Difficulty of Dental School

[VladiAVB]

I know dental school is challenging but to what extent? What would you recommend for someone feeling slightly burned out from undergrad?

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[Bigjt1420]

Take a year or 2 off between college and dental school. It'll really help your mental state and you won't feel super burnt out like you do now. I took 2 years off just working at a regular job and living with my parents and hanging out with old high school friends. It was actually kind of nice and a change of pace.

In terms of difficulty of dental school -- honestly, it's not that hard (depending on what you are trying to get out of it). If you are trying to specialize and get straight A's, yeah dental school is very hard. But if you're just trying to pass your didactic classes (and if you get A's and B's, that's great), then it isn't bad at all. Instead of focusing on didactic classes as much, I spend the vast majority of my time in sim-lab and clinic. I feel like the clinical part of dentistry is what matters to me, not if I can be able to tell my future patients what desmosomes are. So the difficulty of dental school comes with what you want out of it, essentially.

As for social life, yes you absolutely will have a social life. Even in my first year I would go out on the weekends with fellow dental students. It's all about being able to manage your time well, which you'll get better and better at as time goes on. And remember, your 3rd and 4th years are basically all clinic. This means you hardly have any work to do outside of school, which gives you time to do your own thing with friends.

I think you're overthinking it all honestly. Don't worry about all that stuff, it's going to be fine. The thing you SHOULD worry about is the cost of whatever school you get into. I would think critically about the cost and what amount you are willing to take out loans for, and only apply to schools that are at or below that number. Going to NYU or USC for $450,000 + 4 years of living costs + loan interest is terrifying. Going to a state school for $200,000 less for the same degree is still scary, but much more manageable. Hope all this helps!

 

[VladiAVB]

Take a year or 2 off between college and dental school. It'll really help your mental state and you won't feel super burnt out like you do now. I took 2 years off just working at a regular job and living with my parents and hanging out with old high school friends. It was actually kind of nice and a change of pace.

In terms of difficulty of dental school -- honestly, it's not that hard (depending on what you are trying to get out of it). If you are trying to specialize and get straight A's, yeah dental school is very hard. But if you're just trying to pass your didactic classes (and if you get A's and B's, that's great), then it isn't bad at all. Instead of focusing on didactic classes as much, I spend the vast majority of my time in sim-lab and clinic. I feel like the clinical part of dentistry is what matters to me, not if I can be able to tell my future patients what desmosomes are. So the difficulty of dental school comes with what you want out of it, essentially.

As for social life, yes you absolutely will have a social life. Even in my first year I would go out on the weekends with fellow dental students. It's all about being able to manage your time well, which you'll get better and better at as time goes on. And remember, your 3rd and 4th years are basically all clinic. This means you hardly have any work to do outside of school, which gives you time to do your own thing with friends.

I think you're overthinking it all honestly. Don't worry about all that stuff, it's going to be fine. The thing you SHOULD worry about is the cost of whatever school you get into. I would think critically about the cost and what amount you are willing to take out loans for, and only apply to schools that are at or below that number. Going to NYU or USC for $450,000 + 4 years of living costs + loan interest is terrifying. Going to a state school for $200,000 less for the same degree is still scary, but much more manageable. Hope all this helps!

This definitely helps, thank you! And I’m trying to graduate early so I’ll have some time off before dental school if I get in so hopefully a 6 month break will also help me feel less burned out.

 

[MLC45]

The degree of difficulty depends on both the school and the student. Some schools will spoon feed you the information while other schools make you work for every little bit (just like some classes in undergrad). As for the student, some people can read something twice and get an “A” on the test. Other people have to study several hours everyday just to make a “C”. Only you know what type of student you are. As for me I had to work very hard in both first and second year. Sometimes I did things with friends, but often I stayed home and studied. Third year is easier and I’ve been able to do more things with my friends and families.

I agree with Bigjt1420 when he said you might consider taking a year or two off if you’re already burned out. Going from undergrad to grad isn’t for everyone. Just remember it might take you 1-3 cycles to get into dental school, so your year long break could be 3-4 years.

 

[mrdeez]

If you know you do not want to specialize, things become CHILLLLL. I’m talking community college stress levels. Getting accepted to dental school was the hardest I’ve worked for anything in my life. I got accepted to a really competitive program so I thought I would have to keep that grind in order to just pass. I was dead wrong.

I started skateboarding again, recording music, I’m flipping a house, tutor kids in chemistry on the side. It all depends on the school, but where I’m at, there is not much dental stimulation until second year so the first three semesters you’re fine getting straight Cs as a general dentist.

Knowing the names of immunoglobulins during anaphylaxis or which African country is most affected by HIV doesn’t help me achieve my goals for what I want to do in dentistry, so I decided to live my life and let dental school catch up. This year has more legit dental courses so I’ll be able to get my rocks off up at the dental school like I thought I would. Fingers crossed.

 

[VladiAVB]

If you know you do not want to specialize, things become CHILLLLL. I’m talking community college stress levels. Getting accepted to dental school was the hardest I’ve worked for anything in my life. I got accepted to a really competitive program so I thought I would have to keep that grind in order to just pass. I was dead wrong.

I started skateboarding again, recording music, I’m flipping a house, tutor kids in chemistry on the side. It all depends on the school, but where I’m at, there is not much dental stimulation until second year so the first three semesters you’re fine getting straight Cs as a general dentist.

Knowing the names of immunoglobulins during anaphylaxis or which African country is most affected by HIV doesn’t help me achieve my goals for what I want to do in dentistry, so I decided to live my life and let dental school catch up. This year has more legit dental courses so I’ll be able to get my rocks off up at the dental school like I thought I would. Fingers crossed.

Hi thank you for your response, what school are you at?

 

[mrdeez]

Hi thank you for your response, what school are you at?

I’ll dm you

 

[HKSZYU]

Dental school is not that bad in my opinion. In terms of didactics, I don't think there's really any information that's particularly conceptually challenging. The main issue is volume. There's a ton of stuff to learn and if you're intent on straight A's and specializing, it will be a challenge to learn all that information. If, however, you're not gunning for straight A's and you just want to learn enough volume to pass, I think you can treat dentistry like a typically 8-6 job (with the exception of some test weeks.)
One exception to this is hand skills. Hand skills definitely come faster to some people than others, so that may take significant time. That said, it's a very teachable skill and you will get it eventually.

 

[Alaskan _Polarbear]

In terms of material it isnt hard just a lot of information in a short amount of time. Where I attend starting off they have us 4 science classes and 2 non science classes that would be completed in 8 weeks. Grades are mostly based on exams and thus if you want straight As you need you need to study hard. But if you arent too worried about specializing then getting Bs is very doable.

The hardest part for me was finding what fit for me and how to study. Managing time initially was hard too but as classes went on you find out what works for you.

You definitely cannot cram like in colleges and have to study or at least review materials on a daily basis. But that said I wasnt studying 24/7. I still had plenty of time to go to the gym 3x a week and be with my significant other once a week.

It's all about finding balance and learning what kind of schedule suits you best. I was afraid too because my grades were not the best in undergraduate but if you dont procrastinate and stay on top of materials and your mental health dental school will definitely not be "extremely hard"

 

[LeagueofLigTies]

I think it also depends on what school you go to. My school has an incorporated medical curriculum which makes things more challenging than normal. The amount of content is insane.