2. Your ranking after D1 is not indicative of how you will finish. D2 is a kick in the pants and D3 is a big juggle. This goes for every school. Your GPA May get better, stay the same, or totally tank over the years.
Remember, you are all soldiers in the trenches during this war. Not to be hard on you, but as someone who struggled in dental school a lot and had to acclimate and be reflective during introspection to determine why I am struggling, I say this with reverence. People trying to help me improve said all nasty things to wake me from any false reality I had about myself/abilities/situation. This is dramatic as hell, but dental school really is a sojourn.