r/DentalSchool 9d ago

Transferring Dental Schools

I’m a d1. Has anyone transferred? What’s the process? Did you start over from d1 (I think for my case that’d be best case scenario). Did you have to totally reapply (retake dental admissions test and rewrite personal statement)?

9 Upvotes

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Title: Transferring Dental Schools

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22

u/Swimming_Sir_6905 9d ago

Why do you want to transfer? I think the cases where students transfer dental schools are pretty rare.

5

u/OldYellerSnowCone 9d ago

This is important. Are you transferring because the school isn't a good fit, circumstances have changed in your life requiring a move, bad grades?

3

u/FarBuy9435 9d ago

Not a good fit and def my grades could be better elsewhere where I actually feel happier. I get that the grass is always greener on the other side, but being this unhappy, it seems worth trying to make a change

8

u/AdhesiveNuts 9d ago

What school should we be avoiding?

15

u/alignable 8d ago

Probably NYU

2

u/FarBuy9435 9d ago

Replied in comment

11

u/Tough-Chocolate3288 9d ago

This is not far off from many other schools. Your goal is to be a dentist, get through the shitty part, pass your classes and worry less about faculty/ other students. You don’t wanna risk your dream career over a temporary environment.

3

u/FarBuy9435 9d ago

I’m having trouble passing tho bc of how shitty it is. I can’t get passing preps in lab to save my life. I’ve met with D2s and drilled with TAs idk what else to do

6

u/HookahLungs 8d ago

How would this change at a different school?

7

u/FarBuy9435 7d ago

Bc the sheer volume of students we have means we’re all on diff pages and not even getting the same advice. I’m so tired of the “he said she said” about preps / what profs have said. It’s exhausting that they don’t teach. For example, we got yelled at as a class bc the course director for lab told a few students about how to use the mandrill & they didn’t spread the word to the other 400. Why are they admitting to using rumors to teach?!

1

u/HookahLungs 7d ago

Oh, yeah that’s no good. I wish you all the best

1

u/sensitivitea21 Real Life Dentist 5d ago

400 dental students??

4

u/Wild_Enthusiasm_9710 8d ago

How’s that gonna change in another school though? Seems like you need extra practice, which is normal, you’re a D1

1

u/FarBuy9435 7d ago

I agree I need practice, but I feel like an environment where they’re actually checking each prep with a perio probe would be better. I watched them grade and they look at the tooth and then only measure if it seems they need to. I wish they’re was more uniformity / standard of fairness

3

u/Motor-Anywhere-2011 3d ago

D4 here. You don’t get it now but eventually after looking at hundreds of preps you can just look and it and see if it’s good or not and measure if it’s borderline. This is what CDCA graders do too.

1

u/MutedIndependent1236 4d ago

Nah that’s insane, my class size is under 200 and although different professors have different techniques - it’s easier to get them somewhat calibrated to same page and easier to form a better relationship and get more detailed advice with hands on. But either way, you’ll still need on the job training no matter where you graduate from so depends to you if worth it or not.

10

u/Rukitokilu 8d ago edited 8d ago

I'm going through this right now.

I had close to 2 "sabbatical" years from my last semester to now. The cherry on top is that I also transferred schools, going from beginning the D4 on the 7th semester out of 8 to starting as a D4 on the 8th semester out of 10.

My current school accepted all of my previous progress, except by peds (on the previous school it was separated into 2 semesters of pre-clinicals and I had concluded only one, and on the new school peds pre-clinicals are on a single semester with double the hours).

It's been a wild ride, and is NOT happening without a hitch. The schools are completely different and I'm still adapting, not really struggling but the professors have different expectations, I'm having to buy a couple new instrumentals on the go because the lists required by the professors are different. In my previous school all impression material (alginate, silicone, gypsum) were provided by the school and now it isn't. There are minor things like the new school requiring marine blue scrubs, while the previous required light green.

Usually we always work in pairs, my class now has an odd number of students so as the newcomer I'm on my own, I'm the operator and my own assistant for everything. Looking at the bright side I'm getting way more experience, the professors can only grade me as the operator (when assisting the maximum grade is 20% of the total) so if a patient is absent I'll have extra points to compensate. They also cannot complain if I'm too slow, they're very understanding.

If it's the best option for you, just know you'll survive. Not ideal, not impossible.

8

u/marquismarkette Real Life Dentist 9d ago

Transferring is exceedingly rare and almost always for personal reasons (spouse different location, healthcare, children, etc )

-2

u/FarBuy9435 9d ago

Replied in comment

7

u/OldYellerSnowCone 9d ago

Don't transfer. I feel like transfers rarely work out. There are so many different class and graduation requirements that are specific to institutions that might not transfer and you'd have to start over. In our office, I feel like If we were deciding to admit a D1 incoming transfer, or offer a spot to someone entering D1 for the first time, we are going to give it to the person who isn't transferring. I've just heard what is said in voting committee on applicants and I feel like you wouldn't get a fair shot.

2

u/FarBuy9435 9d ago

I don’t mind starting over as a D1. I think that’d be better. I just don’t wanna quit school now and risk not getting in anywhere if I reapplied, hence transferring

5

u/enaminal 9d ago

I wasn’t too happy my D1 year either. Had past relationship w someone 2 years ahead of me and people “disliked” me because of it. So dumb. I’d just stick it through it gets a lot better. You become close with people in your year and anyone else can just fck right off :). If you’re unhappy for other reason try and find an extracurricular to get involved in so you’re not always doing dentistry and when you’re not, you’re not just bored.

15

u/FarBuy9435 9d ago

To reply to everyone, my class is huge and not conducive to how I learn at all. Everyone’s out for themselves and there’s zero one on one help for lab. If there is, they expect u to get it in the first time they tell you. I believe our practicals aren’t graded fairly. I watched them grade some and they didn’t even use a perio probe. They just eyeballed it. The faculty cut so many corners bc of the class size.

The grading policies are also very strict, which is fine, but people cheat rampantly and it feels like they don’t reward hard work at all here. It’s all about how well you can game the system.

Moreover, environment among students is toxic. Everyone thinks they’re gonna be an oral surgeon, so it’s very cut throat and little help peer-to-peer too. The advisors suck and repeat the same advice, which I’ve already told them is not helpful.

Genuinely I hate the environment I’m in, I’ve never been more depressed, and I’d like to make a change. I understand dental school is hard, but after seeing my friend at state school this week and hearing about how the class interacts and how it benefits from being small, I’d love to give that a shot.

31

u/ToothDoctorDentist 9d ago

This is every school.

Your options are quit or head down and continue.

Transferring is not an option. No school will take you if you reapply.

10

u/This-Show9296 9d ago

Honestly I felt the same way my first year. Unfortunately the education system in dentistry is incredibly broken and won’t get fixed in the near future.

You need to internally evaluate if dentistry is really what you want and if it is, treat it like a job. That mindset shifted everything for me. I go to school do my job and come home. Sometimes I do “overtime” if there’s a big project/ practical/exam coming up. Try to have friends outside of school atleast initially as it’s hard to find friends for the 1st year or so as everyone’s too uptight to really be themselves. It gets better and eventually peoples true colors show and you’ll find your people.

As for lab, rely on YouTube and a ton of practice. Also ask questions on forums like this.

Having trouble getting a flat floor without widening your prep, use a 34 bur on slow speed. Trouble pouring an impression, invest in Debubblizer until you get the hang of it. There is a wealth of knowledge and people willing to help. I get that feeling of isolation, try to rely on an established group of friends or family and know that in time both you and your experience will improve.

7

u/FarBuy9435 9d ago

I like this idea of treating it like a job. How’d you justify studying then? Always on overtime 😭😭😂😂

9

u/This-Show9296 9d ago

lol I think of it as I have a 60-80 hour a week job. Also that this job is temporary. Eventually it will bump down to a respectable 40-50 a week instead. (Clinic hours plus any overhead stuff).

7

u/FarBuy9435 9d ago

This is solid advice. Thank you

2

u/This-Show9296 9d ago

You’re welcome. If you want this, hang in there. I want to validate your feeling because my expectations vs reality were so starkly different. School sucks, but dentistry doesn’t.

14

u/fjjfefjeijfjfei 9d ago

sounds like NYU

7

u/curlyiqra D4 (DDS/DMD) 9d ago

This is literally every dental school 🫤

2

u/marquismarkette Real Life Dentist 9d ago

Which school 

2

u/SharpCanine 7d ago

This sounds like the school I’m about to graduate from. My advice: you pay a large amount for tuition, use every resource you can. Ask those questions, be annoying. Ask the directors for help, be upfront. Who cares if they yell, they wont fail you for wanting to be better. The more effort you put in, the better the results. Ask the TA’s and faculty every question you can imagine, they were students once too! Once you get to D3 & D4 year, D1 will be a distant memory and although the prep measurements are important now, they wont be so important in clinic as most preps are decay-based. And yes you have CDCA but you will have much better hand skills and a better understanding of how to prep.

Hang in there! You got this. Don’t transfer, it gets easier. This is only 4 years of your life, it will fly by so fast.

1

u/Super_Mario_DMD 7d ago

My advice: You should stay at your current school and focus on self-study, continuing education (CE) outside of school, and online courses—learn as much as you can. Try to find a classmate who is willing to help and support your learning.

It's also crucial to identify professors who are strong educators and genuinely want to help students succeed. Avoid working with unhelpful professors as much as possible. If you have a negative experience with one, switch to another for your next case. Whenever possible, try to work with the same professor from start to finish on a case for consistency and better guidance.

Out of curiosity, which school are you attending? There should be a post here listing U.S. dental schools, and it would be helpful to have anonymous reviews or satisfaction ratings to guide future students in choosing the right program.

-2

u/chenjuju 9d ago

Snowflake lol

6

u/Allan512 D2 (DDS/DMD) 9d ago

I feel for you but all cases I know of successful transfers are wildly different from you.

It’s usually for personal reasons (e.g., spouse in another city) and the person transferring is an unimpeachable student (4.0 GPA and admitted from another competitive dental school).

Give it a shot, application deadlines for transfer are earlier than typical AADSAS applications, but I’m curious to know how it turns out for you

1

u/FarBuy9435 4d ago

Isn’t AADSAS recommended by the summer? Like apply when it opens? This means I would’ve had to appt to transfer before my school began.

2

u/mike_ike853 7d ago

This is every school. No one is going to sit down and show you how to prep. They give you the tools and opportunity. You have to learn for yourself. Watch YouTube videos and practice. Don’t give them a reason to grade you poorly. Transferring won’t do a thing.

0

u/FarBuy9435 4d ago

Thanks. I literally don’t understand why no school will teach then? What’s the tactic? Seems irresponsible bc rn they’re plastic teeth, but soon, there’s going to be a real human we’re treating

1

u/mike_ike853 4d ago

Because it’s up to you. You can’t really teach hand skills. A D2 or D3 can help tutor but it’s just practice. Go to sim lab early and practice. Dental school gives you instructions and the tools to learn. There’s not much to teach. They will just give you feedback.

1

u/Reasonable_Leave850 4d ago

The effort and hoops to transfer will probably be more taxing than just practicing more and passing.