into dental schools. Goto a state school if at all possible. You'll be a good education and you'll have alot less debt than from going to a private school which will ultimately translate into more money staying in your banking account each month after you graduate, and less going to your loan repayments :clap:

That statement in play, you can get a great dental education at many public and private dental schools, you do though need to find the one where you seem to fit in the best(be it public or private). You can get a great education from a school that may not have the best reputation if it is the right environment for you, and a lousy education from a school with a great reputation if it's the wrong environment for you.

BTW, here is some real world numbers on how loans relate to repayment numbers. I racked up roughly 70,000 in loans during dental school, and my wife racked up roughly 110,000 during her 4 years. The monthly check that I write out is about $800 and my wife's is about $1200. Both set's of loans are scheduled for completion of payment at 120 months(10 years). Many folks will actually consolidate their loans after graduation and spread the payments out over 15, 20 or 30 years to initially get a lower monthly, and alot of dentists will actually have their loans repayed before the 10 year mark.

I know that this post may have strayed slightly from the original topic, but it does have a bit of info to go with the topic :wink:
 
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