Questions for Griffith Uni Dent students!

[lemondarren]

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[l2009]

Is the degree difficult if you come from a more humanities background? I have a high GPA but mostly from my arts subjects, meaning science will be slightly new to me. Does this make my chances of failing extremely high - and do lots of people fail the course at some point? That being said, is it doable if you study well and havea good work ethic?

Yeah, it will probably be a bit more difficult. Doesn't mean you'll fail, it just means you have to put in a little bit more effort in first year because it's mostly basic science subjects. Anything is possible with a good work ethic.

How realistic is it paying off the fees? Stupid question I know hah but obviously the 100k scares the crap out of me so I would like to know - in the grand scheme of things is it pretty guaranteed that this debt wont be a problem once someone becomes a dentist? I understand HECS also has a fee limit so does that mean most students have to pay money up front as well?

Realistically, you'll be paying it off for a pretty long time. When you start working, money is automatically taken out of your pay via the taxation system. The final two year degree at Griffith don't have Commonwealth supported places, only domestic full-fee paying places so you have to pay the 100k upfront. Either you can afford it or you can take out a government loan (if you're an Australian citizen).

Someone on another forum mentioned there werent enough facilities or people getting procedures done due to lack of patient flow - was there any truth to this, and can anybody further elaborate on this issue? Do most griffith students have no problem finding a job upon graduation from experience? I would probabyl consider returning to victoria to find work if I get in.

Not sure what it's like now since I've already graduated. There were definitely problems with getting patients for fixed pros procedures when I was in final year. Someone else who is at Griffith now would need to answer this.

Truth be told, most of your learning comes after graduation when you actually start working without having a supervisor to fall back on.

Do most of the students come from interstate, therefore is living on campus common for dent students? Are the people in the course friendly and approachable in experience? Going through a tough and hard course means I really would like to lean on others for advice etc, and also coming from VIC it means that I wont have a huge network at all. Do most people that move interstate to study dentistry settle in fine? How did you find the social aspect of the course, and did people gladly help you out?

In my year, majority of the cohort were interstate students. There are various student accommodation places around the campus or there is the option of share-housing. With dentistry being a relatively small cohort, everybody becomes fairly tight-knit so I think you'll be okay. Socially speaking, dentistry was the greatest 5 years of my life (so far).

 

[lemondarren]

Massive thanks for your replies

Sorry to be a pain, but could you kindly elaborate on the final year fees? Does this mean I'm not able to defer the payment of the final 100k? I thought that even though it was full-fee, hecs was still available for this amount.. I'm guessing my only option is a government loan? Meaning that there will be interest on it, making it much more than 100k? :s

Also, how long do most people take to pay it off on a realistic timescale? 3-5 years? If I may ask, how was your experience paying off the debt? (It's kind of a big decision-making factor for me, as I want to pay it off myself as opposed to my parents)

Further, say I wanted to go back to Victoria to find work. Does this mean I have to apply interstate for jobs before I graduate? Were most able to secure work in their desired area?

And lastly - I have a GPA of about 6.3 in my current degree, however I'm deferring it to start fresh in a new degree at latrobe to transfer/possibly reapply to griffith with a 7 GPA. Do you think it's worth applying with my 6.3 this year? I know I probably wont get a spot, but have you heard of anyone actually getting a second round offer with a GPA of 6.3ish?

 

[l2009]

Yeah, it has to be paid upfront. If you can't afford it, you have to take a government loan (Fee Help). Because it's a loan for a postgraduate degree (technically speaking, that's what the last two years of the degree are), there is no interest.

I'm nowhere near close to paying off my debt ... if I only make the required payments, then it'll probably take something like 15 years to pay off (I haven't really done the calculations). Required payments for uni debt is automatically taken out of your pay once you start working (assuming you're salaried ... it gets a bit more complicated if you're self-employed).

You don't have to apply for jobs before you graduate ... you can apply afterwards. Just depends on when you want to start working. To be honest, if i w in your position right now, I wouldn't be fussed about being really selective on where you want to work. The reason for that is because the dental job market is going to start getting saturated now that three new universities have started releasing graduates into the workforce.

I don't really know much about required entrance scores right now. It was different when I got into Griffith (UMAT scores + interview were needed). It's always worth applying though ... worst case scenario, you won't get in which is what will happen anyway if you don't apply.

 

[lemondarren]

Yeah, it has to be paid upfront. If you can't afford it, you have to take a government loan (Fee Help). Because it's a loan for a postgraduate degree (technically speaking, that's what the last two years of the degree are), there is no interest.

I'm nowhere near close to paying off my debt ... if I only make the required payments, then it'll probably take something like 15 years to pay off (I haven't really done the calculations). Required payments for uni debt is automatically taken out of your pay once you start working (assuming you're salaried ... it gets a bit more complicated if you're self-employed).

You don't have to apply for jobs before you graduate ... you can apply afterwards. Just depends on when you want to start working. To be honest, if i w in your position right now, I wouldn't be fussed about being really selective on where you want to work. The reason for that is because the dental job market is going to start getting saturated now that three new universities have started releasing graduates into the workforce.

I don't really know much about required entrance scores right now. It was different when I got into Griffith (UMAT scores + interview were needed). It's always worth applying though ... worst case scenario, you won't get in which is what will happen anyway if you don't apply.

Thanks again! Sorry if I'm mistaken - 15 years?! What..? I thought salary (as a dentist) be able to pay it compleltely off in 2-3 years max. Is it because you're only opting to pay it off by like instalments, so choosin to pay say 5k per year as opposed to just the bulk of the payment? Is there a choice to do this once you start working? (Say you make 90k in first year, and save that all up and just pay it off immediately). I understand it doesnt really work like that (as you factor in living costs) but would that be possible too?

 

[l2009]

Saying you make $100,000 a year doesn't mean you can save anywhere near that much per year.

i.e. income tax (this takes a huge chunk out of your pay), repayment of uni debt, rent, groceries, water, electricity, phone, internet, car insurance, car registration, car maintainence, petrol, dentist registration fees (just some of the things that I have to think about)

When you're not financially relying on your parents anymore, the cost of living dramatically changes. It all adds up and you don't exactly end up being rich ... well off, yes. But not rich. And you have to be fairly rich to be able to comfortably and rapidly pay back 100k+ of uni debt. I'm also speaking from the perspective of a public dentist. It's a bit of a story for someone really making the big money in private.

I recommend you look up income tax in Australia and FEE-HELP. You'll get a better understanding of how it all works.

 

[argon21]

Thanks again! Sorry if I'm mistaken - 15 years?! What..? I thought salary (as a dentist) be able to pay it compleltely off in 2-3 years max. Is it because you're only opting to pay it off by like instalments, so choosin to pay say 5k per year as opposed to just the bulk of the payment? Is there a choice to do this once you start working? (Say you make 90k in first year, and save that all up and just pay it off immediately). I understand it doesnt really work like that (as you factor in living costs) but would that be possible too?

Lemondarren,

Yes the general full time private dentist can easily earn up to $150k+ per year working full time and can easily pay off the hecs loan - but it doesn't mean it need to do it. I only pay the minimum required by the Govt/ATO and invest the savings elsewhere

Example:
HECS bill $40k (when I went through dent it was only $8k per yr x 5yrs)
Salary - for simplicity, say $100k
Minimum HECS requirement is 8% of income = so $8k
The reminder of the loan is indexed to CPI - which is maintained by RBA (mostly) at no more than 3%.

So basically you are borrowing $ from the Govt at a maximum 3% interest rate. Whereas if I borrow to buy a house, the rates are all at around 5%. So I simply save 2% interest every yr by not paying off the extra HECS debt and reinvest it elsewhere instead.

There used to be a discount for paying HECS early - 5-10%, but that was abolished recently. So no incentive to pay off the loan early at all.