The Most Ridiculously Expensive Dental Schools Thread

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Im mostly talking about state schools. Honestly private schools are outside the bounds of reality.

Remember that dentist from Dave Ramsey who graduated with 480k? Thats 4 years ago.
 
For me, my husband will support our family while I'm in dental school, then after I will take over my dad's practice and give him an "allowance" when he retires, assuming I can get accepted somewhere...hoping to pay off the loans within two years by contributing 100% of my income each year. I'm 30 years old this year, so really hoping to get in this cycle and not have to reapply :nailbiting: no time to waste!
 
veelici0us said:
For me, my husband will support our family while I'm in dental school, then after I will take over my dad's practice and give him an "allowance" when he retires, assuming I can get accepted somewhere...hoping to pay off the loans within two years by contributing to 100% of my income each year. I'm 30 years old this year, so really hoping to get in this cycle and not have to reapply :nailbiting: no time to waste!
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Dang that's a pretty nice situation. I wish I had a significant other with money haha.
 
Fets said:
Dang that's a pretty nice situation. I wish I had a significant other with money haha.
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My dad wants to retire soon, so I'm under so much pressure to get in! I really don't want to have to apply a second time...
 
Fets said:
Is your family going to move with you to wherever you might get in?
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Yes, my husband works from home so we can move wherever. Unfortunately, we just bought a house this year so we will have to sell it depending where I'm accepted. Our rent was about 3,000 a month for a 2 bedroom + den so might as well pay a mortgage and have more space for the kids in the suburbs.
 
Incis0r said:
I don't think anything can beat the HPSP you've got there, my friend. That's the golden ticket right there. And you've earned it with your merit!!!

You've got:
  • 1) Fully paid for dental education at a top-tier school (Michigan)
  • 2) $30,000/yr pre-tax stipend/pay for living expenses.
  • 3) An awesome $20,000 sign-on bonus coming your way
  • 4) A GUARANTEED JOB that pays $100,000/yr starting out with so many benefits....free medical/dental, free flights, tons of discounts, etc.
  • 5) A FULFILLING JOB treating the service members protecting this country.
  • 6) The ability to TRAVEL around the world after dental school.

I reckon that's the finest situation I've seen.
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Very true - I'm grateful for my situation. Not everyone can have the scholarship, and it's nice to not have to worry about debt.

There are a lot of other lucky people out there too - spouses who support their dental schooling, people who have practices to take over, and those with other scholarships.

There's a lot for all of us to be thankful for, even if it's a single dental school acceptance for some.
 
Fets said:
Very true - I'm grateful for my situation. Not everyone can have the scholarship, and it's nice to not have to worry about debt.

There are a lot of other lucky people out there too - spouses who support their dental schooling, people who have practices to take over, and those with other scholarships.

There's a lot for all of us to be thankful for, even if it's a single dental school acceptance for some.
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Congrats again!
 
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veelici0us said:
Yes, my husband works from home so we can move wherever. Unfortunately, we just bought a house this year so we will have to sell it depending where I'm accepted. Our rent was about 3,000 a month for a 2 bedroom + den so might as well pay a mortgage and have more space for the kids in the suburbs.
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Best of luck with this cycle! Selling the house will probably be an afterthought once you're into a school. I'm sure it will be an adventure wherever you end up.
 
Man I was hoping these threads would deal with all those folks being nonchalant about a school thats is 300k versus a school that is 400k.

Scary thing? Some people still think going to the school they like more is worth 100k.
 
Likkriue said:
Man I was hoping these threads would deal with all those folks being nonchalant about a school thats is 300k versus a school that is 400k.

Scary thing? Some people still think going to the school they like more is worth 100k.
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I think some people just truly don't realize the numbers. Even on SDN. Outside of SDN it's worse.
 
Fets said:
I think some people just truly don't realize the numbers. Even on SDN. Outside of SDN it's worse.
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Real life everyone i've met are going for ortho and omfs where you take on even more debt. Scary thing is they are so sure they are going into those 2 fields never-mind the enormous debt.
 
Likkriue said:
Real life everyone i've met are going for ortho and omfs where you take on even more debt. Scary thing is they are so sure they are going into those 2 fields never-mind the enormous debt.
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Yeah I think I met more "future" ortho and OMFSers than people interested in general dentistry. One of the dental students who I interviewed with joked about that with me for about half of our interview.
 
Fets said:
Yeah I think I met more "future" ortho and OMFSers than people interested in general dentistry. One of the dental students who I interviewed with joked about that with me for about half of our interview.
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Yeah its crazy. Its like, D-school is for general dentistry. Gotta get through that first. Oh and speak of the devil, an ortho thread appears.
 
Likkriue said:
Yeah its crazy. Its like, D-school is for general dentistry. Gotta get through that first. Oh and speak of the devil, an ortho thread appears.
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Like you mentioned as well, specialties mean more debt. Just tack 200k onto dental school debt like no big deal...
 
Fets said:
Yeah I think I met more "future" ortho and OMFSers than people interested in general dentistry. One of the dental students who I interviewed with joked about that with me for about half of our interview.
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People can talk all they want, but reality has a way of asserting itself. Thats definitely one of my biggest pet peeves too, people need to relax.
 
Likkriue said:
Yeah its crazy. Its like, D-school is for general dentistry. Gotta get through that first. Oh and speak of the devil, an ortho thread appears.
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Where?? Link please?
 
Fets said:
I'm sure once the exams kick in a lot of people will second guess their specializing aspirations.
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It does. I was even talking to a classmate today who started crying because she failed a test and by the end of the conversation, she decided that she was just going to focus on being a general dentist and give up on her goals of being specialist.

Whether she sticks to that plan or not, I'm not sure. But it is definitely stressful to try and maintain an A on everything.
 
umbtoothfairy said:
There is no reason for the rate of increase at most schools. A classmate shared this document with our class last year. She is pretty passionate about student debt. The debt has gone from a luxury car to a fairly nice family house. It's outrageous

http://www.adea.org/publications/tde/documents/allpredoctoralstudentdebttuitiongraphs.pdf
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Folks should see this average debt load and then asks themselves are they really going foot the bill for a 400k school alone. Consider this: there's nearly nobody doing the 400k ( 2010 - TWO percent)

There's as many as 5500 matriculating dental students, so even the generous military and nhsc scholarship can cover about 5% of the population (and I'd say about another half of that isnt full 4 yr scholarships). So look at the average indebtness and multiple by 1.05

As you can see some still things don't add the **** up.

The number of scholarships out there pale in comparison to the generosity of families out there. Although ADEA don't publish these data, AAMC does and shows that a majority of medical school enrolles come from very wealthy families (no surprise there).

So next time someone asks "is this dental school worth 400k" consider that only a small minority is actually footing the bill for that amount.

So don't look at everyone else and say, " well things will be fine. Little Billy and Mary is doing it too". Hell no. Billy's dad is a surgeon and Mary's mom is a lawyer. Those are the assumptions you need to make. As cruel as it sounds, if you aren't privilege then you have to accept the reality that it is your responsibility to avoid this mess. You will be trying to catch up to people in their BMW with a horse-driven carriage.
 
distressstudent said:
Folks should see this average debt load and then asks themselves are they really going foot the bill for a 400k school alone. Consider this: there's nearly nobody doing the 400k ( 2010 - TWO percent)

There's as many as 5500 matriculating dental students, so even the generous military and nhsc scholarship can cover about 5% of the population (and I'd say about another half of that isnt full 4 yr scholarships). So look at the average indebtness and multiple by 1.05

As you can see some still things don't add the **** up.

The number of scholarships out there pale in comparison to the generosity of families out there. Although ADEA don't publish these data, AAMC does and shows that a majority of medical school enrolles come from very wealthy families (no surprise there).

So next time someone asks "is this dental school worth 400k" consider that only a small minority is actually footing the bill for that amount.

So don't look at everyone else and say, " well things will be fine. Little Billy and Mary is doing it too". Hell no. Billy's dad is a surgeon and Mary's mom is a lawyer. Those are the assumptions you need to make. As cruel as it sounds, if you aren't privilege then you have to accept the reality that it is your responsibility to avoid this mess. You will be trying to catch up to people in their BMW with a horse-driven carriage.
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Truth. This is something a lot of groups discuss and same girl brings up ALL THE TIME. It is a major issue
 
Sorry for the double post, but to continue: it is proven health care workers generally work in the population they are most used to. Thus a minority applicant and later doctor who grew up in an under-served area will be much more likely to work there than someone who grew up in an affluent population.
So debt honestly minimizing the applicant pool drastically and has the potential to reduce those we actually provide care to.
 
*double post sorry*
 
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umbtoothfairy said:
There is no reason for the rate of increase at most schools. A classmate shared this document with our class last year. She is pretty passionate about student debt. The debt has gone from a luxury car to a fairly nice family house. It's outrageous

http://www.adea.org/publications/tde/documents/allpredoctoralstudentdebttuitiongraphs.pdf
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Wow... I saw that document. What the hell?! That just pisses me off! It really makes me mad when people line their pockets with students' money. That's what I think is unethical about the costs dental schools. Like honestly, some of these schools are charging 500k for a piece of paper!! That is a BIG house in MOST areas in the country!

Those who were born 20 years ago hit the lottery. In 1996, the average indebtedness for an in-state school was $92,000 (and yes that number is adjusted for inflation). Schools cost that much or more per YEAR now.
 
Likkriue said:
I don't know how to feel about students applying 4 years from now.
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Hopefully the federal government puts a limit on how much money schools can charge in the near future. Good hell, why have students been silent on this for so long? We are just rolling over and letting this happen to ourselves? In a perfect world, students would be petitioning about this, getting our local congressman involved, going "strikes" at schools, etc until this gets changed. This level of debt is unreal.
 
Incis0r said:
I am passionate about reducing student loan debt, Panis. I respect you for your efforts too.

But I'm not going to vote for the federal government to gain the powers to restrict how much private businesses (dental schools) can charge for their services. That sets up a dangerous precedent that I will vote no to every single time.

Now, if you want to cap how much federal loans the government will offer, that is something I can get behind. No loans = students can't pay for the school = school forced to lower prices to stay open or go out of business.
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Well when it affects the quality of healthcare that citizens are receiving, then it should be a big issue. Over-diagnosing to pay off loans faster? Yeah that's definitely a thing. This isn't a private business like a tech company or something like that. It's health care. The government sure hasn't had problems reaching their hand in healthcare in the past. It's also education. Which the federal government OWNS for the most part. So yeah, apples and oranges.

But yes what I am advocating for is a cap on student loans. That's it. That's all they would have to do to solve this crisis. The loan caps would unquestionably lower tuition costs. Schools would be forced to be frugal with money, and they would stop being looked upon as money grabbers, and you wouldn't see as many private schools opening.
 
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Will medicine be any better? At least they have lower tuition. I have a sibling who is 9 years younger than me. Should they go to med school instead?
 
htdt said:
Will medicine be any better? I have a sibling who is 9 years younger than me. Should they go to med school instead?
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Probably. Medical school is cheaper. You don't have to buy a practice (in the vast majority of cases). Residency spots are funded with federal money, limiting the number of schools that can open, and controlling saturation. Who knows when government will screw up healthcare completely though.
 
Incis0r said:
Grass is always greener.

To use Dr. Dahle's words (aka the White Coat Investor), Medicine is suffering from "the big squeeze"- increased regulation, rising costs of education, decreasing compensation.

Midlevels also have a very strong foothold in Medicine.
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But who's to say that won't happen with dentistry? Midlevels are already a thing in dentistry. Decreasing compensation is a thing in dentistry. Rising tuition costs too. There hasn't been much of an increase in regulation, but who is to say that won't happen either? What I will add with dentistry as well is increasing saturation.
 
Panis et Circenses said:
Hopefully the federal government puts a limit on how much money schools can charge in the near future. Good hell, why have students been silent on this for so long? We are just rolling over and letting this happen to ourselves? In a perfect world, students would be petitioning about this, getting our local congressman involved, going "strikes" at schools, etc until this gets changed. This level of debt is unreal.
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Incis0r said:
Now, if you want to cap how much federal loans the government will offer, that is something I can get behind. Less federal loan amount available = students can't pay for the expensive schools = school forced to lower prices to stay open or go out of business.
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The federal govt does already limit the amount of loans students can take out. In 2012, they removed subsidized graduate student loans as an option in part with ACA. There are students (eg the legend as @Incis0r calls her) who fight this regularly. ASDA lobbies on Capitol Hill annually. It comes down to having congressmen and women at the state and federal levels who are willing to make the needed changes.

Finally, there are certain limits on how much you can charge for certain procedures, especially with insurance. That's a third year professionalism course typically.
 
If I didn't go to dental school I'd probably choose engineering. It's one of the few majors where a bachelors is sufficient...for now. Biomedical engineering is huge for any healthcare field.


Army HPSP
 
umbtoothfairy said:
The federal govt does already limit the amount of loans students can take out. In 2012, they removed subsidized graduate student loans as an option in part with ACA.
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Yeah, all that does is make things worse for us. The stafford loans (subsidized) are limited. Grad Plus loans, are unlimited, and at a higher rate than Stafford loans. You can borrow any amount of money for education in today's world. That's the problem.
 
umbtoothfairy said:
The federal govt does already limit the amount of loans students can take out.
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I thought you could borrow loans up to the full cost of attendance at a dental school.
 
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jyee19 said:
If I didn't go to dental school I'd probably choose engineering. It's one of the few majors where a bachelors is sufficient...for now. Biomedical engineering is huge for any healthcare field.


Army HPSP
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Again grass is always greener. I've had a few friends graduate with BME degrees and their job prospects are soooo limited. Most of the time they go into consulting in a completely unrelated field because they can't find any actual BME jobs that pay a decent wage
 
blablabla1 said:
Again grass is always greener. I've had a few friends graduate with BME degrees and their job prospects are soooo limited. Most of the time they go into consulting into a completely unrelated field because they can't find any actual BME jobs that pay a decent wage
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I think the underlying problem is that there are too many damn people going to college, and there's not enough jobs in this country. Hopefully this is a problem that a certain politician can fix right now. I was reading many articles a few days ago.. People used to be able to go to Detroit, get a job in car manufacturing. With that job, and their wife staying at home, they could buy a house and pay it off in a few years, buy a vacation home next to a lake somewhere, own a few cars, and they didn't even have to go to college to achieve that lifestyle. Things are so different nowadays. You can hardly even get a job with a college degree. If you do decide to become a professional (dentist), you have to spend nearly a decade of your life paying other people to do so.
 
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