Do different dental schools vary in difficulty

[Stacker]

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People say universities vary in difficulty and so GPAs are not effective equalizers in comparing applicants. I was wondering if the same were true to the same severity in dental schools.

 

[Parklife]

Nah, all that really matters is P/F vs numerical GPA. Schools with numerical GPA and/or high specialization rates/high admission stats will always bring in high caliber students who will naturally be competitive. As far as actual content, PBS, case based, clinical, etc. may vary, but not anywhere NEAR the undergrad disparity.

 

[SoulPower]

I think you'll find great difficulty in finding someone who's done more than one dental schooling to give a comparative record.

 

[Parklife]

I think you'll find great difficulty in finding someone who's done more than one dental schooling to give a comparative record.

👍

Better consult the transfer charts

 

[Firm]

Yes. Some are harder than others.

 

[Bereno]

Nah, all that really matters is P/F vs numerical GPA. Schools with numerical GPA and/or high specialization rates/high admission stats will always bring in high caliber students who will naturally be competitive. As far as actual content, PBS, case based, clinical, etc. may vary, but not anywhere NEAR the undergrad disparity.

Really? I'm not sure I understand what you mean here. Of the schools that are P/F, most seem to command some pretty solid applicants lol

OP: Yes, some are going to be "harder" than others. However, I would argue most are simply different since it is hard to really say if one is harder or not. Depends a lot on the student

 

[dantemac]

Who cares how difficult it is. Look at how many hours you spend in clinic and the board pass scores for parts I and II, or really anything else more objective than "difficulty"

 

[diasIItema]

I think it's fairly obvious that earning a 3.8 GPA would be more difficult vs. simply passing or getting "honors." As far as individual courses, no one can tell you which schools are more difficult as I doubt anyone has sat through Gross Anatomy at two different dental schools (if you have, God bless your soul). I can tell you that the kids are Harvard told me they were never stressed b/c all they had to do was pass their courses and they didn't have class rank. I can tell you that I personally don't stress about school, but the people trying to get straight A's (95+) at my school are literally taking years off of their lives. Just enjoy the ride, my man. Everybody's a doctor in the end.

 

[Contach]

I think it's fairly obvious that earning a 3.8 GPA would be more difficult vs. simply passing or getting "honors." As far as individual courses, no one can tell you which schools are more difficult as I doubt anyone has sat through Gross Anatomy at two different dental schools (if you have, God bless your soul). I can tell you that the kids are Harvard told me they were never stressed b/c all they had to do was pass their courses and they didn't have class rank. I can tell you that I personally don't stress about school, but the people trying to get straight A's (95+) at my school are literally taking years off of their lives. Just enjoy the ride, my man. Everybody's a doctor in the end.

i don't think that is obvious. you can very easily get lots of free A letter grades that will boost your GPA.

 

[diasIItema]

Getting honors maybe. But a 3.8 at any school should be more difficult than simply passing.

I don't know about your school, but we don't get a whole lot of courses to pad a GPA when classes like Gross/Histo/Pharm are 8-credit courses graded on a 95+ A scale without a curve. Anyone who makes a 3.8 here worked for it.

I would think there would be a comparable amount of GPA-booster courses in the pass/fail/H program as there would be in the GPA-graded program, anyway.

 

[toothexplore]

Getting honors maybe. But a 3.8 at any school should be more difficult than simply passing.

I don't know about your school, but we don't get a whole lot of courses to pad a GPA when classes like Gross/Histo/Pharm are 8-credit courses graded on a 95+ A scale without a curve. Anyone who makes a 3.8 here worked for it.

I would think there would be a comparable amount of GPA-booster courses in the pass/fail/H program as there would be in the GPA-graded program, anyway.

i am definitely still getting used to the 95+ A scale here... back at my undergrad (Canadian) school, an 80+ was considered an A

 

[GiTsticker]

H/P/F is much worse on your psyche than GPA if you are the student who is gunning for the H. Can you imagine trying all semester to just miss by a % and end up with the same grade as the person who just breezed by? On the other hand, if you just aim for the P, you're on the same level as those nearly miss folks 😀

I think some schools are more difficult than others. Just throwin' that out there.