NYU vs. 1 year Master's

If I could get in-state tuition at another school, and taking the year off wouldn't be too much financially, then I would do it. If you are worried about NYU's program, don't be. I think they've really turned things around as of late, just look at the dental economics article for further reference? I mean the Mercer group, invisalign, etc?.they?re heading in the right direction IMO.

 

to Speter:

Just like Zurich said, the only schools worth deferring one year for would be Buffalo or Stony since you are a New Yorker.

All the other private schools will not offer you much savings than if you went NYU right away-- With the tuition for the masters, you will pay as much as going straight to NYU if you go to Columbia, Tufts or BU after getting the MS.

Oh... And don't forget to add your living expenses to the cost of the MS program when you move down to New Orleans.

And even then I'm not sure if I want to defer for Buffalo or Stony, because even if you have kick-ass grades you are not guaranteed to get into Stony, and you might end up hating Buffalo if you are used to the fast-paced life of NYC.

HTH!

 

Speter-have you not heard from Columbia yet?

 

dude, that sux. i thought everyone gets put on the waitlist, but i guess not. if you got into nyu, go there. i think all the schools are the same-its really what you make of it. good luck man. its not worth waiting another year.

 

I've heard that admissions people don't like to see that you were offered a dental education and then refused it to reapply the next year. It's disrespectful to those schools and others might look down on you for it.

Additionally, if you aren't appearing dedicated to dentistry, perhaps that is why you were not offered a position at a better school? Just some thoughts... I personally would not like to go to NYU and might ask this question myself. But I really want to be a dentist so if it's the only place I got in, and knowing that others might look down on me for passing it up, I would probably take it.

Maybe you could withdraw your application and then you won't technically have been accepted?

Cheers,
Marshall

 

I would go to any school in your hypothetical situation, which until very recently was somewhat similar to my situation due to a late application.

I don't think tuition should be as much of a deterrent as you might perceive for two reasons,one, as people have already pointed out, most private schools cost about the same with a few exceptions. In fact the only exception on your list is Temple. Buffalo will offer you significant savings tuition wise since you are a resident of NY. The bigger point as to why tuition isn't as big of a factor is that you are losing around $110k (with 4 years of inflation) in earnings during that first year you be be practicing during. That might be around $70K after taxes. So you'd have to save $17.5k per year to make it worthwhile. Add to that the $30k that your grad school will cost you and you need to save $25k a year to compensate for not going to dental school this year. Few schools have an estimated budget of less than $50,000 a year anymore and you'd have to narrow your choices down to those schools if make the decision to wait a year solely for reasons of cost. Another thing to consider is that getting out of dental school a year earlier can make pursuing a specialty more palatable, and/or it can help you have an extra year of partying with your resources before having to devote those to setting up a family. If you consider a fixed working span of 30 years, then it gives you the opportunity to retire earlier or if have in mind a certain age to retire at it gives you an extra year of income when your practice is making the most money. This number can be quite sizable. Also keep in mind that savings grow exponentially, so whatever yo save that first year will be worth a lot at the end of your career.

 

I have a friend in a program similar to this, right now, and he seems pretty happy with it. If I?m not mistaken, I think these are generally used as stepping stones for med school. If you are considering other fields, then a year off may be your best bet. It will give you time to decide if dentistry is truly what you want to do, and save you a ton of money in the process.