What will you consider when choosing a school if you get multiple offers?

[DentalJedi]

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Well between Ashley Hebert, the bachelorette, and Catherine Muldoon, Miss Virginia 2012 (http://missvirginiausa.com/titleholders.php?view=detail&id=2011110608045174686)...I guess Penn just became your first choice? Lol.

Well I didn't get an interview at Penn so it's not my top choice... yet. I've never seen the bachelorette so I don't know who that girl is, but out of principle I would have to slap any reality TV star I ever meet in the face. As for Miss Virginia, I'm attracted to women not paintings. Way too much makeup (at least in the picture you posted). Still, it's great to see that women that attractive are smart and trying to accomplish rather than just being a stereotype.

 

[hail2pitt]

remote starter can prevent this. walk from warm apartment and get in warm car! no much you can do for the in between part tho...

heated jacket!

 

[A6project]

soo i guess overall consensus here is that go to the school where you get the best education and will be the most happy. you will make money no matter what. and if you are happy, then u will learn a lot more and get better training. and it will eventually lead to more income and blah blah blah.....

I agree. And I think that that will hugely determine how I choose my school...
ONLY ONE THING THAT BOTHERS ME is that....

20 dentist out of 23(or something like that) told me to go to the cheapest school.
They all love dentistry too.
I'm sure they had the same thoughts too (get best ed and be happy blah blah blah..)
when they were at our shoes.

It concerns me a lot. I am soo confused. They ain't dumb and we ain't dumb either.
Are they right? and we are not seeing the bigger picture cuz we haven't walked the path yet or whattt?

What do you guys think about that????????

PS it may seeem pretty ridiculous or crazy but everyday I am losing sleep over this. I wanna make a right decision.

 

[SupDanLOL]

soo i guess overall consensus here is that go to the school where you get the best education and will be the most happy. you will make money no matter what. and if you are happy, then u will learn a lot more and get better training. and it will eventually lead to more income and blah blah blah.....

I agree. And I think that that will hugely determine how I choose my school...
ONLY ONE THING THAT BOTHERS ME is that....

20 dentist out of 23(or something like that) told me to go to the cheapest school.
They all love dentistry too.
I'm sure they had the same thoughts too (get best ed and be happy blah blah blah..)
when they were at our shoes.

It concerns me a lot. I am soo confused. They ain't dumb and we ain't dumb either.
Are they right? and we are not seeing the bigger picture cuz we haven't walked the path yet or whattt?

What do you guys think about that????????

PS it may seeem pretty ridiculous or crazy but everyday I am losing sleep over this. I wanna make a right decision.

Hmm. Perhaps their judgement is clouded by the simple fact that they no longer have to actually make that decision. All things being equal, sure...maybe 20 years down the road it will feel like it wouldn't have made a difference where you ended up for school. But that's not where we are now. We still have to live the next four years of dental school.

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.

 

[dreamerndoer]

soo i guess overall consensus here is that go to the school where you get the best education and will be the most happy. you will make money no matter what. and if you are happy, then u will learn a lot more and get better training. and it will eventually lead to more income and blah blah blah.....

I agree. And I think that that will hugely determine how I choose my school...
ONLY ONE THING THAT BOTHERS ME is that....

20 dentist out of 23(or something like that) told me to go to the cheapest school.
They all love dentistry too.
I'm sure they had the same thoughts too (get best ed and be happy blah blah blah..)
when they were at our shoes.

It concerns me a lot. I am soo confused. They ain't dumb and we ain't dumb either.
Are they right? and we are not seeing the bigger picture cuz we haven't walked the path yet or whattt?

What do you guys think about that????????

PS it may seeem pretty ridiculous or crazy but everyday I am losing sleep over this. I wanna make a right decision.

this is just like the dental students telling people not to worry at this point when they were super anxious themselves last cycle

 

[MrAvicii]

soo i guess overall consensus here is that go to the school where you get the best education and will be the most happy. you will make money no matter what. and if you are happy, then u will learn a lot more and get better training. and it will eventually lead to more income and blah blah blah.....

I agree. And I think that that will hugely determine how I choose my school...
ONLY ONE THING THAT BOTHERS ME is that....

20 dentist out of 23(or something like that) told me to go to the cheapest school.
They all love dentistry too.
I'm sure they had the same thoughts too (get best ed and be happy blah blah blah..)
when they were at our shoes.

It concerns me a lot. I am soo confused. They ain't dumb and we ain't dumb either.
Are they right? and we are not seeing the bigger picture cuz we haven't walked the path yet or whattt?

What do you guys think about that????????

PS it may seeem pretty ridiculous or crazy but everyday I am losing sleep over this. I wanna make a right decision.

go to a school where you feel it will be the best move for you. You dont have to rationalize or sell your reasons to anyone. If someone is mad that you went to the cheapeast school then they are simply jealous.

All in all, you should evaluate all factors like location, specliaization, price tag, etc. before making that choice. But please go where you want. Dont live your life for someone else.

Meaning if you think cheapest is best for you, then go for it!

 

[DentalJedi]

go to a school where you feel it will be the best move for you. You dont have to rationalize or sell your reasons to anyone. If someone is mad that you went to the cheapeast school then they are simply jealous.

All in all, you should evaluate all factors like location, specliaization, price tag, etc. before making that choice. But please go where you want. Dont live your life for someone else.

Meaning if you think cheapest is best for you, then go for it!

Agreed, everyone's reasons are their own. Just like each of us has our own reason for going into dentistry in the first place, it doesn't mean any of us are right or wrong. Personally I plan on going to the cheapest school I get into as long as I don't think I would be absolutely miserable there. Some people would be happy to pay 400k if they're in love with the school, others won't. The only person you have to defend your decision to is yourself.

 

[mc719]

soo i guess overall consensus here is that go to the school where you get the best education and will be the most happy. you will make money no matter what. and if you are happy, then u will learn a lot more and get better training. and it will eventually lead to more income and blah blah blah.....

I agree. And I think that that will hugely determine how I choose my school...
ONLY ONE THING THAT BOTHERS ME is that....

20 dentist out of 23(or something like that) told me to go to the cheapest school.
They all love dentistry too.
I'm sure they had the same thoughts too (get best ed and be happy blah blah blah..)
when they were at our shoes.

It concerns me a lot. I am soo confused. They ain't dumb and we ain't dumb either.
Are they right? and we are not seeing the bigger picture cuz we haven't walked the path yet or whattt?

What do you guys think about that????????

PS it may seeem pretty ridiculous or crazy but everyday I am losing sleep over this. I wanna make a right decision.

I think that if you want to go to general dentistry, then cheapness is the most important.

If you want to specialize, then go to the "best" school that you can. Because the value of having a leg up on the competition when it comes to specializing would probably be much higher than the 100-150k extra you would save by going to a cheaper school.

If you are planning on going into the military, then go to whatever school that you think you will be the happiest at.

 

[MrAvicii]

Agreed, everyone's reasons are their own. Just like each of us has our own reason for going into dentistry in the first place, it doesn't mean any of us are write or wrong. Personally I plan on going to the cheapest school I get into as long as I don't think I would be absolutely miserable there. Some people would be happy to pay 400k if they're in love with the school, others won't. The only person you have to defend your decision to is yourself.

👍 well put. I also believe that people try to rationalize a schools price tag. This occurs in order to avoid "buyers remorse." But a large price tag cannot be correlated with a great school. (at least not in all cases.)

I plan to go to a well rounded school. I can sacrifice somethings like weather, location, etc. if I am happy about everything else. I refuse to pay for things that wont matter in 4 years time. But I must admit cost is a big factor that probably should weigh around 60 to 70% in the decision making process, otherwise you are simply ignoring reality of paying back monster amounts of loans.

 

[A6project]

Agreed, everyone's reasons are their own. Just like each of us has our own reason for going into dentistry in the first place, it doesn't mean any of us are write or wrong. The only person you have to defend your decision to is yourself.

go to a school where you feel it will be the best move for you. You dont have to rationalize or sell your reasons to anyone.
All in all, you should evaluate all factors like location, specliaization, price tag, etc. before making that choice. But please go where you want. Dont live your life for someone else.

Great advice. I thank you for that. I have been trying to figure that out for myself. It has not been easy

 

[Baker2010]

👍 well put. I also believe that people try to rationalize a schools price tag. This occurs in order to avoid "buyers remorse." But a large price tag cannot be correlated with a great school. (at least not in all cases.)

I plan to go to a well rounded school. I can sacrifice somethings like weather, location, etc. if I am happy about everything else. I refuse to pay for things that wont matter in 4 years time. But I must admit cost is a big factor that probably should weigh around 60 to 70% in the decision making process, otherwise you are simply ignoring reality of paying back monster amounts of loans.

Yea, you are right. To each their own.
For me personally, cost is one thing that I will consider the least when making my decision.
Most of the schools I am looking at, the difference between them over four years is like 50K.
Now 50K may sound like a lot now, but the amount of money you will earn over a successful 40+year career makes that amount seem like a couple hundred dollars in reality.

 

[dentalWorks]

soo i guess overall consensus here is that go to the school where you get the best education and will be the most happy. you will make money no matter what. and if you are happy, then u will learn a lot more and get better training. and it will eventually lead to more income and blah blah blah.....

I agree. And I think that that will hugely determine how I choose my school...
ONLY ONE THING THAT BOTHERS ME is that....

20 dentist out of 23(or something like that) told me to go to the cheapest school.
They all love dentistry too.
I'm sure they had the same thoughts too (get best ed and be happy blah blah blah..)
when they were at our shoes.

It concerns me a lot. I am soo confused. They ain't dumb and we ain't dumb either.
Are they right? and we are not seeing the bigger picture cuz we haven't walked the path yet or whattt?

What do you guys think about that????????

PS it may seeem pretty ridiculous or crazy but everyday I am losing sleep over this. I wanna make a right decision.

I agree 100% with bolded above as long as the difference between 2 schools (over 4 year period) is more than 50k.

IMO, less than 50k is irrelevant.

 

[AllahIsGreater]

You guys remember God? You know, The Diety that you would pray to to help you with your DAT....yea....the One that we forget about once we have no worries......maybe you should rely on him more often, and ask Him to guide you to the right path for you....

 

[Toothshucker]

You guys remember God? You know, The Diety that you would pray to to help you with your DAT....yea....the One that we forget about once we have no worries......maybe you should rely on him more often, and ask Him to guide you to the right path for you....

I don't remember that part when I was preparing for my DAT.

 

[amalgamgrillz]

You guys remember God? You know, The Diety that you would pray to to help you with your DAT....yea....the One that we forget about once we have no worries......maybe you should rely on him more often, and ask Him to guide you to the right path for you....

I've asked my gods...all of them, and all of my idols to get me into school. Especially Ganesh - he's the best one of all my gods, because he's got more arms than any other god, so I think that makes him have super powers.

My other god, Tom Cruise, he's ok with me just praying to him when I need things...so I'm good in that department. But thanks for looking out! Let me know if you want to join my club, we're looking for new lab techs. GO SCIENTOLOGYHINDUISM!

 

[Bereno]

I've asked my gods...all of them, and all of my idols to get me into school. Especially Ganesh - he's the best one of all my gods, because he's got more arms than any other god, so I think that makes him have super powers.

My other god, Tom Cruise, he's ok with me just praying to him when I need things...so I'm good in that department. But thanks for looking out! Let me know if you want to join my club, we're looking for new lab techs. GO SCIENTOLOGYHINDUISM!

You might want to tone down the religious mocking... thats thin ice buddy 👍

 

[Toothshucker]

You might want to tone down the religious mocking... thats thin ice buddy 👍

I agree, but this is a dental forum, not a religious forum. Some may be offended when told to look to god to choose dental school.

 

[amalgamgrillz]

You might want to tone down the religious mocking... thats thin ice buddy 👍

I'm not mocking him. He said don't forget about your gods and idols, and I'm just showing him that I'm not a heathen. I'm actually Hindu, and looking into scientology. Ganesh does have a lot of arms, which makes him the best God (in my opinion). And Tom Cruise is my religious idol, so don't worry. There's no mocking, or even worse, preaching, coming from my end.

 

[Bereno]

I'm not mocking him. He said don't forget about your gods and idols, and I'm just showing him that I'm not a heathen. I'm actually Hindu, and looking into scientology. Ganesh does have a lot of arms, which makes him the best God (in my opinion). And Tom Cruise is my religious idol, so don't worry. There's no mocking, or even worse, preaching, coming from my end.

It does not matter what religion you are, you can still offend people very easily. This is a dental forum, so lets keep it that way. For a smart guy, you should still know better. Just saying. 😉


OP: I applied to schools that I think could give me a good education, so the only distinguishing factor is price.

 

[amalgamgrillz]

It does not matter what religion you are, you can still offend people very easily. This is a dental forum, so lets keep it that way. For a smart guy, you should still know better. Just saying. 😉


OP: I applied to schools that I think could give me a good education, so the only distinguishing factor is price.

Ok, you're right. That's fair.
That's why I deleted my signature from before "There is no God but Orgoman, and the DAT Destroy is his messenger."

I'll try to be more tolerant of religious preachers from now on. Baby steps for me.

 

[Bereno]

Ok, you're right. That's fair.
That's why I deleted my signature from before "There is no God but Orgoman, and the DAT Destroy is his messenger."

I'll try to be more tolerant of religious preachers from now on. Baby steps for me.

lol 😀

 

[AllahIsGreater]

lol. you guys are to funny. you can laugh all you want. its all about who gets the last laugh, eh 🙂

 

[MrAvicii]

Yea, you are right. To each their own.
For me personally, cost is one thing that I will consider the least when making my decision.
Most of the schools I am looking at, the difference between them over four years is like 50K.
Now 50K may sound like a lot now, but the amount of money you will earn over a successful 40+year career makes that amount seem like a couple hundred dollars in reality.

I understand but for me its a radically different scenario. I have schools that vary by 200K. So clearly a price tag makes a difference in my case.

But hey as long as we all go to d-schools and make the best of it, that should keep us happy. 🙂

 

[valkairon]

Of all the things I listed, I think the single one that bothered me the most was having to hunt for your own patients. Is that common for a lot of schools? I make sure to ask that at every interview now. Is it as bad as I'm making it out to be or do people usually find patients pretty easily?

 

[BobLoblawDDS]

Of all the things I listed, I think the single one that bothered me the most was having to hunt for your own patients. Is that common for a lot of schools? I make sure to ask that at every interview now. Is it as bad as I'm making it out to be or do people usually find patients pretty easily?

Depends on the school. Some (like USC or BU) are notorious for having poor patient pools and students nearly having to pay out of their pocket to get a patient in their chair so they can do a procedure. Others (like NYU) are favoured for the fact that they have very large, active, willing patient pools, and their upper-year students will harbour patient lists of 30-40 people and remain quite busy. I'm not sure if you should ask administration or faculty the question (since schools who have few patients probably don't like admitting it) but asking a student might be a good idea.

 

[MrAvicii]

Depends on the school. Some (like USC or BU) are notorious for having poor patient pools and students nearly having to pay out of their pocket to get a patient in their chair so they can do a procedure. Others (like NYU) are favoured for the fact that they have very large, active, willing patient pools, and their upper-year students will harbour patient lists of 30-40 people and remain quite busy. I'm not sure if you should ask administration or faculty the question (since schools who have few patients probably don't like admitting it) but asking a student might be a good idea.

paying so much for USC tuition + paying for your own patients = massive fail aka last school in the world one should ever go to.

 

[A6project]

I agree. That's why I didn't apply to USC

 

[MrAvicii]

I agree. That's why I didn't apply to USC

i do regret it to be honest. but I didnt know any better. We need to get a thread on SDN where you have a list of the major pros and cons of each school. Like a sticky to help people apply. I know we have one for # of seats and % of acceptances and what not. But I would have loved to have known some of this info without having to read the whole forum lol

 

[A6project]

On this one, I agree. We don't need to spoon feed the ppl applying next year. we actively seek out for information about school and admission process. They should do the same. I am gonna share all my knowledge I have accumulated for being a SDN creeper to close people whom will be applying. But everyone should do their own search. There's no free lunch

 

[MrAvicii]

On this one, I agree. We don't need to spoon feed the ppl applying next year. we actively seek out for information about school and admission process. They should do the same. I am gonna share all my knowledge I have accumulated for being a SDN creeper to close people whom will be applying. But everyone should do their own search. There's no free lunch

haha thats not cool man. dont be a hater. theres a lot of info you got from asking people around and what not, but sometimes even you or I stumbled upon a treasure trove of info. (i.e. dentalworks dat schedule.)

Life is all about giving, not getting. you gain nothing by being greedy. Its not being spoon fed, its about karma. You always get what you give. But hey, I'm not here to judge your actions, to each his own. I do have a treasure trove of info that I plan to release after I am accepted at my top choices and that info will help out future applicants (at least thats what I hope.)

Also I cant say I feel like you because I gained everything from this forum. I learned what I needed for d-school, how I should go about it, how I should study for the DAT, how applicants work. I honestly would have been a significantly worse applicant if I didn't find this site.

So many people have reached out to help that its crazy. Ps. I hope you know that wikipedia is based on a similar concept to this site. (free info sharing.) So I dunno if you would want to see the following message when you log on there to look up info about anatomy or physiology:

"DEAR STUDENT THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH. PLEASE LEAVE."

 

[A6project]

haha thats not cool man. dont be a hater. theres a lot of info you got from asking people around and what not, but sometimes even you or I stumbled upon a treasure trove of info. (i.e. dentalworks dat schedule.)

Life is all about giving, not getting. you gain nothing by being greedy. Its not being spoon fed, its about karma. You always get what you give. But hey, I'm not here to judge your actions, to each his own. I do have a treasure trove of info that I plan to release after I am accepted at my top choices and that info will help out future applicants (at least thats what I hope.)

Also I cant say I feel like you because I gained everything from this forum. I learned what I needed for d-school, how I should go about it, how I should study for the DAT, how applicants work. I honestly would have been a significantly worse applicant if I didn't find this site.

So many people have reached out to help that its crazy. Ps. I hope you know that wikipedia is based on a similar concept to this site. (free info sharing.) So I dunno if you would want to see the following message when you log on there to look up info about anatomy or physiology:

"DEAR STUDENT THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH. PLEASE LEAVE."

aight. fine.

Let's get everyone together. (like u me, breno, dentalmac, nugyen, all the SDN creeps) And then, Let's make a badass post that will be sticky till we graduate from a dental school.

It has to be a badass otherwise I don't participate lol.. And then on the bottom, something like this, "contributed for the next generation from MrAvicii, etcc" 😀

And lets do it near the end of december. That's when most of us (SDN creep) will be done with interviews/acceptance and the semester. Personally I am more concerned about this semester than dec 1st accpetances and I won't be free till mid-Dec

Either we can do a multiple author post or we can send you all the info and then u can edit and post!

sounds good, bud?

 

[MrAvicii]

aight. fine.

Let's get everyone together. (like u me, breno, dentalmac, nugyen, all the SDN creeps) And then, Let's make a badass post that will be sticky till we graduate from a dental school.

It has to be a badass otherwise I don't participate lol.. And then on the bottom, something like this, "contributed for the next generation from MrAvicii, etcc" 😀

And lets do it near the end of december. That's when most of us (SDN creep) will be done with interviews/acceptance and the semester. Personally I am more concerned about this semester than dec 1st accpetances and I won't be free till mid-Dec

Either we can do a multiple author post or we can send you all the info and then u can edit and post!

sounds good, bud?

That sounds great. I didnt mean to be mean or put you on the spot. I just wanted to express how I felt towards this site because in reality I did gain everything I have from here.

I already have a few ideas in mind. Including one bad ass excel file and a lot of charts. I feel like we are missing a lot of visual components from this site. Its time to break out of the #s and get into some pictures (for the visual learners out there.

I am also looking to do in 2012.

 

[Bereno]

aight. fine.

Let's get everyone together. (like u me, breno, dentalmac, nugyen, all the SDN creeps) And then, Let's make a badass post that will be sticky till we graduate from a dental school.

It has to be a badass otherwise I don't participate lol.. And then on the bottom, something like this, "contributed for the next generation from MrAvicii, etcc" 😀

And lets do it near the end of december. That's when most of us (SDN creep) will be done with interviews/acceptance and the semester. Personally I am more concerned about this semester than dec 1st accpetances and I won't be free till mid-Dec

Either we can do a multiple author post or we can send you all the info and then u can edit and post!

sounds good, bud?

Haha, wow... this might actually be a good idea lol 👍

 

[Bereno]

That sounds great. I didnt mean to be mean or put you on the spot. I just wanted to express how I felt towards this site because in reality I did gain everything I have from here.

I already have a few ideas in mind. Including one bad ass excel file and a lot of charts. I feel like we are missing a lot of visual components from this site. Its time to break out of the #s and get into some pictures (for the visual learners out there.

I am also looking to do in 2012.

If you need excel work, you know who to ask... A6project, not me LOL

 

[757sharp]

On this one, I agree. We don't need to spoon feed the ppl applying next year. we actively seek out for information about school and admission process. They should do the same. I am gonna share all my knowledge I have accumulated for being a SDN creeper to close people whom will be applying. But everyone should do their own search. There's no free lunch

People should definitely find info on their own, a lot of information is already on school websites anyway. Buttt, I think it would be cool if we could maybe compile a list of students/alumni contact info from different schools. That way, we could have a way to easily ask questions specific questions that we wouldnt be able to normally find. And this would be good in case we had questions we forgot to ask during interviews.

 

[A6project]

If you need excel work, you know who to ask... A6project, not me LOL

haha i spelled ur name wrong.

 

[Bereno]

haha i spelled ur name wrong.

Yes, yes you did. 😀 you also spelled Dantemac's, and NguyenDDS' name wrong as well... just saying haha

 

[A6project]

haha yea im too lazy to edit or proofread.

 

[DJPaulyDDS]

its a tough call. Do you go to the school that preaches about how new everything is and how prepared you will be when you leaving knowing how to use cad/cam's? or do you go to the cheap school knowing that when you get out chances are you won't have a cad/cam and will have to learn. Clinical education is key. patient numbers etc. Its a BIG decision to make. ill be praying to peter pan, santa claus, smokey the bear, tom cruise, and anything else that will attempt to put my mind at ease and get me into a position that will allow me to have the least amount of debt.

good luck to everyone.

 

[valkairon]

I'd be happy to help with that project. By January I will have interviewed with six schools. That's like what? Ten percent of all the dental schools?! I'll give you all the information I have plus whatever else I get if I get any more interviews. 🙂

 

[FLOSS UR TEETH]

That sounds great. I didnt mean to be mean or put you on the spot. I just wanted to express how I felt towards this site because in reality I did gain everything I have from here.

I already have a few ideas in mind. Including one bad ass excel file and a lot of charts. I feel like we are missing a lot of visual components from this site. Its time to break out of the #s and get into some pictures (for the visual learners out there.

I am also looking to do in 2012.

I am a BIG visual learner lol

where are the PICTURES people? c'mon!

 

[MrAvicii]

I am a BIG visual learner lol

where are the PICTURES people? c'mon!

 

[Vsno123]

I think that if you want to go to general dentistry, then cheapness is the most important.

If you want to specialize, then go to the "best" school that you can. Because the value of having a leg up on the competition when it comes to specializing would probably be much higher than the 100-150k extra you would save by going to a cheaper school.

If you are planning on going into the military, then go to whatever school that you think you will be the happiest at.

Doesn't specializing require that you be in the top of your class and have high board scores? So wouldn't it be even harder to specialize if you go to Harvard, UPenn, Columbia, etc.? I don't apply until next year so I'm not exactly sure how this works.

 

[Kahr]

Since I'm going military, I'm not too concerned with reputation or cost. For me it's going to be about geographical location, facilities, and clinical preparedness. Although if I go to an interview and get a very bad impression for various possible reasons, I may overlook a good location or nice lab or something.

 

[mr24]

.

 

[budda10000]

patient base>research opportunity>price>reputation>environment
UNLV is my priority so far since I have an open invitation to work in a forensics lab😀

 

[DentalJedi]

patient base>research opportunity>price>reputation>environment
UNLV is my priority so far since I have an open invitation to work in a forensics lab😀

That sounds really interesting, congrats.

 

[valkairon]

lol. I've changed my mind about the price thing... Now I'm pretty scared about debt. ha

 

[mustardseed5]

I'm glad this thread got pulled back up.... Gives me some stuffs to mull over for sure.

 

[RU1992]

#1 priority would be cost, cost, cost. It makes a whole lot of difference if you come out 400k in debt versus 200k in debt. Those are a lot of years you're going to be combating loans and interest. And if you're like me, getting rid of the debt is my main priority after dental school. So it would stop me from doing other things that I would love to do. That's really my ultimate task, is to come out as little in debt as I possibly can. Just my personal opinion.