The 'what I wish I knew about Dental School while I appying' thread!

[mike3kgt]

I'll start first.

I wish I knew how challening and frustrating dental school REALLY is.

I mean, all I was hearing was how much better 3rd and 4th year is compared to 1st and 2nd... I was looking forward to the light at the end of the tunnel. It seems like all four years suck. The only change is the increase in free time during the evenings, that's about it... but hey, I'll take it.

Any others?

-Mike

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[Beestieboy]

Would you mind sharing where you are at? Others that reply, would you mind including that as well? That might help put some of this info into perspective.

 

[drhobie7]

I wish I would have gone to my interviews at UOP and Univ. of Washington rather than cancelling them after my acceptance to UCLA. I still think I would have picked UCLA, but it would have been nice to see what they had to offer.

Also, dental school was nothing like what I had expected. I thought it was going to be a piece of cake. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

 

[captaintripps]

I'll start first.

I wish I knew how challening and frustrating dental school REALLY is.

I mean, all I was hearing was how much better 3rd and 4th year is compared to 1st and 2nd... I was looking forward to the light at the end of the tunnel. It seems like all four years suck. The only change is the increase in free time during the evenings, that's about it... but hey, I'll take it.

Any others?

-Mike

I wish I knew that dental school is a major ballbuster, and a number of future classmates are pompous idiots.

 

[sjdent]

I wish I knew how long a road it was.

I applied for hygiene 6 years ago at the same school and got in....then declined and went to dental school 4 years ago. Most of the time, I wish I had taken hygiene. Dental school is hard, demeaning, exhausting, humiliating. I'm dead tired. I'm bitter towards the faculty, even those who I loved at the beginning. Most of my classmates feel the same way. I think you can't fully understand it until you go through it. Plus, being a woman, I want to have kids in the next 10 yrs and work only part-time. That's just not something you think about in your very early 20s.

Well, I think about it now and wish I'd just taken hygiene. I don't like dentistry very much on top of being extremely burned out.

That being said, I have gotten great personal satisfaction that I'm going to be graduating from a revered dental school and will be getting my DDS, something a lot of people who kill to have.

 

[12YearOldKid]

Personally, I am glad I was so naive coming into dental school. People had told me stories about what to expect but I had assumed it was all exaggeration and just plain negative attitude.

If I had had a good understanding of the horror that is dental school I'm not sure I would have done it. I love dentistry so I'm glad I'm here, but dental school is something you have to experience to understand. It's best to go in NOT knowing what to expect.

 

[Dr. Pedo]

12yrold

Couldn't agree more. I went in not knowing much----I had heard the horror stories and really thought they were exaggerating a bit. Having graduated----I can honestly say dental school was truly a B#$*h. I have a hard time talking to pre-dents because I know what is ahead for them. They look so excited and gung-ho many with no idea what is in-store for them-----but that might be for the best

I'm now specializing so obviously I haven't learned my lesson
Good luck to all those in or about to start dental school----you're in my thoughts

Dr.B

 

[kerrydds06]

I wish i knew how much i would age. I feel like i'm 50. keeping fit has been a challenge.

 

[phremius]

Would you mind sharing where you are at? Others that reply, would you mind including that as well? That might help put some of this info into perspective.

no it won't, school, no matter where you are, is the dog-grunt-gouge-out-eyes years of the profession. ask ANY in dentists who've been practicing....

but for the original question? uhh.. i can't contribute, I'm just a lowby D1 : )

 

[Typo]

Since I expected to have no life, dental school is exactly what I expected. My goals are more than just passing, though - just passing would be easier at Maryland than I expected it to be.

I do wish I had known how ridiculously hard it would be to get residency here, though. Also, I wish I had known how many more laws and bureaucratic hoops Maryland seems to have than any other state in the nation.

 

[ElDienteLoco]

I wish I would have looked up how many out of state acceptances the TX schools make. If I had saved that AADSAS money wasted, I could have bought something more useful to me than a Baylor D1's supply of alginate for the year.

 

[dientesfuertes]

Cry me a river, little Britney. I honestly don't think dental school has been that bad looking back over the past 3+ years. Sure there have been some trying times where professors and classmates have worked my nerves, but overall there hasn't been anything that has turned me "bitter."
Granted, if you won't be happy unless you get into that coveted ortho or endo residency, it can be really tough to make the grades you want/need. But if you are like me and want to be a qualified, competent general dentist who enjoys his life, there's no need to get your panties in a wad over every little test and clinical grade.
To sum it up, I think that it can be extremely difficult to get straight A's in dental school. However, a B isn't that hard to come by, and you can still learn everything you need to know for a great foundation in dentistry.
We all fought hard to get into dental school. No matter what we do after graduation, we'll be earning a LOT more money than most people in the world do. I just don't see how so many of you have gotten so disillusioned. Life is to be enjoyed; if you let something as trivial as a professor's comment or a stupid hoop you have to jump through get you down, you're just doing it to yourself.
Cheers.

 

[StL_to_Boston]

I wish I'd known that it costs a LOT to be this miserable!

 

[SC-Z]

Cry me a river, little Britney. I honestly don't think dental school has been that bad looking back over the past 3+ years. Sure there have been some trying times where professors and classmates have worked my nerves, but overall there hasn't been anything that has turned me "bitter."
Granted, if you won't be happy unless you get into that coveted ortho or endo residency, it can be really tough to make the grades you want/need. But if you are like me and want to be a qualified, competent general dentist who enjoys his life, there's no need to get your panties in a wad over every little test and clinical grade.
To sum it up, I think that it can be extremely difficult to get straight A's in dental school. However, a B isn't that hard to come by, and you can still learn everything you need to know for a great foundation in dentistry.
We all fought hard to get into dental school. No matter what we do after graduation, we'll be earning a LOT more money than most people in the world do. I just don't see how so many of you have gotten so disillusioned. Life is to be enjoyed; if you let something as trivial as a professor's comment or a stupid hoop you have to jump through get you down, you're just doing it to yourself.
Cheers.

+1000

 

[grant555]

+1000

I agree with this as well. Life is much more bearable with an education, especially one as involved as dentistry. Anything short of disaster or extreme carelessness, and the rest of your life will open up to something much greater. Sure, there will be dark days in dentistry, and everyday isn't pie in the sky, but realistically each and everyone of you is much better off than most folks in this great country and the world for that matter. Never take it for granted.

The greatest benefit of dealing with the grueling torment that comprises a dental education is that each day should never be absent of opportunity for improvement during dental school and after graduation as well. If that is the case, you have chosen the wrong profession.

Take care and God bless.

 

[maksidaa]

As a general question, how many of those out there that are miserable are planning to specialize? are there miserable people who are just planning on being a regular ol' dentist? also, if you had your choice (which i guess we all do) and could make a change today with no strings attached, would you still be doing what you're doing today?

 

[Smilemaker100]

I'll start first.

I wish I knew how challening and frustrating dental school REALLY is.

I mean, all I was hearing was how much better 3rd and 4th year is compared to 1st and 2nd... I was looking forward to the light at the end of the tunnel. It seems like all four years suck. The only change is the increase in free time during the evenings, that's about it... but hey, I'll take it.

Any others?

-Mike

THE BIGGEST misconception is that you will learn all you need to know from dental school. Believe me, you learn little in dental school compared to what you have to learn AFTER. You need to take a lot of CE courses.

 

[MsPurtell]

There are a couple of things I wish I knew. First I wish I knew more about dentistry and what it really entails. I knew actually very little about the profession. I wish I knew that I would be so happy and satisfied in my decision to become a dentist because on my first day of dental school I still wasn't entirely sure I was doing the right thing. Being able to finally have a profession, and one that I am happy I chose has meant a resolution to all the feelings of career dissatisfaction I lived with for so long.

I can't say I wish I knew how hard it would be, because I knew the workload would be godawful.

I'll start first.

I wish I knew how challening and frustrating dental school REALLY is.

I mean, all I was hearing was how much better 3rd and 4th year is compared to 1st and 2nd... I was looking forward to the light at the end of the tunnel. It seems like all four years suck. The only change is the increase in free time during the evenings, that's about it... but hey, I'll take it.

Any others?

-Mike

 

[Zurik5]

I wish I would have known that the vast majority of my classmates would be anal tools. That about covers it.

 

[edkNARF]

I wish I'd known that it costs a LOT to be this miserable!

I'll second that! I also don't like that I have to pay rent for an apartment that I spend less time in compared to the library!

 

[Typo]

Cry me a river, little Britney. . . Life is to be enjoyed; if you let something as trivial as a professor's comment or a stupid hoop you have to jump through get you down, you're just doing it to yourself.
Cheers.

Contrary to popular belief, you can still enjoy life and be concerned about grades. As for myself, I never did say that I don't enjoy having no life.