CBSE Study Advice for D2

[maclova]

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Just started D2 year last month and am looking to start studying for CBSE to take in February 2027.

Is 8 months of studying enough? Plan to use bootcamp for learning, pathoma/first aid/sketchy for references, and UWorld for Qbank. Aim to do UWorld 100% at least once, will do second pass if possible. Just want to get others thoughts.

Army HPSP so want to do Army OMFS residency. If anyone has any tips or advice for that specifically pls lmk.

 

[TritonDent]

Depends on how much free time you have during D2. I started before dental school, and I still haven't finished bootcamp, now that I'm 2 semesters into dental school. Granted, I was slacking before school started and struggled to juggle school + CBSE during the first semester, but Bootcamp takes a long time to finish. I also did Anking, which took at least 2 hours a day to get through my reviews, but for me, it was required to retain the info. What I tell people is to prepare for it to be a year-long process, but I think 8 months is doable if you have ~4 hours on average every weekday to study and 8-12 hours per day on the weekends/break time

 

[maclova]

Depends on how much free time you have during D2. I started before dental school, and I still haven't finished bootcamp, now that I'm 2 semesters into dental school. Granted, I was slacking before school started and struggled to juggle school + CBSE during the first semester, but Bootcamp takes a long time to finish. I also did Anking, which took at least 2 hours a day to get through my reviews, but for me, it was required to retain the info. What I tell people is to prepare for it to be a year-long process, but I think 8 months is doable if you have ~4 hours on average every weekday to study and 8-12 hours per day on the weekends/break time

I appreciate your insight. Good luck to you.

 

[smiles_by_kiki]

Depends on how much free time you have during D2. I started before dental school, and I still haven't finished bootcamp, now that I'm 2 semesters into dental school. Granted, I was slacking before school started and struggled to juggle school + CBSE during the first semester, but Bootcamp takes a long time to finish. I also did Anking, which took at least 2 hours a day to get through my reviews, but for me, it was required to retain the info. What I tell people is to prepare for it to be a year-long process, but I think 8 months is doable if you have ~4 hours on average every weekday to study and 8-12 hours per day on the weekends/break time

Hi I am planning on studying for the cbse and i start school in august. would you recommend?

 

[rangs0208]

Hi I am planning on studying for the cbse and i start school in august. would you recommend?

Get a grip of dental school the first semester then start with the cbse. You still need decent grades.
Adapt first then worry about the best of a test

 

[techsh]

Depends on how much free time you have during D2. I started before dental school, and I still haven't finished bootcamp, now that I'm 2 semesters into dental school. Granted, I was slacking before school started and struggled to juggle school + CBSE during the first semester, but Bootcamp takes a long time to finish. I also did Anking, which took at least 2 hours a day to get through my reviews, but for me, it was required to retain the info. What I tell people is to prepare for it to be a year-long process, but I think 8 months is doable if you have ~4 hours on average every weekday to study and 8-12 hours per day on the weekends/break time

Hi, I’m a D1 finishing up their summer sem. Are there any other materials you’re using other than bootcamp and anking? Also what was process with the bootcamp and anking process for you? Would you do the practice qs as well? Just curious what you recommend, thank you!

 

[‘cusetoDmd]

FYI, there is no CBSE in Feb. Its May 1, 2027 and Nov 6, 2027

 

[SutureSnake]

Hi, I’m a D1 finishing up their summer sem. Are there any other materials you’re using other than bootcamp and anking? Also what was process with the bootcamp and anking process for you? Would you do the practice qs as well? Just curious what you recommend, thank you!

Bootcamp and anking = foundation building (typically once you hit mid to upper 50’s maybe a little higher score wise on NBME’s/CBSE) your foundation is decent and you can just start doing as many questions as possible. From 60’s upwards I think it becomes more of a “have I seen this type of question” before. 80’s and 90’s are really really nitpicky details and maybe a little luck.
UWorld = Increase test score but you need a decent foundation or you’ll be lost.

These three alone could take a year or two depending on your starting knowledge and how catered your dental school is to medical school classes. There’s no magic pill that’ll make you score what you need it’s a massive grind which I think is why OMFS admissions loves it. You’ll forget and forget and forget (because there’s so much information) until you’ve seen the concept or detail countless times. You’ll even learn throughout your journey that some concepts are super high yield and some rarely show up. Good luck with the grind!!!

 

[TritonDent]

Hi, I’m a D1 finishing up their summer sem. Are there any other materials you’re using other than bootcamp and anking? Also what was process with the bootcamp and anking process for you? Would you do the practice qs as well? Just curious what you recommend, thank you!

Seems like you've got a few great responses! I concur: Pathoma, Sketchy Pharm+Micro, Melhman, Goljan lectures(a bit outdated but still good), and I recently discovered Physeo and liked the videos more than bootcamp. There are a million resources available, but the most important thing about studying for CBSE is consistency and time spent, as others have said. There's a reason the CBSE scores were inflated during COVID: it wasn't because people suddenly became super smart; they just had more time to study. My July score was 54EPC, and I'm planning to retake it in May. When I took the test in July, I was about halfway done with my current resources, so I'm staying hopeful for next year. GL!

 

[techsh]

8 months is definitely enough time if you stay consistent, especially since you’re starting this early. I’d focus on building a strong foundation first and then gradually shift more toward UWorld and NBMEs. Bootcamp + Pathoma/First Aid/Sketchy is more than enough if you actually stick with them and don’t keep jumping between resources.

The biggest thing that helped me was having a tutor who gave me a really condensed CBSE-specific study guide. It was honestly kind of crazy how targeted it was , when I eventually took the exam, it felt like basically everything I was being asked about had already been covered somewhere in those notes. The overlap with what actually showed up on my CBSE was extremely high, and it saved me a ton of time because I wasn’t spending weeks memorizing random low-yield material.

I’d also start working NBMEs into your schedule once you have a decent foundation. Review every mistake thoroughly and pay attention to recurring concepts because CBSE tends to test the same core ideas from different angles.

For OMFS, just make sure CBSE prep doesn’t completely take over your dental school responsibilities. A strong CBSE score is obviously important, but grades, rank, externships, letters, etc. still matter too.

hi, may I ask who your tutor was? I'm interested in studying for the cbse. I'm a D1, I'm but hoping to take it next year fall or the year after.

By the way, when did you feel that you had a good enough foundation to start working NBME?

 

[techsh]

Bootcamp and anking = foundation building (typically once you hit mid to upper 50’s maybe a little higher score wise on NBME’s/CBSE) your foundation is decent and you can just start doing as many questions as possible. From 60’s upwards I think it becomes more of a “have I seen this type of question” before. 80’s and 90’s are really really nitpicky details and maybe a little luck.
UWorld = Increase test score but you need a decent foundation or you’ll be lost.

These three alone could take a year or two depending on your starting knowledge and how catered your dental school is to medical school classes. There’s no magic pill that’ll make you score what you need it’s a massive grind which I think is why OMFS admissions loves it. You’ll forget and forget and forget (because there’s so much information) until you’ve seen the concept or detail countless times. You’ll even learn throughout your journey that some concepts are super high yield and some rarely show up. Good luck with the grind!!!

Seems like you've got a few great responses! I concur: Pathoma, Sketchy Pharm+Micro, Melhman, Goljan lectures(a bit outdated but still good), and I recently discovered Physeo and liked the videos more than bootcamp. There are a million resources available, but the most important thing about studying for CBSE is consistency and time spent, as others have said. There's a reason the CBSE scores were inflated during COVID: it wasn't because people suddenly became super smart; they just had more time to study. My July score was 54EPC, and I'm planning to retake it in May. When I took the test in July, I was about halfway done with my current resources, so I'm staying hopeful for next year. GL!

Thank you both for the great responses!

SutureSnake: My dental school isn't catered to medical school classes so definitely going to take 1-2 years. Did you ever use other resources like sketchy or pharma? I've heard great things about them paired with bootcamp, wanted to hear your thoughts on that. I'm also happy with starting with bootcamp and anking for foundation. If I study now, do you think I can take it in Nov 2027?

TritonDent: May I ask why you took the exam while only being 50% done with your resources? I don't mean to sound arrogant, just genuinely curious. Also the covid score inflation is a cool fact!

 

[TritonDent]

Thank you both for the great responses!

SutureSnake: My dental school isn't catered to medical school classes so definitely going to take 1-2 years. Did you ever use other resources like sketchy or pharma? I've heard great things about them paired with bootcamp, wanted to hear your thoughts on that. I'm also happy with starting with bootcamp and anking for foundation. If I study now, do you think I can take it in Nov 2027?

TritonDent: May I ask why you took the exam while only being 50% done with your resources? I don't mean to sound arrogant, just genuinely curious. Also the covid score inflation is a cool fact!

It wasn't planned this way for obvious reasons, but things can happen. Dental school is busier than expected, etc. I did the best I could, and it just so happened that I got to where I got to in July and decided to take it anyway. Doesn't hurt to test the waters!

 

[SutureSnake]

Thank you both for the great responses!

SutureSnake: My dental school isn't catered to medical school classes so definitely going to take 1-2 years. Did you ever use other resources like sketchy or pharma? I've heard great things about them paired with bootcamp, wanted to hear your thoughts on that. I'm also happy with starting with bootcamp and anking for foundation. If I study now, do you think I can take it in Nov 2027?

TritonDent: May I ask why you took the exam while only being 50% done with your resources? I don't mean to sound arrogant, just genuinely curious. Also the covid score inflation is a cool fact!

You could add sketchy for foundation. I didn't personally like it but some people love it. I would plan on taking the next CBSE and every test after that. I think the $500 is a drop in the bucket and the more experience taking the exam the better. You will be spending a couple thousand on applications and even more thousands on interview season. The money you invest into the CBSE is minimal compared to this cost. The higher your CBSE the more selective you can be and money you save on applications. Additionally, you only submit your top score so taking it multiple times doesn't hurt you. You could study CBSE forever but at the end of the day it's a big hurdle to jump through to get into OMFS. How long you study is largely based on how quickly/efficiently you retain information and how much time your dental school duties take up. You won't know the answer to this likely until at least 3-4 months of studying. Hopefully I answered your question!

Also to TritonDents point: Each resource can take hundreds to thousands of hours to get through. Just for reference I had around 500 hours on the anking deck and only got through 42%. I was scoring ~38% on my first pass of UWORLD and ~55% on my second pass of UWORLD and scored in the 70's on my final CBSE. I started in the upper 40's first time I took CBSE and took almost exactly 2 years to the grind. A lot of people have scored higher in a lot less time but I'm happy with my score.

 

[techsh]

It wasn't planned this way for obvious reasons, but things can happen. Dental school is busier than expected, etc. I did the best I could, and it just so happened that I got to where I got to in July and decided to take it anyway. Doesn't hurt to test the waters!

You could add sketchy for foundation. I didn't personally like it but some people love it. I would plan on taking the next CBSE and every test after that. I think the $500 is a drop in the bucket and the more experience taking the exam the better. You will be spending a couple thousand on applications and even more thousands on interview season. The money you invest into the CBSE is minimal compared to this cost. The higher your CBSE the more selective you can be and money you save on applications. Additionally, you only submit your top score so taking it multiple times doesn't hurt you. You could study CBSE forever but at the end of the day it's a big hurdle to jump through to get into OMFS. How long you study is largely based on how quickly/efficiently you retain information and how much time your dental school duties take up. You won't know the answer to this likely until at least 3-4 months of studying. Hopefully I answered your question!

Also to TritonDents point: Each resource can take hundreds to thousands of hours to get through. Just for reference I had around 500 hours on the anking deck and only got through 42%. I was scoring ~38% on my first pass of UWORLD and ~55% on my second pass of UWORLD and scored in the 70's on my final CBSE. I started in the upper 40's first time I took CBSE and took almost exactly 2 years to the grind. A lot of people have scored higher in a lot less time but I'm happy with my score.

Thank you both for your wisdom. I was really naive to think it would go smoothly haha.

I agree that the exam fee is a drop in the bucket considering the application fees in the future. I appreciate the insight. I plan to start prepping for the CBSE this week with Pathoma, bootcamp, first aid, and uworld when the time comes (Sketchy if i feel lacking in micro/pharm).

SutureSnake: Did you use UWorld as well? If so, did you gradually include UWorld Qbanks into your study regimen or was there a point where you felt ready for them, and if so when was this? Thank you.

For both of you: Would you say to start Pathoma in the beginning of my studying or towards the end of the foundation building? I was thinking Pathology could be more fresh if I started Pathoma later but I can also deepen my long-term memory if I started now. Unsure on how to go about this.

 

[SutureSnake]

Thank you both for your wisdom. I was really naive to think it would go smoothly haha.

I agree that the exam fee is a drop in the bucket considering the application fees in the future. I appreciate the insight. I plan to start prepping for the CBSE this week with Pathoma, bootcamp, first aid, and uworld when the time comes (Sketchy if i feel lacking in micro/pharm).

SutureSnake: Did you use UWorld as well? If so, did you gradually include UWorld Qbanks into your study regimen or was there a point where you felt ready for them, and if so when was this? Thank you.

For both of you: Would you say to start Pathoma in the beginning of my studying or towards the end of the foundation building? I was thinking Pathology could be more fresh if I started Pathoma later but I can also deepen my long-term memory if I started now. Unsure on how to go about this.

I used UWORLD and would 100% use it. I gradually added it to my studying. I would start looking at it early into studying but not doing a ton of questions. It’ll suprise you how much you need to know and how to start thinking about questions because most are 2nd to third order and you need to know multiple facts to get something right.

I would do pathoma first along with bootcamp. It’s a very good foundation builder and won’t get you a ton of “points” but IMO is an “investment” for your future studying. It starts from the very basics of diseases and allows you to connect the dots later and add additional information. Think of it as giving you a background to build on and how to think of how diseases start and how immunology works. Later in your studying you’ll have the foundational knowledge but there’s a ton of just random facts about diseases that you only know from seeing them. Like how one disease is randomly related to another etc.