I can only speak for UNC, but things are just different in 3rd and 4th year, but still busy. Although you don't have as much didactic work, you have much more patient care. While this is much better IMO than sitting in a chair all day in class, it's a different kind of work. That means you have to spend a lot of time outside of class after hours working on patient cases, mounting/model work, wax-ups etc. All of the lab work adds a significant chunk of time to your schedule. I guess it depends on how much lab work each specific school makes the student themselves accomplish. Even still, once you make the transition towards increased patient care I think school becomes much more enjoyable.
