How many hours spent studying?

[littlefoot1]

How many hours a week do you spend working on D-school related stuff during your first year (supposedly the most difficult year)? Please separate hours to studying at home/in groups, attending lecture, and lab work.

Oh and please indicate how well you're doing (well, average, hanging on by a thread, etc...)

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[cookand]

The amount of study time in a class will vary so much as to give you no clue as to your possible study time. However much you studied before DS will most likely be how much you study once in ds. This is just a personal observation.

 

[verticalbite]

How many hours a week do you spend working on D-school related stuff during your first year (supposedly the most difficult year)? Please separate hours to studying at home/in groups, attending lecture, and lab work.

Oh and please indicate how well you're doing (well, average, hanging on by a thread, etc...)

class everyday from 8-4:00

Study from 5:00 until 11:30 everynight except friday.

Study all day Saturday from 8:00 am until 6:00

Study all day Sunday 1:00 - 9:00

Worked for me!

 

[Lurchdubious]

10-45 hours/week, outside of 8:00-5:00 class. Studying in groups of 2-4 is most effective for me. I haven't had to spend too much time doing lab work outside of scheduled lab hours.

It will be different for everyone.

Oh, and I'm not top of my class at all, but prolly somewhere in the middle.

 

[HupHolland]

it's really hard to say. If I don't have a test coming up I usually don't study at all at night. If a test is approaching I'll study a couple hours a night a few nights before and put in 8 hours the day before and review a few hours before the exam.

for lab stuff, I'll spend some extra time in lab the week before a practical and maybe do a "mock practical" 2 days before the real deal.

I don't study on Saturdays unless I absolutely have to... i.e. anatomy or pathology exam on monday. i'll study sunday for a few hours while having football on in the background.

I don't have a set study schedule because I play soccer and kickball a few days a week. I'd say I'm average as far as class ranking goes and I'm happy with that. My philosophy is the less stressed I am as a dental student, the less stressed and thus happier dentist I'll become.

Hup

 

[littlefoot1]

God damn it, 8-5 must be brutal! I'm not sure if I can handle that without zoning out.

That's awesome Hup. The way you manage your time seems like a great fit for me. Now verticalbite on the other hand...I can't even touch that schedule with a 10 foot pole. You're a friggin beast.

 

[HupHolland]

God damn it, 8-5 must be brutal! I'm not sure if I can handle that without zoning out.

That's awesome Hup. The way you manage your time seems like a great fit for me. Now verticalbite on the other hand...I can't even touch that schedule with a 10 foot pole. You're a friggin beast.

read verticalbite's other posts. dudes hopped up on tricyclics. all work, no play makes for a miserable 4 years.

Now, let me be honest, I studied much more my first semester to find out what worked and what didn't. Now I know what I need to do in order to get decent grades and learn what I need to know. I'm an B student with the occasional A -- I'm cool with that.

Best of luck,
Hup

 

[verticalbite]

God damn it, 8-5 must be brutal! I'm not sure if I can handle that without zoning out.

That's awesome Hup. The way you manage your time seems like a great fit for me. Now verticalbite on the other hand...I can't even touch that schedule with a 10 foot pole. You're a friggin beast.

I know.

But I have a 3.8 too though so I suppose I could slack off some, but not much!

 

[mamelons]

read verticalbite's other posts. dudes hopped up on tricyclics. all work, no play makes for a miserable 4 years.

Now, let me be honest, I studied much more my first semester to find out what worked and what didn't. Now I know what I need to do in order to get decent grades and learn what I need to know. I'm an B student with the occasional A -- I'm cool with that.

Best of luck,
Hup

I did the same thing. I am pretty much a B student with the occasional A or C. I work out 3 times a week, play intramurals, spend time with my boyfriend, hang out with friends, watch football when I can, actually cook meals instead of fast food, and I have right around a 3.0. I am happy with that. Last year was more of a struggle for me, but now that we are doing preclinical things like cutting crowns and drilling and filling, I find that I am much better at this stuff than the didactics, and that is what matters more in the long run. For classes that are weighted heavily (i.e. path is 5 hours) I studied a lot for. I would study in a small group for a few hours every weekend, and then study more on my own. For smaller classes that are 1-2.5 hours credit, I don't spend as much time on because they are relatively easy to get an A or B in if you put in some effort, and they won't hurt your GPA too terribly if you get a C. You have find what works for you though.

 

[lemoncurry]

there were some weeks where it really seemed like I was spending every free moment studying, minus eating time and other necessities. Granted, I get easily distracted and spend too much time on facebook, but some days I would get home, and about a half hour later I would hit the books until I went to bed around 10:30-ish. Saturdays I would do an online biochem quiz and start studying for the monday class quiz. Sundays I would study some more for the same quiz, and possibly study anatomy. Mondays was all anatomy because of Tuesday quizzes. After a while, I started slacking off for the rest of the week because I didn't have quizzes in class. Didn't do me much good as I got a 2.99 last quarter.

 

[MONKEYBOY]

cookand has it pretty dialed, though I don't know anyone in dental school that I knew in undergrad.

Most of your time is not spent studying, but in ... other things.