I hate dental school

[shedara2008]

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I'm glad that you made it through. Don't apologize I believe that you really felt that way at the time,but ppl trying to get in probably looked at as a whiner. But I appreciate the realness of your post. because everyone needs to know that dental school is not some perfect fairy tale land. So thanks... And Congratulations on your success. I am sure when others get in they will hate it too. at least sometimes!!! lol..

 

[DrDientes]

Dental School SUCKS!! Don't DO it!!!!!!

Jk

Honestly, Is dental school hard? Yes. Can it be stressful? Yes.
I am also a 1st year here at UCSF and have found out that its really what you make of it. Our class is awesome really supportive, fun, and really makes dental school a whole lot better. All I can say is if you are a stress case at ----- university now, you are just going to be more of a stress case while in d-school. If you are doing well in school and know how to balance your life, then you will do fine in D-school. To the OP we really are all feeling your pain, but you can't let it get to you. We all knew it was gonna be hard, but believe me it can be worse just look at your cross-town friends they are at least 3x as stressed as we are. P/NP is awesome, I am enjoying my time here, even now that we are going into finals. I know its going to be hard, but there is always winter break to look forward to.

UCSF Class of 2014

 

[jj007]

If anyone thinks that dental school is easy, then he/she should think of doing something else. First, getting into dental school is difficult, especially at schools like UCSF. Second, surviving dental school (especially the first 2 years) is going to be intense and arduous. It will all be worth it at the end.

Telling the truth about dental school is fine and should be encouraged. However, trying to blame your classmates and faculty for your failure is another issue. Take responsibility for your success and failure. With your updated response, I think that you have, so I wish you luck.

I'm glad that you made it through. Don't apologize I believe that you really felt that way at the time,but ppl trying to get in probably looked at as a whiner. But I appreciate the realness of your post. because everyone needs to know that dental school is not some perfect fairy tale land. So thanks... And Congratulations on your success. I am sure when others get in they will hate it too. at least sometimes!!! lol..

 

[Studentpredent]

Telling the truth about dental school is fine and should be encouraged. However, trying to blame your classmates and faculty for your failure is another issue. Take responsibility for your success and failure. With your updated response, I think that you have, so I wish you luck.

man, classmates and faculty make all the difference in terms of environment and experience. Just cause you liked your classmates and faculty doesnt mean that everyone else has to. No one is trying to blame anyone, op is just stating his or her genuine feeling about his or her experience at dental school. Respect other people's opinion can go a long way. There is always two sides to every issue and why dont we just leave it at that.

 

[Montserrat]

Telling the truth about dental school is fine and should be encouraged. However, trying to blame your classmates and faculty for your failure is another issue. Take responsibility for your success and failure. With your updated response, I think that you have, so I wish you luck.

These two instances (being honest and describing the gunner environment) are not mutually exclusive. People vent, and sometimes that is when they express the most candor. As for rightfully assigning blame -- his experiences might differ from your own, so hardly your call to make.

Dental school isn't easy for most, but for some, it's downright draconian. We all have our own strengths, and that doesn't disqualify anyone's opinion of dental school in particular.

 

[square root]

It is not necessarily true that nobody knows who the OP was. If he/she was silly enough to include a college name in her SDN username then people are going to know where that person comes from. Only so many people out of 88 are admitted from UCLA. If you also shared your DAT or GPA scores online the school administration has those same numbers in your application file. They can narrow it down to a few suspects and see who is struggling with classes right now so it is not impossible for them to track comments back to a particular student.

I know for a fact that the D1 class had a little visit from the Dean of the School of Dentistry this week during Lab so they could have a little talk... I dont know exactly what was said because I am not a D1 but I have some notion of it because LAST YEAR THE SAME EXACT THING HAPPENED. A member of the last year's D1 class posted complaints about the school on this site and the D1's got an email from the class president saying how it is not in their best interest to soil the reputation of the school they are graduating from themselves. Just as this time, that post was then removed and an apology was made. UCSF MONITORS THIS WEBSITE and does not waste any time in hushing criticism, the culture at the school is not very receptive of it and they obviously care enormously about their reputation. If you think the OP did not face any pressure think again, gossip gets around and a lot of people are angry at her right now.

 

[dentalWorks]

It is not necessarily true that nobody knows who the OP was. If he/she was silly enough to include a college name in her SDN username then people are going to know where that person comes from. Only so many people out of 88 are admitted from UCLA. If you also shared your DAT or GPA scores online the school administration has those same numbers in your application file. They can narrow it down to a few suspects and see who is struggling with classes right now so it is not impossible for them to track comments back to a particular student.

I know for a fact that the D1 class had a little visit from the Dean of the School of Dentistry this week during Lab so they could have a little talk... I dont know exactly what was said because I am not a D1 but I have some notion of it because LAST YEAR THE SAME EXACT THING HAPPENED. A member of the last year's D1 class posted complaints about the school on this site and the D1's got an email from the class president saying how it is not in their best interest to soil the reputation of the school they are graduating from themselves. Just as this time, that post was then removed and an apology was made. UCSF MONITORS THIS WEBSITE and does not waste any time in hushing criticism, the culture at the school is not very receptive of it and they obviously care enormously about their reputation. If you think the OP did not face any pressure think again, gossip gets around and a lot of people are angry at her right now.

ouch. Is this a dental school we are talking about? or prison?

 

[BShimel]

D1 is fun. Seriously.

 

[Shinpe]

It is not necessarily true that nobody knows who the OP was. If he/she was silly enough to include a college name in her SDN username then people are going to know where that person comes from. Only so many people out of 88 are admitted from UCLA. If you also shared your DAT or GPA scores online the school administration has those same numbers in your application file. They can narrow it down to a few suspects and see who is struggling with classes right now so it is not impossible for them to track comments back to a particular student.

I know for a fact that the D1 class had a little visit from the Dean of the School of Dentistry this week during Lab so they could have a little talk... I dont know exactly what was said because I am not a D1 but I have some notion of it because LAST YEAR THE SAME EXACT THING HAPPENED. A member of the last year's D1 class posted complaints about the school on this site and the D1's got an email from the class president saying how it is not in their best interest to soil the reputation of the school they are graduating from themselves. Just as this time, that post was then removed and an apology was made. UCSF MONITORS THIS WEBSITE and does not waste any time in hushing criticism, the culture at the school is not very receptive of it and they obviously care enormously about their reputation. If you think the OP did not face any pressure think again, gossip gets around and a lot of people are angry at her right now.

Are you talking about students figuring out who the OP was or the school? First of all, the students don't have access to other people's GPA/DAT, etc. We somewhat know who has graduated from what school just out of what everyone says, but no records of it. There are a good 8-9 people in our class from UCLA, and to try to guess who out of those people made the post, yes there was some guessing going on, but no one was pinpointed or approached by any of the students about this matter. When talking about what happened last year, I asked one of the D2 officers and as you mentioned the email was sent out to the whole class by the class president, which means that the school itself was not involved with it but everything was within the student body. I think us other students have the right to be concerned or bugged about a post like this when it's obviously not shared by most of the students and is not reflective of what the whole class feels. Often it just takes one post like this to make everyone think the whole class is as described when it's not true. The op has clearly stated the reason for the edit as "this is my true feelings, no one has force me to apologize. Thanks for your understanding" so why don't we just leave it at that?

Next, the school dean and faculty have much better things to do than trying to figure out who exactly posted something on SDN even if they could. The school is most likely aware of the posts on the website, as all schools are and should be, but to accuse the school of hushing criticism, well that's just ridiculous. If you actually went to UCSF (I'm assuming you don't because you don't know about this), you'd know that Dr. Featherstone (our dean) meets quarterly with all the classes in a town-hall meeting sort of setting to give them the latest news and listen to concerns. The 20-30 minute talk last week was about the accreditation visit coming up next year and how the school is preparing for it, and he was actually urging all the students to be upfront and bring up any concerns or complaints that they have. The D2 class had the same exact meeting a week prior to ours. Our class president and vice-president also meet with the school dean and associate dean of education once quarterly to relay any other concerns or complaints students may have, as well as quarterly student-faculty liasion meetings where these concerns can be raised freely. So NO, this is NOTHING like a prison where UCSF would "monitor" criticism and "hush" it. You should check your facts before accusing a school like UCSF of such things.

 

[square root]

Are you talking about students figuring out who the OP was or the school? First of all, the students don't have access to other people's GPA/DAT, etc. We somewhat know who has graduated from what school just out of what everyone says, but no records of it. There are a good 8-9 people in our class from UCLA, and to try to guess who out of those people made the post, yes there was some guessing going on, but no one was pinpointed or approached by any of the students about this matter. When talking about what happened last year, I asked one of the D2 officers and as you mentioned the email was sent out to the whole class by the class president, which means that the school itself was not involved with it but everything was within the student body. I think us other students have the right to be concerned or bugged about a post like this when it's obviously not shared by most of the students and is not reflective of what the whole class feels. Often it just takes one post like this to make everyone think the whole class is as described when it's not true. The op has clearly stated the reason for the edit as "this is my true feelings, no one has force me to apologize. Thanks for your understanding" so why don't we just leave it at that?

Next, the school dean and faculty have much better things to do than trying to figure out who exactly posted something on SDN even if they could. The school is most likely aware of the posts on the website, as all schools are and should be, but to accuse the school of hushing criticism, well that's just ridiculous. If you actually went to UCSF (I'm assuming you don't because you don't know about this), you'd know that Dr. Featherstone (our dean) meets quarterly with all the classes in a town-hall meeting sort of setting to give them the latest news and listen to concerns. The 20-30 minute talk last week was about the accreditation visit coming up next year and how the school is preparing for it, and he was actually urging all the students to be upfront and bring up any concerns or complaints that they have. The D2 class had the same exact meeting a week prior to ours. Our class president and vice-president also meet with the school dean and associate dean of education once quarterly to relay any other concerns or complaints students may have, as well as quarterly student-faculty liasion meetings where these concerns can be raised freely. So NO, this is NOTHING like a prison where UCSF would "monitor" criticism and "hush" it. You should check your facts before accusing a school like UCSF of such things.

Responding to your opening question: obviously not, since I mentioned cross checking with the application file, which the students obviously don't have but the administration does, go back to my post and read it more slowly.

The email was sent by the class president after the regular meeting with the dean where the issue was brought up. That is why they all got that friendly reminder from the class prez.

If there are so many students that are "bugged" or just plain upset about a post like this one, then how do you think the person who posted those comments would feel after hearing people say "that person is an __(expletive), what the hell is (s)he doing?" You dont think (s)he would be afraid of being found out or at least guilted into retracting?

Just because you nominally have a space or channel to voice concerns it doesnt mean that people feel comfortable speaking their mind. Other classes complained about plenty of things only to hear in response that they were either immature or lazy and that whatever problems they had were our their fault. Not in those words obviously but that's what was read between the lines. And the meeting with the dean this week, it is true that he gave one of his town hall meetings but he didn't have a d2 test case canceled so he could come talk like he did for you. Some people thought it was an unscheduled affair that had come up recently. UCSF advertises itself as one of the leading (if not THE leading) dental schools in the country and the planet. Building up and maintaining a reputation like that is hard and constant work. You think the administration does not care about details like that, I think differently.

If your current class is having a wonderful experience at UCSF (besides the apparent outliers) then I am sincerely happy for all of you. That means the administration is paying more attention to students and is trying hard to improve things. Perhaps the coming accreditation visit is making them more aware of things that need to improve. Be appreciative of your upperclassmen specially the current D2 who became known as "the class that bitches a lot" because some of them had a rough d1 year and as a group they went through some real tense periods with the faculty and school admin.

What we all want is UCSF to keep improving and for us to have a nice time in dental school and be prepared to have a great life as dentists. I wish you and all the D1s the best for the rest of this year which IS really the worst of all 4.

 

[DrDientes]

Responding to your opening question: obviously not, since I mentioned cross checking with the application file, which the students obviously don't have but the administration does, go back to my post and read it more slowly.

The email was sent by the class president after the regular meeting with the dean where the issue was brought up. That is why they all got that friendly reminder from the class prez.

If there are so many students that are "bugged" or just plain upset about a post like this one, then how do you think the person who posted those comments would feel after hearing people say "that person is an __(expletive), what the hell is (s)he doing?" You dont think (s)he would be afraid of being found out or at least guilted into retracting?

Just because you nominally have a space or channel to voice concerns it doesnt mean that people feel comfortable speaking their mind. Other classes complained about plenty of things only to hear in response that they were either immature or lazy and that whatever problems they had were our their fault. Not in those words obviously but that's what was read between the lines. And the meeting with the dean this week, it is true that he gave one of his town hall meetings but he didn't have a d2 test case canceled so he could come talk like he did for you. Some people thought it was an unscheduled affair that had come up recently. UCSF advertises itself as one of the leading (if not THE leading) dental schools in the country and the planet. Building up and maintaining a reputation like that is hard and constant work. You think the administration does not care about details like that, I think differently.

If your current class is having a wonderful experience at UCSF (besides the apparent outliers) then I am sincerely happy for all of you. That means the administration is paying more attention to students and is trying hard to improve things. Perhaps the coming accreditation visit is making them more aware of things that need to improve. Be appreciative of your upperclassmen specially the current D2 who became known as "the class that bitches a lot" because some of them had a rough d1 year and as a group they went through some real tense periods with the faculty and school admin.

What we all want is UCSF to keep improving and for us to have a nice time in dental school and be prepared to have a great life as dentists. I wish you and all the D1s the best for the rest of this year which IS really the worst of all 4.

I think our school is pretty well rounded. I am enjoying my time here along with all the people in my class I hang out with. Yeah we have stressed out people so does every other dental school in the US. I guess we do have to be thankful to the D2's I can see how a lot of them would be more stressed out, since I know some of them just have that stress-case personality.

UCSF Class of 2014

 

[Shinpe]

Responding to your opening question: obviously not, since I mentioned cross checking with the application file, which the students obviously don't have but the administration does, go back to my post and read it more slowly.

The email was sent by the class president after the regular meeting with the dean where the issue was brought up. That is why they all got that friendly reminder from the class prez.

If there are so many students that are "bugged" or just plain upset about a post like this one, then how do you think the person who posted those comments would feel after hearing people say "that person is an __(expletive), what the hell is (s)he doing?" You dont think (s)he would be afraid of being found out or at least guilted into retracting?

Just because you nominally have a space or channel to voice concerns it doesnt mean that people feel comfortable speaking their mind. Other classes complained about plenty of things only to hear in response that they were either immature or lazy and that whatever problems they had were our their fault. Not in those words obviously but that's what was read between the lines. And the meeting with the dean this week, it is true that he gave one of his town hall meetings but he didn't have a d2 test case canceled so he could come talk like he did for you. Some people thought it was an unscheduled affair that had come up recently. UCSF advertises itself as one of the leading (if not THE leading) dental schools in the country and the planet. Building up and maintaining a reputation like that is hard and constant work. You think the administration does not care about details like that, I think differently.

If your current class is having a wonderful experience at UCSF (besides the apparent outliers) then I am sincerely happy for all of you. That means the administration is paying more attention to students and is trying hard to improve things. Perhaps the coming accreditation visit is making them more aware of things that need to improve. Be appreciative of your upperclassmen specially the current D2 who became known as "the class that bitches a lot" because some of them had a rough d1 year and as a group they went through some real tense periods with the faculty and school admin.

What we all want is UCSF to keep improving and for us to have a nice time in dental school and be prepared to have a great life as dentists. I wish you and all the D1s the best for the rest of this year which IS really the worst of all 4.

I definitely don't appreciate the sarcastic remark. If you're gonna make this into an unprofessional conversation, I won't follow. If not, then:

What I was trying to say is that obviously the students couldn't know who the person exactly was by looking up grades to pressure the OP. And the school, even if they have seen the post and know who it is, have taken no steps to contact the person or send any emails with regards to it. Unlike what you were suggesting that the student was pressured because others knew who they were.

I'm not sure about being afraid but maybe the OP came to realize that a post like this doesn't just affect them, but the whole class and the school. If the majority of the class agreed with the post, obviously we would be relieved that some one got it out and wouldn't be unhappy about it and not so many students would care to come on here and state the opposite. There's a difference between whether other students actually forced or pressured the student to change the post (which never happened) and that the students felt guilty about the post (either because they did it at a time when they were just extremely stressed out or they just wanted to be fair to the other students).

Well yes some people thought that, but as a few of us kept saying, it was just about the accreditation and not related this forum. And it obviously doesn't matter what some people thought what was going to be said compared to what actually was said. Wrong hypes can be built up easily.

Yup. It's hard and constant work but not by "hushing criticisms" but by actually trying to be the best and improving on it. A reputation like this can't just be built on air.

And yes, we're extremely grateful for our D2 class as they have been a great resource for us for study materials and general support. They do mention that they had some tense moments last year, but still none of them have told me that they wish they had gone to a different school. Our class doesn't seem to be so much like them in that matter. Different people handle stress differently, and there's no doubt that it is a demanding program as all dental schools are.

That's much appreciated. We are almost done with a third of it, so we can't wait to be done with the finals next week.

 

[UCSF2012]

Hmmm. I kinda wish I'd read that original post. All I have to go off are the comments students gave.

I can count the number of times I've been stressed out here at UCSF on one hand.....perhaps 2-3 times at the most. But if you've met me in real life, you'd know that I don't get stressed out easily. There are certain people that'll get stressed out taking a walk on the beach...those Type A personalities. We have a good bit of those. My class has them. The class below me has them, and the current D1 class has them. I've met a great many D1's during the first week of orientation, and immediately some of them struck me as intense. They hadn't even really learned anything yet, and they looked like they were gonna have an aneurysm. ....My point here is that some people cannot be pleased, and some will be stressed out no matter where they are.

The UCSF "environment" is student-created: the faculty don't pressure us, they don't scold us, and they don't belittle us. It's our classmates that push us, force us to work harder, have late-night study sessions,...etc. If you feel the intensity, chances are it's self-generated or you're letting your friends influence you.

SciMeth has gotten much criticism over the years, and it's one of the most misunderstood classes here. The objective of the class is to teach us how to interpret research articles and think critically. It doesn't teach us how to conduct research. It doesn't indoctrinate us to do research. Rather, it teaches us how to critique problems in experimental design. (Remember all those studies concluding amalgam causes....World War II !!!) The school values independent thinkers, and this course aims to make us thinkers. (You don't have to tell me about how much you dislike the class, since I'm probably one of the biggest proponents of that sentiment. But to be objective, the class quite important in a rounded education.)

And OMG UCSF has lots of complainers...
No. 1 topic...how come we don't get free electric toothbrushes?
No. 2 topic...the school bought iPads for the faculty using private donations. [Gasp] That means I'm paying for it with my tuition money!!! (<-note the contradiction.)

 

[UCSF2012]

The school doesn't hush criticisms. The deans DO, however, address concerns as they come up. Think about this for a second...is this not a good thing? A school that cares about our concerns. And the turn around time is quite amazing too!

While we don't hush criticisms, we students would prefer our fellow students not throw a fit online, misleading the world all over. If the stated claims were accurate, then it's less a problem. We've had lots of issues with students venting in the past, and nearly all of them are either unfounded or due to a misunderstanding.

And to all you D1's reading this....please learn how to ask for help or advice. The upperclassmen already know how to exploit the exams. We know how to simplify studying. We know where exam questions come from. We know how to make the perfect acrylic temp using the worst materials like alginate. We know how to cut the perfect MOD. We know how to do an RCT on a dilacerated canal ...blah, blah, blah. Save yourselves some headaches. If you're not passing, then you're not doing something right. Work smart, not work hard.

 

[Studentpredent]

Honestly, I think this is blown waaaay outta proportion. If someone is dumb enough to come online and take one person's opinion to be "the truth," they probably shouldnt be going to dental school anyway. With that said, don't take everything so seriously and respect other people's opinion.

As far as dental schools are concerned, don't blame faculty, dont blame administration, blame the students. Your classmates are the ones who create the learning environment. I completely agree with ucsf2012. You feel stressed out because you have cut-throat gunner classmates who make you feel that way. We can't change how OP feels by imposing our perception or our experiences but we should take it upon ourselves to make it a better environment for everyone. And honestly, student culture is different at every school. Every dental school is stressful, it's what we can do for one another to alleviate the stress. Whether you are willing to admit it or not, a perfectly sane person (I can safely say that op is) would not just go online and bash the school for no apparent reason. If we really want people to stop people from citing their negative experiences online, we should do what we can to improve the situation as students.