Is it worth the risk? Should I do it? Dentistry decision help

[Watzupdoc123]

Hey guys I am in a dilemma here as to whether or not I should attend the university of Sydney dental school next year. Any advice given will be greatly appreciated so please just throw in ur $0.02. I am certain that without a doubt I want to be a dentist (many hours on shadowing, uncle is a dentist). I don't think I will be admitted into any dental school in Ontario with my mediocre GPa 3.83 and dat scores. I am considering going to Australia but that would cost me a nasty 400k+. The bank will offer me 270k, I get 40k loan from osap (government support) and I have 50k saved up of my own. So that's 360k with my parent and sibling are giving me a loan on the rest. For a grad right out of school this would be a hefty and burdening amount of debt. The part that scares me is all the talk about the field of dentistry being to saturated. Myself, like everyone else, would not like to remain in debt my entire life. I would not mind where I live (rural/urban), and have no desire to buy any toys right out of school. So do u guys think it would be a good investment to make considering the current market? Is it even worth it as I will be 29 when I graduate?
400k is a lot to make an uneducated decision on.
P.s my undergrad is under the faculty of engineering so that's another door but to be honest it brings me no joy to work in the eng field.

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[LuckBloodandSweat]

I don't understand canadians. How is a 3.83 a mediocre GPA.... Anyways, what's your DAT? Yeah you do need to consider your options and see if you really want to do this.

 

[science luv]

Your GPA is good..just take time and work on you DAT and you should be fine with most dental schools.. you should not think about how you can get the loan but you also think about how you are going to pay it back! I think 400k is just a big number that it can be your nightmare

 

[deleted678432]

No risk no reward baby


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[Watzupdoc123]

Honestly i don't mind the debt if I am able to pay it off. I am scared, however, that I may not be able to do so considering the current market. But I know that I want to be a dentist for sure. On the other hand I have been offered a job (process engineer) with a salary of approx. 70k a year starting. I have no debt from undergrad as I paid that off aggressively. So should I peruse and "invest" 400k+ into this, or would I be better off leaving this behind, which I really don't want to but if it makes financial sense then....

 

[science luv]

I believe you should do what you love, and if you love dentistry then definitely do it. But do it in a right way so that you enjoy it later.
and if I were you I would work hard to be accepted in any canadian school so that I would not have to take that big loan.

 

[Watzupdoc123]

Canada and Australia have a agreement allowing me to come back and practice in Canada after passing the board exam. So I could choose between the two. My dat scores were 22 AA, 20 PAT, 20 RC.

 

[LuckBloodandSweat]

Canada and Australia have a agreement allowing me to come back and practice in Canada after passing the board exam. So I could choose between the two. My dat scores were 22 AA, 20 PAT, 20 RC.

You've got a solid DAT. You could probably get into some American schools too.

 

[2y4life]

3.83 and 22AA??? Damn, that's pretty solid man

 

[Soleus715]

Hey guys I am in a dilemma here as to whether or not I should attend the university of Sydney dental school next year. Any advice given will be greatly appreciated so please just throw in ur $0.02. I am certain that without a doubt I want to be a dentist (many hours on shadowing, uncle is a dentist). I don't think I will be admitted into any dental school in Ontario with my mediocre GPa 3.83 and dat scores. I am considering going to Australia but that would cost me a nasty 400k+. The bank will offer me 270k, I get 40k loan from osap (government support) and I have 50k saved up of my own. So that's 360k with my parent and sibling are giving me a loan on the rest. For a grad right out of school this would be a hefty and burdening amount of debt. The part that scares me is all the talk about the field of dentistry being to saturated. Myself, like everyone else, would not like to remain in debt my entire life. I would not mind where I live (rural/urban), and have no desire to buy any toys right out of school. So do u guys think it would be a good investment to make considering the current market? Is it even worth it as I will be 29 when I graduate?
400k is a lot to make an uneducated decision on.
P.s my undergrad is under the faculty of engineering so that's another door but to be honest it brings me no joy to work in the eng field.

I think setting all costs aside, your last sentence is really the most important factor. Choosing a career you'll hate is one of the worst life decisions I've witnessed. You'll be working for 2-3 decades, so choose what you'll love!
I'll be well in to my 30's when I graduate, so it's not too late to choose or change a career. If I was given a choice between an awful $150,000 job with no debt vs. 4 years of dental school with $400k debt, I would choose dental school with no regrets.
We spent most of our waking days working, it's just as important to enjoy work as it is to enjoy free time.

I've worked as a store manager and later as a dental assistant/receptionist/ office manager and I've realized that becoming a dentist is really the right choice for me. Hope this helps

 

[Mason91]

Hey guys I am in a dilemma here as to whether or not I should attend the university of Sydney dental school next year. Any advice given will be greatly appreciated so please just throw in ur $0.02. I am certain that without a doubt I want to be a dentist (many hours on shadowing, uncle is a dentist). I don't think I will be admitted into any dental school in Ontario with my mediocre GPa 3.83 and dat scores. I am considering going to Australia but that would cost me a nasty 400k+. The bank will offer me 270k, I get 40k loan from osap (government support) and I have 50k saved up of my own. So that's 360k with my parent and sibling are giving me a loan on the rest. For a grad right out of school this would be a hefty and burdening amount of debt. The part that scares me is all the talk about the field of dentistry being to saturated. Myself, like everyone else, would not like to remain in debt my entire life. I would not mind where I live (rural/urban), and have no desire to buy any toys right out of school. So do u guys think it would be a good investment to make considering the current market? Is it even worth it as I will be 29 when I graduate?
400k is a lot to make an uneducated decision on.
P.s my undergrad is under the faculty of engineering so that's another door but to be honest it brings me no joy to work in the eng field.

Are you a troll or is your GPA scale 5.0? 3.83 GPA and 22 AA? As long as you've done enough shadowing and have dental-related experiences, I think you can go to almost any dental school you want to go.... so.... eff u.

 

[deleted632307]

3.83gpa and 22AA is mediocre? That humblebrag...

 

[LuckBloodandSweat]

He is the ultimate troll my friend.

 

[DJI]

He is the ultimate troll my friend.

Nah, he's definitely not trolling. It's the unfortunate reality for Canadians that a very high GPA on the level of Harvard (i.e. 3.85-4.0) is required for all 10 dental schools (7 if you don't speak French) in Canada. That being said, I think OP should relax a little. A 3.83 and 22AA puts him almost exactly within the competitive range for every dental school here including UoT and Western in Ontario.

 

[LuckBloodandSweat]

Nah, he's definitely not trolling. It's the unfortunate reality for Canadians that a very high GPA on the level of Harvard (i.e. 3.85-4.0) is required for all 10 dental schools (7 if you don't speak French) in Canada. That being said, I think OP should relax a little. A 3.83 and 22AA puts him almost exactly within the competitive range for every dental school here including UoT and Western in Ontario.

I'm not being serious lol. Ik Canada is really crazy haha.

 

[Watzupdoc123]

Everybody thinks this is some form of troll but that's the reality of Ontario, Canada. The AVERAGE student admitted into dental school in my province have a g.p.a of 3.9 or ~90%. Alongside stellar EA (they like spend time building schools for kids in third world countries, president of like 5 groups, varsity athletes, etc...). Again my dat is also average compared to my colleagues. I understand that American schools are a possibility but with the current dollar, I am sure it would be more expensive.
This is quite a complex decision that I have to make so I would appreciate some advice.

 

[sjen]

Did you get the acceptance already? I had my interview last Monday but haven't heard anything back from them

 

[redhotchiligochu]

Honestly i don't mind the debt if I am able to pay it off. I am scared, however, that I may not be able to do so considering the current market. But I know that I want to be a dentist for sure. On the other hand I have been offered a job (process engineer) with a salary of approx. 70k a year starting. I have no debt from undergrad as I paid that off aggressively. So should I peruse and "invest" 400k+ into this, or would I be better off leaving this behind, which I really don't want to but if it makes financial sense then....

70k is on par with a career as an associate general dentist, assuming you have no debt from undergrad. That's actually the amount you should expect (after taxes) working as an associate dentist right off of dental school. $400k dental school debt will equal to approximately 30k in loan repayment a year. Assume optimistic $150k/year associate dentist income. Let's say you live in high tax Bernie Sanders worshipping state of CA (13%) along with federal marginal rate of 28%. Approx 40% of your $150k income will result in $90k. Student loans aren't tax deductible so pay $30k/year, you're left with $60k/year, which is 5k/month. Not bad but not "rolling in it."

Pursue dentistry for the passion of pursing dentistry, not money. There's 4 years of "lost" income along with the possible stress of running your own practice.

 

[Guinep]

Did you get the acceptance already? I had my interview last Monday but haven't heard anything back from them

Where are you from ?