Best way to prepare for dental school

[1Forrest123]

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I am in the middle of applying to dental school, I have a couple of interviews and will hopefully receive a few more. If I am lucky enough to receive an acceptance I will have 6 months or more to prepare (I am a non-traditional student and will have time after work).

I hear so much about how difficult dental school is and I wanted to do my best to get ahead and prepare for my first year of classes. I was thinking of getting the textbooks ahead of time and beginning to go through them and outline them.

I'm thinking it may be best to just reach out to current students and ask them for materials I should look at for each class/ if they have lecture notes I can look at. Does this strategy make sense? Are there some brutal classes I should get a head start on over others? Does anyone do this?

 

[FeralisExtremum]

Don't bother. Enjoy the free time while you still have it.

 

[S_Diamond_DDS]

Get yourself a nice set of glassware, 3 bottles of red, 3 bottle of white, couple of cases of high quality beer, a 5th of vodka, a 5th of rum, and so on.

 

[axiumgod]

Lol practice listening to videos on 2x speed and you’ll be way ahead of everyone

 

[LaughingGas]

Lol practice listening to videos on 2x speed and you’ll be way ahead of everyone

you forgot to be able to type without a break while listening 2x speed

 

[doc toothache]

With roughly 50 credit hour of course work per year, it is quite a challenge to do justice by gunning before school starts. The only courses that might help are biochemistry, micro, pharmacology and biomaterials. Recharging your batteries might be a better investment of time. (See section 4N starting with page 73 of the 2015 Guide.)

 

[Ivy.ch]

Please do NOT start studying.

I spent every day on the beach before dental school. It was a chance to breath, calm myself down, savor my friendships, and enjoy a bit of life and nature. That relaxation and serenity helped me 1000x more than flipping through lectures or textbooks.

 

[1Forrest123]

There seems to be a clear consensus so I'll follow everyone's advice rather than killing myself studying. Thank you all for your advice!

 

[Firik]

Your first semester is literally is all about meeting your classmates and spending on social events outside of school; at least in my case and at my school. I probably attended at least one event every single week and have great memories. Who would care if you got a B on your histology exam when you attended a pretty cool haunted house party with 15 of your classmates?! (speaking of before times)

 

[DDShemi]

There seems to be a clear consensus so I'll follow everyone's advice rather than killing myself studying. Thank you all for your advice!

Don’t purchase any textbooks unless your school specifically states...BUY THIS BOOK. Most schools now will simply give you a powerpoint or a PDF of some sort and that‘s the “textbook” for that lecture. My dental school doesn’t even require books for us to buy. They provide us with all the materials. So its definitely better to wait, learn what they want you to, and enjoy the time now.

 

[HatInTheCat]

Please don’t. It’s not worth it.