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dentistry degree: Is it worth the debt?
I want to be a dentist but i dont know if its worth the debt
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I don't know if dentistry has the same issues as the rest of medical field. I have a daughter who graduated with a degree to be a Dr.s assistant. Of all those she graduated with, she only found that a handful at most found jobs right away. A few maybe found jobs much later but she could not find any. The market was flooded. She was told the same I hear often, that the Medical field is the fastest growing field with plenty of jobs and not enough graduates to fill them. That is a lie just to get students to file for student loans. Yes, its a fast growing field but already has all the workers they need and the positions they do have to fill are quite small when compared to the thousands who are done with school and looking for a job. She ended up working at Walmart as a stocker. My new husband has a daughter who was top of her class in CGI computer generated imagery, and it took about 6 years before she got a part time job where she could use her degree. In the meanwhile, she had to make payments immediately wether she had a job or not so she took whatever she could get. One job was working in a daycare doing almost nothing but changing diapers all day long and that is what she did to make her payments. We were on her loan but are living on the poverty level and living out of our van made into a home. It is by choice to cut costs. I told the story of a non medical job to give you an idea of how hard it is to . They are only two example from my family but I know plenty of people who aren't working jobs related to their degree because it is hard to get jobs these days. You know how they say about houses that its a sellers market or buyers market as to who will benefit more. Right now its an employers market. They have so many to choose from and they can get away with low pay and treating employees unfairly because if a worker complains, they can be fired. People are working jobs they hate just to pay bills. The only jobs a person ca get seems to be fast food, janitor or maid, and other such jobs just to pay bills. So if you have a burning desire to work on peoples teeth, go for it and then you'll have to be a go getter, working harder than most to find a job where you can get your first experience and pay student loans. If you simply want a job that you believe will pay better money than most, yes it could but not in the beginning while still getting your experience, you'll still struggle in the beginning. We do need new dentists to replace those who retire, theres always some turnover so if you are willing to chance it because you love it so much, go for it. If not, think about a trade school instead as the market is wide open but colleges wont tell you that. Look up Mr Rowe talking about student loans and blue collar work. There are videos on Youtube. He used to do the show Dirty jobs,, blue collar work and all the employers he talked to off camera said tey can't find any people to fill the jobs and they are always running without enough help and the money sounds pretty good to me. So I challenge you to look that up and watch if you are kind of iffy on how much you want to be a dentist.
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If you know you will stick with it for the duration of the program and will actually become a full-fledged dentist than of course it's worth following your dream and what your passion is. You may wind up with a permanent job right after graduation where you can start to repay student debt.
One thing is for sure is that student loans are always offered at huge interest level and set up in their favor not yours. They want re-payment to start the second you get your diploma or are known to have met graduation requirements. Unlike other debt they can harass you by phone or mail for 2 years student loan people will hound you everywhere you go until it's repaid. That's just one thing to consider.
I would research different programs and find out on average how long it takes to get a job in the field and the amount of recent grads employed and get a sense what it would be like to enter the field a few years from now.
I would also look for scholarships. You may be debt but the positive is that you got an education where a lot of people couldn't attempt to follow that dream. It's worth it to give it a go because debt can be cleared up once regular employment comes.
Once you have a regular pay cheque and the ability to meet monthly payments you'll be on the right path in paying it off. You'll never know what situation probably a positive one you'll find yourself in once the degree is completed.
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