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How Important Is Gpa In Dental School?

nnitros

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nnitros Newbie

nnitros

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I'm not thinking of specializing and I just want to graduate and work as a general dentist.

 

I'm a first yr at Uoft dent and I'm just curious -- how significantly would it impact my life as a dentist if I 'barely' pass all exams (very likely scenario)? Would anyone care about my marks when I apply for an associate position after I graduate? I'm probably going to be competent in clinic (I love socializing with patients too) but I am not very good at studying, relatively speaking.

 

I should also ask-- what is the passing grade at uoft? Is it 50% like undergrad?

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juniorsenior Newbie

juniorsenior

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Why would you want to limit yourself because you didn't want to put the effort in getting the grades. You've gotten this far into a professional school because of your determination and focus. You've developed study habits that are hard to shake off. Keep doing your thing and don't let your grades hold you back in the future. If you ever have a change of heart, you'll kick yourself for only "passing" dental school. 

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nnitros Newbie

nnitros

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Why would you want to limit yourself because you didn't want to put the effort in getting the grades. You've gotten this far into a professional school because of your determination and focus. You've developed study habits that are hard to shake off. Keep doing your thing and don't let your grades hold you back in the future. If you ever have a change of heart, you'll kick yourself for only "passing" dental school.

 

 

 

Good point. The main reason I want to "limit myself" has to do with maintaining my good health. Undergrad was quite stressful for me and I had to pull countless number of all-nighters to make my way into dental school. It was both physically and mentally very stressful, and I am not sure if it's worth risking my health at this stage to do the same to get high grades. My young age made me overlook this issue but I think this is something we should all consider seriously. It'd also be nice to enjoy my life while I'm still young and do some fun stuff without always worrying about grades. I chose dentistry in part for the financial aspect. In this asepct, I don't think it makes a significant difference between general dentistry and specialty because it's all about how I run the clinic in future when I open my own practice.

 

 

Are you in dental school?

There are a lot of demands in dental school, sometimes it's smarter to put your energy towards those instead of grades depending on your goals.

Those who don't prioritize their grades in a pass/fail program aren't lazy, they just have different priorities.

OP, I was never once asked about my grades in dental school when I was first looking for jobs.

Beyond that, I would be SHOCKED and kind of offended if at this point, as an experienced dentist someone asked me about my dental school grades.

Most dentists weren't top of their class in dental school, so most won't care if you were either.

Most students at the top of the class in dental school are there *because* they want to specialize, so they prioritize it.

I agree with you. Considering all the workload given to us in the first 2 months, I don't think anyone can really pass in dental school if they're lazy. I still wake up early in the morning, go over some notes, study after school, etc. It's just that I don't lose sleep and social life to study like I did in undergrad. Grade is only one part of the story, too. I'm not sure if I can enjoy spending my time volunteering, researching, etc. Hopefully grade won't matter too much when I graduate as you said!

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cleanup Newbie

cleanup

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I studied my butt off and had good (not incredible top 10 in the class) grades. I don't remember a lot of it.

 

If I could do it over again I'd actually study less. Not necessarily because I didn't want to learn as much or know as much, but I think I approached it the wrong way especially in my first two years.

 

Instead of trying to learn, I was trying to get good grades just because I was so terrified of bad ones, and because I wanted to keep my options open (I considered specialization for a while and was very here-and-there about it, but now I realize I'm one of those people who can't really know what I want until I spend a lot of time investigating it, ie. practicing general dentistry).

 

If you don't want to specialize, I'd say just try to learn and soak up a lot, and have fun. Don't worry about the numbers. Dentistry is really a field of lifelong learning and dental school will literally be a blip on the radar when you finish. 

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hopeful42 Newbie

hopeful42

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I've heard from friends who are now dentists, that while a "pass" of 60% sounds easy to those of us scraping through undergrad to get as close to a perfect 4.0 as possible (to get in) ---- but don't underestimate how difficult getting that 60 in some cases will be. - The volume of stuff in dentistry is huge - beyond what we are used to in undergrad, and compound that with all the lab/practice timer required

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cookiemonster99 Newbie

cookiemonster99

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I'm not thinking of specializing and I just want to graduate and work as a general dentist.

 

I'm a first yr at Uoft dent and I'm just curious -- how significantly would it impact my life as a dentist if I 'barely' pass all exams (very likely scenario)? Would anyone care about my marks when I apply for an associate position after I graduate? I'm probably going to be competent in clinic (I love socializing with patients too) but I am not very good at studying, relatively speaking.

 

I should also ask-- what is the passing grade at uoft? Is it 50% like undergrad?

 

Grades doesn't matter if you just want to work as a general dentist. 

No patient is ever gonna ask you how well your grades were in dental school. 

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cleanup Newbie

cleanup

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What would be considered a decent GPA if I want to do residency?

 

Depends entirely on the program and school... Not a question that can be easily answered. You should probably ask the programs themselves.

 

I will mention that in residencies often it can be more of a "do you have an in" sort of situation. Especially with smaller programs you should know the people who will be admitting you, have demonstrated you have a profound interest in the field (dentists tend to have their heads up their behinds especially given fields/subfields/procedures they are particularly interested/proficient in). The good grades are not ALWAYS important, but bad grades may close doors.

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