What do you wish you had known when you were applying?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
D

drpsuedonym

Full Member
10+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Aug 3, 2008
Messages
262
Reaction score
5
Members do not see this ad.
What do you wish that someone would have told you when you were applying to dental schools (apart from going to the cheapest school)? What do you know now that you are in dental school that would have helped you if you knew it beforehand?

Basically, what advice do you have for a pre-dent going to some of her biggest interviews in the next couple of weeks? What should I watch out for, what should I ask about?

Don't be afraid to dig deep and let it all out!
 
Go to well organized school.
 
Last edited:
That it was a craps chute.
 
Dental school isn't as hard as you think...

Your drinkin' career isn't over. You won't go out as much but when you do you're going to party 10X harder...
 
- More expensive doesn't make a better education.
- Ivy league, while impressive, may not be a right fit for you if you aren't in the mindset for it.
- Don't be afraid to ask LOTS of questions.
- Don't go into an interview and say that you want to specialize if you have little to no experience in the dental field.
- I'm assuming you're a girl, make sure you feel safe in the area of whatever place you're looking at. There's lots of late nights the first few years.
- Find out how much of your own labwork you do.
- Find out how much of the school is PBL and the testing format (a bunch of tests at a time or one/week for the entire semester.)
- Find out if you get your own chair when you are in clinic and who schedules for you.
- Find out how the school gets you patients and what the requirements are/do people finish them on time (ask this students this one).
- Ask what's to do in the area.
- Find out if the school has some kind of safety net to help students graduate or if they're into weeding people out.
- Also try to go with your gut when looking for a school. Make sure to note your impressions, if you feel like you'd hate being there...odds are you'd be miserable if you actually went there.

Ask the administration all this stuff if you want, you'll get good answers...but odds are you'll get more honest answers from the students.

And like someone else said, it is a crap chute sometimes. You never really know what you'll get hit with before you get out of there.
 
Last edited:
Why is it bad to say you want to specialize? When I shadow, dentists ask me this all the time...
 
brushmateef said:
Why is it bad to say you want to specialize? When I shadow, dentists ask me this all the time...
Click to expand...

I actually had quite a few dentists back in my assisting days telling me I should specialize, and that they wish they had too (primarily citing income vs hours worked).

It would be bad to flat out say you want to specialize and have no interest in being a GP. Because of the numbers game, this type of person has a good shot at being unhappy (being a GP) for the rest of his/her life.
 
I could have researched the schools I applied to more. Out of the 11, probably 5 wouldn't have made the list, but there's about 3 more I would have added to the list. I was still accepted to 2 of my top choices, but a little more research could have saved me some time and money.
 
kevin512 said:
Dental school isn't as hard as you think...

Your drinkin' career isn't over. You won't go out as much but when you do you're going to party 10X harder...
Click to expand...

not hard? spoken like a true D1. we haven't even gotten to the hard stuff yet.

Try D2 year, we will have to manage the same course load but also probably 20 hours of lab work.
 
Lopyswine said:
not hard? spoken like a true D1. we haven't even gotten to the hard stuff yet.

Try D2 year, we will have to manage the same course load but also probably 20 hours of lab work.
Click to expand...

I could not agree more with the first poster. Dental school is not that hard if you are a laid back type of person. Undergrad was much harder worrying about every little grade so you can get into dental school.

The best advice I can give dental students is once you realize that C's are ok and that no patient cares about your Biochem grade or class rank the better off you are.
 
Last edited:
anamod said:
I could not agree more with the first poster. Dental school is not that hard if you are a laid back type of person. Undergrad was much harder worrying about every little grade so you can get into dental school.

The best advice I can give dental students is once you realize that C's are ok and that no patient cares about your Biochem grade or class rank the better off you are.
Click to expand...

I wish that I knew if I was going to specialize or not then I would n't have to worry about my grades.:meanie:
 
if you're planning on a 4 year HPSP you should have applied by NOW in the app. cycle. Although, I'm happy with my three year scholarship.
 
youngmc27 said:
I wish that I knew if I was going to specialize or not then I would n't have to worry about my grades.:meanie:
Click to expand...
Yes that is the only problem. If you do want to specialize then dental school can be real hard. Trying to get great grades in dental is very hard and stressful. I got great grades my first semester because I thought I wanted to go into OMS. I than realized that I had to keep up that amount of studying and work to maintain those high grades and realized the time and effort was not worth the commitmnet. I graduated with a 3.1 gpa and was in the bottom 20% of my class.
 
Lopyswine said:
not hard? spoken like a true D1. we haven't even gotten to the hard stuff yet.

Try D2 year, we will have to manage the same course load but also probably 20 hours of lab work.
Click to expand...


At our school, D1 is the most difficult. Ask any upperclassmen (UFCD).

But to refine my original point further, the stresses of dental school are not as astronomical as many pre-dents think.
 
it is true that dental school is not has hard as you MIGHT think, but its not easy either.

that being said, i would've slept my whole summer before entering dental school.. 😀
 
I wish I would've known I was going to get it. Applying would've been a lot less stressful then.
But, in information that will actually help you, I wish I would've done more research about the schools I applied to. I showed up to a couple of interviews and was like "Ah! What was I thinking?" and then there were a couple of schools that I didn't even get interviews out because I wasn't what they were "looking for" *cough* Howard *cough* and then there were the schools I didn't realize had a secondary application.
As for dental school as an entity, I wish I would've lived it up a little more before school started, and I wish I would've taken micro in undergrad.
 
As far as the specializing question. I always used to say something to the effect of I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. If you have a specialty in mind you better have a good reason for it (hint: not "I like kids").
 
1) Apply Early
2) Go to a school that has things for you to do other than just school (ie i cant ski (snow or water) or mountain bike. No good soccer leagues with in a reasonable price.
I say this because i get bored and there is nothing to do that excites me. So go to a school that will offer things to do not associated with dentistry.
3) Dont think drinking is over. This last summer i spent the whole time drinking beer thinking that i need to get it out of my system...... well i drink even more in larger quantities. 😛 Only bad thing is im already sick of it
4) Dental school is a joke (atleast this semester), easier than undergrad, just more time consuming. I think the classes are easier, you just go at a faster pace. Think..... most of us have already had many of the science classes.
 
Take the boards after year 1, and D2-D4 years could be...like, whatever.
 
Be careful about just going to the cheapest school. While there are some good bargains and some of the expensive school are just rip off, in general you will get what you pay for.
 
my lessons from redlands

1) Your study habits from UG or Grad are going to be different from the study habits in Dschool. Maximize your time!
2) Figure out if going to class helps you, or not. If not, hit the library at 8 and stay till 5.
3) Be reasonable with your expectations. 90% of the students want to do OMFS starting year 1 then that decreases to 60% starting year 2. And from what I hear, gets down to about 10% by the time you graduate. Look at every specialty.
4) Practice your carving skills. You do get graded. Learn how to notice the intricate details while carving.
5) You do get what you pay for.
6) Figure out which teachers like you and which ones do not.
7) If married, make time for your spouse. If single, make time for yourself.
8) Do not live in an adventist community if you want to drink beer.
 
ou_jay said:
Be careful about just going to the cheapest school. While there are some good bargains and some of the expensive school are just rip off, in general you will get what you pay for.
Click to expand...

Any dentist who knows his head from his ass will tell you it doesn't matter a bit where the heck you went to school. You don't know crap when you get out and it's what you do after your get your degree that is going to make you a good dentist. At best, a good dental school will teach you proper Tx planning. Some of the best and worst dentists I've seen came from the same schools... go where it's cheapest! You can't understand the importance of this advice until you're out of school. Dental schools ALL suck at training dentists. Do a GPR or AEGD if you're concerned about advancing your abilities.
 
wish I'd known how half-a**ed this school is. Would have gone elsewhere : (
 
brushmateef said:
Why is it bad to say you want to specialize? When I shadow, dentists ask me this all the time...
Click to expand...

The reason it's frowned upon is because it's similar to a college freshman saying, "I'm going to med school!" Yes, I know you're just saying you want to, but if you even say that, the admissions committee will smile and chalk it up to a pretty big ego. You need to be in the top 5-10% of your class with outstanding boards to even apply to specialty school, so it's much more appropriate to wait and see where your strengths are during actual dental school. It's naive to think that you know now what aspects of dentistry you'll excelt at, and it's considered inexperienced to be that naive. Hope that helps.
 
UIC also takes Part 1 after D1.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D
Academic Research for You!
Replies
0
Views
605
Dr. Pep
D
capsoak
  • Question Question
Rutgers Dental Students. - How do you like the school? How difficult do you find it to maintain your class ranking and hows your life? PM me too!
Replies
1
Views
1K
futureOrtho2027
F
K
Studying for CBSE for a year as you associate. Possible?
Replies
2
Views
1K
yappy
Y
P
How do you store extracted teeth for practice?
Replies
5
Views
2K
Ne Ge
N
F
What do you write in emails to programs for OMFS Externships?
Replies
7
Views
2K
J-stripper
J
Top