Subsidized loans do not accrue interest while in school. Unsubsidized and Plus loans accrue interest while still in school, if interest remains unpaid before begining payment at the end of school deferment the interest is capitalized. These loans have standard repayment options of 10, 20, or 30 years. The longer the repayment period, the lower the monthly payment but larger gross amount repaid. For a 10 year repayment of federal loans 200k in debt will require about a 2k monthly payment. Interest amotizes monthly. The monthly payment pays interest first then principle.
If you work in the US then 2k per month net after taxes will likely require at least 3-3.5k gross before taxes to make the payment. Add on additional income for luxury items such as food, rent, gas, insurance, lifestyle, etc. Do a budget before you take your first job with a similar multiplier for gross to net conversion.
Paying more than the monthly required payment remains unclear to me- I've heard you may need to call the servicer to have the excess applied to principle. I've also heard that no call is necessary, they carry the balance forward to pay future interest as it accrues or might just apply it directly to principle immediately without the phone call.
I'm not a foreign student but most of the students I know don't pay down interest while in school but in theory you could pay interest and/or principle while in school. Private loans usually have less student friendly terms than non-private loans in terms of interest and repayment options. All student loans could potentially be consolidated into a single loan refinancing after graduation. 200k for dental school seems in range for typical dental student at graduation from dental school.
