Im a rising D2 who entered dental school with the hopes of pursuing OMFS. From day one, ive done everything i can to put myself in a position to match, trying to keep my class rank high and engaging with my home Oral surg department. Throughout D1 year, i spent alot of time studying for the basic science didactic courses and managed to do well in them, however the down side to that is I spent so much time studying for those classes that i often neglected my lab exercises. I felt that i was way behind in terms of sim clinic skills in comparison to my classmates. The highest grade ive gotten on a practical is a B+, i usually end up just passing. Again, i could probably do better if i spent more time coming in to practice after hours, but im constantly worried about studying for exams. Truthfully, its difficult to get myself to care about caries removal and crown preps. Because of my lab grades, my overall my class rank is just within the top 20, and based on what ive read here that is the borderline for an OMFS candidate. I guess i just want to know if any OMFS docs had similar experience in dental school? Im a little worried that if i dont match into OMFS, I will come out of dental school without the confidence and skills necessary to be a good dentist. Is it worth it to continue to focus on didactic courses and not spend as much time on sim lab?