Guide to Getting Through Undergraduate with Dental School in Mind

[DentalSmithing]

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"Good advice is harder to find than rubies"

The path into dental school is nebulous, confounded by a cheer-leading group of "dental school advisors", "college counselors", and fellow students. Rest assured, that none of them have a true, concise answer to give you the correct path to dental school BECAUSE NONE OF THEM WENT TO DENTAL SCHOOL.

Finding a sound voice to guide you through the travesty that is Undergraduate is near impossible. With that, I would like to offer my input. I have struggled, bled, and fought in the trenches. I graduated dental school recently. I am neither genius nor a work-horse.

BACKSTORY-

"Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground"

You run from the mailbox with your acceptance to UCLA or Berklely. You are going to a top 10 undergraduate school. Now...what major to choose. Oh, I want to go for medical school or dentistry. Lets choose something in that biology or chemistry. Yea, I am so cool now.

All I am saying is that don't rest on your laurels. Congratulations on your acceptance, you are now on a path traversed by many, finished by few. Dont let your eyes gaze fall from the EXIT sign. Many students emboldened by the early sucess lose sight of the goal. Undergraduate is not the goal- the goal is finishing a degree at a high enough level that another school (dental in this case) will take you on.

Without your dental or medical degree, a BS in biology is not worth the paper its printed on it. Quite literally, its nothing more than expensive toilet paper.

Trust me, I know and have known plenty of these kids stuck in ****ty jobs with huge debts that they will likely never pay back.

 

[DentalSmithing]

TACITAL VISION/ UNDERSTANDING THE GREASY TRUTH-

"I you can't measure it, you can't manage it" - Peter Drucker

To get into any organization, it is worthwhile to have a tactical awareness. What is the cost to entry, what are the MINIMUM requirements.

Heres a good exercise in how the real world works. Get an dental school admissions brochure. Check what stats they report. Although I haven't opened an admission brochure in years, here are the stats measured- grades, DAT scores, % breakdown by ivy leagues/ top schools, % breakdown by states, % breakdown by race/ethnicity.

So lets take a macro view of the admission comittee. A school's main asset is its image. Its image necessitates a price tag (admission fee/tution) that students will pay. Having smart students will insure high NBDE pass rates. Students good at studying will likely have good test-taking skills.

As a candidate applying to dental school, the main determinants (barring any unusual and unique circumstances) are GRADES and TEST SCORES.

NAVIGATING

With getting into dental school in mind, lets take chart a course through undergraduate that will give you the best chance of success- high GRADES.

Choose a major that is in a disclipine similar to a BS in biology, but has the easiest requirements and easiest classes. Good ones are sociology, psycology, or a BA in biology (bachelors of arts are generally easier than bachelor of sciences).

Trust me, you will get a lot of backlash from counselors and advisors. The traditional advice is to get into a hard major and "prove yourself".

IGNORE.

GRADES are the only thing that matter in getting your degree. It is the metric that allows the dental school to preserve its high-ranking image.

Research what the required and recommended courses are for various dental schools. These are courses that you need to take in supplement to your major. Sometimes schools will allow your to supplement/substitute these classes for other lower GE classes. Do your own research, but generally biology, chemistry, microbiology, anatomy, organic chemistry, physiology required. Recommended immunology, embryology, histology, and a host of other -ologies.

Here is where you must navigate the treacherous waters. Choose these -ologies carefully. The wrong mis-step will sink you. Use all resources at your disposal- ratemyproffessor.com, other students rumours, and upperclassmen. A difficult proffessor will make the easiest subject impossible to get an A, whereas an easy proffesor will make the most difficult subject easy.

Scour the course descriptions at the beginning of the semester. Investigate your major (bachelor of arts or bachelor of sciences) and find classes that substitute for each other.

In my case, I found that industrial microbiology was being offered by 1 easy proffessor, whereas biochemistry was being offered by a difficut proffessor. To keep my full-time student status (and financial aid), I enrolled in the industrial microbiology class against the wishes of my counselor. Added it against all odds.I signed up for the biochemistry class, showed up and signed in. Then went to the bathroom and went to the industrial microbiology class 10 mins late. Begged the prof to let me into the class, then dropped the biochem class. The industrial microbiology class was 12 people (maximum 10, lol). My friends who listened to the counselor had 16 weeks of hell and most got Cs or B-. Highest grade given was a B+. Me easy A- with very little work and plenty of time to study for other stuff and have a girlfriend and go to the gym. =)

Other notes, if need be and you have no choices but to take a difficult class. This is a time to get creative- its called summer school at a different school. We had an impossible organic chemistry class. Most students would get mediocre grades in this class. Even worse was that it was 2 semesters. Two semesters of Cs will sink anybodys GPAs. Its like this world is stacked against you.

Find out the protocol for taking classes over summer at different schools. Here is how it should go down- find school policy for transferring credits/classes from other universities. Usually it has to be from a 4 year school. Usually the acceptance form to take foreign classes needs the dean's signature and the head of the department signature. This is where you have to use your wit and determination to win and get your way. In my case, I told some story how I would like to finish school as fast as possible and that I would need to go back home to visit my parents and my grandparents. (Siblings works well too). This will get your dean's signature. To get your head of department's signature, say the same story. And add in that you are poor and need to save as much money as possible. Trust me, family and money are good red-herrings.

 

[DentalSmithing]

IMPORTANT TOOLS OF THE TRADE

Notes- take these if you are a good note-taker. If not find a young pleasant girl or guy with good handwriting. Chat them up, before and after class.

After a few sessions, say hey, " I am not the best note-taker, whats the chance I could take your notes and make a copy. I would really appreciate it. Next dinner/lunch/ cafeteria food would be on me"

Hell, I buy somebody 5-20 dollars of foood and save my hand from 8 hours torture. I will take that deal anyday even if I had legibile handwriting.

Old tests- Sometimes these will be available sometimes not because proffessors like to re-use questions. If so, you must find a way to find these old exams. Good sources are older-classmen and frat/sorrority houses. They usually have a test-bank, at least the asian/proffesional ones sometimes do. No need to join the frats unless you want to. Friendships are enough.

Reputation part 1- Sucking up to teachers- Make a list of good questions from listening to the teacher's lecture....now that you have the free-time instead of scribbling like a madman to his lecture. you have time to listen and digest his knowledge instead of being a human copywriter. After lecture, go up and ask him 2-3 of the best questions. Make your face known to him, and let him think you are asking intelligent questions.

Perceived knoweldge and supposed intelligence is just as important as actual smarts.

Reputation part 2- Study your ass off- especially for the first test. Make sure you ace your first test. Bring that flashy smarts into your teachers face. Let him woah at your intelligence and mad brain skills... Any questions you get wrong, scour the answers and find a way to nitpick the question. So if you missed 5 questions out of 50, and there are any ways to argue the questions...wording, possibilities, etc. Make an arguement list, back it up w/the notes and textbook. Really go overboard on this part for the first test (especially if its not Mult Choice).

You might be wondering why even bother? Heres the thing, exposure is important. You want to be seen as smart and driven and annoying if you don't get what you want. Most teachers will feel bad after seeing a full page and a half of notes and arguements and just give up about 15 mins in. They will give you something just to make you go away.

Next time, hell think twice about marking you down. =).

Good Entrance Exam Scores- Study. Take the kaplan course if need be. Treat it very seriously.

FIN

In recap, I wish I could offer you young aspiring dentists more advice. But here is the truth. Its not sweet or pleasant. You need to work hard and to work smart. Dont blindly follow others advice, unless they personally have finished this process recently.

POSTFIN
Although I have not gone this route, I know numerous that have. Lets say you goofed off in undergrad and have a mediocre GPA (say around 2.5 to 3.0). What now?

Do not despair, get into post-grad and study your ass off. Make sure you get at least a 3.8GPA in the post-grad and have a fantastic DAT scores.

DS-ING out

 

[goffdent]

This is the student that I personally would hate. I see how you're trying to streamline.. but at the same time, it's cutting corners and being lazy/annoying/ obnoxious/ lazy again.. Just telling people to do the easiest option? Someone will catch on.

 

[UCSFx2017]

Oh great. Taking advice from an underachiever...

You do realize that using old exams is considered cheating.

Overall, a long but empty post.

 

[Jbrowndds]

Thanks for the advice. You had great points in your article. I need to learn how to start taking notes.

 

[goffdent]

Oh great. Taking advice from an underachiever...

You do realize that using old exams is considered cheating.

Overall, a long but empty post.

I'm surprised wrinkled-up lunch bags full of cold hard cash distributed under the table to the professors wasn't one of the tactics..

 

[LogOff]

I get what you're saying but I think it goes a little overboard into lazy/cutting corners territory.

How is someone going to weasel their way through undergrad and then do well in Dschool? Most likely those habits will stick and then you're just a lousy dental student.

Lousy dental students make lousy dentists who also cut corners. Hey man, what the insurance co. don't know won't hurt em right

 

[Jbrowndds]

I mean. He IS a dentist. He must have done something right.

Sent from my LG-LS970 using SDN Mobile

 

[UCSFx2017]

I mean. He IS a dentist. He must have done something right.

Sent from my LG-LS970 using SDN Mobile

No, what he did was supposedly get into dental school. Once you're in, it's kind of hard to flunk out with that much loans pressuring you to graduate. A dental student who graduated at the bottom of his/her class is still a dentist. How good of dentist you might ask? As good as a student who just wants to barely pass classes. The OP is not characteristic of a hard-worker.

 

[UCSFx2017]

Here. You want to know what it takes to be a good dental student and dentist? Read this.

http://www.jdentaled.org/content/66/8/918.full.pdf

 

[Jbrowndds]

No, what he did was supposedly get into dental school. Once you're in, it's kind of hard to flunk out with that much loans pressuring you to graduate. A dental student who graduated at the bottom of his/her class is still a dentist. How good of dentist you might ask? As good as a student who just wants to barely pass classes. The OP is not characteristic of a hard-worker.

True! I was just sticking up for him because I know you guys would eat him alive lol. I mean it was a really long post.

Sent from my LG-LS970 using SDN Mobile

 

[Msmouth]

Oh great. Taking advice from an underachiever...

You do realize that using old exams is considered cheating.

Overall, a long but empty post.

'Agreed! I hate students that ask for old exams!

 

[UCLAzy]

inb4 holier-than-thou..

wait too late.

 

[baby tooth]

This is the student that I personally would hate. I see how you're trying to streamline.. but at the same time, it's cutting corners and being lazy/annoying/ obnoxious/ lazy again.. Just telling people to do the easiest option? Someone will catch on.

Agreed.

Oh great. Taking advice from an underachiever...

You do realize that using old exams is considered cheating.

Overall, a long but empty post.

Agreed on everything, except if the old exams are distributed by the professor or the TA for the class. Then they're okay to use, obviously.

Thanks for the advice. You had great points in your article. I need to learn how to start taking notes.

His advice on taking notes was to attempt to bribe someone into taking notes for you. Also, his post was totally empty. 👎

I get what you're saying but I think it goes a little overboard into lazy/cutting corners territory.

How is someone going to weasel their way through undergrad and then do well in Dschool? Most likely those habits will stick and then you're just a lousy dental student.

Lousy dental students make lousy dentists who also cut corners. Hey man, what the insurance co. don't know won't hurt em right

Exactly.

Here. You want to know what it takes to be a good dental student and dentist? Read this.

http://www.jdentaled.org/content/66/8/918.full.pdf

👍

OP, maybe this worked for you, but I think you're going way overboard with the advice that includes cheating, lying, and generally taking advantage of people. I don't think the ends justify the means in this case. If you're taking advantage of every possible loophole in the system, you will not come out a good student with the discipline or the necessary study skills to actually succeed in dental school. Maybe this will work for someone whose only goal is to get into dental school and pass, but if you've had everything handed to you then you certainly won't be able to do well in dental school. You'll be distracted by the other things that come your way because you're not used to having to sit and study for hours at a time.

I realize you say you're a dental student now, but as a non-trad I have several close friends in medical/dental school. Do you know what they do all day? They study and/or work in the lab. All the time. This is because they are ambitious and want to do well. They feel a responsibility to know the material well, so that they can treat their patients well. These are people who will be in your classes in dental school, and if you want to be able to do well like they do, you must train during undergrad first. I think the following quote describes my personal beliefs regarding what one should do:

You need to show that you have the ability to burn your skin off on the grindstone and score high.

 

[UltimateHombre]

While i don't agree with a lot of what the OP is saying, they are right on several things. Although i don't agree with some of the methodoligies, here are some good take away principles in a post mainly devoid of true meaning and purpose:

1. Save time where you can. There are only so many hours in a day for eating, sleeping, studying, and personal time. Trim the fat and maximize your time where you can.

2. Building relationships with professors/people in general. This is so important, especially as dentists. If you don't build a relationship, who is going to write you an lor for dschool? Who will write you a recommendation for specialty programs or your first job out? When you are a dentist, who will refer you their friends and family members? If you are a specialist who will be giving you patient referrals? Relationships make the world go round, start building your network early.

3. Staying focused. When you keep the end in mind, it is much easier to make all the work and BS you go through, much more fulfilling and worthwhile.

However, it seems the OP forgets probably the most important thing in the equation...

Hard work!! The entire process takes an incredible amount of hard work!! The motto of doing as little as possible, as the OP is suggesting, is not a fulfilling way to live life. Skating by in a life of indolence and complacency is embarrassing at best. Last time i checked, those successful in life didn't wake up and say... "I want to be great at being mediocre!!" I would rather shoot for the stars and miss, than aim for a cow pie and hit it.

Cheers! 😀😀😀

 

[DentalSmithing]

Let us not forget this undergraduate we are talking about. Dental school is work, work and work. Good habits and motivation are important, but what is more important is an understanding WHAT IS IMPORTANT to achieve your goals.

Lazy- yes. I dont understand why everybody gets off on being a masochist. Knowledge has little correlation to grades. Differences between As and Bs are very very minor. The way teachers structure exams is to make 70% easy, 20% medium 10% hard. This is an average teacher. Difficult teachers 50% easy 25% medium 25% hard. Why would you willingly go for this class? Please, as if I dont have enough problems trying to get a 3.5+ GPA.

Why would I willingly put myself into a more difficult situation than needed. Old exams= cheating? Maybe under the honor code, but realistically nobody will ever care or know. The way I see the old exams is a way of having a pre-test. To test the gaps in my knowledge. Boost up the areas ,that need boosting.

Heres the truth- I graduate w/a 3.6GPA, good but not stellar. I avoided major pitfalls- bad teachers, bad courses (took organic chemistry at a local 4-year school instead of mine). To the naysayers, overall DAT 22 or 23 (forgot). Organic chem was a 23 on my DAT tho. =).

 

[DentalSmithing]

While i don't agree with a lot of what the OP is saying, they are right on several things. Although i don't agree with some of the methodoligies, here are some good take away principles in a post mainly devoid of true meaning and purpose:

1. Save time where you can. There are only so many hours in a day for eating, sleeping, studying, and personal time. Trim the fat and maximize your time where you can. Exactly, be ruthless with your time. The thing is there is always something you COULD do. The question then becomes is it worth it. Most times, its not. The thing is a lot of people brute force studying and learning. This is the wrong way to go about it. If you dont make good habits for dental school, you will get eaten alive.


2. Building relationships with professors/people in general. This is so important, especially as dentists. If you don't build a relationship, who is going to write you an lor for dschool? Who will write you a recommendation for specialty programs or your first job out? When you are a dentist, who will refer you their friends and family members? If you are a specialist who will be giving you patient referrals? Relationships make the world go round, start building your network early. The lies I might tell are white lies. I am a poor student (well I am underwater if you count student loans). Brutal honesty is almost never the right policy. Tactful discretion is the correct method. Keep your mouth shut, smile a lot, be friendly with your patients, faculty and fellow students. Most interactions are going to be rough. Its your job to the smooth the edges. Failure to do so is the biggest problem of dental students. They have flourished in an academic setting, but failed in a proffesional one.

3. Staying focused. When you keep the end in mind, it is much easier to make all the work and BS you go through, much more fulfilling and worthwhile. Ding Ding Ding. The 1st most important thing in dental school is doing the work. The 2nd most important thing is maintaining the work. Not succumbing to fatigue and burn-out. This is where efficiency and
good (lazy) habits come in

However, it seems the OP forgets probably the most important thing in the equation...

Hard work!! The entire process takes an incredible amount of hard work!! The motto of doing as little as possible, as the OP is suggesting, is not a fulfilling way to live life. Skating by in a life of indolence and complacency is embarrassing at best. Last time i checked, those successful in life didn't wake up and say... "I want to be great at being mediocre!!" I would rather shoot for the stars and miss, than aim for a cow pie and hit it.

My thoughts are different. Shoot for the horizon, not the stars, and be happy when you are flying along. Too many of my classmates shot for the moon, and ended up crashing after 6 months or 1 year. Burn-out is prominent. This is a marathon, not a sprint. But hey, I value having a GF/friends as much as finishing school. My sanity is important. I kept prescription drug-free (except for boards studying) unlike most of the gunners at my school. I would guess that 25% of my dental class was popping adderal like M and Ms.

Cheers! 😀😀😀

Cheers...

 

[DentalSmithing]

Agreed.



Agreed on everything, except if the old exams are distributed by the professor or the TA for the class. Then they're okay to use, obviously. ----How about if no mention is made of old exams? And you happen to walk into a study room with a bunch of people cramming over it the night before the exam. RIGHTTTT, you would report them to the honors comitttee.

This aint polyanna w/pink unicorns floating around. This is the reality. Life or death. Dental school or not. Not a joking matter.



His advice on taking notes was to attempt to bribe someone into taking notes for you. Also, his post was totally empty. 👎---- Bribe is a little strong. My frame is this- you are already took the notes for you. I understand that it wasn't easy and your handwriting is better than mine. Can i show my appreciation by buying you lunch for your notes?

This is the real world people. You know how I got old exams from upper-classmen. We were drinking buddies. You know how I got old exams from fellow classmen, I traded them other old exams or had a good relationship w/them. Nobody, especially in dental school, will help you for free. In fact, I would caution you to take free advice. Free advice is usually worthless. Real life is tit for tat (especially when it comes to who specializes and who doesn't).


OP, maybe this worked for you, but I think you're going way overboard with the advice that includes cheating, lying, and generally taking advantage of people. I don't think the ends justify the means in this case. If you're taking advantage of every possible loophole in the system, you will not come out a good student with the discipline or the necessary study skills to actually succeed in dental school. Maybe this will work for someone whose only goal is to get into dental school and pass, but if you've had everything handed to you then you certainly won't be able to do well in dental school. You'll be distracted by the other things that come your way because you're not used to having to sit and study for hours at a time. ---- You mean you want to go to dental school to actually learn something? You dont say? =) Kidding.

How does undergraduate degree in biology correlate to dentistry what-soever. You think your biology knowledge will give you a leg up. Organic chemistry? Biochemistry? Imunology? Ask a general dentist any of those questions. Will he know the answer like you do....of course not. Its a WEED-OUT class. A class to take just to say you have taken it. Don't treat as anything more.

I realize you say you're a dental student now, but as a non-trad I have several close friends in medical/dental school. Do you know what they do all day? They study and/or work in the lab. All the time. This is because they are ambitious and want to do well. They feel a responsibility to know the material well, so that they can treat their patients well. These are people who will be in your classes in dental school, and if you want to be able to do well like they do, you must train during undergrad first. I think the following quote describes my personal beliefs regarding what one should do:

My schedule was intense. Most day 8am-7pm (school+lab work). Then studying till late and on weekends. At least for the first year and change. I will never tell you something as ludicrous as dental school was a walk in the park. It wasnt. Undergraduate was. If you are struggling in undergraduate, this is the minor ways you will boost that B+ to an A-. The devil is in the details.

 

[iralex801]

I agree with your methods to get into dental school. However, I just want to mention taking harder courses (i.e anatomy, neuroanatomy, histology, biochemistry, microbiology, etc) will give you a tremendous advantage in dental school. My background in the sciences made my life in dschool a lot easier than my classmates who were chemistry, art, economic majors, etc.

 

[hl4jn]

.

 

[DentalSmithing]

Yea, good background knowledge is important. But I said the goal is dental school. Minimal use in having good knowlege in sciences w/out dental school or prof. school.

What dental school gives is base knowledge and a good framework of evaluating oral and medical cases in a methodical, efficient method.

Professors repeat this over and over again. When you get out of school, you forget everything you learned. But thats ok, because you can always go google it if you need to. Nobody will remeber every detail.

You are taking 6+ classes/semester. Nobody remebers everything. Thats why everybody crams for boards. Then promptly get wasted afterwards to wash their brains from all this useless minutiae.

Furthermore, whats all this about fair? Is it fair that people might be genetically smarter than you? Prettier than you? Better than you at hand-skills?

Forget all that noize. Concetrate on what you can do make what you WANT happen and forget the rest.
See the big picture people.
Win the war, not the battle.
This under-graduate business is often times like quick-sand. Half the battle is navigating. There are thousands of people who are likely more "qualified" than the people currently in school. Hard work is just one part of the equation....

 

[Ferneezy]

previous two posts have good points.

i'm in the camp where a dental student will do a service to their future patients by learning as much as they humanly can while in D school. but they certainly don't need to have that quality in undergrad...it's just not. that. important. one also must not assume that because someone is casually strategic about their undergrad performance that the same mindset will carry over into their predoctoral education.

and yes, you will likely dump the majority of that info by the time you're practicing in the real world. realizing this inevitability shouldn't give you license to be lazy in dental school. because if you haven't learned something the first time, how will you know what to google?

 

[dentalWorks]

you coulda just done this instead...


"are you in high school/undergrad and considering getting into dental school? here is all you need to know..."


gpa gpa gpa gpa gpa gpa gpa

 

[LaughingGas]

I personally think OP wasn't trying to offense anyone but a basic or easiest strategy that lots of prehealth students don't realize about how to get into professional schools. Although I didn't read all the posts, I agree with others regarding habit. Although good habit is very important, once you learn howl to do well (and lets be honest here) in undergrad bio classes, studying more efficiently becomes natural. And as future professionals (hopefully myself including), having good foundation is important, I feel it's unnecesary to use extra brain more than it is required(i.e. you will mostly likely never use ochem again ) . I think OP was trying to gives us a message about the importance of becoming efficient and not just work hard and not efficient.
At the end of the day, patients won't care about your work ethics during undergrad or professional school, as long as you provide them a good service and give them the treatment that they deserve.

 

[aqz]

I personally think OP wasn't trying to offense anyone but a basic or easiest strategy that lots of prehealth students don't realize about how to get into professional schools. Although I didn't read all the posts, I agree with others regarding habit. Although good habit is very important, once you learn howl to do well (and lets be honest here) in undergrad bio classes, studying more efficiently becomes natural. And as future professionals (hopefully myself including), having good foundation is important, I feel it's unnecesary to use extra brain more than it is required(i.e. you will mostly likely never use ochem again ) . I think OP was trying to gives us a message about the importance of becoming efficient and not just work hard and not efficient.
At the end of the day, patients won't care about your work ethics during undergrad or professional school, as long as you provide them a good service and give them the treatment that they deserve.

Patients may not care about one's work ethics or character in general because they're primarily seeking a service. Anything more than that, like getting to know the dentist's personality and character, would be something further pursued on an individual basis depending on how personable the patient or dentist likes to be. For the most part, I think patients judge their healthcare provider by the work they provide and nothing more.

What might be annoying with the OP's post is his apparent lack of respect for fellow students and self-serving mindset. I'm sure that OP did not want to offend anyone, but some of the advice he's giving screams: "I'm going to take advantage of you and come out on top. Please don't be offended". Although nobody can judge OP's true character over the internet as his form of communication is indeed limited, I believe the material in his posts demand critical feedback.

This is the real world people. You know how I got old exams from upper-classmen. We were drinking buddies. You know how I got old exams from fellow classmen, I traded them other old exams or had a good relationship w/them. Nobody, especially in dental school, will help you for free. In fact, I would caution you to take free advice. Free advice is usually worthless. Real life is tit for tat (especially when it comes to who specializes and who doesn't).

Furthermore, whats all this about fair? Is it fair that people might be genetically smarter than you? Prettier than you? Better than you at hand-skills?

There are people out there striving to get into dental school who go through struggles beyond what anyone can imagine. The "real world" is a place where everybody has to be more than satisfied with what they have already achieved before they give back an infinitesimally small amount out of their precious life. And it's true, the world is unfair where usually no advice is free. Yet realizing this, I don't believe anyone should exacerbate the situation by taking out the "personal" factor and viewing classmates as tools, or as someone else noted, a means to an end, as I feel like OP is somewhat implying with his advice on how to take advantage of relationships. I want to confidently believe that OP loves friends first, takes advantage of friends second, but for those of you taking his advice to heart, tread carefully for you may find yourself ostracized as a so-called "gunner" one day.

Bribe is a little strong. My frame is this- you are already took the notes for you. I understand that it wasn't easy and your handwriting is better than mine. Can i show my appreciation by buying you lunch for your notes?

Quick allegorical note here to exemplify my previous point. Often times than not, I think buying someone lunch for his notes is not only overboard but also shallow and insulting, because at its simplest, the motion to buy him lunch is just a coy attempt to overshadow the underlying motive to take advantage of him. In fact, it may even be more tasteful to simply show your appreciation with a compliment on his penmanship and save the lunch for your significant other. Just be direct when asking for notes, assuming you don't ask for notes all the time.

It most likely won't be an issue when it's a one-time, consensual affair. But when the affair develops into a semester long relationship, abuse can occur.

Brutal honesty is almost never the right policy. Tactful discretion is the correct method. Keep your mouth shut, smile a lot, be friendly with your patients, faculty and fellow students. Most interactions are going to be rough. Its your job to the smooth the edges. Failure to do so is the biggest problem of dental students. They have flourished in an academic setting, but failed in a proffesional one.

Brutal honesty is indeed stupidity in many scenarios. However, it's often best to discriminate "being polite" from "clandestine disgust". Again, I believe that OP has a big heart for other people and is a well-mannered individual, but the key here is to make it so that others don't perceive you as someone who hides your true beliefs and opinions in order to please them or get what you want. The approach most people take is to just simply become really well-trained in hiding those beliefs, but the challenge here is to be yourself as often as possible and come off just as well-mannered as those who always wear a mask.

To conclude, I think education is a necessary form of training. While it might be true that going to class and working hard "trains" one by refining one's work ethic, I believe the true training is in refining one's character through interaction with both academic and social adversity. After all, going to class makes you "classy" right? Okay, perhaps not... Point being, while efficiency is important, your morals are more important than any kind of worldly success you achieve. At the core, it should be those morals that help you attain your goals, not your goals making you twist your morals.

 

[Bottle]

i hate this kind.
"Notes- take these if you are a good note-taker. If not find a young pleasant girl or guy with good handwriting. Chat them up, before and after class. "

unless you are a good friend of mine, you can dream about my notes.

 

[Jbrowndds]

Cutting corners will just have you looking crazy when you get to dental school. You have to be careful because it doesn't take long to make bad habits from cutting corners. You won't be able to retain any information.

You may not be able to just mooch off of your classmates but you can make friends in class and have a study group. It helps a lot when you study with people rather than just alone. Personal when I sit alone and study my mind wonders lol. You can combine notes. Plus you are able to really retain information.

 

[EpicDentist]

i hate this kind.
"Notes- take these if you are a good note-taker. If not find a young pleasant girl or guy with good handwriting. Chat them up, before and after class. "

unless you are a good friend of mine, you can dream about my notes.

Thats the gunner attitude.

 

[Bottle]

Thats the gunner attitude.

no, really i hate that kind. buying for me lunch/dinner for my notes ? more like im buying you, how about i give you food and shut it down and give me that notes.

im not going to let anyone pypass the hard work .. unless its one of my best friends, then heck i'd give him/her everything i have 😉

 

[Shazzam]

I don't see why his post is so heavily critiqued.It's not cutting corners, cheating, or whatever you want to label it.This is a well thought out and practical way of getting through u-grad. It's not like getting an A in any class takes anything more than the motivation to spend hours in-front your text book / PPT / w/e. It doesn't take a smart person to pass 'difficult' class it just takes a motivated person.

Taking this from a different perspective, why on earth would you want to make something more difficult on yourself when you got little to no benefit from it? Adcoms won't know that Professor Bobjoe was the hardest professor at the university and getting an A in that class was equivalent to winning the Nobel prize. They'll just look at as another A in X class.Better yet, while all the 'hardcore' students who want to 'prove' themselves are studying and generally wasting hours on end studying to match the A you're getting w/ the easy professor, you could spend that time rolling some ECs going that the other guy won't have, making you look better than the other guy on paper.

Let's get real here, if these students can get through the DAT, they're equally as smart as the guy who spent 12234598 hours studying in u-grad and arguably better off.

 

[lr2014]

I don't see why his post is so heavily critiqued.It's not cutting corners, cheating, or whatever you want to label it.This is a well thought out and practical way of getting through u-grad. It's not like getting an A in any class takes anything more than the motivation to spend hours in-front your text book / PPT / w/e. It doesn't take a smart person to pass 'difficult' class it just takes a motivated person.

Taking this from a different perspective, why on earth would you want to make something more difficult on yourself when you got little to no benefit from it? Adcoms won't know that Professor Bobjoe was the hardest professor at the university and getting an A in that class was equivalent to winning the Nobel prize. They'll just look at as another A in X class.Better yet, while all the 'hardcore' students who want to 'prove' themselves are studying and generally wasting hours on end studying to match the A you're getting w/ the easy professor, you could spend that time rolling some ECs going that the other guy won't have, making you look better than the other guy on paper.

Let's get real here, if these students can get through the DAT, they're equally as smart as the guy who spent 12234598 hours studying in u-grad and arguably better off.

I totally agree with the OP and you, in my college there is this super hard prof that supposedly fails half of the class but "prepares" you for the MCAT and "you learn a lot", guess what, I doubt half of those who barely pass will remember anything after 2 semesters. People end up with B-'s and C+'s that could have been easily be converted to a B or a A- with another professor, which is what the admission officers are looking for. The OP is not cheating or cutting corners, he is just being (or was) smart and at the end is what counts. And let's keep something clear, EVERYONE wants to become a dentist to make money! the EC side aka being a good person and try to save the whole humanity is good and everything but please, GRADES are what is going to save you from being rejected, keep it real.