Is the cheapest/in-state school always the best option?

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tbl258

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For any dentists or current students out there, is the cheapest school or in-state school always the best way to go? Has anyone regretted choosing the cheaper school in exchange for a school they preferred? As in, a school that had a more supportive culture, or better technology or opportunities, or was just preferable in any way. It's like choosing between being happier at dental school for 4 years with higher debt stress after, or worse experience at dental school but much lower debt. Which one is worth it? Of course, either way you'll come out a dentist, but I'm sure the years in dental school are very tough and that experience matters and carries through your career.
 
Honestly it depends on the school(s) that are in your state. I currently go to UNC (instate for me) and wouldn't trade it for any other school in the world. Every school offers something different (research vs specialties vs school size, etc). You have to research all schools to see which one is the right fit. If you only have a private dental school in your state it may not be any cheaper than an OOS school. Get the ADEA guide to compare all schools and costs.
 
Cavity_Search said:
Honestly it depends on the school(s) that are in your state. I currently go to UNC (instate for me) and wouldn't trade it for any other school in the world. Every school offers something different (research vs specialties vs school size, etc). You have to research all schools to see which one is the right fit. If you only have a private dental school in your state it may not be any cheaper than an OOS school. Get the ADEA guide to compare all schools and costs.
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This is the right answer.
At the end of the day, only YOU know what your finances are, your unique situation.
Make the most informed choice based on what you want. Sure, talking to strangers on the internet can be useful sometimes.. but they won't be living your life.
 
The right answer is always the cheapest. Would you rather borrow 10k for a Honda or 40k for a Honda? Either way you’re getting a Honda. You can specialize out of every school, every school will make you a dentist. Some may be better than others but at the end of the day, if you’re bad at dentistry at one school you’d be bad at a different school. Just work hard at any school and come out with lower debt. Unless you have a full ride go to the cheapest school.
 
tbl258 said:
For any dentists or current students out there, is the cheapest school or in-state school always the best way to go? Has anyone regretted choosing the cheaper school in exchange for a school they preferred? As in, a school that had a more supportive culture, or better technology or opportunities, or was just preferable in any way. It's like choosing between being happier at dental school for 4 years with higher debt stress after, or worse experience at dental school but much lower debt. Which one is worth it? Of course, either way you'll come out a dentist, but I'm sure the years in dental school are very tough and that experience matters and carries through your career.
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Yes
 
Cavity_Search said:
Honestly it depends on the school(s) that are in your state. I currently go to UNC (instate for me) and wouldn't trade it for any other school in the world. Every school offers something different (research vs specialties vs school size, etc). You have to research all schools to see which one is the right fit. If you only have a private dental school in your state it may not be any cheaper than an OOS school. Get the ADEA guide to compare all schools and costs.
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I agree. If we're comparing UNC vs ECU, I'd pick UNC all day over ECU, even though ECU is cheaper.
 
It depends on what you want to do. Financially, it would be the wiser choice to go to the cheaper school if it would be saving you 100k or more on loans, which can accrue over time. If you're looking to specialize, I would have to go against the grain on this one and say that going to a school that is known to graduate more specialists would give you a better chance of specializing. There's an argument that can be made for going to the cheaper school - it all depends on how much work you put in, some schools attract certain type of applicants, etc.

From my point of view, choosing a school where 18/20 of their students match into their specialty of choice is better going to a school that matches 1. Admittedly, there are factors like grade inflation (not to be confused with "easier" since dental school is hard work anywhere you go), school name, culture, research, faculty connections, etc. that do help make the ride smoother for some students if they want to specialize. In general though, I agree that picking the cheaper school is the better option as you are saving a minimum of 2 or 3 years after dental school paying off that portion of tuition (and its interest).
 
No, at this point I have narrowed my choices down to Temple and CWRU (I only got into expensive schools). I am putting my deposit down at CWRU and it is 15-20k more. I am nontrad and have a large chunk of money already saved, my wife is high income earner and I won’t be paying for living expenses. CWRU will be completing a $500+ million state of the art health-care school along with a brand new dental clinic when I start: That and the fact that I think the school is more organized and I will receive better instruction there made me choose the more expensive school. If however, I get off a waitlist at a public school that offers IS tuition I would take it in a second.

TLDR: find sugar momma/daddy go where you want
 
youngsushi said:
I have nothing again ECU 🙂

UNC offers all specialties in-house which is not found at ECU, even though it has awesome new facilities. Most faculties at UNC also have more experiences. There is no right or wrong for UNC vs ECU and it's a personal preference for North Carolinians.
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Why do you view in house specialty departments as a positive? (ECU has most of the specialists just not departments). And of course, I get it. UNC is a good program no doubt.
 
youngsushi said:
I have nothing again ECU 🙂

UNC offers all specialties in-house which is not found at ECU, even though it has awesome new facilities. Most faculties at UNC also have more experiences. There is no right or wrong for UNC vs ECU and it's a personal preference for North Carolinians.
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You'd probably get to do more if you went to a school that didn't have specialties.
 
At what point do differences in price between dental schools become meaningless? $10k?
 
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BatedPenguin said:
At what point do differences in price between dental sched become meaningless? $10k?
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I'd say that's a personal question. Is 10k going to be a difference maker over your entire career? No.
 
youngsushi said:
I have nothing again ECU 🙂

UNC offers all specialties in-house which is not found at ECU, even though it has awesome new facilities. Most faculties at UNC also have more experiences. There is no right or wrong for UNC vs ECU and it's a personal preference for North Carolinians.
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I have heard from 2 recent dentists that ECU alums have outperformed UNC grads in residency programs. ECU is set up to give way mor hands on experience than UNC imo. I would happily go to either school obv, but if I had the choice I would choose ECU just from what I've heard from area dentists
 
jLaws said:
I'd say that's a personal question. Is 10k going to be a difference maker over your entire career? No.
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So obviously its all relative.... but if you are looking at $300,000 for a "better school" (reputation, graduates going to residencies) vs. $270,000 for a fine school (your state school), is it worth it to spend 30K more? Or is that the tipping point when you should choose the state school?
 
If I truly believed that my experience at one school would be significantly better than another I would be willing to pay about 25k more. People use the car analogy a lot but that is BS to me. I could give a s*** about a 25k car but 4 years of happiness and better prospects is a different story.
 
Once you make your decision, don't look back
 
I'm in a similar boat. UNC vs ECU. UNC will end up costing around $130k more. But I like the Chapel Hill area better, and it's closer to home. I'm really, really conflicted. Any help whatsoever is appreciated.
 
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severage said:
I'm in a similar boat. UNC vs ECU w/ scholarship. I don't know if I want to specialize, and I don't know if going to a more "prestigious" program would better help me specialize (if I so chose). UNC will end up costing around $130k more than ECU with the scholarship. But I like the Chapel Hill area better, and it's closer to home. I'm really, really conflicted. Any help whatsoever is appreciated.
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You won’t go wrong with either, but if finance is your #1 concern, then you found your answer.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
severage said:
I'm in a similar boat. UNC vs ECU w/ scholarship. I don't know if I want to specialize, and I don't know if going to a more "prestigious" program would better help me specialize (if I so chose). UNC will end up costing around $130k more than ECU with the scholarship. But I like the Chapel Hill area better, and it's closer to home. I'm really, really conflicted. Any help whatsoever is appreciated.
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I wouldn't think about it in absolute dollars, think about it terms of %
UNC will be 30%? 40%? 50%? more expensive
 
That famous orthodontist has over $1million in loans, my friend is going into orthodontics for maybe $400k, that's a huge difference
 
Cheapest. As a person who paid off his undergrad loans after working in one career for a decade, believe me—the government will make you pay back every penny you borrow, plus some. That justified me attending my state school.


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BatedPenguin said:
At what point do differences in price between dental schools become meaningless? $10k?
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I always do loan calculations to see if it makes a difference. Paying 10k extra plus interest over a long amount of time (10, 15, 20 yrs) will seem like literally nothing compared to the additionally 200,000 you'd stack up
 
AN4TOMY said:
Because UNC is outstanding
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Not arguing it's not a good school, it without a doubt is. But how do you justify spending 130K more to go to a school for a name. 130K is enough money to get a loan for a 1.3 million dollar practice which would net you almost 400K a year if you have overhead at 70% (which is extremely high). 400K is just as much if not more than the average specialist. The school isn't going to make you a good dentist, you yourself will make you a good dentist. If you work hard enough to specialize at one school you would likely have worked hard enough to specialize at another if that is your driving factor in decision making.
 
predent2151 said:
130K is enough money to get a loan for a 1.3 million dollar practice which would net you almost 400K a year if you have overhead at 70%

If you work hard enough to specialize at one school you would likely have worked hard enough to specialize at another if that is your driving factor in decision making.
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Have to agree with both of these points. The difference in school names is better spent on buying a practice and CE. You buy a practice for its existing cash flow and patient panel. Every dentist I've ever talked to has said you learn more out of school than you do in it and has encouraged me to go with my cheapest option or join the military. No one has ever asked my dentists in front of me where they went to school either so I think prestige and names only matter to pre dents and some current dental students.

predent2151 said:
if you have overhead at 70% (which is extremely high)
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Not sure about this one but my grandfather (DDS) says 70% is pretty normal. The GPs I've shadowed all have overhead between 50 and 65%.
 
youngsushi said:
I really should unfollow this thread because it is upsetting to see people say "everyone can be a gunner". No, I don't believe this, as someone who can best out my classmates in all STEM classes.
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Disagree. Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard. If an average intelligence person in dental school works harder, studies more, and kisses professors butts better than they can easily rank highly. I'm not trying to diminish your accomplishments but it is kind of strange to think you have an inherent ability to work harder/smarter than you future professional school colleagues. The stages are raised since only 40% make it into D school so your competitive edge will also be lessened.
 
Only time cheapest doesn't make sense is if you (or your parents) are already rich to the point where cost doesn't matter and you think you would have a better/easier time at another school.
 
Varies on where you are. Average is 73% according to the ADA but I haven’t met a dentist with that high of OH but that’s probably due to being from a rural area.
 
youngsushi said:
I'm going to agree with anatomy on this one. I personally wouldn't mind paying 10-20k vs a state school if I know I can come out more successfully. Currently, I'm trying to see where I can save at Penn over UNC on everything since I received a scholarship.

Before we talk about "you can specialize anywhere", I want to make it clear not everyone can be a gunner. For me, I'm the type of gunner who can score 95 in a class while the class average is 55 (I've done it multiple times, and no this is not your typical weed out intro classes). If you can't do that, then going to the cheapest school is the best choice.

I really should unfollow this thread because it is upsetting to see people say "everyone can be a gunner". No, I don't believe this, as someone who can best out my classmates in all STEM classes.
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You sound very humble, your classmates are gonna love to be around you as you "best out" them. I don't think that being a gunner is something to be so proud of, as you seem to be.
 
its-not-enough-that-i-should-succeed-others-should-fail-kevin-chang.jpg


Found him
 
youngsushi said:
That's the reason why I changed it, thought it wasn't a nice fit to my personality bc I was irritated initially. Feel free to think whatever you like 🙂
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Irritated by posts saying that everybody can succeed in dental school if they put in the work?? Wowzer
 
Guys chill. Literally your undergrad accomplishments don't mean much once dental school starts. Some people with super high GPAs/DATs end up not doing as well and some people with lower DATs/GPAs will be at the top of your class. At the end of the day what really matters is if you get along with people in your class. Dental schools are so small and the last thing you'd want is to build a bad reputation.

I can't tell you how much better dental school is when you have a solid group of friends to study and chill with. Work together, not against each other.
 
I would pay a little extra for a school with easier didactics... just saying. Part of me is depressed that I was wait listed at public schools, but taking a look at Maryland's course catalog vs Case Westerns makes me feel a little better..
 
Personally wouldn't say 50k+ tuition is worth 4 years of happiness, although I suppose that's relative to everyone. The past 3 years of undergrad has been miserable for me (don't fit in with the school population), at the expense of saving money for ds tuition. Do I regret it? Maybe a bit, but the practical choice isn't always your favorite choice
 
severage said:
I'm in a similar boat. UNC vs ECU. UNC will end up costing around $130k more. But I like the Chapel Hill area better, and it's closer to home. I'm really, really conflicted. Any help whatsoever is appreciated.
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Are you comparing your estimated costs, or adding up what the school says it'll cost you? What the school says it'll cost you, versus what it actually costs you is two very different figures since they don't include the annual 5% tuition hikes or the interest on your loans.

Your future self will thank you when you it only takes 10 years to pay off the loans instead of 15.
 
Cthuluhoop said:
Are you comparing your estimated costs, or adding up what the school says it'll cost you? What the school says it'll cost you, versus what it actually costs you is two very different figures since they don't include the annual 5% tuition hikes or the interest on your loans.

Your future self will thank you when you it only takes 10 years to pay off the loans instead of 15.
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I’m comparing total costs for the 2017-2018 year multiplied by 4. I know that doesn’t give a perfectly accurate number but I’m just using it to get an idea. I’m leaning ECU 90% at the moment. Facility impressed me a ton, faculty were wonderful, students seemed close-knit, and I really like their mission.
 
severage said:
I’m comparing total costs for the 2017-2018 year multiplied by 4. I know that doesn’t give a perfectly accurate number but I’m just using it to get an idea. I’m leaning ECU 90% at the moment. Facility impressed me a ton, faculty were wonderful, students seemed close-knit, and I really like their mission.
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If ECU costs 130k less when you're not even considering interest on the loans or tuition hikes, then it will definitely be your best bet.
 
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