Incoming DS3 at UNLV. Ask Me Anything!

[Bigjt1420]

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I'll answer everything as thoroughly as possible. Feel free to DM me if you aren't comfortable asking a question in an open forum.

 

[Dentalboithrowaway69]

how much debt do you plan on graduating with and how do you plan to combat it?

 

[Bigjt1420]

how much debt do you plan on graduating with and how do you plan to combat it?

$250K. Plan on combating it by living frugally for 5 years paying $50K a year, and hitting whatever little I have left over the next 3 after. I don't have any kids and am not married, so I don't need to support others just quite yet thank goodness.

 

[Hnl7]

How is your school transitioning into clinic and classes?

Business as usual? Or reduced clinic capacity and online lectures?

 

[Bigjt1420]

We've been in clinic with deduced clinic capacity for about 2 months now. Instead of say 20 operatories going per Team (we have 3 teams), there are 10 per. We are maintaining the same amount of clinic sessions though, which is a good thing. Starting next semester, it's dependent upon individual course directors if they want didactic classes in person or online. All sim lab classes are happening as normal.

 

[FutureD25]

How do you like the required laptops by the school to take exams on / are they slow? Major con of school instead of just letting you use your own laptop?

 

[Bigjt1420]

How do you like the required laptops by the school to take exams on / are they slow? Major con of school instead of just letting you use your own laptop?

I hate the laptops required by the school to take exams on. They are expensive for what you get (school justifies the price since you get 4 years free of free repairs by dell.... which is nice but I wish we could just buy our own laptops and be responsible for them if they break). I upgraded the RAM myself and bought it with an SSD, so my laptop is actually pretty fast. But the value isn't there.

That said, the students complained so much that the school did have a change of heart. As of this upcoming class (class of 2024), they are allowed to choose between a few different laptops, with one being a Microsoft Surface Book I believe, which is actually quite a nice laptop. So It's not nearly as bad for you new students coming into UNLV as it is for the D4's and D3's like myself.

 

[2TH MVR]

How bout dem Raiders? Will you have time to go see a game?

 

[Bigjt1420]

How bout dem Raiders? Will you have time to go see a game?

I was actually born and raised a Charger fan, but they moved to LA so they are dead to me. Don't know if I could go about actually rooting for the Raiders, but I'll definitely be going to games Allegiant Stadium! Only have 4 total classes now as a DS3, so I have a lot of free time outside of Monday-Friday!

 

[FanOfCostco]

Why isn’t joe brown the president of the whole dental school??

 

[VladiAVB]

How many hours do you spend studying every week?

 

[Bigjt1420]

How many hours do you spend studying every week?

Now? Well since I’ll have only 4 classes next semester with 1 being a truly “hard” class (Pathology 3), probably around 10

My first year with 11 classes and about 6 “hard” ones, closer to like 40. Second year since I was a bit more efficient, closer to 30 hours.

 

[atran3529]

How is living in Vegas itself? Is the having all that nightlife there exciting or do you find yourself too busy at school to enjoy it? Is the heat that bad?

 

[Bigjt1420]

Love that dude. Endo master

Why isn’t joe brown the president of the whole dental school??

 

[Bigjt1420]

How is living in Vegas itself? Is the having all that nightlife there exciting or do you find yourself too busy at school to enjoy it? Is the heat that bad?

I like it! It’s nice to be able to study hard but also go out with friends to the strip and what not. Obviously now with Covid it’s not the same, but the first 2 years it was really fun being able to always have something to do! As long as you work hard and are efficient, there is time to go and have fun with friends. And yeah the heat is pretty bad, but you’re inside most of the day anyways with school. It’s actually kind of nice when it’s 7 pm in September and still 90 degrees.

Overall I really love the student body and culture of the school. The admin/faculty are about what you would expect from a dental school, kinda hit or miss - besides Dr. Lemon and the endo faculty... absolute legends.

 

[AthenaProject]

Do a lot of dental students specialize into their desired specialty at UNLV? How well does UNLV prepare you if you are interested in specializing?

 

[Bigjt1420]

Do a lot of dental students specialize into their desired specialty at UNLV? How well does UNLV prepare you if you are interested in specializing?

I'd say a good amount do. This D4 year I know people going for Pedo, Endo, Ortho, Prosth, and Oral Surgery. All the acceptances for those various specialty programs haven't come out yet, but I know for sure people have gotten into Pedo and Prosth. I am sure others will get into the rest of the specialties too.

I do not think UNLV prepares you any differently, for better or for worse, than any other dental school. It really depends on the person and what you like: If you like endo, you'll be good at endo because you'll spend your time in the endo clinic doing root canals -- so naturally you'll be more prepared in that field in terms of specializing. You do do ER rotations, Ortho Rotations, Pedo Roatations, etc. at UNLV, but to be honest I don't think the school really pushes people to specialize.

Essentially, if you want to specialize in a certain field, you'll spend your time doing that in dental school, talking to the faculty and doing procedures and what not, and you'll be prepared for that specific field by the end of your 4th year.

 

[AthenaProject]

Also is it true that for UnLV you are able to get in-state tuition after a year? How is cost of living?

Thank you!

 

[Bigjt1420]

Also is it true that for UnLV you are able to get in-state tuition after a year? How is cost of living?

Thank you!

Yes. I am from California and paid OOS tuition my first year (~$97K). But the last 2 years I have paid In-State tuition at around ~$56K/year. My 4th year I will pay around $40K because you do not have a Summer Semester since you graduate in early May.

Cost of living is pretty cheap. Being from CA, anything is cheap honestly. But I feel like Nevada itself is on the cheaper side of living anywhere in the US. It's not going to be like Wyoming cheap, but it's really not that bad. I share a really nice apartment with my girlfriend and we pay ~$500/month rent each. And that's a nice apartment -- you could go cheaper if you'd like.