Of course Rutgers would be great for you, if it’s instate.
thanks.
Im going to keep my options open. I’ll apply to both BS/PA and BS/DMD/DDS
-Rutgers (BS/DMD)
-Stockton (BS/PA)
NYU (BS/DDS)
Temple (BS/DDS)
Upenn (BS/DDS)
-Seton Hall (BS/PA)? (Im not sure about this school)
-additional schools
*And If I get in to both BS/PA programs and BS/DMD programs, I think I might go for the dental ones, because overall, it is more of a balanced lifestyle, and is right in the middle to what satisfies my needs. But I also am looking for the best money packages.
OP- you are thinking of ONE type of dental career- owning a practice, where you control your hours and thus, have a balanced lifestyle. There are dentists in the military, and they get deployed to Iraq like any other military professional (for months on end). There are dentists who are employees of large, multi specialty practices, and they show up for work, get scheduled for emergencies, like any other employee (and they are salaried to boot). There are dentists working for government- civilians at the VA, on bases, etc. which is nice, steady work but not terribly high salary.
You need to some research before you go further down this path. If you want to own your own practice-- great. Where are you coming up with the capital to buy or lease the equipment, pay salaries until you start to break even, rent, etc??? You’re envisioning the career of a 55 year old successful dentist right out of school and that is NOT realistic.
You have excellent instate options.
You don’t need to attend NYU or U Penn for those professions.
Run the net price calculator for those schools, unless you qualify for lots of need based aid, they won’t be affordable.
No one, even those with dental/medical ties, chooses their dentist because they went to a prestigious school or not. Dentists, physicians and PA’s (and others) are licensed professionals- we all need to be competent. I know Harvard grads who are no better (or worse) than grads from any other medical school. We all need to keep up with continuing education to keep our license as well. Most go to ordinary schools and learn the craft. Frankly, none of the schools you mention mean anything to me because I am not from your area. Likewise, I do not expect you to know of so many excellent schools because of where you are from.
Not knowing Spanish does not count in so much of this country. Places hire translators in various languages, depending on the local immigrant population. Do not worry about this.
You are still so young. Keep flexible and do not set your goals in stone. Allow yourself to explore many options. You may discover a passion in a field you don’t learn about until you are in college. Your current goals involve getting stellar HS grades, doing well on standardized tests and having appropriate extracurricular activities. These help with a good, sold knowledge base for college and getting into colleges, no matter how prestigious. You need to learn how to study smart- efficiently, not just time spent- to be able to handle the education.
Again, volunteer and shadow those in professions of interest. You are continuing to mature into adulthood- you will have a much better understanding as the years go by.
thanks.
I do not want to open a practice!! I am looking to join a practice as an employee, and work their hours. From what i’ve heard dentists, dentists work schedule aren’t that long, and very flexible.
The average dental student graduates with $260,000+ in debt. Average starting earnings is $119k. That’s after 8 years of school.
I’m not saying it’s not a good career, but you won’t be buying a $6M house when you’re 30.
Don’t be over-influenced by one story. I know a partner at the world’s largest professional services firm who didn’t go to college. You should still go to college. The plural of anecdote is not data.
I understand what you are saying. But, I really like the dental/medicine field. I am fine with not buying a 6 million dollar house. I just really want to help people.