not having a life

[dentistinacan]

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Does anyone else out there sometimes feel like their social life has disappeared through all the studying and preparation needed to get into dental school? Recently upon reflection I find that alot of my friends (english majors/nutrition) are just partying and enjoying their college experience while I'm busting my ass off, yet obtaining those A's I want. Its a fine line, and though I don't regret studying, I sometimes wish I had that social life...after all, isn't it who you know that takes you places?

 

[snarlytooth]

Buddy,
you can have both. I feel like i have a good balance. I dont get straight A's but i feel like i have the credentials to get into dental school. From what i hear, make sure that your senior year is fun cuz once we get into dental school the work will be much more plentiful. But until then PARTY IT UP!

 

[hopefulgirl]

Down the road you will have a much better lifestyle than your fellow classmates. Look at the bright side...you only work 3/4 days a week and still earn a very good income. If you work hard now, it pays off later.....

Cheer up 🙂

 

[Zurich5]

Originally posted by snarlytooth
Buddy,
you can have both. I feel like i have a good balance. I dont get straight A's but i feel like i have the credentials to get into dental school. From what i hear, make sure that your senior year is fun cuz once we get into dental school the work will be much more plentiful. But until then PARTY IT UP!

Agreed, it's all going to work out -- do what makes you happy and worry about everything else later.

 

[vishal_k32801]

Thats not true at all, u have plent of time. Manage your
time well andyou can study hard as well as party. I know
many students who have done both studying and partying!

 

[arns51]

Originally posted by dentistinacan
Does anyone else out there sometimes feel like their social life has disappeared through all the studying and preparation needed to get into dental school?

Absolutely not, I partied a riduculous amount in college, and still do (although not quite as much). And I still got decent grades and etc. I probably would have went crazy in college because of all the work if I hadnt partied a lot.

 

[dr_benj]

I see absolutely no reason to not have a life. If I am not happy because I am doing too much school work, I just stop doing school work. There is much more to life than school. I still maintain pretty good grades without studying very much and I am very happy and am able to have a good social life. I expect dental school to be the same way. The gunners may have the best grades but is it really worth it and are they happy with their lives? What will they have to show for it after dental school? We will all be dentists so why kill yourself in school at the expense of your happiness. Just my opinion, I'm sure others disagree.

 

[whatsreallygood]

Originally posted by hopefulgirl
Down the road you will have a much better lifestyle than your fellow classmates. Look at the bright side...you only work 3/4 days a week and still earn a very good income. If you work hard now, it pays off later.....

Cheer up 🙂

i always hear that dentists only work 3 or 4 days a week. i just wanted to know how this is possible. are dentist not working on thursdays and fridays? wouldn't it make sense to work five days a week so you can make more money? 😕

 

[critterbug]

I think it is a rule of thumb that dentists *generally* don't work on Fridays. Kinda like how barbers don't work Mondays. Thats just the way it is 🙂

However, most dentists manage to get 35-45 hour work weeks sqeezed into four days. Makes for a more efficient office.

 

[3rdMolarRoller]

You only get to live once...you have to go out and have a good time.

I think I would crazy here in D-school if I didn't put in some play time.

 

[Balki]

I hear you
dentistinacan
I busted my ass 3 years in College went out very little once or twice a week the rest spent studying. Now comes the senior year even though my classes are hard I am out almost 4 days week. Lack of sleep is what's killing me. I certainly think it's possibly to work, party and still get good grades. And then again it depends on a school. Some are rediculous in the amount of work you need to do , others you'll get As with 10 hours of studying a week. But I certainly do feel that if I was majoring let's say in Psycology or Religion I'd have 3x the time to party. But I like what I am doing and thats whats important.

The dentist I am working with usually has 3 day weekends. BUt is ablle to pull good 40hr a week sometimes more.

Regarding the better lifestyle that awaits hardworking people. That's what I was brought up to believe and as many of us realize that's not always the case. There will be people who "party" and will live much better than any of us, hardworking guys. What's important is that we like and enjoy what we do. And if we get paid for what we like to do man well now that's a comfortable and a great life. That's what comforts me other will thinks differently. But I think having my own office, treating people is something I'd love to do for the rest of my life!

 

[SpringHaze]

hehe, 3/4 days a week! my dentist works 9-9 Monday-Thursday, 9-6 Friday and Saturdays, and occasionally comes in for quick emergencies on sundays

 

[SpringHaze]

oops, i didn't mean only that as my reply.
But yeah, it definitely depends on what school you go to I think. I can't possibly party more than two days max, but then I'm not going to a state school and Hopkins has no grade inflation either AND i put off taking the weed-out engineering course til senior year-physics.
I'm actually looking forward to dental school. I really don't think it'll be as difficult for me, no required writing intensive courses, no stupid prereqs like physics and calc (at least the basic sciences in dental school sound interesting). And then most of what we learn we'll be using daily, and at least for me that knowledge makes studying alot easier and efficient. Also, I'm not all that keen on specializing either, so my grades aren't that important. This may be wishful thinking, but I'm hoping I can have more of a life in dental school than I had the past three years here.

 

[mikhiel]

most of the dentists in my area work Fridays, but they take off Wednesday. A friend in the dorms has 2 dentist parents, and they informed me that Wednesday is "golf and tennis" day. LOL

 

[Zurich5]

Originally posted by SpringHaze
hehe, 3/4 days a week! my dentist works 9-9 Monday-Thursday, 9-6 Friday and Saturdays, and occasionally comes in for quick emergencies on sundays

Ouch, how much does this dr net?

 

[3rdMolarRoller]

Originally posted by SpringHaze
hehe, 3/4 days a week! my dentist works 9-9 Monday-Thursday, 9-6 Friday and Saturdays, and occasionally comes in for quick emergencies on sundays


Man thats nutts!!!

This person either loves the work so much they have to do it 24/7; is a new dentist and wants to pay their loans back asap; or wants to retire at 40

 

[busupshot83]

Originally posted by dentistinacan
Does anyone else out there sometimes feel like their social life has disappeared through all the studying and preparation needed to get into dental school? Recently upon reflection I find that alot of my friends (english majors/nutrition) are just partying and enjoying their college experience while I'm busting my ass off, yet obtaining those A's I want. Its a fine line, and though I don't regret studying, I sometimes wish I had that social life...after all, isn't it who you know that takes you places?

hey buddy, i feel ya. get into dental school, then you can make some life-time friendships. cheer up man. where in FL you post up?

 

[dentistinacan]

postin up down here in fort myers beach...very close to naples.

 

[PERFECT3435]

the dentist that i work for only works 4 full days (9-4) and half day on fri (9-12).

he just came from a one month vacation and after having worked for about a 1 1/2 he thinks he needs another vacation.

he life is very though isn't it??

 

[Dr.BadVibes]

I have actually seen the opposite in my social life in University...its grown so much. Ive partied so much, had some keggers, went to England for a year student exchange, and met some amazing people. Best of all though is the amount of travelling I have done. My goal in life is to travel to 50% of the countries in the world. So far I have backpacked through 27 countries, so thats about 12%. Still got a long way to go, but Im only 22, so hopefully I got time! These travels presented me with my greatest memories through so many adventures....Im gonna be on of those annoying grandparents that gonna always say, "When I was your age..."

My biggest adventure to date is the fact that me and a buddy went to Central America this summer, and when we were at the Mexico-Texas border in August, we ran out of money, so we hitchiked all the way from Mexico back to Canada. Pretty impressive, eH! 😉 I had to rush back to complete my AADSAS application! 😀

Basically, what I tell freshmen now is that University is what you make it to be. Ill assume dental school is the same.

 

[SpringHaze]

Originally posted by Zurich5
Ouch, how much does this dr net?

He nets about 700,000 a year, but then he also plays the stock market and is not so hot at it. But no, he just really really really loves what he does and doesn't really like to travel. His release is going to Yankee games on Sundays. To each their own I guess. 😛

 

[gryffindor]

Originally posted by SpringHaze
I'm actually looking forward to dental school. I really don't think it'll be as difficult for me, no required writing intensive courses, no stupid prereqs like physics and calc (at least the basic sciences in dental school sound interesting). And then most of what we learn we'll be using daily, and at least for me that knowledge makes studying alot easier and efficient. Also, I'm not all that keen on specializing either, so my grades aren't that important. This may be wishful thinking, but I'm hoping I can have more of a life in dental school than I had the past three years here.

Oh boy, first year at my school has little to do with what you will be doing daily in dentistry. And true, it's not as tough as problem sets and writing 10 page papers in undergrad, but the problem is too many not-so-tough classes all at once makes it become really difficult all of a sudden. Memorizing for classes that don't seem relevant at all (like those neuron transmission pathways in Neuroanatomy - why????) becomes incredibly difficulty to convince yourself to do.

That said, I too was not thrilled with my social life in college (it had to do more with the students who attended my college than with the amount of time I had). However, socially, I have had a blast here in dental school! I love my friends, love the experiences (academic and social), and love the school. Sure, there are those moments where school really grates on you (this past semester I've been feeling miserable every time I set foot into clinic), but overall, the best word for it is "bittersweet." I'm thrilled to get out of dental school (counting the days!), but will definitely miss my friends and our times together very much.

 

[ItsGavinC]

I'm too lazy today to read all the posts in this thread, but I'll post my two cents (keep in mind I have no idea what topic you guys are actually discussing at this point in time):

My dental school life is about 2-3 times easier than my undergrad life.

The amount of material is manageable if you have smart study habits and put in *quality* time.

I'm having a blast and rarely crack a book at night. I sure as heck don't crack a book on the weekends.

My social life would be rockin' if I were single. As it stands, I'm having lots of time with my wife and son. Our second child is due in March, and I'll have plenty of time then also. Typically I spend my evenings and weekends throwing the ball with my son, or having a family picnic. We spent 4 hours at the mall shopping this morning.

Thanks for your time. 😀