Dental School Grading System: 4.0 Scale vs. Percentages: Advantages/disadvantages?

[predentstudent23]

Hi,

I've been recently accepted into two dental schools and I am interested in specializing! I want to do my best in school and the grading systems at these two schools are concerning.

One school has a grading scales on a 4.0 scale so if 15 students make 4.0's after a year, all 15 students are ranked #1. This is great to me because I need 90+ to get an A in my classes.

The other school ranks based on percentages so 92% is ranked higher than a 91.5%. I've heard from a friend that after one year at this school, a GPA of a 93% was equivalent to a #30 rank because the exams are easier I guess? This is scary because I'll need close to perfect scores on my exams to be near the top of my class.

Which dental school should I choose?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[wwdentist]

Both have advantages and disadvantages. Neither is really concerning. Percentage based may be favorable for separating yourself from the pack if you are a high achiever. I would also advise that letter grades may work against you if things are as you say. If 15 people are tied at 4.0, and you get 1 non-A grade, you automatically drop 15 ranks. Rank really only matters after multiple years of school though, and it will be somewhat stabilized by then. It’s not likely many people will maintain a 4.0 at that point. I think percentage based would be best if you want your rank to reflect your achievement most accurately, and letter grade would be best if you don’t want to be incredibly stressed out chasing 100% every time.
That being said, grading system shouldn’t be your primary concern. The main things I would consider are cost of tuition and the strengths of the program. If you go to a reputable school and do well, you’ll stand a fair chance for specializing. Don’t overthink it, you didn’t even start school yet and it doesn’t pay to speculate what may happen. Just do your best and you’ll be fine.

 

[PerioDont]

Both have advantages and disadvantages. Neither is really concerning. Percentage based may be favorable for separating yourself from the pack if you are a high achiever. I would also advise that letter grades may work against you if things are as you say. If 15 people are tied at 4.0, and you get 1 non-A grade, you automatically drop 15 ranks. Rank really only matters after multiple years of school though, and it will be somewhat stabilized by then. It’s not likely many people will maintain a 4.0 at that point. I think percentage based would be best if you want your rank to reflect your achievement most accurately, and letter grade would be best if you don’t want to be incredibly stressed out chasing 100% every time.
That being said, grading system shouldn’t be your primary concern. The main things I would consider are cost of tuition and the strengths of the program. If you go to a reputable school and do well, you’ll stand a fair chance for specializing. Don’t overthink it, you didn’t even start school yet and it doesn’t pay to speculate what may happen. Just do your best and you’ll be fine.

Completely agree. Additionally, you may never even want to specialize. I would also consider the cost of tuition, whether you like the city or not and other factors more so than the grading system.

My personal thoughts are that the people who really want to specialize, end up specializing. That's just how it goes. Sometimes it can take years to do it though, and I question if it is strictly financially worth it in some cases. I know a person who applied for OMFS for 5 years in a row and finally got in with a low class rank, multiple intern years and other things. Our endo and pedo program both encourage people to work a few years and come back. The endo residents generally have been out 4-5 years and then decide to come back. I think class rank etc is less relevant at that point.

When I started D1, that was what everyone was chatting about - what specialty everyone is going for. Now I am a D4, only 7 or so people applied for specialties. You may get burnt out by the end, you may just realize you can do quite well as a GP, and specializing does not define success, etc etc.