Investment banking to dental

[msyh1122]

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Hi guys I am new to SDN and really appreciate for your advices.
I studied finance for my bachelor (GPA:3.67) and master in financial engineering. Currently working as a IB analyst dealing with excels and PowerPoint🙁

I have few questions below and appreciate if anyone can give me some advices as the opportunity cost for me is pretty high to change career.

I am thinking apply the postbacc program and maintain my current job in case I can’t get accepted by dental school one/two years later.
Is the workload manageable if I do this and is the timeline of one/two years practical?

Also does dental school look at the school you took pre-req from (should I go for Columbia/NYU(day class)/Harvard extension school (commute will be tough)).

Would profs/committee write LOR for postbacc student tho?

Any recommendation on good postbac program located near NYC are greatly appreciated🙂

 

[GreenDuck12]

1. Working during the postbac entirely depends on what your work schedule is like and your timeline. For reference, I did a completed postbac at HES while working full-time and it took 2.5 years to finish everything. I had friends finish in less time but were not working full-time. If you have already completed some prereqs that would make your one to two year timeline while working more feasible.

2. For postbac it really doesn’t matter where you take your classes. There really isn’t a prestige factor nor is it necessary to continue at your undergraduate institution. Take classes where it will be convenient, affordable, and provide the support you need to get to where you want to go.

3. Yes. At HES almost all students are doing the same thing you would be: taking postbac classes for med/dent/vet. Letters wouldn’t be a problem. It would be the same at other programs as well. Just get to know your professors and be upfront: what will it take to earn a LoR from you.

4. Cant help with programs near NYC.

Good luck!

 

[KittyKats]

Just get to know your professors and be upfront: what will it take to earn a LoR from you.

What do you mean here? Do you literally say "Hi, I want a LOR. What actions do I need to take to get one?" at the start of class?


@msyh1122 SUNY has a lot of classes

 

[msyh1122]

1. Working during the postbac entirely depends on what your work schedule is like and your timeline. For reference, I did a completed postbac at HES while working full-time and it took 2.5 years to finish everything. I had friends finish in less time but were not working full-time. If you have already completed some prereqs that would make your one to two year timeline while working more feasible.

2. For postbac it really doesn’t matter where you take your classes. There really isn’t a prestige factor nor is it necessary to continue at your undergraduate institution. Take classes where it will be convenient, affordable, and provide the support you need to get to where you want to go.

3. Yes. At HES almost all students are doing the same thing you would be: taking postbac classes for med/dent/vet. Letters wouldn’t be a problem. It would be the same at other programs as well. Just get to know your professors and be upfront: what will it take to earn a LoR from you.

4. Cant help with programs near NYC.

Good luck!

Thank you so much for detailed answer! For HES, what are schedule usually look like? Are classes in evenings or in weekends?

 

[msyh1122]

What do you mean here? Do you literally say "Hi, I want a LOR. What actions do I need to take to get one?" at the start of class?


@msyh1122 SUNY has a lot of classes

Thank you!! I will check them up🙂

 

[GreenDuck12]

What do you mean here? Do you literally say "Hi, I want a LOR. What actions do I need to take to get one?" at the start of class?


@msyh1122 SUNY has a lot of classes

During office hours in the first week I would tell professors that I am a postbac premed student and that I need letters of rec from science professors and ask what i need to do to be able to ask them for a rec. I never had an adverse reaction to this - most of my professors appreciated being upfront about it.

It helps professors know what you’re looking for so they pay more attention to what you do/say during the term. It helps the student so they know if there are any specific grade requirements etc.

 

[GreenDuck12]

Thank you so much for detailed answer! For HES, what are schedule usually look like? Are classes in evenings or in weekends?

Almost all classes are in the evening one night per week. They tend to be spaced out so that folks can take multiple prereqs at the same time. There weren’t any weekend classes while I was there but office hours would be on weekends in some cases. Generally speaking there was ample support in each class.

 

[msyh1122]

Almost all classes are in the evening one night per week. They tend to be spaced out so that folks can take multiple prereqs at the same time. There weren’t any weekend classes while I was there but office hours would be on weekends in some cases. Generally speaking there was ample support in each class.

Sounds good!! I heard a lot good things about this program. It’s just the commute is really tough for me(4.5hrs drive). If there are evening classes, then it might be manageable. Thank you again!!!

 

[mspeedwagon]

I was responding to someone on SDN and stumbled upon this thread. Full disclosure, while I attended medical school, I did drop out. The other two people that were in my post-bac study group went to dental school so I know a bit about that path as I followed their careers.

If you're serious about dental school, and you haven't taken any pre-reqs, consider leaving your job and doing a full-time post-bac program. This will get you to your goal quicker. If you're in NYC, I highly recommend considering Columbia's program. Taking classes while working a stressful job isn't ideal. You'll be limited in how many classes you can take and it'll be a lot of stress.

The opportunity cost of changing your career is likely insurmountable. IB is a high paying field especially as you go up the career ladder. My own brother worked at Goldman for 10ish yrs and retired after he got to the VP level. I work in a lower paying field than IB and plan to retire by 45. Had I stayed in medical school that would be unrealistic since I started in my early 30s. Since you're in investment banking, you know the power of compounding. Money earned today is worth more than money earned five plus years from now if invested wisely. Go to dental school because you'll love it. It won't be financially worthwhile so get the opportunity cost thinking out of your mind if you go forward with this path. This is why I say quit your job and go to a fully dedicated post-bac program.

Commuting to Boston from NYC is not a realistic plan. That's a minimum of an 8-hr round trip commute. Get that thinking out of your mind as well. Most schools don't care that much where you do your pre-reqs. There are a ton of great schools in NYC so you don't need to leave. I'd recommend taking your pre-reqs at a SUNY or CUNY assuming you're a NY state resident and don't go down the full-time Columbia route.

I did a piecemeal post-bac (which I don't recommend) across several schools and the majority of my classes were taken at UC Berkeley extension. I had no problem getting professors to write recommendations. There is a service called Interfolio that is used to store letter of recommendations so you should be able to get them straight after you are done with the class and while the professor still remembers who you are. I know medical schools accept the letters and it's likely dental school do too.

One final thing. As I mentioned above, I had two friends that went to dental school. One went to work at her family practice (her mom and uncles are dentists) in South San Francisco and loves it. The other friend struggled to start a practice and found that most places she wanted to live were saturated with dentists. She has a ton of debt, joined a community practice where she isn't making that much money, and regrets going down the path (granted, I haven't talked to her in a few years and it's possible this has changed). So, think long and hard about where you want to live and if that area's market is already saturated. Good luck!

Hi guys I am new to SDN and really appreciate for your advices.
I studied finance for my bachelor (GPA:3.67) and master in financial engineering. Currently working as a IB analyst dealing with excels and PowerPoint🙁

I have few questions below and appreciate if anyone can give me some advices as the opportunity cost for me is pretty high to change career.

I am thinking apply the postbacc program and maintain my current job in case I can’t get accepted by dental school one/two years later.
Is the workload manageable if I do this and is the timeline of one/two years practical?

Also does dental school look at the school you took pre-req from (should I go for Columbia/NYU(day class)/Harvard extension school (commute will be tough)).

Would profs/committee write LOR for postbacc student tho?

Any recommendation on good postbac program located near NYC are greatly appreciated🙂

 

[GreenDuck12]

Sounds good!! I heard a lot good things about this program. It’s just the commute is really tough for me(4.5hrs drive). If there are evening classes, then it might be manageable. Thank you again!!!

I agree with the above about commuting NYC to Boston. I had a friend who did providence to Boston and would study on the train but it was tough. Driving will eat up too much time that you’ll need to study. Fortunately most classes are recorded and can be taken remotely. All classes this year are remote and I expect there will be expanded online options in the future.

 

[msyh1122]

I was responding to someone on SDN and stumbled upon this thread. Full disclosure, while I attended medical school, I did drop out. The other two people that were in my post-bac study group went to dental school so I know a bit about that path as I followed their careers.

If you're serious about dental school, and you haven't taken any pre-reqs, consider leaving your job and doing a full-time post-bac program. This will get you to your goal quicker. If you're in NYC, I highly recommend considering Columbia's program. Taking classes while working a stressful job isn't ideal. You'll be limited in how many classes you can take and it'll be a lot of stress.

The opportunity cost of changing your career is likely insurmountable. IB is a high paying field especially as you go up the career ladder. My own brother worked at Goldman for 10ish yrs and retired after he got to the VP level. I work in a lower paying field than IB and plan to retire by 45. Had I stayed in medical school that would be unrealistic since I started in my early 30s. Since you're in investment banking, you know the power of compounding. Money earned today is worth more than money earned five plus years from now if invested wisely. Go to dental school because you'll love it. It won't be financially worthwhile so get the opportunity cost thinking out of your mind if you go forward with this path. This is why I say quit your job and go to a fully dedicated post-bac program.

Commuting to Boston from NYC is not a realistic plan. That's a minimum of an 8-hr round trip commute. Get that thinking out of your mind as well. Most schools don't care that much where you do your pre-reqs. There are a ton of great schools in NYC so you don't need to leave. I'd recommend taking your pre-reqs at a SUNY or CUNY assuming you're a NY state resident and don't go down the full-time Columbia route.

I did a piecemeal post-bac (which I don't recommend) across several schools and the majority of my classes were taken at UC Berkeley extension. I had no problem getting professors to write recommendations. There is a service called Interfolio that is used to store letter of recommendations so you should be able to get them straight after you are done with the class and while the professor still remembers who you are. I know medical schools accept the letters and it's likely dental school do too.

One final thing. As I mentioned above, I had two friends that went to dental school. One went to work at her family practice (her mom and uncles are dentists) in South San Francisco and loves it. The other friend struggled to start a practice and found that most places she wanted to live were saturated with dentists. She has a ton of debt, joined a community practice where she isn't making that much money, and regrets going down the path (granted, I haven't talked to her in a few years and it's possible this has changed). So, think long and hard about where you want to live and if that area's market is already saturated. Good luck!

Thank you so much for the thorough response and I greatly appreciate your honesty !!

Yes I agree with the compounding and time value of the money you mentioned. The reason I want to switch to dental is I am seeing the ceiling in my current job and plus the endless powerpoints/excels I did till 2 am sometimes clients don't even open them. I know it is normal but still feel a little frustrated.

I have been also thinking about the opportunity cost too. Currently I am earning 140k, but not much after tax and expenses... If I invest my four years in exchange of a hard skill for the rest of my life I think should be a good investment haha. It's just I am not sure if opening my own dental practice is as optimal as I am thinking. If you guys have any opinion, greatly appreciate your thoughts🙂

Ha! I was thinking dental schools look at big names, so considered the 8 hrs commuting. I am targeting join a post-bac program in Fall 2021, but I didn't take any math class (except business statistics) in my college cuz I had AP calculus taken in 2014. Should I take any calculus or statistics during Spring 2021 prior the program cuz I want to start straight the science class to shorten the time horizon?

Thanks Again!!

 

[msyh1122]

I agree with the above about commuting NYC to Boston. I had a friend who did providence to Boston and would study on the train but it was tough. Driving will eat up too much time that you’ll need to study. Fortunately most classes are recorded and can be taken remotely. All classes this year are remote and I expect there will be expanded online options in the future.

Yes! just curious do they take attendance at all? I hope they can expand the online options, so students have more flexibility

 

[KittyKats]

During office hours in the first week I would tell professors that I am a postbac premed student and that I need letters of rec from science professors and ask what i need to do to be able to ask them for a rec. I never had an adverse reaction to this - most of my professors appreciated being upfront about it.

It helps professors know what you’re looking for so they pay more attention to what you do/say during the term. It helps the student so they know if there are any specific grade requirements etc.

Thanks for the explanation. Seems like its worth a shot.
May take a bit of refining for the current online-only class environment.

 

[mspeedwagon]

You may want to see if you can jump companies and, possibly, move up as well by doing so. By going to dental school all you'll be doing is switching endless powerpoints/excels for endless memorization till 2 a.m. I don't think you'll find much more appreciation in a career as a dentist.

I made less than $140k most years while working in NYC (my highest income year of my work career was a little north of $150k and I make $125k now (granted I'm not in NY now)). I lived in a cheap apartment in Harlem with a roommate and living costs were pretty low. I'm considering moving back to NY area soon and living in a cheap apartment in Jersey City (well, I guess that's technically moving to NJ). I'm in my mid-30s and was able to save and invest on less than your salary and my net worth is currently $1.4 million. Per my projections, I should hit $2 million by my 40th birthday and $3 million by 45th birthday. You'd likely be far better off analyzing your spending and seeing what can be cut and investing that money into an S&P 500 index fund than changing careers. Dental school is 4 yrs at a minimum. You'll lose out on 4 yrs of $140k+ income and also go $200-$250k in debt by going to dental school. After all that, you'll likely start of at around $200k-$250k as a dentist if you're lucky. The math doesn't work in your favor. Only do this is you are absolutely in love with dentistry.

As for opening your own practice, it just depends where you want to practice. If you're looking to live in the middle of nowhere there won't be much competition and you'll be fine. There are many rural communities that need dentists. These tend to be politically very conservative pro-Trump areas so you can decide if you'd be happy there. I live in a suburban pro-Trump community in Florida and can't wait to get back to the NY area once my lease is up. A lot of Appalachia, as an example, is rural and medically undeserved and is Trump country. On the other hand, if you're looking to open shop in NYC or SF, those markets are saturated.

On the final point, look at the pre-reqs of the schools you're targeting. I just looked up Harvard Dental School and they require both statistics and calculus. Some other school don't seem to require either. You can save the math classes for the end as you usually have time to complete pre-reqs before you actually start school and you'll know if the school you get into requires it. As far as usefulness, stats is the more useful class.

Thank you so much for the thorough response and I greatly appreciate your honesty !!

Yes I agree with the compounding and time value of the money you mentioned. The reason I want to switch to dental is I am seeing the ceiling in my current job and plus the endless powerpoints/excels I did till 2 am sometimes clients don't even open them. I know it is normal but still feel a little frustrated.

I have been also thinking about the opportunity cost too. Currently I am earning 140k, but not much after tax and expenses... If I invest my four years in exchange of a hard skill for the rest of my life I think should be a good investment haha. It's just I am not sure if opening my own dental practice is as optimal as I am thinking. If you guys have any opinion, greatly appreciate your thoughts🙂

Ha! I was thinking dental schools look at big names, so considered the 8 hrs commuting. I am targeting join a post-bac program in Fall 2021, but I didn't take any math class (except business statistics) in my college cuz I had AP calculus taken in 2014. Should I take any calculus or statistics during Spring 2021 prior the program cuz I want to start straight the science class to shorten the time horizon?

Thanks Again!!

 

[msyh1122]

You may want to see if you can jump companies and, possibly, move up as well by doing so. By going to dental school all you'll be doing is switching endless powerpoints/excels for endless memorization till 2 a.m. I don't think you'll find much more appreciation in a career as a dentist.

I made less than $140k most years while working in NYC (my highest income year of my work career was a little north of $150k and I make $125k now (granted I'm not in NY now)). I lived in a cheap apartment in Harlem with a roommate and living costs were pretty low. I'm considering moving back to NY area soon and living in a cheap apartment in Jersey City (well, I guess that's technically moving to NJ). I'm in my mid-30s and was able to save and invest on less than your salary and my net worth is currently $1.4 million. Per my projections, I should hit $2 million by my 40th birthday and $3 million by 45th birthday. You'd likely be far better off analyzing your spending and seeing what can be cut and investing that money into an S&P 500 index fund than changing careers. Dental school is 4 yrs at a minimum. You'll lose out on 4 yrs of $140k+ income and also go $200-$250k in debt by going to dental school. After all that, you'll likely start of at around $200k-$250k as a dentist if you're lucky. The math doesn't work in your favor. Only do this is you are absolutely in love with dentistry.

As for opening your own practice, it just depends where you want to practice. If you're looking to live in the middle of nowhere there won't be much competition and you'll be fine. There are many rural communities that need dentists. These tend to be politically very conservative pro-Trump areas so you can decide if you'd be happy there. I live in a suburban pro-Trump community in Florida and can't wait to get back to the NY area once my lease is up. A lot of Appalachia, as an example, is rural and medically undeserved and is Trump country. On the other hand, if you're looking to open shop in NYC or SF, those markets are saturated.

On the final point, look at the pre-reqs of the schools you're targeting. I just looked up Harvard Dental School and they require both statistics and calculus. Some other school don't seem to require either. You can save the math classes for the end as you usually have time to complete pre-reqs before you actually start school and you'll know if the school you get into requires it. As far as usefulness, stats is the more useful class.

Thanks a lot for generously sharing the information! Wow your can retire really soon!!

Jersey city is a nice area! Not sure if you will consider apartments in the city, currently there are also big deals/discounts in Manhattan apartments due to COVID.

Tough decision for me! I will need to think about more into it🙁 Thanks again and appreciate for your help!!

 

[swimwreck]

I have some relatives who were/are in IB in NYC and as an analyst, you are the bottom of the food chain and it sucks. But it gets a lot better if you work hard and your boss sees that. Are you sure you really want to become a dentist and it isn't a "grass is greener on the other side type thing"? Because if you really want to be a dentist, I wouldn't work full time and take classes at the same time. I know 70+ hours a week is pretty typical for IB and taking a few science classes on top of that and trying to get ECs like volunteering and leadership sounds brutal(not sure if you need that for dental school, but I'm just guessing you do).

Also what do you mean when you see the ceiling of your position? Are you taking about pay or prestige? Because most people I know make associate in 2-3 years and then VP a few years after that. And VP pay is more than most physicians or dentists.

 

[mspeedwagon]

You're welcome. I want to make sure you don't rush into it only to later regret the decision. You can do better than I have done financially by cutting expenses, saving and investing. You have the income and, hopefully, the know how to do at least as well as me (I've assumed you are in your mid-20s). The prospect of retiring between 45-50 with over $3 million in the bank is great and you have the potential to do that in IB. Granted, you may love dentistry and the money may not matter. If the latter is the case, then the opportunity cost doesn't matter. Then you should quit your job and go to a dedicated post-bac and knock out all the pre-reqs in a year so you can start dental school ASAP.

I'm paying close attention to the NYC real estate market. I had a friend, who is a VP at Morgan Stanley, who bought up several apartments in Little Italy during the 2009 crash and made millions (I'd guess her net worth is in the $50+ million category now). $400k of my net worth is in retirement accounts I can't touch and most of the rest is invested. If I can find a nice apartment for sub-$500k I'll likely jump on it. I see several but most are on low floors and, if I live in Manhattan, I'd ideally be higher up. I remain hopeful that more people flee and the prices come down even more but we shall see.

Thanks a lot for generously sharing the information! Wow your can retire really soon!!

Jersey city is a nice area! Not sure if you will consider apartments in the city, currently there are also big deals/discounts in Manhattan apartments due to COVID.

Tough decision for me! I will need to think about more into it🙁 Thanks again and appreciate for your help!!

 

[medaspire1]

@msyh1122 - follow what u think u will be happy doing with/without getting paid. You will need something to do after you retire . You can be a dentist till your end ..volunteering your skills meaningfully to the community and if u think that will give you satisfaction go for it.

$ is very very imp and compounding is a powerful concept. But it is also relative. If person A needs 1 mil to retire person B needs 10 mil to retire . So it can never be compared and will never buy you peace.

I am in IB technology . hopefully will be quitting end of year and go to school fulltime to finish my pre-reqs and give my best shot and med school. if it fails i can always come back to IB tech it will still be around .


@mspeedwagon jersey city is the best place and has the best views of nyc ( better than nyc)

 

[zorcandpals]

Ha! I was thinking dental schools look at big names, so considered the 8 hrs commuting.

To whatever extent they care about big names, the difference between columbia and harvard is pretty minimal JS

 

[GreenDuck12]

Yes! just curious do they take attendance at all? I hope they can expand the online options, so students have more flexibility

I had one class that had mandatory attendance that was equivalent to answering 80% of clicker questions but that was about it. Lectures were recorded and posted the next day so it made in person attendance not as important. The things that you would miss out on would be the office hours and study sessions that happen outside of class. I'm curious how the pandemic will change the structure of some classes going forward. My guess is that there will expanded online options as the program works out the kinks with online exams (this was really the only major hold up previously as they required students to either find an exam proctor or travel to take the exam in person).

I saw prestige referenced up above and I would not consider Harvard's extension school to have any advantages over any other program, private or public. I also would not consider Columbia nor NYU's programs to be prestigious either. The only potential benefit I would see would be having a professor write a LOR who is well known to the medical faculty but I think the odds of that being impactful are extremely minimal.

 

[mspeedwagon]

Holy smokes! I just looked up average dental school debt after reading your post and I was off by at least $100k. So it's closer to $300k-$400k and that's not even factoring in interest of 6-8% per year. So, more like $500k-$600k. That's insane!!!

I made about $100k per year just before med school. When I started in medical school I realized most people were willing to put in 16+ hrs per day attending class/studying because they were used to making $10/hr. I, on the other hand, valued my time at closer to $50/hr at a minimum. So 16hrs x 50 is lost income of $800 per day plus debt that I was taking on. I got an hourly job after I dropped out for $70/hr. I hate to say it, but that biggest motivation for my classmates to keep studying was the prospect of a high future salary and that wasn't that applicable to me. You put that type of time/effort into a career such as IB and you'll make a ton more over the course of your life especially if you invest.

250k if OP gets into a cheap state school! Dentistry schools like in NYC or SF are minimum $100k/year with (tuition + COL). Can easily cost $600-700k + 4 years lost salary + possibly lower hours/stress during post bacc. I know someone at USC which is ~$160k+/year with (rent is expensive af) and wants to live in a big city instead of returning back home (associate Dentists in my area make $200k) whereas she's looking at $110-$140k as a starting salary in a big city. This is assuming OP doesn't specialize or do an additional year of training.

Here's Columbia @$480k.

https://www.ps.columbia.edu/file/37521/download?token=wnzmHEJR

OP has a great GPA, a great career, and will crush dental school without a doubt. It's definitely a great career but the grass is always greener on the other side until it isn't. I think shadowing Dentists and asking the tough questions (some are very willing to share salary prospects/day-to-day etc. once they're comfortable - at least many physicians are from my experience)

It's a tough position to be in. Not many premeds or pre-dental students have 100k+ jobs and most are used to making $10-$15/hr (or the odd gap year with a $50k/year job). I don't know how it is in the dental world but if OP can find a linkage program to an inexpensive Dental school then it might be worth it.

 

[msyh1122]

I have some relatives who were/are in IB in NYC and as an analyst, you are the bottom of the food chain and it sucks. But it gets a lot better if you work hard and your boss sees that. Are you sure you really want to become a dentist and it isn't a "grass is greener on the other side type thing"? Because if you really want to be a dentist, I wouldn't work full time and take classes at the same time. I know 70+ hours a week is pretty typical for IB and taking a few science classes on top of that and trying to get ECs like volunteering and leadership sounds brutal(not sure if you need that for dental school, but I'm just guessing you do).

Also what do you mean when you see the ceiling of your position? Are you taking about pay or prestige? Because most people I know make associate in 2-3 years and then VP a few years after that. And VP pay is more than most physicians or dentists.

Sorry was buried by work on Labor day!! I am on the front office of IB which will require client relationship building and bring revenue once move up to VP+ level. My personality is a little introverted and i came to the U.S. when i was 17...I can be a good analyst/associate cuz these jobs require efforts and data analysis. In terms of communication, I am not as competitive as native speakers who know the culture very well. THerefore, i want to learn something that is "solid" and eventually open my own practice... a little rambling here, but thanks for your advice!

 

[msyh1122]

You're welcome. I want to make sure you don't rush into it only to later regret the decision. You can do better than I have done financially by cutting expenses, saving and investing. You have the income and, hopefully, the know how to do at least as well as me (I've assumed you are in your mid-20s). The prospect of retiring between 45-50 with over $3 million in the bank is great and you have the potential to do that in IB. Granted, you may love dentistry and the money may not matter. If the latter is the case, then the opportunity cost doesn't matter. Then you should quit your job and go to a dedicated post-bac and knock out all the pre-reqs in a year so you can start dental school ASAP.

I'm paying close attention to the NYC real estate market. I had a friend, who is a VP at Morgan Stanley, who bought up several apartments in Little Italy during the 2009 crash and made millions (I'd guess her net worth is in the $50+ million category now). $400k of my net worth is in retirement accounts I can't touch and most of the rest is invested. If I can find a nice apartment for sub-$500k I'll likely jump on it. I see several but most are on low floors and, if I live in Manhattan, I'd ideally be higher up. I remain hopeful that more people flee and the prices come down even more but we shall see.

Reaching mid 20s soon🙁 Yes real estate sometimes can bring attractive returns! given a potential second wave of the pandemic, maybe there is a further price cut for apartment in the city. Location is the key!

 

[msyh1122]

@msyh1122 - follow what u think u will be happy doing with/without getting paid. You will need something to do after you retire . You can be a dentist till your end ..volunteering your skills meaningfully to the community and if u think that will give you satisfaction go for it.

$ is very very imp and compounding is a powerful concept. But it is also relative. If person A needs 1 mil to retire person B needs 10 mil to retire . So it can never be compared and will never buy you peace.

I am in IB technology . hopefully will be quitting end of year and go to school fulltime to finish my pre-reqs and give my best shot and med school. if it fails i can always come back to IB tech it will still be around .


@mspeedwagon jersey city is the best place and has the best views of nyc ( better than nyc)

Haha true! I am still deciding quit or keep my job while going to the pre-med program

Good luck to you!!!

 

[msyh1122]

250k if OP gets into a cheap state school! Dentistry schools like in NYC or SF are minimum $100k/year with (tuition + COL). Can easily cost $600-700k + 4 years lost salary + possibly lower hours/stress during post bacc. I know someone at USC which is ~$160k+/year with (rent is expensive af) and wants to live in a big city instead of returning back home (associate Dentists in my area make $200k) whereas she's looking at $110-$140k as a starting salary in a big city. This is assuming OP doesn't specialize or do an additional year of training.

Here's Columbia @$480k.

https://www.ps.columbia.edu/file/37521/download?token=wnzmHEJR

OP has a great GPA, a great career, and will crush dental school without a doubt. It's definitely a great career but the grass is always greener on the other side until it isn't. I think shadowing Dentists and asking the tough questions (some are very willing to share salary prospects/day-to-day etc. once they're comfortable - at least many physicians are from my experience)

It's a tough position to be in. Not many premeds or pre-dental students have 100k+ jobs and most are used to making $10-$15/hr (or the odd gap year with a $50k/year job). I don't know how it is in the dental world but if OP can find a linkage program to an inexpensive Dental school then it might be worth it.

Thanks for your information and data points! Yes i also want to gain some shadowing experience.. I tried to call 20+ dentists for shadowing or dental assistant position, they either said the COVID situation does not allow for shadowing or we will review your resume & no response🙁

 

[msyh1122]

To whatever extent they care about big names, the difference between columbia and harvard is pretty minimal JS

Gotcha! Thank you🙂

 

[msyh1122]

I had one class that had mandatory attendance that was equivalent to answering 80% of clicker questions but that was about it. Lectures were recorded and posted the next day so it made in person attendance not as important. The things that you would miss out on would be the office hours and study sessions that happen outside of class. I'm curious how the pandemic will change the structure of some classes going forward. My guess is that there will expanded online options as the program works out the kinks with online exams (this was really the only major hold up previously as they required students to either find an exam proctor or travel to take the exam in person).

I saw prestige referenced up above and I would not consider Harvard's extension school to have any advantages over any other program, private or public. I also would not consider Columbia nor NYU's programs to be prestigious either. The only potential benefit I would see would be having a professor write a LOR who is well known to the medical faculty but I think the odds of that being impactful are extremely minimal.

Def don't want to miss office hour! how is the work load tho if you don't mind haha.. Thank you!

 

[GreenDuck12]

Def don't want to miss office hour! how is the work load tho if you don't mind haha.. Thank you!

Sure, I'll send you a message so everyone doesn't get notified.