Which year of Dentistry School is the hardest? (2024)

Just curious.

(In case you're curious, the 2nd year of OD school is the worst...)

r_salis said:

Just curious.

(In case you're curious, the 2nd year of OD school is the worst...)

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D2. I cringe at the memory.

ElDienteLoco said:

I highly recommend taking NBDE part I after D1 year. That alone has made my D2 year quite pleasant.

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Can you take it whenever you want or do you usually have to follow a schedule for when to take it that's set by your school?

ElDienteLoco said:

I highly recommend taking NBDE part I after D1 year. That alone has made my D2 year quite pleasant.

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Honestly, Part I was about the least worrisome part of the whole year. The never-ending avalanche of labwork, plus our meat-grinder path sequence, together threatened to bury me at a couple points.

aphistis said:

Honestly, Part I was about the least worrisome part of the whole year. The never-ending avalanche of labwork, plus our meat-grinder path sequence, together threatened to bury me at a couple points.

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Trust me, I know what you mean. When will it ever end.

IMO at my school

1st year is hard because you have so much more information and less time to deal with it than when you were in college. Around christmas you begin to understand what it takes to get the grades you want/need. This stays the same until christmas of second year. You begin taking the big time lab classes that require lots of time like pros. you have to start thinking about boards and, at my school, you begin seeing patients. Summer is boards and it stays crazy until christmas of third year. You have less science courses and deal mostly with patients but you still have courses like oral path and pharm. fourth year is cake except for part 2 boards (study about a week) and all the stress associated with clinical boards. Over all, you will get through, everyone does. just dont go crazy during the hard parts and make yourself go out and have a good time. Tests seem so stressful but honestly out of the 100's I took during dental school I can only remember 4 or 5.

NUKE said:

Tests seem so stressful but honestly out of the 100's I took during dental school I can only remember 4 or 5.

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...and they were so horrible, I'll never forget them.

r_salis said:

...and they were so horrible, I'll never forget them.

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See Also

University of Maryland School of Dentistry

good point

LarryBobDDS said:

I think for some of the people I started out with their 2nd 1st year was the hardest

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ha

So NUKE, what does it take to get the grades you want/need?

LarryBobDDS said:

I think for some of the people I started out with their 2nd 1st year was the hardest

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mawall81 said:

I'm 5 days from being a junior and I've got to say that my second year hear at Loma Linda has been a living HELL. All I do is study. Now some guys in my class say the 2nd year is easier, but they get nothing but C-'s in their classes. I guess a lot of it is relative to where your class rank is.

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How much does class rank matter?

ElDienteLoco said:

I highly recommend taking NBDE part I after D1 year. That alone has made my D2 year quite pleasant.

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no wonder they call you eldienteloco!

r_salis said:

How much does class rank matter?

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For aspiring general dentists, virtually zero. For aspiring specialists, enormously.

I'mFillingFine said:

ha

So NUKE, what does it take to get the grades you want/need?

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After several rounds of tests in different type classes, and you realize what you want to do (specialize vs. GP). You will begin to see how much work you have to put into each exam. For instance, the first couple of Restorative exams you may study for 1 week, but after a while you will realize all you really have to do is read the handouts the night before to get a grade as good as when you worked your butt off. You will begin to really enjoy getting B-'s in some of your classes if you dont plan to specialize. I had a friend who would always say "C me out the door" If you want to specialize you may have to put in some extra hours on some of the easier classes to ensure an A. But just like anything once you get the hang of it things get easier. You will tend to have some of the same teachers for different classes and get a feel what they test on. Also, the information will begin to stick better. I was a waiter before dental school and the first few weeks if someone asked for 3 or 4 different things I would go to the back and forget 1 or 2 of them and have to make multiple trips. After working there for 6 months I could get 3 or 4 different things for 3 or 4 different tables at the same time. It was because I trained my brain and it became easier. Dental school is similar, those little things just begin to stick better.

Thanks for the advice, everyone!!!

Even if you're not planning on specializing, might not class rank matter if the school gives merit scholarships? I know that Buffalo gives money in years 2-4 for the top 12, I believe?