Intimidated by Student Loan Debt- Discussion about whether or not its worth it to pursue dentistry?

[PreBananaGurl]

Hi I am debating about whether or not I should pursue dentistry. I got into a school but am extremely intimidated by the price tag. I also want to specialize so I know I will walk out of dental school/residency with more than $700K-800K in debt (not including interest). I have a job lined up to get into tech so I don't know if it is the best financial decision. I would definitely go into dental school if it were cheaper/free. I also don't want to live in a rural area after graduation, nor do I want to do HPSP. Does anybody out there have any advice??

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[LFA20]

Hi I am debating about whether or not I should pursue dentistry. I got into a school but am extremely intimidated by the price tag. I also want to specialize so I know I will walk out of dental school/residency with more than $700K-800K in debt (not including interest). I have a job lined up to get into tech so I don't know if it is the best financial decision. I would definitely go into dental school if it were cheaper/free. The caveat is that I don't want to live in a rural area after graduation, nor do I want to do HPSP. Does anybody out there have any advice??

If you are taking out full loans to cover your attendance then I suggest you take that job in tech. The fact that you don't want to live in rural area to increase your income to payback your loans tells me you're just gonna bank on IBR. Don't do this...

 

[8_man]

You will be going to school for much longer to be a dentist/specialist than to be an engineer/software developer/IT/etc... that's years of delayed income and delayed gratification. And this is only accounting for the length of education.

Then there's $700-800K working against you instead of for you. Thats even more years of lost income and limiting your options down the road.

If you have a tech job lined up, I think the choice is obvious.

 

[redhead99]

Dental school loans vary from place to place. You have public and private. You have USC and NYU and others that will cost you way more than other schools, look into other schools if possible. If you really want to sacrifice the time and effort to become a dentist (4+ years) and take on 300k to 1.2 + million in student loan burden, be my guest. But be aware that you need to find a job that will be able to pay back the loans fast. corporate dentistry will not be the best fit. You will need to find a high paying dental position shortly after graduation.

 

[D1Bound]

Hi I am debating about whether or not I should pursue dentistry. I got into a school but am extremely intimidated by the price tag. I also want to specialize so I know I will walk out of dental school/residency with more than $700K-800K in debt (not including interest). I have a job lined up to get into tech so I don't know if it is the best financial decision. I would definitely go into dental school if it were cheaper/free. I also don't want to live in a rural area after graduation, nor do I want to do HPSP. Does anybody out there have any advice??

No rural, no HPSP, you must specialize. It sounds like you want everything to go your way no exceptions. I would not go into dentistry. You're going to have to really grind if you want to go into the dental field. I don't know you but just from this post it doesn't sound like you would be the one to want to work 60-hour weeks and do what needs to be done to clean up these student loans. If I were in your situation I would go into tech, invest, and enjoy this newly found income.

 

[P7898]

Do something in Tech or Engineering or Computers. I myself had a degree where I could not find a stable job or keep a stable salary with it. If I had engineering or tech degree I would not go back to school 100%. 4 years of lost income and debt at an early age where you can invest that money in the market and get compounding returns is way way too valuable for retirement.

 

[KSprite]

If dentistry isn't a passion, go the tech route, especially since you already have a job lined up. IMO, tech is a better field to get into right now.

 

[allDAT]

Spend 700-800k doing a job that absolutely depends on you maintaining good health and avoiding physical accidents otherwise you depend on disability insurance that stops paying at 65 and is a pain the get them to get payment on anyways? don’t be dumb. Go to a cheaper school or don’t go at all. There’s way more to life than being a dentist, being a dentist is not someone’s destiny.

 

[deleted903013]

If dentistry isn't a passion,

Even if it is a "passion", it's not worth committing financial suicide over

 

[somefuturedoc]

$700-800k would be an extremely hard no from me

 

[deleted721052]

RUN. it's a crazyyy amount of money and it will make you miserable way longer than the 4 years of dental school. dentistry is fun (sometimes), but not worth 700k.

 

[Cold Front]

Hi I am debating about whether or not I should pursue dentistry. I got into a school but am extremely intimidated by the price tag. I also want to specialize so I know I will walk out of dental school/residency with more than $700K-800K in debt (not including interest). I have a job lined up to get into tech so I don't know if it is the best financial decision. I would definitely go into dental school if it were cheaper/free. I also don't want to live in a rural area after graduation, nor do I want to do HPSP. Does anybody out there have any advice??

Did you decide yet?

If you wait another year, you will be looking at $750-850k at that program. Rising debt waits for no one. Based on other posters on this thread, it’s a unanimous advise.

 

[PreBananaGurl]

Did you decide yet?

If you wait another year, you will be looking at $750-850k at that program. Rising debt waits for no one. Based on other posters on this thread, it’s a unanimous advise.

i still haven’t decided yet. I appreciate everyone’s insight and hopefully will have a decision by this week. Thank you for all the advice everyone! I’ll keep everyone updated about what I decide to do.

 

[yappy]

I would not attend any educational program that costs that much money. The debt will crush you. I have met people who are extremely bitter and feel "stuck" because they owe less money than that. It's pretty sad because they express that they've "ruined their life", especially women. They said they would prefer to raise their kids, or work PT, but cannot because of their loans.

 

[GoDental101]

I would not attend any educational program for that amount of money. The debt will crush you. I have met people who are extremely bitter and feel "stuck" because they owe less money than that. It's pretty sad because they express that they've "ruined their life", especially women. They said they would prefer to raise their kids, or work PT, but cannot because of their loans.

I second that.

 

[D1Bound]

Too many people shadow old established rich dentists and think it’s instant success. They also crave that title Dr.
Especially now in this economy these decision are crucial for someone’s future.