Incoming D1 Student

[yankpak786]

Hi there,

First off, it feels great to graduate from the whole Pre-Dental and DAT subsection to the dental one . I really wanna ask anyone who's willing to help, and has been through the stages of dental school--how do you convince yourself you're gonna be okay? I hear so many horror stories about finals, extensive prep work gone wrong, 6 crazy exams all in one day, mean group practice directors etc... it sounds hella overwhelming. More importantly, how did you study for your first year? What's the best way to go about learning biochemistry (never took it before in undergrad) or something like anatomy? Would love to hear some tips thanks!

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[Greyangel6]

I have no answer for you lol coz I'm also incoming D1. But I took a lot of the recommended courses on the ADEA guide for my school haha (biochem 1, human anatomy, physiology, histology, etc.). For me in undergrad, biochem was all about drawing out stuff and learning by heart specific things. It helps if you draw out things repeatedly and also have an active imagination, you make some fun mnemonics haha. Human anatomy for me was brutal, lot of memorization and actually molesting the plastic models available at the library. Physio, I tried to think of it as physics concepts because it's a course about how body parts and organs work; knowing the rules gives you an easier time analyzing and interpreting data (like reading EKG, like learning osmotic pressure for kidney tubules, etc.) Histo, for me was just learning how to recognize microscopic slides of different tissues haha, so lots of practice and getting used to.

Idk if that helped and I'm sure dental school courses can be far more challenging so at least it's something. ^^

 

[oralcare123]

Do not listen to any more of the horror stories. Think about dental school like something you have to go through - there is no other option and take one day at a time

 

[THS]

I did the "Procrastinate then Cram" study method for D1. It was fine. If you just want to graduate, dental school is easy. If you want to specialize, then someone else will need to chime in.

Just keep in mind that everyone wants to specialize their first year. And that desire wears off really quickly.

 

[toothdriller2k17]

@yankpak786 as a D3 at NYU let me tell you something. you're going to start school on the 17th with a glimmer in your eye, thinking you finally made it and you're in manhattan of all places to study something that you love. you'll go on your boat cruise on the hudson, you'll get to explore the city, and meet a whole lot of new people. orientation goes on for 2 weeks and you'll be so pumped to start dental school.

and then school actually starts, and you'll see that things start moving very fast. horror stories will always be there, but it's best to just try to not let things get to you and move on. it is true, you can fail practical exams by being off by .1mm, you can have preps fail because they don't adhere to a 6 degree taper, but to an 8 degree taper..that if you get a 69.4 as a final grade for a class (passing is a 70), you would have to remediate over the summer...and it goes on. it's true about your group practice..some are better than others but that's just luck to be honest with you.

D1 isn't much of an issue. D2 is what screws over a decent amount of people.

 

[ToothbrushBuddy]

You will surprise yourself with your own tenacity and you will accomplish things that you never thought you could before. Eventually, you will look back on first year and say, "Wow! I did that?"

 

[Bereno]

Remember that horror stories are shared much more frequently than success stories. Also remember that if you were accepted, you are very likely to finish. Most dental schools need you to keep paying tuition, so they want to keep you in that spot for those 4 years haha.

Congrats and best of luck