Wait another year?.... Or go now...

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gking

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Dear SDN,

I am struggling hard to decide what I should do. I have been getting a lot of different opinions/thoughts from friends and family.

I was recently accepted to USC Dental School (woohoo!), it was my only acceptance so far. I applied very late, like late October late and I received 2 interviews (USC and UDM) and 2 rejections. My sGPA = 3.8, regular = 3.7, and DAT = 21AA, 22TS, 24PAT.

Here is what I have been wanting to ask, I understand that USC is crazy expensive and even though I live near USC (about 40minutes with LA traffic), I still would be 400k in debt (500k after accrued interest). I have been wondering if it was worth for me to wait another year and apply to out of state (cheaper schools), or HOPEFULLY get in some cheaper in-state schools (CA schools are competitive I think). If I wait another year and I get into an out of state school, it'd be roughly 300k including living expenses. I am not sure if it is worth it to wait another year since there's also that possibility that I might not get in.

I think my parents could POSSIBLY help me out with 100-200k (this is like 30% confirmed as they are hesitant too).

What are you thoughts SDN? Should I just got to USC or wait another year?

Sincerely,

A student who is scared of half a million dollars.
 
Two things to note here:
- Consider how much you'd be able to improve your app in the next few months, before AADSAS reopens.
- There is a question that asks if you've previously been accepted before. Considering you were accepted the previous application cycle, many schools will want to know WHY you turned down the opportunity to be a dentist.
 
MahiMahi said:
- There is a question that asks if you've previously been accepted before. Considering you were accepted the previous application cycle, many schools will want to know WHY you turned down the opportunity to be a dentist.
Click to expand...
This. I'd think long and hard before declining your acceptance as it might jeprodize your chance to become a dentist altogether.
 
gking said:
Dear SDN,

I am struggling hard to decide what I should do. I have been getting a lot of different opinions/thoughts from friends and family.

I was recently accepted to USC Dental School (woohoo!), it was my only acceptance so far. I applied very late, like late October late and I received 2 interviews (USC and UDM) and 2 rejections. My sGPA = 3.8, regular = 3.7, and DAT = 21AA, 22TS, 24PAT.

Here is what I have been wanting to ask, I understand that USC is crazy expensive and even though I live near USC (about 40minutes with LA traffic), I still would be 400k in debt (500k after accrued interest). I have been wondering if it was worth for me to wait another year and apply to out of state (cheaper schools), or HOPEFULLY get in some cheaper in-state schools (CA schools are competitive I think). If I wait another year and I get into an out of state school, it'd be roughly 300k including living expenses. I am not sure if it is worth it to wait another year since there's also that possibility that I might not get in.

I think my parents could POSSIBLY help me out with 100-200k (this is like 30% confirmed as they are hesitant too).

What are you thoughts SDN? Should I just got to USC or wait another year?

Sincerely,

A student who is scared of half a million dollars.
Click to expand...


reapply.
 
MahiMahi said:
Two things to note here:
- Consider how much you'd be able to improve your app in the next few months, before AADSAS reopens.
- There is a question that asks if you've previously been accepted before. Considering you were accepted the previous application cycle, many schools will want to know WHY you turned down the opportunity to be a dentist.
Click to expand...

I would think that "USC's criminally expensive 500K tuition" is a perfectly valid response to this question.

I would re-apply. Owing 500K upon graduation will severely hinder your quality of life for years to come.
 
Frychicken said:
I would think that "USC's criminally expensive 500K tuition" is a perfectly valid response to this question.

I would re-apply. Owing 500K upon graduation will severely hinder your quality of life for years to come.
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Why hasn't anyone asked the question of why apply there when you know what the tuition is? Why apply somewhere where if you got in you wouldn't go?
 
Screwtape said:
May this be a lesson for all predents applying in the future. DO NOT apply to a school unless you would be happy to attend if it's your only acceptance.
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I would agree, but I will say the big debt numbers seem a lot more real when they're staring you in the face. Wish I would've followed my own advice on that one.
 
I don't know if people are trolling here. lol!
 
So is it an "automatic blacklist" if you deny an acceptance and re-apply? I've heard of something similar for MD schools.
 
No there is no such thing as blacklist for that! I've asked schools about blacklists.

Also note a lot of people telling you not to go to school are likely waiting for a USC acceptance and want you to drop your spot! USC is a great dental program congrats on your acceptance! I think you just need to decide if for you the cons outweigh the pros. You are still waiting to hear back from a few places tho so don't lose hope on a cheaper school!

Just a suggestion, you can try applying for scholarships so decrease the amounts of loans you would need to borrow! good luck with your decision 🙂
 
why did you spend a few hundred dollars applying to a school that you don't want to go to? it's not like you suddenly found out usc costs that much. most private schools are not significantly cheaper than usc where it would make sense to apply again next year, so if you reapply next year you should logically only apply to public schools. is that something you feel confident about doing?
 
Plus the worth of money you can be making is what u need to consider as well i think lol that is a good chunck of money hahhha
 
If you go to USC:
400k --> 500k after interest. But you get to work for a year, so if you throw your entire salary at it, you'll be back down to 400k.

If you reapply and get into a cheap school:
300k --> 400k after interest. But you lost out on a year of production, so yeah.

Option 1 seems lower-risk. There is no guarantee you'll get in to your school of choice next cycle.
 
8_man said:
If you go to USC:
400k --> 500k after interest. But you get to work for a year, so if you throw your entire salary at it, you'll be back down to 400k.

If you reapply and get into a cheap school:
300k --> 400k after interest. But you lost out on a year of production, so yeah.

Option 1 seems lower-risk. There is no guarantee you'll get in to your school of choice next cycle.
Click to expand...
I'd disagree for the following reasons. He currently lives in CA so I'm assuming he'll practice in CA which is an expensive place to live and is way over saturated with dentists which depresses the salaries. Then there are taxes which is also much higher in CA than other states. At most I think he'll only pay 60k after all of those factors I mentioned and a lot of that'll be interest payments at 6% which for 5ook is 30k annually! Also, I haven't even factored in the event in which the dental school increases their coa after he decides to attend which could add 10s thousands more!

1st year: 500k(principal) + 30k(interest) - 60k(payment) = 470k(principal)

That is not worth it imo and you're being way too optimistic on how easy it is to pay off that amount of debt. However, if you leave CA and go somewhere like TX to practice and live very frugally while busting your bottom off, you might be able to throw 100k at it per year which would leave you at around 430k paid off after year one, but like I said before that's assuming that they don't jack up tuition while you're still in there.
 
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I would got to USC. No guarantee you'd be accepted anywhere next cycle and you lose a year of income waiting another year. I'm not familiar with west coast schools but I can't imagine it being that much cheaper paying OOS tuition. I was accepted to an OOS school and I'm looking at around $80,000 a year in tuition plus other expenses and living expenses. Dental school is expensive just about anywhere you go.
 
princessdentist said:
No there is no such thing as blacklist for that! I've asked schools about blacklists.

Also note a lot of people telling you not to go to school are likely waiting for a USC acceptance and want you to drop your spot! USC is a great dental program congrats on your acceptance! I think you just need to decide if for you the cons outweigh the pros. You are still waiting to hear back from a few places tho so don't lose hope on a cheaper school!

Just a suggestion, you can try applying for scholarships so decrease the amounts of loans you would need to borrow! good luck with your decision 🙂
Click to expand...

I am totally going for that USC spot, I def want to pay double tuition for PBL!
 
Reapply. The tuition AND cost of living is financial suicide. Responding with "I calculated how much I would owe after 4 years and thought it best to wait a year for a cheaper option" seems like it would be a fine response
 
I would go for the following reasons:

1. Yes you have good stats but dental school is getting competitive every year. How many times have we seen the "I have a 3.7 and 25AA and I am applying for the 3rd time post".

2. If you were truly that spooked from the the tuition, you wouldn't have even applied. To reject the spot and just sit at home for a year means you not only waisted their time but took that opportunity from someone who DID want to go there but was less competitive.

3. You're not only losing out on a year of potential salary but there's no guarantees you'll get into somewhere any cheaper next year. No matter where you go I wouldn't suggest practicing in most places in California. As scary as the debt is posters on SDN would have you believe every grad from the school is living in the poor house, which is a bit ridiculous.

If your parents come through, you live frugally, and move after school it'll pay off. Me personally, I wouldn't risk it for the chance of not being better off next year.
 
Go to USC, man. It ain't easy to get into dental school period. Unless you can do something worthwhile financially and really add to your application in the next year (or more if you don't get in), you're taking a huge risk to forgo that acceptance. Worst case scenario you sacrifice your standard of living for a bit, but hey most of us will be right there with you.
 
***As for the difference in terms of how long you'd be living low, I don't know. I believe many people on SDN have done the number crunching.
 
wengerin said:
It's 100k short, but i'll link this. I understand you mean well, and it's important people here understand the realties of student loans, however the doomsday narrative on SDN is getting old: https://studentloanhero.com/feature...ry-paid-off-380000-of-debt-in-just-21-months/
Click to expand...

He's an orthodontist with 380k student loan, but OP is going to finish dental school with 500k or more of student loan. If OP decided to specialize that could easily be another 150k on top of his 500k student loan. If OP is not going to specialize then his debt and income ratio is just out of control.
 
But again OP it all depends on how much cheaper is your in-state schools and other out-state schools compare to USC.
 
If your parents help out then its up to you. But y'all are for real crazy if you'd go 500k+ in debt to become a dentist..
 
postpitadh said:
Go to USC, man. It ain't easy to get into dental school period. Unless you can do something worthwhile financially and really add to your application in the next year (or more if you don't get in), you're taking a huge risk to forgo that acceptance. Worst case scenario you sacrifice your standard of living for a bit, but hey most of us will be right there with you.
Click to expand...

For a bit aka for as long as he had been alive. Easily take 15+ years before he will start seeing financial freedom.
 
MickeyMouse45 said:
i would say dont reapply. its all about luck. dont assume luck will always be in favor. dont worry about debt.
Click to expand...

DC206R said:
Nothing is guaranteed. I'd go.
Click to expand...

8_man said:
If you go to USC:
400k --> 500k after interest. But you get to work for a year, so if you throw your entire salary at it, you'll be back down to 400k.

If you reapply and get into a cheap school:
300k --> 400k after interest. But you lost out on a year of production, so yeah.

Option 1 seems lower-risk. There is no guarantee you'll get in to your school of choice next cycle.
Click to expand...

predentMPH said:
I would got to USC. No guarantee you'd be accepted anywhere next cycle and you lose a year of income waiting another year. I'm not familiar with west coast schools but I can't imagine it being that much cheaper paying OOS tuition. I was accepted to an OOS school and I'm looking at around $80,000 a year in tuition plus other expenses and living expenses. Dental school is expensive just about anywhere you go.
Click to expand...

wengerin said:
I would go for the following reasons:

1. Yes you have good stats but dental school is getting competitive every year. How many times have we seen the "I have a 3.7 and 25AA and I am applying for the 3rd time post".

2. If you were truly that spooked from the the tuition, you wouldn't have even applied. To reject the spot and just sit at home for a year means you not only waisted their time but took that opportunity from someone who DID want to go there but was less competitive.

3. You're not only losing out on a year of potential salary but there's no guarantees you'll get into somewhere any cheaper next year. No matter where you go I wouldn't suggest practicing in most places in California. As scary as the debt is posters on SDN would have you believe every grad from the school is living in the poor house, which is a bit ridiculous.

If your parents come through, you live frugally, and move after school it'll pay off. Me personally, I wouldn't risk it for the chance of not being better off next year.
Click to expand...

wengerin said:
It's 100k short, but i'll link this. I understand you mean well, and it's important people here understand the realties of student loans, however the doomsday narrative on SDN is getting old: https://studentloanhero.com/feature...ry-paid-off-380000-of-debt-in-just-21-months/
Click to expand...

Throwing in my two cents here to agree with the the above folks. @wengerin did a great job with his statement. Reapplying provides no assurance or guarantee of acceptance. You'll lose out on a year of potential salary. Getting yourself a financial advisor can help you tackle your loans. It's not the end of the world.

On the flip side, happiness and mental health are important. If you feel like you cannot be happy there and it would take a hit in your mental health, then don't go and reapply. It's not the end of the world.

Good luck in your decision!
 
Chipotlegonewild said:
I would reapply so hard. You have competitive stats.


Don't make it a emotional decision. Run the numbers and see what $500k debt will leave you to live on. I think that will make your decision much easier.
Click to expand...

Agreed! Dude, I bet you busted your behind for those stats! You are very competitive. I'd surely reapply. With those stats it's definitely worth making it work for you and attending a less expensive program, even if it's out of state.
And if dental schools blacklist you for not wanting to automatically sink yourself in half a million dollars of debt, apply MD/DO. You're clearly capable.
 
Thank you for the advice ya'll, but keep the debate going 🙂.
 
What if the OP got into an ivy, say Columbia, Harvard, or Penn and only applied (late in October I might add) to a few select schools that cycle in addition to his state school? Say he gets rejected from his state school, but accepted into an Ivy. Should the OP reapply again to a broader # of schools or take the acceptance and look into loan repayment options?
 
Nothing is for sure. I was rejected from 10 schools this (my first) cycle even with my stats, albeit many of them were likely since I was OOS. However, there are a multitude of private schools I have not heard back from. I was rejected from my state school as well. If I reapplied next year, who knows what could happen with my application. Maybe no school would have ever gotten back to me. You have a career in your hand and although not financially ideal, you have a huge decision to make with a number of factors at play
 
TXftw said:
I would reapply. There just has to be a point where you say enough is enough. It should never be ok for a dental school to charge a student half a million dollars for a damn DDS
Click to expand...
God Damn the student debt is too damn high!
Too-Damn-High.jpg
 
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