Are National Dental Board ExamI really hard to pass?

[Ash]

I heard the National Dental Board ExamI is very difficult to pass.
If someone doesn't pass it does that mean they can not continue to the third year of dental school?

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[gbdental]

I heard the National Dental Board ExamI is very difficult to pass.
If someone doesn't pass it does that mean they can not continue to the third year of dental school?

I've actually heard it's relatively easy to pass, just difficult to do very well on (90+). And as far as I know, not passing the Part I has nothing to do with your dental education (other that the fact that you didn't pay much attention during your actual edumucation). It just means that in order be a licensed dentist, you must pass both Parts I & II. Most dental schools don't require you to pass the boards to get a diploma. If I'm wrong I'm sure I'll be quickly corrected!

 

[grtuck]

IMO it most likely depends more on your "personality" than anything. Some people pass it relatively easy whereas others have a very difficult time. I would say that getting in the 90's is considered rather difficult by most people though. Also, I don't know about other schools, but it IS required at UNC if you want to graduate. You can actually look on the ADA website and it explains the exam rather well (don't know the address, sorry).

Hope that helps.

 

[ItsGavinC]

I heard the National Dental Board ExamI is very difficult to pass.
If someone doesn't pass it does that mean they can not continue to the third year of dental school?

It's an easy test to pass, but rather difficult to do *really* well on (at least according to statistics).

The ADA doesn't mandate that passing Part I be a criteria for advancing in curriculum, but some schools (such as UNC) have it as a criteria. In short, it's up to the school you attend.

 

[mwsung]

I got the point that the board is fairly easy to pass.
Now, I am wondering what the minimum requirement is to pass the exam?
50%??? or 60%?
cuz somebody was saying he/she got 70% and would have to retake it to boost up a bit.
what's really a passing grade?

 

[grtuck]

I got the point that the board is fairly easy to pass.
Now, I am wondering what the minimum requirement is to pass the exam?
50%??? or 60%?
cuz somebody was saying he/she got 70% and would have to retake it to boost up a bit.
what's really a passing grade?

Actually you need a 75 to pass.
The scores generally range form 49 to 99.
It is possible to get a 0 too according to the website, but that is rare.

http://www.ada.org/prof/ed/testing/natboard/part1_scoring.asp

Follow the link for more details.

 

[Dr.SpongeBobDDS]

We were told that the national boards are scaled with a "floating" cut-off for failure. It is predetermined that 5% of test takers will fail. It doesn't really matter what that bottom 5% scores; it could be 30% or it could be 85% -- depends on how smart everyone is that year and how hard the test is.

The key is that as long as you do better than 5% of students taking the exam you will pass. I am praying hard that I will be in that magic 6th percentile come July.

 

[Dr.SpongeBobDDS]

BTW, an 80 on the boards doesn't really mean that you answered 80% of questions correctly. The number score you receive is determined by some strange mathematical formula that supposedly keeps everything equal from year to year. Look at old board exams and you will see that there is actually a fairly generous curve.

 

[Ash]

BTW, an 80 on the boards doesn't really mean that you answered 80% of questions correctly. The number score you receive is determined by some strange mathematical formula that supposedly keeps everything equal from year to year. Look at old board exams and you will see that there is actually a fairly generous curve.

so if u dont pass the first boards basically can not continue on to the 3rd year???

 

[gbdental]

so if u dont pass the first boards basically can not continue on to the 3rd year???

Depends on your school's policy (see the posts above). At UNC, they have to pass, for example. At other schools you don't.