I am 28 and didn't get in last year although I had decent stats, but I will keep applying until I get in. Like UBTom, I plan to work until I am 65 or so, and that is plenty of years to save for retirement. I figure if I do something I love, my blood pressure will be lower, my mind will be sharper, and my stress will be minimal, so therefore I will live to be 100 or so, whereas if I did something only for the money, and had the "work sucks, need the bucks" type of mentality, I would probably die at 54 of a massive MI like my old man did. In the long run, it will be worth it for me to pursue dentistry, no matter how old I am.
Perc---