Nice! Reddit style ama.
I'm getting my loan information in order & totally underestimated the cost of attendance for my school despite being an instate applicant (UMDNJ).
It seems my cost of attendance is gonna be $70k+
Q ) apart from HPL(title VII funding), what other tips/suggestions do you have to keep loans as little as possible?
(The hpl loan is subsidized but only$4,800 , and the rest of the loans are unsubsidized federal loans. So far $42,700 I know I'll have to apply for grad plus loan to cover the difference)
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Depends on the level of risk you are willing to assume. Discover offers Prime + 3.25% Health Profession loans. There are actually a decent amount of private loans you can acquire that may have lower interest rates than federal. The problem is your risk tolerance due to the fact that they are variable interest as opposed to fixed. If the Prime rate rises you lose your savings :/
You could always look into Army Scholarships, National Health Service Corps Scholarships, Indian Services, etc
Few scholarships are available to cover tuition - so you either enslave yourself with a government deal or enslave yourself to loan payments!
What should (or did you) look for in choosing a school (not money related). Also I've heard a lot about P/F in your opinion is H/P/F a better system than grades/rank when trying to specialize?
EDIT: didnt see that this was a Temple specific thread
This thread doesn't have to be Temple specific. Money, clinical experience, and location are the three most important things to me. Temple is average - expensive (for private a out of state school), very good clinicals, location sucks. My family is a 5 hour plane flight.
At this point, anyone applying to dental school and looking to specialize will have to realize that specialty applications won't be what they are now. The old NBDE score will have to be replaced by something, because schools like UCLA are P/F and programs have difficulty distinguishing students that are P/F boards and grades... I don't think it really matters. Students will specialize from both types of programs. P/F potentially has less competitiveness, but I really have no idea since Temple has grades.
In thought this was for Temple questions.
What are your thoughts on the dean? He seems to have shaken things up and made changes since taking the throne. Is the overall vibe amongst students positive? Or is there some grumbling in the ranks?
How has your patient and chair availability been thus far? I know it can't be perfect at any school, but how is it holding up compared to what's sold on brochures and interviews?
You could ask that question to every faculty member at the school and come up with a different opinion every time. Seeing as I entered Temple with Dean Ismael I have zero knowledge as to the workings of the previous Dean. I would say that the general consensus is that the Dean has made some drastic improvements in many areas, but there are things he could have done better. Dean Ismael makes himself readily available to the students and faculty and addresses concerns quickly. A lot of situations are simply out of his control. For instance, the state cutting a lot of Medicaid coverage really hampered down the amount of Endo, Crown/Bridge, S/RP, and dentures... Our school is currently undergoing renovations in the clinic and my class, as well as the class above us, are forced to work with about 70% of the clinic floor in operation so far. Some students complain of poor patients and unavailability of seats, but in many cases in came down to the student's poor patient management. To answer your question I would say there is a lot of positive, but there is also a decent amount of grumbling. I don't think anyone could ever change anything without a bit of grumbling though...
As far as my own patient/chair availability... I should meet my graduation requirements well before graduation. I believe last year 20-30 had to stay past graduation (some for a few days some a few weeks) Currently at Temple we schedule our own patients so a lot rides on your shoulders. If you maintain good patient management the clinics are a breeze. If you have difficulty with patient management or simply get AWFUL luck in patients it can get frustrating. Like many schools, if patients continually don't show to their appointments you are permitted to drop them from your patient list. Many students have a difficult time cutting their losses I feel.
