~is 500,00 in debt worth it? ~

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toothangel747

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Hi Everyone,:love:

This is my second time applying to dental schools. I have applied to 10 schools and I am only accepted to one OOS dental school this cycle. Mainly because my DAT score wasn't very high. :scared:

However, I found out that the tuition + living expense + room and board. I am looking at 420,000 for the four years. Plus, I have to get 100% on student loan. With interest rate of 7% By the time i graduated, I am looking at near 500,000 in debt.

Education for dental school is really getting ridiculous. :mad::confused:

At the meantime. I have just applied for dental hygiene program. I am confident that I'd have a high chance of getting in there.

Here is my dilemma::eek: (keep in mind I am turning 27 this year)

Dental school OOS with 500,000 and looking at 20 years working to pay back Is it really worth the time, energy, and money?


dental hygiene which is only two years. For instate residency, I am looking at 60,000 for the total. My boyfriend and my parents are more supportive of me going into hygiene. They think it is less stressful for a female and I am getting too old to still be in school. They told me that I can enter the workforce as a hygienist and later on retake DAT and reapply for the third time, but only instate school.. My boyfriend say i am being selfish to consider dental school....

I am sooo torn and don't know what to do. !! I couldnt sleep last night. I know that becoming a hygienist is more practical. But I know in my heart. I wouldn't want to settle for hygienist. Applying the third time still wouldn't guarantee me getting into my instate school....

If you were to put a price on your dream. how much will it be? For me, I just think 500,000 is too much. 300,000 I could take it.. What would you do if you were me? Hygiene vs. Dental school> ?
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I think you already know your answer. It's your life and you should do what will make you happy. As long as you're certain, I would say go for dental school.

Of course this is probably a biased answer... this is the pre-dental forum after all
 
You will regret it down the line, "I should have went to dental school". I hear this all the time from hygienists and lab techs. Its hard enough to get an acceptance, and you'll hopefully be making 3X that of a hygienist in the end.

If I were you I couldn't turn it down. And I'm 30 years old by the way. You are never too old to improve your station in life.

Good luck!!!
 
nondescriptive said:
you will regret it down the line, "i should have went to dental school". I hear this all the time from hygienists and lab techs. Its hard enough to get an acceptance, and you'll hopefully be making 3x that of a hygienist in the end.

If i were you i couldn't turn it down. And i'm 30 years old by the way. You are never too old to improve your station in life.

Good luck!!!
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+1.
 
I met a dental student who was 43 when she was just starting out. And had kids. Don't give up if you really want it. I know it seems like a lot, but that's the case for everybody. If your boyfriend knows that you're taking on this loan, he should also know that your job will be able to pay for it in the long run...yes it will take time, but it will pay it off. Good luck to you! :)

I'd go the dental route; I know far too many people who are hygienists and wish they had just gone for the extra 2 years to become a dentist.
 
toothangel747 said:
Hi Everyone,:love:

This is my second time applying to dental schools. I have applied to 10 schools and I am only accepted to one OOS dental school this cycle. Mainly because my DAT score wasn't very high. :scared:

However, I found out that the tuition + living expense + room and board. I am looking at 420,000 for the four years. Plus, I have to get 100% on student loan. With interest rate of 7% By the time i graduated, I am looking at near 500,000 in debt.

Education for dental school is really getting ridiculous. :mad::confused:

At the meantime. I have just applied for dental hygiene program. I am confident that I'd have a high chance of getting in there.

Here is my dilemma::eek: (keep in mind I am turning 27 this year)

Dental school OOS with 500,000 and looking at 20 years working to pay back Is it really worth the time, energy, and money?


dental hygiene which is only two years. For instate residency, I am looking at 60,000 for the total. My boyfriend and my parents are more supportive of me going into hygiene. They think it is less stressful for a female and I am getting too old to still be in school. They told me that I can enter the workforce as a hygienist and later on retake DAT and reapply for the third time, but only instate school.. My boyfriend say i am being selfish to consider dental school....

I am sooo torn and don't know what to do. !! I couldnt sleep last night. I know that becoming a hygienist is more practical. But I know in my heart. I wouldn't want to settle for hygienist. Applying the third time still wouldn't guarantee me getting into my instate school....

If you were to put a price on your dream. how much will it be? For me, I just think 500,000 is too much. 300,000 I could take it.. What would you do if you were me? Hygiene vs. Dental school> ?
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In my honest opinion, it is NOT worth it. I am saying this because money is an important aspect to me.
 
I actually think you want to go to dental school but you are only considering hygiene because of your bf and your mom. Your bf telling you are selfish? Serious? I think it's the other way around. I think he's selfish. If he is actually going to be with you in the future, it's an investment for your future as well as his. Go to dental school, you've been wanting this, follow your dream.
 
Obey said:
In my honest opinion, it is NOT worth it. I am saying this because money is an important aspect to me.
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I'm just wondering here, if money is an important aspect to you, will your parents be paying for dental school? Because even I was calculating how much it's gonna cost me. Initial investment is around 350k, but by the time it'll be paid off, I would have paid 550k AT LEAST (based off of the payment plan my dad created for me). So it's not just the OP here, this is the case for pretty much everybody who's taking money out on loans. I'm just glad the OP is aware of the financial burden of schooling too. I've read too many posts on here by dentists who say pre-dents go into dental school starry-eyed, thinking they'll make 120k starting out of school. Now, I'm a complete pessimist in regards to financial situations (thank you to those dentists), but I'd rather have lower expectations and surprise myself, than be thinking that I'll be making this crazy high number when I graduate and I'll have all my loans paid off in 3 years.

To OP, I'm still planning on going to dental school because though it will cost a lot, over the long run, I still feel this is the best career for me. Also, it seems to be a pretty stable career, too, and I like that. As a hygienist you will be able to find a job, but you'd have to work much harder, too. The one who does my cleanings works at 5 different offices, one office for everyday of the week. And she gets ZERO time off...it kind of sucks...
 
Member902507 said:
I'm just wondering here, if money is an important aspect to you, will your parents be paying for dental school? Because even I was calculating how much it's gonna cost me. Initial investment is around 350k, but by the time it'll be paid off, I would have paid 550k AT LEAST (based off of the payment plan my dad created for me). So it's not just the OP here, this is the case for pretty much everybody who's taking money out on loans. I'm just glad the OP is aware of the financial burden of schooling too. I've read too many posts on here by dentists who say pre-dents go into dental school starry-eyed, thinking they'll make 120k starting out of school. Now, I'm a complete pessimist in regards to financial situations (thank you to those dentists), but I'd rather have lower expectations and surprise myself, than be thinking that I'll be making this crazy high number when I graduate and I'll have all my loans paid off in 3 years.

To OP, I'm still planning on going to dental school because though it will cost a lot, over the long run, I still feel this is the best career for me. Also, it seems to be a pretty stable career, too, and I like that. As a hygienist you will be able to find a job, but you'd have to work much harder, too. The one who does my cleanings works at 5 different offices, one office for everyday of the week. And she gets ZERO time off...it kind of sucks...
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Money and investments are extremely important to me, and I do a lot of thinking and calculations before jumping into one.

I would not go to dental school if I had to take out $ 500,000.00 in loans. The most I would probably do is $ 300,000.00 and I would feel pretty bad about it.

OP, you're looking at $ 500,000.00 and saying "well not that bad, I'll make 100K out of school." You are not looking at interest. You will pay more than $ 800,000.00 back when it is all over at the current interest rate. That is about 5K a month for 15 years. You will be 42 when you are "debt-free." Also, there are certain metrics for figuring out repayment. The general rule is 10% of your gross monthly income should go to debt repayment. This means you would have to be making north of $ 300,000.00 a year to satisfy this rule.

OP, your boyfriend is saying those things because maybe he wants a stress free future, maybe he even considers you to be someone he wants to have a child with. Tell me, in 5-8 years if you consider having a child, you cannot really stop working right? Not with a 5K bill every month? What about the bills a baby would bring?

I know you think dentistry is your dream, but really look at the financials before you sign on the dotted line.
 
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Member902507 said:
I'm just wondering here, if money is an important aspect to you, will your parents be paying for dental school? Because even I was calculating how much it's gonna cost me. Initial investment is around 350k, but by the time it'll be paid off, I would have paid 550k AT LEAST (based off of the payment plan my dad created for me). So it's not just the OP here, this is the case for pretty much everybody who's taking money out on loans. I'm just glad the OP is aware of the financial burden of schooling too. I've read too many posts on here by dentists who say pre-dents go into dental school starry-eyed, thinking they'll make 120k starting out of school. Now, I'm a complete pessimist in regards to financial situations (thank you to those dentists), but I'd rather have lower expectations and surprise myself, than be thinking that I'll be making this crazy high number when I graduate and I'll have all my loans paid off in 3 years.

To OP, I'm still planning on going to dental school because though it will cost a lot, over the long run, I still feel this is the best career for me. Also, it seems to be a pretty stable career, too, and I like that. As a hygienist you will be able to find a job, but you'd have to work much harder, too. The one who does my cleanings works at 5 different offices, one office for everyday of the week. And she gets ZERO time off...it kind of sucks...
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My parents are paying for cost of living only. I might be on my own for tuition. Unless I get into my state school.
 
kevinrho said:
I actually think you want to go to dental school but you are only considering hygiene because of your bf and your mom. Your bf telling you are selfish? Serious? I think it's the other way around. I think he's selfish. If he is actually going to be with you in the future, it's an investment for your future as well as his. Go to dental school, you've been wanting this, follow your dream.
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Investment for your future??? lol. She will be paying 5k/month for 15 years LMAO..

Investment for his??? ahhaha more like a burden to him.
 
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mmmsteakdinners said:
Money and investments are extremely important to me, and I do a lot of thinking and calculations before jumping into one.

I would not go to dental school if I had to take out $ 500,000.00 in loans. The most I would probably do is $ 300,000.00 and I would feel pretty bad about it.

OP, you're looking at $ 500,000.00 and saying "well not that bad, I'll make 100K out of school." You are not looking at interest. You will pay more than $ 800,000.00 back when it is all over at the current interest rate. That is about 5K a month for 15 years. You will be 42 when you are "debt-free." Also, there are certain metrics for figuring out repayment. The general rule is 10% of your gross monthly income should go to debt repayment. This means you would have to be making north of $ 300,000.00 a year to satisfy this rule.

OP, your boyfriend is saying those things because maybe he wants a stress free future, maybe he even considers you to be someone he wants to have a child with. Tell me, in 5-8 years if you consider having a child, you cannot really stop working right? Not with a 5K bill every month? What about the bills a baby would bring?

I know you think dentistry is your dream, but really look at the financials before you sign on the dotted line.
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Never heard any dentist paying 5,000/month minimum. Where is that coming from?
 
Obey said:
My parents are paying for cost of living only. I might be on my own for tuition. Unless I get into my state school.
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Nice! The cost of living aspect should help quite a bit in itself then, especially if you go to a school that's in an expensive area. I think that accounts for about 30k on its own, so that would amount to 120k after the 4 years, and you wouldn't have any interest on that.

Personally, I think the interest rates are the killer..yea the money is a lot too, but the interest rates SUCK.
 
Member902507 said:
Nice! The cost of living aspect should help quite a bit in itself then, especially if you go to a school that's in an expensive area. I think that accounts for about 30k on its own, so that would amount to 120k after the 4 years, and you wouldn't have any interest on that.

Personally, I think the interest rates are the killer..yea the money is a lot too, but the interest rates SUCK.
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My parents don't care about the area. They're pitching around 1k a month. That's it LMAO.

Im gonna be eating ramen noodles and sharing a room with 3 people most likely...
 
rocky90 said:
Never heard any dentist paying 5,000/month minimum. Where is that coming from?
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I think it depends on what kind of payment plan you want to set up for yourself. The one my dad was creating for me (just to play around with numbers and be aware of all of this), was a payment plan of I believe 7 years, and I'd have to pay somewhere between $3500-4000 a month. Obviously you can create your payment plan of 25 years, but then you'd be paying a lot more in the long run. It all depends on you. Bereno, another SDN user, made a GREAT excel doc on calculating payment plans, etc etc. I guess he's a finance major so it's a killer doc that crunches out a lot of numbers for you--it's on SDN somewhere...it was called financial projections I believe
 
Obey said:
My parents don't care about the area. They're pitching around 1k a month. That's it LMAO.
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haha, think of it as a $12000 scholarship then! (Brought to you by the "Obey" Fund.)
 
You will always have debt (one kind or another) but opportunities like this may knock only once
 
A dental degree is not worth 500k, you really have to look at this situation long-term. It's not feasible to pay this loan in a few years, you will be strapped into it for a long long time. How can you expect to have kids one day? The reality is that you can't even go part time as that is not enough to service that debt.
 
500k is not worth it. Add in interest, and you're paying upwards of a million dollars on payback over the length of your repayment plan.

I think somewhere around 280-300k is about as high as I'd go. The only thing that will save someone that's 500k in the hole is some SERIOUS inflation.
 
Or you could try for HPSP with army/navy.
 
Sounds like the army is the way for you. FREE!
 
Toothangel,
You've already been accepted, don't pass this up. Every year you delay to try to get into your state school is a year you could have been making money as a dentist, and tuition is not getting any cheaper. I will be 42 when I start dental school this fall. Trust me, you don't want to start a career you already know you won't be satisfied with. You will either be miserable in your job or you will end up making a mid-life career change. If you pass this up to make your boyfriend happy and end up starting a family with him, you will resent him every day you go to work at a job you're not happy with.

Look into loan repayment programs (IHS, VA, military, there are some state programs as well). Yes, it will be more difficult for you and me than for someone fortunate enough to get into an inexpensive state school. However, the alternative is missing the chance to live your dream. Don't settle.
 
Obey said:
Investment for your future??? lol. She will be paying 5k/month for 15 years LMAO..

Investment for his??? ahhaha more like a burden to him.
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Exactly, investment for her future. You act like she's only going to live another 15 years after dental school. A burden on him? Pshh serious, yes it may be tough but hey if he does really see her in his future he'll support her. Just my thought, but it doesn't matter.
 
mmmsteakdinners said:
$ 500,000.00 over 15 years at 7% is $4,494.00 a month.
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Isnt there are a 30 year plan too? And then there are loan repayment programs too. Regardless it depends on what you really want to do in life.
 
NDPitch, Suarez, and other naysayers, ask yourself this question. If the only dental school you were accepted to had a cost-of-attendence of 420,000 like the OP, would you really say no thanks? Would you honestly give that up to go to hygiene school? I think that's crazy talk.
 
kevinrho said:
Exactly, investment for her future. You act like she's only going to live another 15 years after dental school. A burden on him? Pshh serious, yes it may be tough but hey if he does really see her in his future he'll support her. Just my thought, but it doesn't matter.
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I'd have a serious fight with my girlfriend if she thought it would be a good idea to borrow that much money. If she told me that she was willing to pay 1 million dollars over 30 years for a career in dentistry, then I would tell her she's a lunatic and I don't date lunatics.
 
Come on guys... I know that you should follow your passion and do what you love to do. But being in debt for 4-500k it is truly not worth it.

It doesn't matter how much I love a profession. If I have to slave for years just to pay off my debt, I am sure I will begin to HATE what I do.
 
cwoodds said:
NDPitch, Suarez, and other naysayers, ask yourself this question. If the only dental school you were accepted to had a cost-of-attendence of 420,000 like the OP, would you really say no thanks? Would you honestly give that up to go to hygiene school? I think that's crazy talk.
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If the only thing that was important to me was being a dentist, then I'd go. But if I also wanted to have a house, have a family, have my own practice, provide for my family, and have some peace of mind that I wouldn't be a slave to the bank forever, then I'd think long and hard about what I'm getting into. 500k at graduation at a mixed interest rate of 6.8 and 7.9 is prohibitive! I know there are people out there dying to get into any school, and will go in a heart beat, but I'm afraid they'll be hurting really bad when they get out of school. But maybe there are people out there who will truly be satisfied knowing that they're a dentist, and the other things in life aren't that important to them. For those people, maybe it's worth it. But, in my opinion, for the people that have a holistic life vision on what they want dentistry to bring to them, then the $500,000 price tag is just too much.
 
What about IBR (assuming it survives long enough for OP to qualify)?
 
If you have never wanted and don't plan on having babies and raising a family: GO FOR IT!

If you want or think you might want to have babies and raise a family: NO WAY.

Basically, if you commit to that much debt (1,000,000 paid back by the time its paid off) your womb will long since have dried up by the time you think you might be able to afford having babies and raising a family. And you'll be too old and tired from laboring as a dentist to pay back your loans anyways.
 
You can have kids, be a dentist, and pay back your loans. Plus this is the kind of career that gives you the freedom to cut back on hours for an extended period of time (while still making good money), then pick back up where you left off. I agree with those who have mentioned that youll probably regret walking away from this opportunity. One day you might be doing hygeine in an office owned by a female dentist who has children..and wish you had gone.
 
Bobby Fischer said:
If you have never wanted and don't plan on having babies and raising a family: GO FOR IT!

If you want or think you might want to have babies and raise a family: NO WAY.

Basically, if you commit to that much debt (1,000,000 paid back by the time its paid off) your womb will long since have dried up by the time you think you might be able to afford having babies and raising a family. And you'll be too old and tired from laboring as a dentist to pay back your loans anyways.
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That's just silly. You think no working parents have kids? There is something called maternity leave. Even if you own your own practice, you can take time off to have a baby. I have a cousin who had a child the first year after buying a busy solo practice. Have a part-time dentist fill in, put off procedures that you can for a couple months, people do it all the time.

Look, we're talking about 420k vs 250-300k. I'm sorry, but to me, that's not the difference between 'choosing a career' and 'selling yourself into slavery,' for God's sake! 'Too old and tired from laboring as a dentist'?? hahaha, give me a break, dentistry is such hard physical work!? Go work on a construction crew for a couple of weeks and then tell me how you classify practicing dentistry as 'laboring'.
 
It is your life, do what you want.

These days in life there is no thing as a sure thing. Too many majors and degrees of everything pretty much, so no matter what you will have to work to get to the top.

My parent's raised me while basically making next to nothing and we were fine. If you have two individuals making enough money it is not that big of a deal. Now if you are marrying another dentist, then yeah that might be problematic. My friend graduated with a business degree and is managing a burger shack basically, so before complaining about not making enough we should realize many people have it worse then we do.

You can manage just fine though, now if you are trying to live a lavish lifestyle then yes you will have issues. Buy just an okay house, a decent car, heck go live back home for a bit if you can to save some expenses. It is manageable if you plan accordingly and know how to manager your resources.

IBR is a great way to do this as well, I think at the end of the loan whatever is unpaid becomes taxable income
 
Disclaimer: Never take financial advice from predents, take word from dentists themselves if you don't believe my opinions.

TheWeeIceMan said:
What about IBR (assuming it survives long enough for OP to qualify)?
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'

IBR was never meant for dentists with high loan amounts. It was actually designed for teachers and public workers, but you can qualify with it. IBR isn't anything that special because whatever your loan balance after 25 years of minimal payment gets smacked at your face in taxes the following year. It's not "forgiveness" like people say.

Bobby Fischer said:
If you have never wanted and don't plan on having babies and raising a family: GO FOR IT!

If you want or think you might want to have babies and raise a family: NO WAY.

Basically, if you commit to that much debt (1,000,000 paid back by the time its paid off) your womb will long since have dried up by the time you think you might be able to afford having babies and raising a family. And you'll be too old and tired from laboring as a dentist to pay back your loans anyways.
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I agree with this

shootingstar7 said:
You can have kids, be a dentist, and pay back your loans. Plus this is the kind of career that gives you the freedom to cut back on hours for an extended period of time (while still making good money), then pick back up where you left off. I agree with those who have mentioned that youll probably regret walking away from this opportunity. One day you might be doing hygeine in an office owned by a female dentist who has children..and wish you had gone.
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Maternity leave is when you actually have an employer. But if you own a practice like you mentioned, then no one is paying for your maternity leave. You (and your practice) are losing revenue, patients (because they don't want to wait that long), and you add additional stress to your life. In addition, it costs at least 400k to buy an existing practice (or making one from scratch) so that's an additional burden that you would have to take. Even if you wanted to step down for a few months for your babies/kids it would be very difficult because of your practice and student loan debt. [Future] women dentists are going to have a ROUGH time if they want to settle down.
The only option I see is working part time for a dentist, but then again you won't get those benefits like you mentioned (choosing own hours, being the boss, etc)

Obey said:
Come on guys... I know that you should follow your passion and do what you love to do. But being in debt for 4-500k it is truly not worth it.

It doesn't matter how much I love a profession. If I have to slave for years just to pay off my debt, I am sure I will begin to HATE what I do.
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I agree with this too

cwoodds said:
NDPitch, Suarez, and other naysayers, ask yourself this question. If the only dental school you were accepted to had a cost-of-attendence of 420,000 like the OP, would you really say no thanks? Would you honestly give that up to go to hygiene school? I think that's crazy talk.
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Well if I was in that situation I would need to come up with a plan to minimize that debt. I wouldn't go into the dental school with all that debt blindly and expect my first salary out of ds is $120k. If I can't minimize the $420k to a more reasonable level (like $300k and even then that's a lot) then I would consider a different healthcare profession. Not hygiene because there are a lot of hygienists who can't find work because there are so many schools.
 
Losts of dentists have an employer..not everyone owns their own practice or wants to.
 
suarez 7 said:
Disclaimer: Never take financial advice from predents, take word from dentists themselves if you don't believe my opinions.
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Exactly. I say 500k isn't worth it not only because the numbers don't add up when I crunch them, but also because every dentist I've talked to either in person or on dental town says "no, it's not worth it at that debt level".
 
Your boyfriend sounds like a tool. My only question is: why do you have to take out loans? Why not military or other government programs? If there's a will there's a way, don't settle.
 
toothangel747 said:
Hi Everyone,:love:

This is my second time applying to dental schools. I have applied to 10 schools and I am only accepted to one OOS dental school this cycle. Mainly because my DAT score wasn't very high. :scared:

However, I found out that the tuition + living expense + room and board. I am looking at 420,000 for the four years. Plus, I have to get 100% on student loan. With interest rate of 7% By the time i graduated, I am looking at near 500,000 in debt.

Education for dental school is really getting ridiculous. :mad::confused:

At the meantime. I have just applied for dental hygiene program. I am confident that I'd have a high chance of getting in there.

Here is my dilemma::eek: (keep in mind I am turning 27 this year)

Dental school OOS with 500,000 and looking at 20 years working to pay back Is it really worth the time, energy, and money?


dental hygiene which is only two years. For instate residency, I am looking at 60,000 for the total. My boyfriend and my parents are more supportive of me going into hygiene. They think it is less stressful for a female and I am getting too old to still be in school. They told me that I can enter the workforce as a hygienist and later on retake DAT and reapply for the third time, but only instate school.. My boyfriend say i am being selfish to consider dental school....

I am sooo torn and don't know what to do. !! I couldnt sleep last night. I know that becoming a hygienist is more practical. But I know in my heart. I wouldn't want to settle for hygienist. Applying the third time still wouldn't guarantee me getting into my instate school....

If you were to put a price on your dream. how much will it be? For me, I just think 500,000 is too much. 300,000 I could take it.. What would you do if you were me? Hygiene vs. Dental school> ?
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What school is this may I ask?
 
You got accepted!! GO FOR IT!!! Hygiene isnt all that easy to get into either. Here in Texas most schools only have students who have a 4.0 because there are so few spots and so many applicants. Being a dentist is what you make it as far as income. You need to learn the business so you can make the bucks. Think about it, the only way you will pay for all those years like that is if you work as an associate your whole life. If you open up a few businesses and actually take full advantage of being a dentist you could make loads of money and pay off all those student loans. There is no point in going to dental hygiene school because it is 2 years long. What do you plan on doing? Half the program? Graduating and working 6 months? If you plan on applying next cylcle is there really a point in starting a program like that? Also, $60,000 for hygiene and then turn back around and do $300,000 (or whatever your state school cost). Its still expensive. You will always have support because I support you:)
 
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Obey said:
Investment for your future??? lol. She will be paying 5k/month for 15 years LMAO..

Investment for his??? ahhaha more like a burden to him.
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You are SUCH a tool.
 
Member902507 said:
I think it depends on what kind of payment plan you want to set up for yourself. The one my dad was creating for me (just to play around with numbers and be aware of all of this), was a payment plan of I believe 7 years, and I'd have to pay somewhere between $3500-4000 a month. Obviously you can create your payment plan of 25 years, but then you'd be paying a lot more in the long run. It all depends on you. Bereno, another SDN user, made a GREAT excel doc on calculating payment plans, etc etc. I guess he's a finance major so it's a killer doc that crunches out a lot of numbers for you--it's on SDN somewhere...it was called financial projections I believe
Click to expand...

Yup thats it. Found here

OP, assuming equal cost per year (105K) at 7.9% interest, and assuming a starting salary at around $110K (the only important salary figure IMHO), you are looking at paying it off in about 25 years, if you want to do it "comfortably". You might want to note that this is the maximum duration on a lot of student loans. Also, this is assuming a bunch of basics that have a lot of variance to them (30k car loan, 1k rent, 5 years later you buy a 300k house, etc, etc). Go ahead and play with the excel doc and see what you come up with. In my opinion, the 400k mark (before interest) was where I was going to draw the line... I would have looked into other careers at that point. Its a brutal but honest truth. About the age thing. I am 26, and there are a few others in my class that are also 25-26, one that is 28, and one that is 40-ish (I think). Hope this helps. :)

Edit: I just read that your BF thinks it is selfish for you to want to go to dental school... screw him, he is an idiot. Unless you two are going to get married, and he is already making superb money to support the both of you, then he is the one being selfish.
 
Last edited:
predent12 said:
Ummmm try again. $500,000 over 15 years is $33,333.33 a year, or $2777.78 a month.
Click to expand...

lol, you are forgetting interest my friend. $4494.14 is the correct figure :)
 
sacapuntas said:
There is that pesky little bugger called interest you seem to be neglecting.
Click to expand...

No school actually costs $500,000 alone. The most expensive end up a little over $100,000 a year. So there's already room for the accumulation of interest. Depending on how fast you pay it off, it can be less or more. Even if the total cost ends up being closer to $600,000 (which would be a ridiculously high interest rate,) you are still looking at a max $3,000 a month. Which is a lot, don't get me wrong, but it sure isn't $5,000.
 
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