worried

[sk06]

I just finished my 1st semester of dental school and I failed dental anatomy and lab. I made all As and Bs in the rest of my courses. I had to leave the country for one weekend and go out of town another weekend which made me very behind in school and I couldn't keep up with anatomy. I do have a chance to take remediatory exams so I am studying hard during break in hopes of passing them! Do you think I have a chance at pulling up my GPA and class rank if I do really well during the rest of my time in dental school or am I doomed?

 

[BuckeyMcGee]

Hey, boy do I remember studying hard for those exams. Don't have a cannot attitude. Believe in yourself that you will pass those exams and then you'll look back senior year and realize how it really does all come together and how bogus a lot of that material was. Study hard and you'll be fine. Class rank really doesn't mean much in the long haul but of course you can improve it by doing well in other classes. Class rank really starts to shift and change when you enter clinic. A lot of people have bad luck with patients or have varying abilities in dealing with them. Don't put so much emphasis on class rank and GPA, just do your best and survive, and get your butt out! Dental school is hard period. If you want to specialize, there is an avenue to do it. You may need to do a GPR or AEGD later on but if you really want the specialty, there is nothing that can stop you. Good luck and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all!

 

[sk06]

thanks for the encouragement- i need it!

 

[dentalman]

Also sounds like you cannot handle not studying two weekends. I would try to limit all outside distractions (except a few so as not to go insane) until you are comfortably passing. Later, you can throw in a few out of town trips, but the first semester is NOT the time to try to do that.

(If you only need a few hours to study on the plane. But the first semester, you need to talk with other people to figure out what is going on, and studying for 16 hours on the weekends.