Due to financial constraints, I will be attending TCNJ (graduating class of 2021) on a full scholarship & commuting. My goal is to become a dentist, or maybe a dental surgeon. I will my majoring in Public Health & minoring in Spanish.
My parents have agreed to pay for dental school since I will be getting a free undergraduate education, and my dream dental school is UPenn Dental. I scoured the TCNJ website and was disappointed to see that many students attended UMDNJ, and I know FOR A FACT that I do not want to spend eight consecutive years in NJ. I would rather like to study dentistry in a prestigious university. This is not meant to come off as snobby or pretentious - getting into any dental school is a feat in itself, but it looks like most students just continue on to study at NJ’s Dental school and I do not want to spend so much time in suburban NJ. I’ve heard TCNJ is sort of like a HS atmosphere, and I really want to study at an elite university without this type of environment at some point in my life. I was not able to receive the undergraduate education I wanted (my dream was to study at an elite LAC like Haverford, Middlebury, or Smith, then go onto dental school), so I refuse to compromise my professional education. Would anyone be able to affirm that TCNJ students can go on to top dental schools (or med schools, I suppose they fall under the same category). I looked at both the UPenn Dental Undergrad Matriculation list, and TCNJ is listed once in six years. I also looked at the TCNJ pdfs about the “One Year Marks”, and the majority are at UMDNJ. By attending TCNJ, am I compromising my entire dental education experience? (Not that UMDNJ is a bad school - it is just that I LONG to attend an ivy or top dental school). Does TCNJ facilitate the process for students who are motivated to attend such schools after undergrad? Also, does TCNJ allows students to do research? Could anyone find evidence that shows that TCNJ graduates can and do in fact attend top dental schools such as Penn, Columbia, UNC, Tufts, etc.?
Thanks. I am very disappointed - I was accepted into several top LACs and strong state schools, but am only getting a full ride from TCNJ so I have to choice but to attend. It would be great if someone would assure me that my entire education isn’t compromised by attending a regional school for undergrad.
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My parents have agreed to pay for dental school
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Really? Do they have ANY idea how expensive UPenn Dental or a similar private dental school is???
The COA of UPenn Dental is about $115k PER YEAR and that’s right now. By the time YOU would be going, it would probably easily cost $125,000 per year…$500k TOTAL.
Are your parents really saying that they would pay half of a million dollars for your dental school???
The reason many of the kids you know end up attending their instate public dental school is cost.
Something doesn’t sound right. If you’re attending your current undergrad because of cost, it’s doubtful that the same parents will gladly spend $500k for Dental School.
How did you get a free ride to TCNJ when your GPA is lowish?
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ACT 32
GPA: VERY LOW
Weighted: 3.48 - 5.52 (This is a range because my school hasn’t let out an official GPA yet - I calculated it myself)
Unweighted: 3. 2something
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I didn’t know that TCNJ gives out free ride scholarships for those stats.
TCNJ doesn’t give out full tuition scholarships. In-state awards cap out at 6k and OOS awards at 11k. There are also one or two named scholarships with no amounts stated but those have a financial need component as well. Maybe some of the aid is need-based?
^^^
Some/most of the aid may be a combo of mostly need-based aid with some merit, but that begs the question as how a family who’d qualify for a bunch of need-based aid suddenly be able to pay $500k for UPenn Dental…or really any Dental school?
Attending the instate UMDNJ would cost the parents over $60k per year. Can this family afford to pay $240k for dental school
Thanks all for your concern, but no one has answered my question. I didn’t get a free ride, but I qualified for a lot of need and some merit after retaking ACT (got 35). My GPA has raised to a 3.7 weighted now. But instead of justifying myself… by “paying for dental school”, my parents meant that they’d help me out, not cover it. Sorry for being unclear. My main question is, everything else aside, will I be able to go to Penn Dental or any top dental school from TCNJ?
@mom2collegekids is correct with her cost calculations of dental school. The majority of dentists in all states went to their state school specifically because of costs. Where you go to dental school is totally insignificant. To pay almost double for that education is really not a smart decision. But to answer your question, high GPA and high board scores will get you into Penn from TCNJ or from any undergrad program. The reason TCNJ students go to UMDNJ is not because they could not get into a private school but because there is no reason to do so.
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My main question is, everything else aside, will I be able to go to Penn Dental or any top dental school from TC
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Yes, if you get top scores and top grades, you will not be excluded just because you went to TCNJ.
That said, I don’t think you understand the impact of big debt, particularly unnecessary big debt.
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The reason TCNJ students go to UMDNJ is not because they could not get into a private school but because there is no reason to do so.
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Exactly. when my son had his med school acceptances in hand, even though each school offered some merit to bring down costs, his instate public med schools were significantly less expensive.
You may not like living in NJ, but frankly, when you’re in the thick of professional school education, you will hardly notice which city you’re in.
Very few people will care where you went to dental school. “Top dental school” only means something to you. UPenn Dental School accepts only 5% of its applicants so it’s extremely competitive for ALL students. Out of the 2300 who applied there 2 years ago, 120 entered as freshmen! The odds aren’t great.
All students who complete dental school earn their DDS or DMD degrees. Most choose the cheapest school, which is the in-state public option. You don’t want to be saddled with loans up to $400-500K when you graduate, with the interest clock ticking from day one as this will severely limit your ability to buy a house, a new car, raise children with a spouse, and buy a practice.
m2ck is right: when you’re in dental school, you won’t have much free time outside of classes, the clinic, and the lab. Once you graduate, you can move anywhere.
I agree with all of the great advice you’ve been given here. Don’t fall into the prestige trap and be saddled with debt for most of your adult life. No one gives a hoot about where their dentist went to school.
Let’s do some simple math:
$500K debt paid back over 20 year amortization (4%)
*Would cost roughly $3000 per month x 20 years
*Assuming you could devote 20% of your take home pay for loans
*You’d need a yearly salary of over **$200,000 **to pay this back
This doesn’t include other costs you will likely incur over your adult life:
auto loan
mortgage
parental leave/illness
kids
etc
Given that the average dentist salary in the northeast is around $175K do you really want to devote this much of your life paying back student loans?
Alternatively if you go to TCNJ/state dental then your payback looks like:
*$240K debt over 20 years (4%)
*Would cost $1444 per month x 20 years
*Salary needed to cover (20%) would be $86K
Many public Dental/Med schools favor people from their own state in admissions…because they are more likely to stay and practice in the state. Usually public schools are less expensive…so it make sense for people to apply to their state school…but you don’t have to!
Also TCNJ is not just a HS atmosphere…it is one of the top rated public schools in NJ. A Community College is what you are thinking about.
Also check out: TCNJ Pre-Dental Club on FB
Another forum to discuss pre-dental is studentdoctor.net https://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/forums/pre-dental.17/
PS UMDNJ does not exist any more as an entity. Now it is Rutgers School of Dental Medicine.
the OP should know TCNJ have been accepted to many top Phd programs such as :Ph.D. Programs
•Yale University
•Harvard University
•Princeton University
•Columbia University
•University of Pennsylvania
•Dartmouth College Graduate Studies
•University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
•University of California, San Francisco
•University of California, Los Angeles
•University of Utah
•Johns Hopkins University
•Penn State University
•University of Michigan
•Georgetown University
•Rutgers University
•Northwestern University
•Thomas Jefferson University
•State University of New York, Stonybrook
•Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
•Purdue University
•Cornell University
•University of Georgia
•North Carolina State University
•University of Cincinnati
•New York University
•University of Dublin
•John Jay College of Criminal Justice
•Fairleigh Dickinson University
•Villanova University
•University of Maryland
•St. John’s University
•Duke University
•Baylor College of Medicine (Genetics)
•University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (Genetics)
•University of Chicago
So certainly should reasonable assume dentistry is no different. More probable that these top students preferred to be
medical Phd’s. Word of caution-- from the op you give the impression that you are "settling " or you should be at a LAC etc, so first, if you visited those New England LAC you would agree that the TCNJ is in the same style if not nicer than some. Secondly, if you think you’re going to easily perform in the way necessary to get that ivy med school spot you are in for an awakening. TCNJ is extremely competitive and top grades are hard to come by. In fact Barron’s ranked it as one of the top 75 most competitive schools academically in America. I would go so far as to say your stats are good but far from being overly impressive. There are many talented students attending TCNJ for all sorts of reasons , especially money. Its not that unique of a reason and most do not have a full scholarship. In fact my childs gpa was higher with a 32 act and no great aid so I don’t know what that is about. Needless to say there are many many focused , determined students and this will not be a cake walk. If a TCNJ is good enough for Yale and Harvard
med, its probably good enough for dental school.