Student debt and specializing

[2thDoc11]

There has been a lot of discussion about Dental student debt and where to attend. Some say if your only option is Midwestern or NYU, then you should wait another year and reapply. My question is, does it make a difference if you end up specializing? is 500k of debt more daunting to a general practitioner then an endodontist or omfs? I know regardless that it is a lot of money but was just curious..

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[NJ_Doc]

well a general dentist can start paying off the 500K as soon as four years, compared to to the 2-4 years of specializing without making payments while accruing interest on 500k which is not cheap. I guess what you're asking is 500k better for a general dentist or OMFS? obviously a specialist will have more earning potential but 500k is still 500k...

Just for fun I put it in a calculator. 500k at 4.5%(which is very generous) for a 15yr loan: $688,493.69 if you start paying as soon as you graduate or 781,440.41 if you pay after taking a 2 year specialty residency. I guess it's up to the individual if an extra 100k makes a difference.

 

[Ach05]

I think it’s also good to know that not all dental residencies are paid. Very few endo residencies are paid from what I know. You actually have to do the paying.

 

[AppalachianDentalBoy]

I wouldn’t go to dental school if I didn’t get into my state school or a school that gave IS tuition after one year.

 

[deleted903013]

500k is way too much for dental school and don't count on specializing to justify it either.

 

[Dr.Deadpool97]

500k price tag is nothing for your dream and honestly its not too much relatively to a dentist salary which is 200k on average ( of course if you are willing to work in rural areas that would be higher and same lower in large popular cities). of course this a personal idea but I cant justify my decision for the rest of my life that I didnt pay the price of my dream.

 

[deleted903013]

500k price tag is nothing for your dream and honestly its not too much relatively to a dentist salary which is 200k on average

Actually, according to US News and World Report, the average dentist salary in 2018 was $151,000. More realistically, you will graduate with 500k or more compounding debt and only making about 120k which makes covering the interest alone challenging. If you do go rural (big if since most don't), you might make 150k as an associate or a little more but that still won't be enough to make a sizable dent in that debt load. You'll need to go into practice ownership to tackle that debt which, when its all said and done, could net you over a million dollars in debt. Not trying to crush any dreams, but I just want to give a more realistic perspective.

 

[Bigjt1420]

500k price tag is nothing for your dream and honestly its not too much relatively to a dentist salary which is 200k on average ( of course if you are willing to work in rural areas that would be higher and same lower in large popular cities). of course this a personal idea but I cant justify my decision for the rest of my life that I didnt pay the price of my dream.

150K Salary* — $40K in taxes — 30K In living expenses — $35K a year for loan interest = $45K a year MAX paying toward your principle. So, yes, you CAN pay off $500K in loans as a dentist, but it’s going to take you over a decade of living frugally.

Now think of maybe wanting to save for a house, to save for the kids’ college fund, to pay for the new car you’ll need every 10 years, for just general life unexpected things that pop up....all this adds up quick and it makes it very difficult.

So no, 500K is not JUST 500K. It’s absolutely an insane amount of money and no person should justify going to a school for 500K for the *exact* same degree as someone going to one for $250K. (Even then, 250K is a crazy amount of money but it is much more manageable)

 

[Dr.Deadpool97]

Being a year out of school to get into a IS means 150k dollars delay in your income itself. 250+150=400, still its not 500k but i would rather to become a dentist asap and pay that extra 100k which it only gonna take me two extra years to pay it back than waiting in full stress for one extra year. Of course its still to much but it depends on how passionate are you about your dream, If its only about money go to the business school.

 

[AppalachianDentalBoy]

Being a year out of school to get into a IS means 150k dollars delay in your income itself. 250+150=400, still its not 500k but i would rather to become a dentist asap and pay that extra 100k which it only gonna take me two extra years to pay it back than waiting in full stress for one extra year. Of course its still to much but it depends on how passionate are you about your dream, If its only about money go to the business school.

At 7% interest it takes about 23.5 years of paying 35k a year to pay off 400k. For the same rate and yearly payment it's under 11 for the state school. Absolutely worth it to wait a year.

If you pay 50k a year towards the 400 with interest it's still over 12 years compared to 6.5 years. I'd rather be putting 6x50k or 12x35k towards retirement or a mortgage.

 

[AppalachianDentalBoy]

Not a drag on you op but more of complaint about this forum. everyone on sdn acts like they're god's gift to their dental school. be humble and wait to see if you can even specialize, realistically most of us will not. don't be that future ortho/oms guy who is loud and annoying about it and then ranks too low.

 

[2thDoc11]

Not a drag on you op but more of complaint about this forum. everyone on sdn acts like they're god's gift to their dental school. be humble and wait to see if you can even specialize, realistically most of us will not. don't be that future ortho/oms guy who is loud and annoying about it and then ranks too low.

I agree and definitely don’t think I’m gods gift but I do know that’s where my interest lies for different reasons I don’t wanna get into.. I also think that it is very rare for people to just fall into a specialty without having that mindset of achieving it.. yes don’t just expect it to just happen and definitely don’t be that loud guy but I can’t go into school thinking that I can’t achieve my goals and I shouldn’t get my hopes up.. I like to think I’m more of the quiet and humble go getter and I don’t plan on telling anyone in my class my goals due to what you mentioned above. I don’t want people getting the wrong idea. I also know that my interest and goals can change as I get new perspectives and learn more

 

[2TH MVR]

OP. If you are not competitive enough to get into a reasonably priced DS .... what makes you think you will be competitive enough to get into a popular specialty residency?

 

[FutureD25]

OP. If you are not competitive enough to get into a reasonably priced DS .... what makes you think you will be competitive enough to get into a popular specialty residency?

To be fair study habits change, maybe they find a way to be the top of their class during DS, and DAT just wasn’t the best (which is a standardized test and everyone has bad days) so I don’t think you can just say they wouldn’t be able to specialize without knowing anything.

 

[09mileproof]

There has been a lot of discussion about Dental student debt and where to attend. Some say if your only option is Midwestern or NYU, then you should wait another year and reapply. My question is, does it make a difference if you end up specializing? is 500k of debt more daunting to a general practitioner then an endodontist or omfs? I know regardless that it is a lot of money but was just curious..

Hey!! Do you mind if I PM you?

 

[S_Diamond_DDS]

You’re jumping the gun here. Nevertheless, despite popular opinion on sdn, if you do the (Semi)simple math: Average Starting dentist salary (Or dental specialist) - your living expenses - monthly loan payments (On track to be paid back in 15-20 years with a 7% interest rate) = more than enough money to live comfortably and contribute to a savings account for retirement and that’s without adjusting for average salary increase over 15-20 years and in a scenario where 100% of your loan money came from PLUS loans.

 

[09mileproof]

yea of course!

It doesn't allow me for some reason. I just want to give you my two cents, based on my experience but not here. Privacy issues

 

[S_Diamond_DDS]

Yea for me personally, it's the unknown variable of living expenses.. I'm 23 and currently have no debt or car payments.. Just paying for rent/utilities, insurance and of course food and that sort of stuff. By the time I'd start my career, I would be around 29ish or 33ish depending on the scenario.. Who knows what else I would acquire around that time.. I know what I can live off of personally but I may be married and expecting a child by that time.. LOL who knows

All this stuff can be looked up. Google is your friend. Average cost to raise a child per year * X, avg cost of rent/house payment in your dream city, avg car payment for dream car, insurance costs, savings, and then you define how much you want for your monthly expenditures for food, leisure, etc. Do the math, we can’t do it for you.

 

[Pablo Sanchez]

There has been a lot of discussion about Dental student debt and where to attend. Some say if your only option is Midwestern or NYU, then you should wait another year and reapply. My question is, does it make a difference if you end up specializing? is 500k of debt more daunting to a general practitioner then an endodontist or omfs? I know regardless that it is a lot of money but was just curious..

This isn't as straight forward of a question as you are making it seem. It depends on a multitude of factors. What is someone doing in their year off while reapplying? Are they working? How much are they making? What is the payback plan of the dentist or dental specialist? If a general dentist graduates $500k in debt, lives with their parents off of rice and beans for 5 years and pays off the debt, they'll pay much less than an OMFS who lets interest accrue on $500k in loans during residency, gets married and has kids during residency, and graduates living a lavish life while supporting their family. What is the interest rate? Interest accrues quickly, and if you delay paying back the loan while in residency, that is less time that you are giving your own investments to accrue interest. Are you planning for a global pandemic to happen after you graduate, forcing you to close your doors, and decreasing your income?

The gist of it is, nobody can predict the future. Your best bet, regardless of what route you choose, is to limit your debts and pay off your loans ASAP.