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bruin2013 said:
Short and simple. Would my chances to 4 year programs be hopeless with that score?
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" Hopeless " denotes no chance at all. You definitely can get interviews with a 60. However, you will get more interviews with a higher score.
 
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Isn't UCLA pass/fail? Not sure if they rank, but if they don't I'd say 60 is not good. If they do rank and you are top 10 you might have a shot. Honestly 60 is not a competitive score nowadays. Retake in August.
 
Technically speaking isn't ucla H/P/F ? Which is different from pure P/F

PDs will likely look at how many times you honored classes compared to your classmates
 
5 months should be more than enough to break a 60 if you are using the right materials of uworld first aid And pathoma. Take a nbme form to see where you are at about a couple of weeks out.
 
bruin2013 said:
my point is that I received a 60. I am trying to get a 70. We only have two weeks off for summer as well in terms of a dedicated time off.
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Did you use the materials I mentioned. 2 weeks isn’t ideal but you have to study in between classes. Luckily you are in a pass fail school.

Yes you did receive a 60, which means you have plenty to improve on. Look at which sections you did poorly on and focus on that. I’m going to guess physiology cause that gets everyone. Boards and beyond is really good for self teaching.
You guys aren’t in clinic yet right?
 
bruin2013 said:
I have a lot of time that is pretty free from now till August 17th, but I am not sure how dramatic a 10 point jump is. This is my first time taking the exam. I was pretty weak across the board and only did 800 UWorld Q’s.
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I got a 62 in August and just got a 74, so did a 12 point jump. This is was while having clinic, a two year old and commuting to school. (Only had two weeks off for christmas during this time). If you dedicate yourself to it, you can do it. Dont think of it as a 10 point jump because people go from 0, having never taking it, and can get a 90+ first time around. You already have a 60 point head start, you know what your weaknesses are already. Get the concepts down fully adding to what you already know then add in the small details and kill it. Theres no reason you cant do a 30 point jump let alone a 10 point jump if you have the desire and drive to do it.
 
bruin2013 said:
technically yes. but it's pretty hard to pull off honors. some classes can be just plain hard to pass. everyone is trying to specialize so getting a H is near impossible.

to put it simply, i did not receive any H's. but we don't really have class rank and i've been told H's don't matter for OMFS. I will try to get a 65+, ideally 70+. Not sure how hard it is to bump up 10 points in 5 months, but I'm going to give it my all.
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UCLA has a class rank. It's just not disclosed to the students.

Do they still have Marginal Passes? If you're really starving for H's, the trick is to finish your clinic requirements early or as fast as possible and you'll keep getting H's on clinical courses until the end.
 
bruin2013 said:
Yes, UCLA is P/F unfortunately. Not sure how big of a role that will play.
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It plays a role because if you don't have to worry about rank, you have a lot more time to study for CBSE. PDs know this.
There is a big difference in studying for A's in all your classes/clinics on top of CBSE studying vs just passing your classes/clinics + CBSE studying.
H/P/F is a little different. H = A. P = B/C.
 
bruin2013 said:
This could not be more wrong. I have gotten A’s in the majority of my classes (~3.8 gpa if I were to guess) and have only received one H. H=A+
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I agree with this. When I interviewed at UCLA, they said they give out honors based on the top X% of the class - not based on your grade. So, you could have a 94% but if your grade is not in the not top 10%, you won't get honors. Kind of stinks that they do it that way.
 
bruin2013 said:
This could not be more wrong. I have gotten A’s in the majority of my classes (~3.8 gpa if I were to guess) and have only received one H. H=A+
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I stand corrected for the UCLA H/P/F system. It's different from other P/F schools then.
 
A ton of people I know retook their 60s cbse and scored in the 70s!
 
TheArmyDentist said:
Good shot in the Army (should have a minimum of 50 to be competitive). Plus you get a full salary while attending!
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Can civilians even apply to army OS directly if they are not on HPSP?
 
AppalachianDentalBoy said:
Do you know why that is? I was under the impression that MDs could if they agreed to payback after their residency
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Can't speak for medical. But, I would bet it's the same. There are more than enough qualified active duty providers applying to military residencies. There is no need to open it up to civilian applications. Especially since dental specialists are slated for some big reductions military wide (a quarter of Navy endodontist and periodontist slots are going away, not sure exact numbers of the others). I mean what would happen if a civilian applicant Matched to a military residency, but then didn't qualify to be an officer for whatever reason?

Big Hoss
 
TanMan said:
UCLA has a class rank. It's just not disclosed to the students.

Do they still have Marginal Passes? If you're really starving for H's, the trick is to finish your clinic requirements early or as fast as possible and you'll keep getting H's on clinical courses until the end.
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I believe the Dean's letter does not indicate class rank
 
60 is extremely low especially coming from UCLA. You should retake and do better. Dental school curriculum and schedule anywhere is a hindrance to this exam and as someone who went there, that is no excuse for a 60. Your honors will play no role with that score. Simply retake and don't even debate it.
 
AppalachianDentalBoy said:
Do you know why that is? I was under the impression that MDs could if they agreed to payback after their residency
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Civilian physicians used to be able to but now they cannot. Dental has never been that way, since we have never been that critically short on providers. Although we are short on Oral Surgeons, for example, we are still at 96% strength.
 
CHRG said:
What’s the salary?
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Depends on your rank/time in service/location/family. You can look up military pay scales for the current year and factor that most enter as an O-3 (Army Captain). This year that's a little over $51,000 and increases every year. You'll come in as a general dentist which earns an incentive pay of $20,000. You'll get non-taxable housing allowance which varies depending on where you live and if you have dependents (1,200-3,000/month range, maybe more) and a non-taxable sustenance allowance of $254/month. If you do not do a scholarship program through dental school and instead join directly after school or while you are a practicing dentist, you are eligible for a sign-on bonus which (is subject to change but) currently stands at $150,000 for a 4 year contract ($37,500 lump sum annually). And you can serve that obligation concurrently while you are attending residency. Plus the other benefits (no malpractice insurance, no financial limitations on treatment planning, experience, free healthcare for you and your family, 30 paid vacation days, tax-free shopping on all military installations ...)
 
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