First of all, I know money is not everything, second of all I am not a cheap skate. I (as I'm sure most other future dental students) want to make an educated decision on my future investment (aka dental education)
Highly exaggerated? I think not. I would say my original figures were more conservative than liberal. See for yourself.
Straight from NYU's website:
http://www.nyu.edu/dental/financialservices/tuitionfeesexpensesdds.html
From Temple's website:
http://www.temple.edu/bursar/about/tuitionrates.htm The cost of living isnt factored in here, but you can assume less than NYC (or the same, if you'd like). Someone please correct me if I'm wrong here.
Do the math, numbers don't lie. We're not talking 30-40K (which
in my opinion is negligible when comparing tuition). In the end its your decision, and yours alone, but there are a bunch of factors that you should be mindful of.
Like I said, money isn't everything, but it is a huge part of our every day lives. Do you really want to be stressed out AFTER you finish arduous dental studies to make sure that you are making enough to cover loan payments, rent/mortgage, insurance, car payments, utilities/bills etc and have a little left over for savings?
In the end, whichever route you chose will lead you to become a dentist. But its for you to decide how you'll go about it. Just my two cents, good luck to everyone!