Advice Post #5:
How to afford dental school
Pre-Dental Question: "I was hoping if you could create a blog post about dental debt, and how to deal with it.
I'm pre-dental, but I'm a nursing major hoping to experience both and also pay off dental school."
My response: To give you the short summary, this is how I'm paying for it: I take out student loans using my FAFSA application. I always take out the max amount because about 1/2-3/4 of it will go to tuition. The way I look at it is like this: I'll definitely make enough to pay it off after school is over and I would much rather live comfortably/ not have to stress out about money while also studying. Does that make sense?
A little background about how student loans in dental school work first: You fill out the FAFSA (Free Application For Student Aid) in like June/July before school starts. There's a section on the form that asks for the dental school you're going to, and they use this to determine how much aid to offer you taking account into that school's specific tuition. Then they will offer you money based on the tuition and the cost of living in that area (rent, groceries, extra). And you can chose to take out however much you think you need based on the budget you came up with. Our money is distributed each semester around August 15th and January 3rd when school is about to start. They also factor in how much to give you for the summer based I believe on what you took out for the fall and spring semesters. And if you have any other questions that I didn't answer, contact the financial aid people at the school. But really, I promise you that you do not need to worry about money when you're accepted. There are systems in place so that you can just apply and take student loans and pay them back after graduation when you have a job. It really does work out. I would say that 95% of our class are on student loans, and every dentist who has ever spoken to our class and the faculty who also went to dental school do say that paying it off on a dentist's salary is very possible while also living a good lifestyle.
Each year you take out money, you are charged an interest that will begin going into effect once you graduate from school (I think it's like 6 months post-graduation or something). I get 2 different loans (one loan has slightly higher interest than the other). Most people in my class sign on for both of the loans (interest is like 4% for the first and 5-7% for the higher one) bc the amount you're given in one isn't enough to pay for tuition and to live comfortable while in school.
If you have a significant other or parents that can help out, that's definitely awesome! There are some people in my class whose spouse pays for the living expenses and they just take out the student loans for the tuition.
There are also scholarships that you can apply to through the school or other national organizations that can help reduce the amount of student loan debt you accumulate. Your dental school would know more about which ones are applicable to you! Just ask the Scholarship Office at whichever school you end up attending!
I would recommend figuring out your budget before taking out the loans. And definitely give yourself some wiggle room because you don't know what emergencies might happen that semester (like your tire blowing out like my did a month ago). If you don't use all of it, then save it for the next year and just take out a little less if you want. But there's no harm in taking out the maximum, so that's what I'd suggest! You just pay it back post-graduation!
I hope that helps!
I'm pre-dental, but I'm a nursing major hoping to experience both and also pay off dental school."
My response: To give you the short summary, this is how I'm paying for it: I take out student loans using my FAFSA application. I always take out the max amount because about 1/2-3/4 of it will go to tuition. The way I look at it is like this: I'll definitely make enough to pay it off after school is over and I would much rather live comfortably/ not have to stress out about money while also studying. Does that make sense?
A little background about how student loans in dental school work first: You fill out the FAFSA (Free Application For Student Aid) in like June/July before school starts. There's a section on the form that asks for the dental school you're going to, and they use this to determine how much aid to offer you taking account into that school's specific tuition. Then they will offer you money based on the tuition and the cost of living in that area (rent, groceries, extra). And you can chose to take out however much you think you need based on the budget you came up with. Our money is distributed each semester around August 15th and January 3rd when school is about to start. They also factor in how much to give you for the summer based I believe on what you took out for the fall and spring semesters. And if you have any other questions that I didn't answer, contact the financial aid people at the school. But really, I promise you that you do not need to worry about money when you're accepted. There are systems in place so that you can just apply and take student loans and pay them back after graduation when you have a job. It really does work out. I would say that 95% of our class are on student loans, and every dentist who has ever spoken to our class and the faculty who also went to dental school do say that paying it off on a dentist's salary is very possible while also living a good lifestyle.
Each year you take out money, you are charged an interest that will begin going into effect once you graduate from school (I think it's like 6 months post-graduation or something). I get 2 different loans (one loan has slightly higher interest than the other). Most people in my class sign on for both of the loans (interest is like 4% for the first and 5-7% for the higher one) bc the amount you're given in one isn't enough to pay for tuition and to live comfortable while in school.
If you have a significant other or parents that can help out, that's definitely awesome! There are some people in my class whose spouse pays for the living expenses and they just take out the student loans for the tuition.
There are also scholarships that you can apply to through the school or other national organizations that can help reduce the amount of student loan debt you accumulate. Your dental school would know more about which ones are applicable to you! Just ask the Scholarship Office at whichever school you end up attending!
I would recommend figuring out your budget before taking out the loans. And definitely give yourself some wiggle room because you don't know what emergencies might happen that semester (like your tire blowing out like my did a month ago). If you don't use all of it, then save it for the next year and just take out a little less if you want. But there's no harm in taking out the maximum, so that's what I'd suggest! You just pay it back post-graduation!
I hope that helps!