The best bang for your buck in dental schools

[Jordan1671]

Hi, I've heard that dental schools are no different from each other with the exception of costs - and I assume location, which affects living costs. Yet, I've talked to a different dentist that graduated from Loyola back when it had a dental school that dental schools are different and pointed to his own school which was known for a certain specialization. I'm also under the impression that you're not supposed to have a set idea whether you want to specialize or not, so the main goal in applying is to just be a general dentist for now, and see whether you grow into a specialization later.

So I have a bunch of conflicting views and would like someone further in the track or have more experience to decipher which is correct and which is false because I don't want to join a dental school and regret paying too much or regret going to a better suited school.

Also on a separate, but similar topic - Is there any link or recommendations for dental schools that gets the best bang for your buck? I'm an Illinois resident and the dental school at University of Illinois at Chicago seemed reasonably priced, but I was wondering if there are other dental schools that may offer more for a similar price.

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[PostDocCain]

Long story short NO ONE CARES what dental school you go to.

The goal should always be to attend the --->CHEAPEST<--- school when

 

[MedDevil]

Long story short NO ONE CARES what dental school you go to.

The goal should always be to attend the --->CHEAPEST<--- school when

I disagree. If you don't feel comfortable with a school, no matter the price, you shouldn't attend.

 

[gn4]

I disagree. If you don't feel comfortable with a school, no matter the price, you shouldn't attend.

it'd be miserable staying four years at a school you don't like just because it was cheaper.

 

[DancingBull]

Miserable for 4 years or 50-100k + interest?

 

[toothexplore]

Long story short NO ONE CARES what dental school you go to.

The goal should always be to attend the --->CHEAPEST<--- school when

a good option, but don't forget that the more clinical experience you get in school, the less time you'll have to spend in training at a GPR or assistant job

 

[Mr. Thirsty]

Clinical skills in school are important, but talk to any dentist and they will tell you that dental school is just the tip of the iceberg whenever it comes to dental training. The majority of your experience comes from outside of dental school after you graduate. With that being said, the clinical competency of a school does matter, but you need to gauge the price tag difference too... 10k extra per semester is 42,800 extra on the day you graduate, and once it capitalizes and accumulates interest throughout your 15 year repayment plan it turns into ~80K depending on the interest rate. That's probably the most miniscule of difference in tuition that we can talk about. Lets say you attend a school that costs 250k vs a school that costs 150K. The 250k is actually 260k when you graduate and will cost you ~480,000 if you choose the 15 year repayment plan, with monthly payments of ~2400. The 150k school is 160k at graduation, and is worth ~223,000 if paid in the 10 year repayment plan, or 283,000 if you do a 15 year repayment plan with payments around 1400/month. The difference between the choosing the school with 150k tuition versus 250K tuition is around 250k in salary...that's not chump change!

 

[sgv]

I disagree. If you don't feel comfortable with a school, no matter the price, you shouldn't attend.

That's what my predent self said too. But dental school is incredibly short term (4 years). Your loan repayment could last you anywhere from 5 years to +20 years You're going to spend more time in loan repayment than in dental school. You don't want to mess with high interest loans on a principal of several hundred thousand dollars. You wouldn't do this with buying a car, a house, a dental practice, or anything else. Why do it for dental school? Since you have no choice but to use high interest loans for paying for dental school, minimize how sucky this forced hand will be. Dental schools can brag about all the nifty BS they have to offer during those four years but they'll never talk to you about the what happens to YOUR lifestyle and YOUR bank account after you borrow loans for their school. Your life after dental school is a lot longer and has more potential for enjoyment than your life during dental school. Remember: dental school is only a means to an end. This is coming from someone who wanted to specialize before even going to dental school and I turned down those schools with nice names and specializing rates. Somedays, I wish I had gone to that school with no letter grades but at the end of the day, I know I'll have less debt to hinder my more important goals related to my family life.

PS: be grateful you'll be in dental school and become a dentist but dental schools nowadays don't teach s**t. Some schools are even cutting down on case requirements as well. That's why CE, GPR, AEGD, associateships, and etc. exist. Use your money on these things.

 

[lwen5]

That's what my predent self said too. But dental school is incredibly short term (4 years). Your loan repayment could last you anywhere from 5 years to +20 years You're going to spend more time in loan repayment than in dental school. You don't want to mess with high interest loans on a principal of several hundred thousand dollars. You wouldn't do this with buying a car, a house, a dental practice, or anything else. Why do it for dental school? Since you have no choice but to use high interest loans for paying for dental school, minimize how sucky this forced hand will be. Dental schools can brag about all the nifty BS they have to offer during those four years but they'll never talk to you about the what happens to YOUR lifestyle and YOUR bank account after you borrow loans for their school. Your life after dental school is a lot longer and has more potential for enjoyment than your life during dental school. Remember: dental school is only a means to an end. This is coming from someone who wanted to specialize before even going to dental school and I turned down those schools with nice names and specializing rates. Somedays, I wish I had gone to that school with no letter grades but at the end of the day, I know I'll have less debt to hinder my more important goals related to my family life.

PS: be grateful you'll be in dental school and become a dentist but dental schools nowadays don't teach s**t. Some schools are even cutting down on case requirements as well. That's why CE, GPR, AEGD, associateships, and etc. exist. Use your money on these things.

Absolutely agree with above. I think the first and foremost criteria is to pick among the cheapest schools. Then among the cheapest schools maybe clinical strength and proximity to home are the next closest. Honestly unless your going to a school known to have serious problems (read USC, NOVA) there isn't really much to expect from a dental school except that DDS diploma at the end of 4 years.

 

[Mr. Thirsty]

That's what my predent self said too. But dental school is incredibly short term (4 years). Your loan repayment could last you anywhere from 5 years to +20 years You're going to spend more time in loan repayment than in dental school. You don't want to mess with high interest loans on a principal of several hundred thousand dollars. You wouldn't do this with buying a car, a house, a dental practice, or anything else. Why do it for dental school? Since you have no choice but to use high interest loans for paying for dental school, minimize how sucky this forced hand will be. Dental schools can brag about all the nifty BS they have to offer during those four years but they'll never talk to you about the what happens to YOUR lifestyle and YOUR bank account after you borrow loans for their school. Your life after dental school is a lot longer and has more potential for enjoyment than your life during dental school. Remember: dental school is only a means to an end. This is coming from someone who wanted to specialize before even going to dental school and I turned down those schools with nice names and specializing rates. Somedays, I wish I had gone to that school with no letter grades but at the end of the day, I know I'll have less debt to hinder my more important goals related to my family life.

PS: be grateful you'll be in dental school and become a dentist but dental schools nowadays don't teach s**t. Some schools are even cutting down on case requirements as well. That's why CE, GPR, AEGD, associateships, and etc. exist. Use your money on these things.

This is right on...250k or 300k for dental school sounds very manageable when you glance over it. It's easy to think "that's only a few years of payback on a 120k salary." But with time, interest and fees the payback is nowhere near the initial principal balance...Interest is a concept many of us haven't had to deal with coming right out of undergrad. If you find yourself deciding between 2 different schools, make sure that you sit down and due a true financial analysis between the two choices and think about where you want to be in 6-7 years.

 

[Screwtape]

Southern illinois is by far your cheapest option. UIC is expensive for instate. There are other schools around the same COA as UIC for you.

 

[Jordan1671]

Thank you everyone. I didn't expect such a thorough response. I believe I will prioritize my dental schools according to price and then clinicals, which I haven't thought of until it was mentioned. Thanks again for saving me years.

 

[sgv]

Yay! We made it to the "thread of the day" on SDN's twitter account!

 

[sgv]

To give a real answer though. Besides your state school, that is if you live in a state that subsidizes tuition copiously (i.e. Texas schools, Stony Brook, LSU, UNC, WVU, Alabama, ECU, and etc.), the best school as an out of stater is UConn. You get in state tuition after first year. In state tuition is pretty cheap. Housing is kind of cheap. Grading is pass fail. You get medical school curriculum for you OMSers.

 

[prehealthstudent69]

Long story short NO ONE CARES what dental school you go to.

The goal should always be to attend the --->CHEAPEST<--- school when

If this is true, why wouldn't people just apply to the cheapest schools?

 

[Troyvdg]

If this is true, why wouldn't people just apply to the cheapest schools?

inexpensive does not mean they're easy to get accepted to...

 

[Papasmurf1234]

In my opinion, the school you go to does matters depending on what you want to do. Many people on this board seem to only care about going to the "cheapest" school. While that is a good thing in terms of keeping your loans down, consider this before you decide.

If all you are looking to do is practice as a general dentist after dental school then the school you graduated from will most likely have a minimal effect on your career (although some may choose a dentist that went to a more "prestigious" school, most of the general public doesn't care when it comes to choosing their provider).
If you are looking to specialize, some schools have higher specialization rates than others (for example, Pittsburgh gets about 50% of their class into specialties). Now, i'm not saying it's impossible to specialize by going to a school with lower specialization rates, but there is a reason why more students from certain schools get chosen over others.
If you are looking to teach (i.e. get PhD), then I would most certainly go to the most "prestigious" school. Whether people want to believe it or not, dental schools still have an invisible ranking. Of course it's not officiated by any organization, but there is a general perception that some schools are harder to get in than others. Also, just take a look at faculty members at various colleges. Most of these professors graduated from UCSF, Harvard, UOP, etc - all very well established and well known schools.

 

[aqz]

In my opinion, the school you go to does matters depending on what you want to do. Many people on this board seem to only care about going to the "cheapest" school. While that is a good thing in terms of keeping your loans down, consider this before you decide.

If all you are looking to do is practice as a general dentist after dental school then the school you graduated from will most likely have a minimal effect on your career (although some may choose a dentist that went to a more "prestigious" school, most of the general public doesn't care when it comes to choosing their provider).
If you are looking to specialize, some schools have higher specialization rates than others (for example, Pittsburgh gets about 50% of their class into specialties). Now, i'm not saying it's impossible to specialize by going to a school with lower specialization rates, but there is a reason why more students from certain schools get chosen over others.
If you are looking to teach (i.e. get PhD), then I would most certainly go to the most "prestigious" school. Whether people want to believe it or not, dental schools still have an invisible ranking. Of course it's not officiated by any organization, but there is a general perception that some schools are harder to get in than others. Also, just take a look at faculty members at various colleges. Most of these professors graduated from UCSF, Harvard, UOP, etc - all very well established and well known schools.

To add on, it's really all about perspective.

There is this notion that choosing to go into specialties, research, academia is somehow more prestigious than going into GP. That leads to somehow this ranking that some schools are more prestigious than others because some schools are more oriented towards one side or the other. In the end, it's not about the prestige nor the rank, but rather what you want out of all of it. Choose the school that will fit what you want to pursue.

But hey, if prestige is what you want, you got it. My man Jesus says it best. Matthew 6:2 - Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

 

[Papasmurf1234]

To add on, it's really all about perspective.

There is this notion that choosing to go into specialties, research, academia is somehow more prestigious than going into GP. That leads to somehow this ranking that some schools are more prestigious than others because some schools are more oriented towards one side or the other. In the end, it's not about the prestige nor the rank, but rather what you want out of all of it. Choose the school that will fit what you want to pursue.

But hey, if prestige is what you want, you got it. My man Jesus says it best. Matthew 6:2 - Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

I like how you totally busted out the bible for your post you're like my dad

 

[aqz]

I like how you totally busted out the bible for your post you're like my dad

I hope that's the only thing that reminds me of your dad lol anyways I might get persecuted for doing so, but I always try to bust out a little Jesus when I get a chance. He deserves some more loving for speaking nothin' but the truth 😉