Making a decision solely based on money.....

[Danny0230]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Ok, so I was accepted at both BU and U Buffalo, and I really loved both schools. They both have their strengths (amazing city/close to home vs. great clinic/patient pool) and negatives (fighting for a chair in clinic vs. not as exciting of a city), but I find whenever I think about the two schools it always comes down to money. I just cant justify taking out 350k in loans when I can take out about 170k for UB. I really don't want to make a decision solely based on money because theres so many other factors..... but $180,000 is a ridiculous difference. While both schools are amazing and I'm sure I'd be happy at both schools, its too bad that money might completely control my decision. Anyone else running into the same problem?

 

[colby27]

I think every person has the same exact problem.... state school vs another private school they kind of like more..... now.... pretend both wer 170K, ibet you would go to boston in a second.....

 

[Danny0230]

I think every person has the same exact problem.... state school vs another private school they kind of like more..... now.... pretend both wer 170K, ibet you would go to boston in a second.....

the answer to that is in my avatar haha

 

[JMJRDH1]

Lots of people are in the same "predicament" if one could call deciding between multiple d-school acceptances such a thing, I certainly don't.

IMHO, there is nothing worth $200K that would make me choose an expensive private over a state school. 10 years after you graduate, you will be wishing you had saved that dough and went stateside rather than dropping that monthly note becaue a decade earlier you were in an "exciting city" while in d-school. That money could be used for a new practice, a home, retirement savings, an Aston Martin or whatever.

Maybe it is just because I am older (34) and am relatively well versed in finance, but limiting that debt should be priority #1, when there is a chioce.

Good Luck!

 

[SanOnofre2002]

Agree 100% w/ the guy above. It's not worth the extra debt. 4 years is a relatively short period of your life, but those loan payments will drag on for an eternity.

 

[fireblast713]

Agree 100% w/ the guy above. It's not worth the extra debt. 4 years is a relatively short period of your life, but those loan payments will drag on for an eternity.

On the other side of the coin, dental school is already going to be hard, it's going to be a lot harder if you don't like where you're going, or always wondering what if... In reality 170K is like another year or so of work to pay off, I'd personally go where you want, we're all going to be in debt anyways, if BU puts you in a better position after college I'd consider that also. It really depends on how much you liked each school tho, but the fact you're posting this seems to show that you liked BU better, otherwise it'd be an easy choice.

 

[keving]

Actually 170k is around 2 years worth of work as a new grad, and I don't know about income taxation in the states, but in Canada, at 50% income taxation, you'll have to earn 300k+ to get that amount after taxes...

 

[1992Corolla]

From the perspective of a current D2 student....CHOOSE THE LEAST EXPENSIVE school you can. In 5 years post d school it wont matter, the extra money can go to a:

- house
- car
- retirement
- practice
- or all of the above
- etc.

Go to the cheaper school.

 

[Regmata]

170k is not an extra year of work to pay off lol...there is interest on that, you pay taxes on your income...if you only paid 250k on that 170k over the course of the loan you would be lucky...now, to make that 250k you need to make roughly 425k due to taxes...on top of that, 100% of your money doesn't go to paying student loans. You guys should really think about the consequences of your borrowing practices. Dental students do not come out of school pulling 200k salaries...loan repayments take up a good bit of your income too. Interest is a bitch, so are taxes...

Boston may be a more exciting city, but have you ever gone out there? A $15 drink there is $4 in Buffalo...and there are plenty of bars in Buffalo and plenty of other things to do...more to do than you will have time for. The education in Buffalo is probably better too. Hell, borrow an extra 2 grand a year and vacation in Boston.

 

[SHC1984]

I would go to the cheaper school in your case...These two schools seem to have similar reputation...I would NOT take out an extra 200K unless I really have a good reason to...

 

[Lurchdubious]

170K difference? i agree with the above. that's a no-brainer.

 

[skyskier]

I am in a similar predicament, although with a smaller price difference (between VCU and Buffalo). I am actually choosing VCU because I know both my wife and I will be a lot happier at VCU. Besides, my wife is a hygienist and will do better in VA. However, if I were in your shoes I would choose Buffalo in a heartbeat. You will really appreciate Buffalo when you are in clinic, have your own chair, and don't have to bribe patients. If the price difference between VCU and Buffalo were 170K, I would choose Buffalo. 170K is a lot of money.

 

[NismoDDS]

Ok, so I was accepted at both BU and U Buffalo, and I really loved both schools. They both have their strengths (amazing city/close to home vs. great clinic/patient pool) and negatives (fighting for a chair in clinic vs. not as exciting of a city), but I find whenever I think about the two schools it always comes down to money. I just cant justify taking out 350k in loans when I can take out about 170k for UB. I really don't want to make a decision solely based on money because theres so many other factors..... but $180,000 is a ridiculous difference. While both schools are amazing and I'm sure I'd be happy at both schools, its too bad that money might completely control my decision. Anyone else running into the same problem?

you dont have to fight for a chair in buffalo, you get your own. And you'll save enough money to buy yourself a Maserati.

 

[Booboohuevos]

I had the same issue. I got into Nova, which is wayyyy cheaper than UPenn is. I just can't justify the immense discrepancy in price tags between the two. And Nova is close to home and not frozen over 🙂.

 

[Regmata]

I had the same issue. I got into Nova, which is wayyyy cheaper than UPenn is. I just can't justify the immense discrepancy in price tags between the two. And Nova is close to home and not frozen over 🙂.

Sometimes a little extra cash might be worth it...

 

[J2theB]

Hey man i too was in the same exact situation, I got into both BU and SUNY Buffalo and loved both but was leanin toward BU. I chose BU and didn't even think about the price or let it influence my decision. Your going to be paying a good deal of money to go to any d-school and your goin to make a whole lot more when you get out. At the end of the day you should go where you really want to, not somewhere because its cheaper. It may suck a lil for that extra few years your paying off debt but you'll thank yourself for it eventually.

 

[ncalcate]

I'm a third year at Buffalo and I grew up right outside of Boston. I even did my undergrad at Tufts. When it came to dental school, there was no way in h*ll that I was going to either Tufts or BU. There was no way I could justify paying the extra $160,000 or so in tuition.

Now that I am actually in clinic and in third year, I've seen a couple of things to validate my decision. First, you start to see exactly how much debt you have. After two years, you can see your loan balance grow... and the amount that you owe becomes real. Don't listen to predents who have no idea how much $160,000 post-tax dollars are or think that you can earn the extra $160,000 in one year. They'll learn quickly once they start to see their loan statements. I've also seen fourth years make their residency/specialty decisions based upon money. Some of them have decided against certain residencies/specialties because of money issues. And these are fourth year students who are graduating with $160,000 in debt from Buffalo, not $320,000 from BU.

Lastly, I can tell you definitively that having your own chair at Buffalo is a huge asset. Clinic is difficult enough - lining up your patients, getting all your burs out, getting the assistant that you like, lining up the faculty that you work best with, etc. - and having to compete for an operatory would be even more stressful. So that is another big consideration for Buffalo.

Hope that helps. Good luck.

 

[Smills91]

I think borrowing money should be the #1 reason when deciding between schools.

 

[SHC1984]

In YOUR case it would have been more wise to choose Penn...Its only 5000 dollars more in tuition each year which is nothing...waaaay more = 100K or more....Plus Penn's reputation makes it WORTH the extra cash! 😉

I had the same issue. I got into Nova, which is wayyyy cheaper than UPenn is. I just can't justify the immense discrepancy in price tags between the two. And Nova is close to home and not frozen over 🙂.

 

[Chrono1984]

The majority of people that argue about going to the more expensive schools are pre-dents.

Go to the cheaper school.

 

[Booboohuevos]

I'm in state, so at Nova I would save on living expenses by living at home. While I'm well aware that Penn is a great school, I'm going to practice in South Florida. So it makes sense to save about 140K and make local connections.

 

[Calculus2008]

I totally agree with you guys in terms of going to the cheaper school, but is it not worth it to pay more to get a better education at a top notch school? Do all dental schools give you the same level of education? 😕

The majority of people that argue about going to the more expensive schools are pre-dents.

Go to the cheaper school.

 

[yourbuddy]

I'm in the exact same position. BU vs UB. I honestly feel as if I'll be happier at BU (home is where the heart is!). But it's really difficult because UB will be cheaper and the clinic/chair issue.

Although UB has more pros than BU, but when it comes down to it.. 4 years of dental school is tough as is, do I really want to go where I might not be content? I wish I can make up my mind already. 🙁

 

[Calculus2008]

What is the difference in tuition between BU and UB? I think if the difference b/w the two is 50,000 or more, you should definitely pick the cheaper school. 👍

I'm in the exact same position. BU vs UB. I honestly feel as if I'll be happier at BU (home is where the heart is!). But it's really difficult because UB will be cheaper and the clinic/chair issue.

Although UB has more pros than BU, but when it comes down to it.. 4 years of dental school is tough as is, do I really want to go where I might not be content? I wish I can make up my mind already. 🙁

 

[gryffindor]

I totally agree with you guys in terms of going to the cheaper school, but is it not worth it to pay more to get a better education at a top notch school? Do all dental schools give you the same level of education? 😕

Yes. All dental schools teach you enough to do basic dentistry without killing your patient. Anything more is up to you to learn when you get out and are seeing 20 patients/day and taking CE courses in areas you want to excel.

Dental school will keep you too busy with classes and labwork to remember that you are not content with the location. Go to UB. You will get plenty of breaks between semesters and during summers to have time to go to whatever cool city you want to recharge before returning to Buffalo for school again.

Repaying loans is a big deal. Every practicing dentist will tell you this. Every predent will tell you the opposite.

I have been out from UB for more than 3 years now, and I am glad I kept my loans down versus choosing to attend one of those private schools that would have gave me the same degree plus some bragging rights at cocktail parties. My classmates all feel the same way - relieved their student loan payments are small each month because the extra money gets spent fast. The extra freedom from school debt has let me live wherever I want after dental school and pursue 3 more years in specialty. The money I saved in educational debt will be put towards practice debt. The debt you obtain from earning your DDS is only a piece of paper that entitles you to take on more debt to buy a practice because that is where you will make the actual income that will support you, your family, and your lifestyle.

 

[TheWiredNerv]

All dental schools will teach you the same stuff. Like most people say, you'll learn all your skills afterwards in residencies, practice etc. I'm goign to the cheapest school I was accepted to and the extra money I am saving can be put towards a house or practice.

 

[mut9ya]

All dental schools will teach you the same stuff. Like most people say, you'll learn all your skills afterwards in residencies, practice etc. I'm goign to the cheapest school I was accepted to and the extra money I am saving can be put towards a house or practice.

I agree. The tuition is a give away and the program is one of the best.

 

[ddhm]

This is a good thread. I recently heard an oral surgeon speak at our school giving advice to predents about how to choose among dental schools. He went to a top-notch state school for his DDS himself, but his choice was more based on location (he wanted to stay in-state) and the affordability of the deposit (he said he was very short on money at the time). Now he's a year or two out of his OMFS residency and in private practice. His biggest single advice regarding how to choose a school, in short? -- Pick the least expensive school that you get into. He said he had the same misconceptions that he sees a lot of us have back when he himself was a predent. For example, even for specializing, he said that going to one school versus another does not have a meaningful impact on your chances of specializing. According to him, it comes down to indvidual performance and determination in the end, not which better-known school you went to. All of the oral surgery attendings and residents he's met over the years were from a wide distribution of dental schools, not just the top big name schools. And the slight ego pump that you get out of deciding to attend a big name school starts to fade pretty quickly beginning day one of classes -- you no longer have those bragging rights among all of your other classmates who can say the same thing. And it all but disappears once you graduate, because everybody who graduates with a DDS/DMD are now your peers of the same professional standing. He said that it sobers you to see those digits on your loan balance grow.

 

[armorshell]

No reason to go to anything but the cheapest school, you're going to get almost exactly the same experience anywhere.

Oh unless of course you're talking about UoP best school in the universe 😀.

 

[lollipop999]

I agree. The tuition is a give away and the program is one of the best.

yep!! see ya there

 

[armorshell]

In YOUR case it would have been more wise to choose Penn...Its only 5000 dollars more in tuition each year which is nothing...waaaay more = 100K or more....Plus Penn's reputation makes it WORTH the extra cash! 😉

Penn is *not* only 5k more per year then Nova, and the reputation of a school's undergrad means nothing in dentistry.

Your patients couldn't care less where you went, and all program directors care about is board scores.

😉

 

[SHC1984]

I checked...Penn's tuition is around 50K a year and Nova's is around 41K so its more like 9K more a year...so 36k MORE total...which is still not THAT BAD for Penn! But since BooBoohevous is from Fl I can see why he choose to stay in Fl....

Penn is *not* only 5k more per year then Nova, and the reputation of a school's undergrad means nothing in dentistry.

Your patients couldn't care less where you went, and all program directors care about is board scores.

😉

 

[armorshell]

I checked...Penn's tuition is around 50K a year and Nova's is around 41K so its more like 9K more a year...so 36k MORE total...which is still not THAT BAD for Penn! 😀

You can't just look at tuition alone. Here are the calculated post-year 4 debt figures for Penn and Nova.

Nova = $280,032
Penn = $374,698

Cost of living, fees, tuition and capitalization are a b*tch.

 

[SHC1984]

😱
I hope Columbia's isn't that high.....I was also accepted to Nova and didn't think the difference would be that MUCH!
But everyone I talked to said I would be crazy to pick Nova over Columbia...

You can't just look at tuition alone. Here are the calculated post-year 4 debt figures for Penn and Nova.

Nova = $280,032
Penn = $374,698

Cost of living, fees, tuition and capitalization are a b*tch.

 

[lollipop999]

Columbia is pretty close... maybe like 30K less..... no matter how you cut the cake that is some $$$$$ to repay.....

thank the Gods for awesome state schools

 

[armorshell]

😱
I hope Columbia's isn't that high.....I was also accepted to Nova and didn't think the difference would be that MUCH!

Assuming nothing has changed since last year, Columbia is 310,000

 

[SHC1984]

I am planning on living in a DORM for the first year or two so that should save some $$$....I never had a loan before so I never thought the interest would be that bad! 🙁

Assuming nothing has changed since last year, Columbia is 310,000

 

[armorshell]

I am planning on living in a DORM for the first year or two so that should save some $$$....I never had a loan before so I never thought the interest would be that bad! 🙁

That number is if you live in the dorms. For all 4 years.

 

[Regmata]

If you looked at the amount of interest you would be paying over the life of the loan it would astound you...

 

[SHC1984]

Live in a dorm my senior year? OMG, I can't imagine that!
Columbia is 30K more then Nova....so its still worth it to go to Columbia right???

That number is if you live in the dorms. For all 4 years.

 

[wigglytooth]

Live in a dorm my senior year? OMG, I can't imagine that!
Columbia is 30K more then Nova....so its still worth it to go to Columbia right???

Do you like Columbia for its name only or do you really like its program better than Nova's? Think about that long and hard and think about if it's worth 30k + living in a dorm. Then you'll have your answer.

 

[UCSF2012]

I liked UB as an institute. The school was nice and very cheap. However, Buffalo, NY was dreadful. I've never been to a more depressing city in my life. I toured as much of the city as I could and went out on what should've been the busiest night to what I was told was the hottest part of the city. I saw empty bars and quiet pubs and thought to myself, "I would be more than miserable here."

This city would be okay for married people, but it's awful for singles. And it may not be so terrible for single men, because we're not on some sort of clock. But I'd imagine it'd be more problematic for single women largely because youth and beauty fades with time. It's not a city where you can easily meet people. It's a city where you'd have to try REALLY hard at it. Boston, however, is the total opposite. It's beyond full of people. There may be other things to consider when choosing between BU and UB. Single women who want a chance of marriage before the age of 26 may consider paying the extra 170k.

 

[Regmata]

I liked UB as an institute. The school was nice and very cheap. However, Buffalo, NY was dreadful. I've never been to a more depressing city in my life. I toured as much of the city as I could and went out on what should've been the busiest night to what I was told was the hottest part of the city. I saw empty bars and quiet pubs and thought to myself, "I would be more than miserable here."

This city would be okay for married people, but it's awful for singles. And it may not be so terrible for single men, because we're not on some sort of clock. But I'd imagine it'd be more problematic for single women largely because youth and beauty fades with time. It's not a city where you can easily meet people. It's a city where you'd have to try REALLY hard at it. Boston, however, is the total opposite. It's beyond full of people. There may be other things to consider when choosing between BU and UB. Single women who want a chance of marriage before the age of 26 may consider paying the extra 170k.

Where did you go? Chippewa on a Friday? You just don't know where to find people...Boston is certainly a better city socially, but don't knock Buffalo b/c you got some bad advice on where to hang out after your interview.

 

[shamrock84]

I am planning on living in a DORM for the first year or two so that should save some $$$....I never had a loan before so I never thought the interest would be that bad! 🙁

if you have a roommate you can live off-campus for the same amount they would charge you for living in a dorm

i live in a two bedroom apartment for 1600 $ but some people found even better deals

 

[Calculus2008]

Who did you talk to? pre-dents, or dental students and dentists?

😱
But everyone I talked to said I would be crazy to pick Nova over Columbia...

 

[small]

Man, I wish I could remember the name of the networking site or find the link to it here on SDN again. There's this site out there that has a division called Dental City or something; it's a networking site for professionals. Someone asked this same question there and I swear that 29 out of 30 posters (I assume dentists but have no way of really knowing) said go cheap go cheap go cheap. I think there's something about the word "cheap" that throws people off. "Go to the least expensive school" (or "go to my alma mater") seems to be the most common advice from working dentists.

 

[Regmata]

dentaltown.com

 

[armorshell]

Man, I wish I could remember the name of the networking site or find the link to it here on SDN again. There's this site out there that has a division called Dental City or something; it's a networking site for professionals. Someone asked this same question there and I swear that 29 out of 30 posters (I assume dentists but have no way of really knowing) said go cheap go cheap go cheap. I think there's something about the word "cheap" that throws people off. "Go to the least expensive school" (or "go to my alma mater") seems to be the most common advice from working dentists.

It's called www.dentaltown.com. If you're not already a member you should be joining.

 

[UCSF2012]

Where did you go? Chippewa on a Friday? You just don't know where to find people...Boston is certainly a better city socially, but don't knock Buffalo b/c you got some bad advice on where to hang out after your interview.

That's one of the places I went to, yes. I was in Buffalo for 3 days, and I toured as much of the city as I could, in every local neighborhood I could. So what would be good advice? What would be the hot parts of town? I'll gladly revisit the city, because going to that school'd save me many tens of thousands of dollars over SF.

 

[armorshell]

😱
I hope Columbia's isn't that high.....I was also accepted to Nova and didn't think the difference would be that MUCH!
But everyone I talked to said I would be crazy to pick Nova over Columbia...

Haha, not sure who you're talking to that would say something like that. Every dentist (including several oral surgeons, orthodontists and other various specialists) told me to go to the cheapest school I got into, except for the ones that told me if I got into UoP I should just throw all of my other acceptances into the trash.