discouraged after first set of exams..

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Dent001

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a little background about myself. i went to a good undergrad school and did pretty well. my freshmen year i did pretty bad but i got my head together by sophomore year and did consistently well throughout the rest of my years. nothing too amazing tho, 3.5 cgpa 3.4 sgpa 23 dat.

in undergrad i was sort of a procrastinator but not too bad of one. i also partied/drank/smoked A LOT throughout the 4 years. for the difficult classes that mattered (like orgo, bio, biochem, physiology type classes) i paid attention in lecture and a few days before the exam i would cram hard and do well on all my exams and get A's. i learned that i work better when i'm under pressure, thus me being a procrastinator.

So im about 1 month into dental school and have kept up with all the lectures and classes. i've really changed my study habits compared to undergrad. not only do i pay attention in class, but i try to study everyday and master the material the day of the lecture. on top of that i don't even drink or smoke anymore. idk i just don't care about it anymore because it's not as fun as when i was in undergrad and don't like to be hung over anymore. not only that i formed a study group with a few of my other classmates and study with them too. i have tried hard not to procrastinate and condition myself for the storm which is dental school. some people think im a gunner, i can see why they think that, but i don't really consider myself to be one. i took a gap year after undergrad and worked a lot, it made me realize how much the real world sucks after school and has motivated me to work hard in dental school.

i am really confused. I just took my first 2 dental school exams and did horrible. i don't understand, i KNOW the material to the detail, but it seems like i could of gotten the same score even if i studied a significant amount of time less. i feel like the exa,s are more about test taking skills rather than actual knowledge of the material. i remember my dentist telling me that in dental school you have to basically study to pass the test and not for the actual knowledge. at first i didn't really believe him, but now i couldn't agree more. I think i overstudied to the point where i just confused/contradicted myself on simple questions.

i studied A LOT beforehand. 2 days before the exam i pretty much stopped caring and just wanted to take the tests already. i am starting to think maybe i should stop denying myself and go back to my old methods of studying from undergrad. but it seems so counterintuitive. i understand dental school is very demanding and there is so much hype about how horrible it is, but maybe i should trust myself do what i know works for me?

if there is anyone on here that has had similar experiences please share and give me some advice.
 
Dent001 said:
a little background about myself. i went to a good undergrad school and did pretty well. my freshmen year i did pretty bad but i got my head together by sophomore year and did consistently well throughout the rest of my years. nothing too amazing tho, 3.5 cgpa 3.4 sgpa 23 dat.

in undergrad i was sort of a procrastinator but not too bad of one. i also partied/drank/smoked A LOT throughout the 4 years. for the difficult classes that mattered (like orgo, bio, biochem, physiology type classes) i paid attention in lecture and a few days before the exam i would cram hard and do well on all my exams and get A's. i learned that i work better when i'm under pressure, thus me being a procrastinator.

So im about 1 month into dental school and have kept up with all the lectures and classes. i've really changed my study habits compared to undergrad. not only do i pay attention in class, but i try to study everyday and master the material the day of the lecture. on top of that i don't even drink or smoke anymore. idk i just don't care about it anymore because it's not as fun as when i was in undergrad and don't like to be hung over anymore. not only that i formed a study group with a few of my other classmates and study with them too. i have tried hard not to procrastinate and condition myself for the storm which is dental school. some people think im a gunner, i can see why they think that, but i don't really consider myself to be one. i took a gap year after undergrad and worked a lot, it made me realize how much the real world sucks after school and has motivated me to work hard in dental school.

i am really confused. I just took my first 2 dental school exams and did horrible. i don't understand, i KNOW the material to the detail, but it seems like i could of gotten the same score even if i studied a significant amount of time less. i feel like the exa,s are more about test taking skills rather than actual knowledge of the material. i remember my dentist telling me that in dental school you have to basically study to pass the test and not for the actual knowledge. at first i didn't really believe him, but now i couldn't agree more. I think i overstudied to the point where i just confused/contradicted myself on simple questions.

i studied A LOT beforehand. 2 days before the exam i pretty much stopped caring and just wanted to take the tests already. i am starting to think maybe i should stop denying myself and go back to my old methods of studying from undergrad. but it seems so counterintuitive. i understand dental school is very demanding and there is so much hype about how horrible it is, but maybe i should trust myself do what i know works for me?

if there is anyone on here that has had similar experiences please share and give me some advice.
Click to expand...

Did you pass?
 
Yeh I am starting to see this trend too.

Like, you'd have a quiz on a presentation thats 'only' 200 slides, however, 60% of the questions are easily answerable if you just sat in class and paid half-ass attention (easy give-aways), the other 40% is like, very minute detailed oriented stuff that you had to LITERALLY read and memorize every single slide in the entire presentation to land those right. Its frustrating I know, but your 2 options are:
- forget class rank and just go on and pass
- get frustrated, double-to-triple your memorization time (notice I didn't say "studying"), and you'll probably end up with a better rank.

It seems to me the curriculum is designed so that, majority who put an effort can pass, but very select few can rank in the top 10%.

However, I am talking to many upper classmen and they say that your rank from DS1 to other years will change. Its heavily dependent on hand skills too (especially when you get to DS2+).
 
My study habits have COMPLETELy changed since undergrad. I don't remember ever studying so much. Now in DS, I can easily study for 12 hours on a weekend day, and wonder how the time went so quickly. I try to keep up with the material on a nightly basis, and then hit my notes hard the weekend before the exam.
 
First thing you need to figure out is that the amount of knowledge they expect you to learn is immense (most people realize this quickly). The second thing you need to realize is how to study effectively to pass your exams. Figuring out what each professor expects you to know will come over time. Every professor teaches differently and tests differently so your study habits will have to adapt to their teaching styles.
 
tinman831 said:
First thing you need to figure out is that the amount of knowledge they expect you to learn is immense (most people realize this quickly). The second thing you need to realize is how to study effectively to pass your exams. Figuring out what each professor expects you to know will come over time. Every professor teaches differently and tests differently so your study habits will have to adapt to their teaching styles.
Click to expand...
This.

dentalWorks also said it well; you either have to up your game so that you're memorizing everything and paying super attention in class, or you can revert to older study habits and study to the exam.

The first round of exams in D1 year is usually a major shock to the system for most people. Just regroup and decide on a strategy. There's the old saying, "what do you call a guy who graduates at the bottom of his dental class? Doctor."
 
You're probably studying for understanding.

Stop it.

Start putting out careful antennae to figure out who has access to study materials, including old exams and questions - some released (legal) and some not (illegal), so it's up to you which you choose to use.

The difference between A and B in dental school, and sometimes A and C, is simply memorization of things that you used to be allowed to say "They'll never test that".

A good example comes recently, from NYU. Our General Pathology professor specifically said to not pay very much attention to slides on radiation and environmental concerns. A full 24 questions out of a 60 question test were then on these two topics, which time-wise comprised something like 1.5 hours out of 14 hours of lecture.


You're not studying to learn. You're studying to get A's, and you're studying to pass the Boards.
 
btk2333 said:
You would be surprised at how non-contradictory this statement actually is...
Click to expand...

Well, from my personal experience, it is better to just learn the material the first go around. Maybe this is something unique to my dental school.
 
it really isnt contradictory. i'd study some material so much i'd understand it to the core. but come exam time more than half the material studied isnt even on the exam. on top of that the questions that are present are rather "trick" questions. its messed up, i really have to study to the exams now.
 
I always say, study smart not hard. Exactly what New York was talking about. Grasp the material, but then hit hard on the past tests or stuff the professors have said to learn. You'll adapt, don't worry.
 
Dent001 said:
it really isnt contradictory. i'd study some material so much i'd understand it to the core. but come exam time more than half the material studied isnt even on the exam. on top of that the questions that are present are rather "trick" questions. its messed up, i really have to study to the exams now.
Click to expand...

Like I said, I guess my school is unique in that our faculty does not try to "trick" us on exams. They simply test our knowledge of the material presented in lecture. Pretty straight forward.
 
preOMFS said:
Like I said, I guess my school is unique in that our faculty does not try to "trick" us on exams. They simply test our knowledge of the material presented in lecture. Pretty straight forward.
Click to expand...

your school i pass/fail/honors so its a pretty different from a numerical scale.
 
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