correlation b/t undergrad and DS performance?

[rkamsterdam]

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As an incoming D1 next fall, I cant help but think of my life beyond the 4 years of DS. As for my career - I can definitely see myself content as a GP, but remain openminded about the possibility of specializing. I do realize that you must be in the top of your class and score extremely well on the boards to be accepted to most specialty residencies.

My question is this – are my DAT scores and undergrad GPA good indicators of how I will perform in dental school/match up against my classmates? How strongly correlated are DATs to Board scores and undergrad GPA to dental GPA?

While I did get accepted to DS, I consider my stats to be very average. Does this mean that I am destined to become a GP?

Any insight is appreciated.

 

[Ething]

You are not destined to be anything. You can learn from your mistakes in undergrad and pull ahead in dental school. Also, you can do research and meet people in the field that you are itnerested in. Just bec. you were avg out of the applicants doesnt mean you will be avg in d school. I had a below avg DAT score for my school but my grades are above avg in dental school. For the DAT, you can have a good day or a bad day.

 

[armorshell]

There's definitely a correlation, but that doesn't mean that you're "locked in" to underperform if you didn't do so hot in undergrad.

When I applied to dschool I had a gpa just below 3.0 and I'm doing alright for myself in dental school.

 

[toofshucker]

The longer I am in dental school, the more I completely believe that everyone here is smart enough to be here. Dental school is about effort, not smarts. The students that are in the top ten in my class are in the top ten of time spent studying. The bottom ten students are the 10 students that drink all weekend long. If you want to have good grades in dental school then study more than everyone else.

 

[KOM]

I agree.

For the most part, it's rote memorization. For example, my undergrad performance was lousy but I wasn't a big book worm either. I worked hard this semester and passed on a few parties and my grades seem to represent that. I never really had the confidence in myself to consider specializing, especially with everyone saying how competitive it is, but now I'm definitely hopping on the bus and just need to keep up the momentum.

amsterdam, it's all about having confidence in yourself. Bottom line.

 

[tinman831]

there's a pdf from the ADEA or something that lists the correlations between DAT/GPA scores vs dental school GPA/board scores somewhere. i can't remember the source but maybe another member knows what I'm talking about. I'm too sleepy to look it up now but if no one finds it in the morning, I'll look it up.

 

[tinman831]

So it's 530am and I can't sleep. Here's some links for ya:

DAT vs NBDE
http://www.jdentaled.org/cgi/content/full/70/3/258

http://www.accelerated-learning-onl...teria-dental-school-performance-attrition.asp

(full article here: http://www.jdentaled.org/cgi/reprint/66/3/385.pdf)

 

[rkamsterdam]

So it's 530am and I can't sleep. Here's some links for ya:

DAT vs NBDE
http://www.jdentaled.org/cgi/content/full/70/3/258

http://www.accelerated-learning-onl...teria-dental-school-performance-attrition.asp

(full article here: http://www.jdentaled.org/cgi/reprint/66/3/385.pdf)

Geez, these articles remind me of how badly I need to brush up on my statistics. p-scores, covariances, huh?