biochemaa

Dentists more and more are working as an employee of a corporation and not opening up a private practice. Dental education is not subsidized. Many graduate with loans of $100,000-150,000. They can't afford to open a private practice, they don't qualify for the loans with loan debt already high. They work for a corporation. They have to meet productivity criteria. They have to push cosmetic dentistry to get the cash paying patient. They often have poor job satisfaction and move from storefront to storefront. They usually have a non-compete clause and can't leave the big box and go out on their own unless they leave town. And yes restrictive clauses are legal in most states if they are reasonable (50-60 miles, 2 years etc). And they are not making over $100,000 out of dental school. Even if they are, calculate the payment on their loans once out of school. Loan of 150,000 over 10 yrs at 6.8% interest is a payment of $1800 A MONTH ($21,600+ a year) and the additional interest in 10 years adds up to nearly $60,000 more, so they paid out $210,000. So for 10 years, take $22,000 off the salary total ( adding in a few late payments). And with the lower credit scores, they will pay more for car loans, house loans. Yep, not all it is cracked up to me.

FYI the continuium is expensive, you HAVE to take the furniture, you will be matched with a roommate. You are not guaranteed a single and they don't go to first time leasers for the most part. If you like dorm living.... Thanks for the info on Spyglass!

Looking for input for grad housing for Cazabella, Madison Pointe, Spyglass and the Downtown complex of Arlington Square. Any first hand experience? Pro's and Con's? I will be based in the Northwest corner of campus. Maybe will have another grad roommate and a 2BR 2B but a 1/1 is a possibility as well. I require a W/D in the building and a cat has to be OK.

visiting this W/E. SO is apartment hunting. Will post more next week.

Hey, I have some questions about visiting days and small vs large programs. I visited a small program that enrolls 10-12 new PhD first year students a year. I expected that they offered some 15-20 students or more, to fill 10-12 spots. They are ranked about 70-80. Like me, I would guess many/most of their acceptees have choices. But there were only 6 at visiting weekend. They only have one weekend for formal I am visiting a large program ranked 25-35 who enrolls 50ish new PhD first year students a year. They also have one formal weekend and one "other" weekend. How many can I expect will visit? Do lots of students visit outside of formal visitation days? Do some accept without visiting at all? Thanks