Dental Students at UF

[frogger33]

Hello!

If there are any UF dental students on here you could please tell me some of the things you like/dislike about the school, and if you are happy with your choice?

How is the work load? And do you still have time to go out?

How much do you REALLY study?

Is the atmosphere really competetive between students or more laid back?


Thanks so much for your help!! 🙂

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[drusier]

I am interested in the same information....I really love TUFTS but cant justify spending the the xtra ferrari 360. Ive heard UF is very competitive (dont really care); but does everyone get along. Is there time to go out like one friday night ? or all studying. Are they making the switch to tablets next semester? Ive heard there are problems regarding patients (3rd year), anyone care to expound? Thx

(cu guys next year?)

 

[leafhound16]

Hey guys!
I'm a second year dental student here at UF and while I dont' know teh answers to all your questions, I'll be happy to try to help.

I was debating between Tufts, Penn, and UF - I loved these schools all pretty much equally. But in the end, I decided to go to UF because of its strong program and also because of course, the cost was such a steal compared to the private schools. When I came to UF, I realized many of my classmates had made the same decision as me.

UF is a strong program - they really gear you towards clinical side (but UF is also one of the top 10 dental schools funded for NIH research, so it also has a solid research core to it). The faculty really care about you and the school is always receptive to student's opinions and suggestions. While I haven't started seeing patients yet, I can only say limited things about what isn't so strong at UF - but I know for instance we go somewhat slower than other dental schools - I have friends at Nova and MCG who are already seeing patients and taking their boards - but since we do pretty much well on our boards and no one has any proof that going a few paces back from other schools is worse - I'm pretty much satisfied with our program in general.

I went to college up North, and I'm not sure where you guys are coming from, but although the workload we do is much more intense than undergrad, the environment itself is pretty laid back. But then again, it depends on your class as well. My class, '07, is known for being social and laid back, but the class above and below us are supposedly much more driven, competitive, and hardcore. In our class we have had a few really competitive people who tried to bring others down (we had a curve in Biochemistry last year, and a classmate complained to the teacher via email because she "really EARNED an A but alot of people got an A without really earning it" - but such situations are rare). But I remember my first year of dental school and the summer sessions, we went out alot. You definitely have time to work hard and play hard, and I think that's the motto for many of my classmates here. The social environment is definitely different from the college I went to, and it was a nice change. Towards the second year on, however, you tend to get less social, as classes start getting tougher and you start preparing for your boards. Everyone is different, but I tend to take about at least 2 hours a night studying - sometimes I don't even study every night. My GPA has been pretty good though - so I don't think dental school studying is as consuming as you would think. You definitely start studying hard core around block time, however, when you get all your exams around the same time in a week. That can get pretty stressful.

Anyways let me know if you have any more questions and good luck with your choices!!

 

[beastly115]

Leafhound, do you know any stats of how many people want to specialize and how many match?

Thanks.

 

[leafhound16]

Leafhound, do you know any stats of how many people want to specialize and how many match?

Thanks.

That's funny, I asked the same exact thing on my interview and while I wrote the info down, I've forgotten the answer or where I put it. Maybe someone else at UF can contribute an answer - I dont' know percentage how many people want to specialize, but it might be around 20% or so. I'm not sure. Alot of people in my class are still not vocal about whether they want to or not. I do know that the percentage of match is very high in the 90's though I don't know the exact number. Maybe someone else can contribute to this question?? 🙂

 

[frogger33]

THANKS!!

I really like UF, and as bad as it sounds, I do not want to go to an extremly competitive school where the students constantly compare themselves to one another (I have heard some bad stories). Of course I want to go to a good school (which UF is), but I want the student atmosphere to be more laid back and friendly. I am soo happy that you view UF that way!

Thanks again! 😀

 

[GoGatorsDMD]

Most everyone in my class (2008) is a very hard worker, but most are pretty friendly. If you want to go to school with a bunch of ******s so you can be head of the class, don't come here. Don't worry about the negative stuff that people say about UF, look at the objectively good things about it: relatively low cost, and a very high pass rate for FL licensure.

 

[frogger33]

. "If you want to go to school with a bunch of ******s so you can be head of the class, don't come here".


Hehe That is not what I am looking for either. I did my undergrad at Emory, and I just got tired of the extreme competitive attitude of other students in the upper level science classes. I am happy to be where people work hard, but I HATE it when classmates base how they do soley on being better than their classmates. Ya know. do well and be happy, but dont stress your class out with you... I dont want to be somewhere where people "steal" your stuff, or where your stuff is destroyed so others will do better. I guess I have heard way too many horror stories. 😉

 

[GatorDMD]

. "If you want to go to school with a bunch of ******s so you can be head of the class, don't come here".


Hehe That is not what I am looking for either. I did my undergrad at Emory, and I just got tired of the extreme competitive attitude of other students in the upper level science classes. I am happy to be where people work hard, but I HATE it when classmates base how they do soley on being better than their classmates. Ya know. do well and be happy, but dont stress your class out with you... I dont want to be somewhere where people "steal" your stuff, or where your stuff is destroyed so others will do better. I guess I have heard way too many horror stories. 😉

well my point of view is that it is very competitive for those who want to specialize. maybe 5 omfs, 5 ortho, 2-3 endo, 2-3 pedo, 2-3 perio. beyond that ppl really dont stress, but for those 20-30 ppl it is very stressful. it is different for everyone, but if you want to be top of the class then you should expect stress wherever you go. My class ranked 5th nationally with board scores with an average of 88-89. So there are a lot of smart people in class with you. I think more than 60% of class have above 3.5 gpa and the top ten btw 3.8-4.0. remember this is just my 2 cents.... but i dont find the faculty as helpful and caring as others do, and i find the clinical portion lacking to say the least. overall i think it is a good school and far better than many others but try to talk to 3rd and 4th year students at schools you are interested in bc they can give you a better picture than those only in core sciences. If you want to be a great dentist... go to a school in a poor area so you can get tons of clinical experience... temple, creighton, lsu, iowa,etc. if you want to specialize then go to a program with strong academic background.... penn, columbia, harvard, ucla, florida?. i think the class of 2004 all ppl matched in omfs, ortho, and endo here at UF. i am not saying you cant specialize from schools not strong in academics nor am i saying you cant become a great dentist from an academic first institution. I just think it may be easier in this way. hope my ramblings helped someone out there?!

 

[drusier]

can anyone give me historical pass rates on nationals and FL Licensing test? Does anyone think TUFTS is worth the extra paper over UF (in-state)?