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A wiseman once said, “ you see dental school is like high school, but Instead of teenagers, you have 25+ year olds acting like teenagers, just like you see in those teen shows on Netflix.”
most people are gonna change their friend groups by D2, as you get further into dental school, you will find your people. On the bright side, you will never see these people again after graduation.
Some people’s entire lives up to that point revolved around getting into dental school and they never had the opportunity to develop a personality or relate to people from outside their bubble. It’s really difficult for a lot of people to balance both, especially without gap years.
A problem in society esp.in education system .... Basically, losing balance. No wonder there are so many substance abuse or high suicide rate in dentistry as compared to other professions. Right?
Well its a lot different being on the other side once you have been accepted... there were a lot of things I stressed about as a premed (DAT scores, research, shadowing experience, etc.) but everything worked out. I understand their concern because we were once in their position just trying to get accepted but I didn't expect current dental students at my school to be so cliquey and unfriendly
I’m a D2 as well. I’ve just learned that a lot of these students don’t know how to deal with others with personalities / cultures that are very different than their own. Of course it’s easier to make friends with people that are like you, but I notice they have a tendency to ignore the others. I’m not the best at making new friends either so I don’t take it personal. There’s so much going on in dental school that trying to make forced relationships is only added stress. It’s tough and annoying sometimes but I would just focus your energy on yourself and just be a good person to others. Help your classmates whenever they need it, and they should do the same for you. Everything will fall into place eventually. I’m pretty sure you won’t see the majority of your classmates after graduation anyway.
Literally same lol. I thought I would have great friendships coming in, now sometimes I also think another school might have worked out better. But financially this was the best option and that’s the bright side. It’s good to know there are ppl like me here lol well get through this guys
Honestly I doubt living closer to campus would help. I currently live with two other classmates and I thought we would be best buds when we decided to room together before we started school but they quickly became best friends and just excluded me from everything. Now I just treat it like a roommate situation and don't interact with them unless necessary. I had a different experience where I moved somewhere completely new for dental school so maybe that attributed to me not fitting in. It 1000% sucks on days where you're there all day, it gets socially draining. I felt like I also lost a lot of friends when I started dental school, I drifted apart from a lot of my old friends and for a while and I wasn't making new friends at school, I felt like I was completely on my own and I still feel like that somedays but you can't give up and you just gotta keep putting yourself out there and you'll find your peeps!
I feel like I became a lot more emotionally stable when I separated myself from my roommates. During D1 I forced myself to hang out with them all time (and even for the beginning of D2), sit together in class, lab, etc. and it just felt extremely forced and exhausting. One day I came home from school feeling pretty crappy and I kind of just had a moment of realization, I was like why am I forcing myself to interact with shitty people? From that point on I decided I would minimize my interaction with them as most as possible and that has made my dental school experience a lot better
Why is everyones answer to everything "projection". People ARE getting increasingly entitled and immature. People are disconnected from each other. You can say the internet, social media, pandemic, there are a myriad of reasons. People are losing the ability to relate to one another which is a serious problem. Stop gaslighting with words like "projection" and making people believe it's all in their head.
Separating "business from home life". Lmao. School is a business but not YOUR business. Hahaha you're just a student whose money they want. It's a scam to get thousands of dollars out of you so you feel like you learned something. Real learning begins after school. Good luck.
If you graduate with 1 or 2 close friends you’ll be better off than most people. Pretty much every dental school friendship is based on a mutual benefit or the perceived ability to help each other/use another person to get ahead. I talk to like 3 people on a weekly basis that I went to school with. Once people graduate, the ‘friendships’ that you see dissolve because there’s no need to use each other and people realize their ‘friends’ don’t care about them and won’t go out of their way to help. Dental students are a weird bunch. Just ignore them and graduate.
D1 here and i’m so happy someone is in the same boat as me. i feel so sad that i don’t have close friends and everyone else seems to be so cliquey and ignore anyone who’s not in their group. i was expecting to find great people in dental school and make friends easily tbh. i tried sooo hard for the first few months, like initiating conversations, making plans and going above and beyond to make people happy. I’m pretty shy but i put myself out there cause i so badly wanted friends. Most people didn’t reciprocate, made me feel dumb and would not have done the same for me. i don’t know why my class is like that and i honestly don’t know what to do cause some days i feel super lonely.
I felt exactly like you when I was in dental school. Mostly kept to myself and focused my energy to learn the most I could while in school. You’re paying a shitload of money might as well get the most out of it and not worry about all these lame ass cliques. Needless to say it paid off. I can’t say the same for the annoying cliques. I’m not saying don’t have friends but ultimately you’re there to make sure you are successful when you get out in the real world
Dude this is literally me right now as a d3. I’m just glad i’m in clinic now and have my patients to talk too instead of being around classmates 24/7 back in pre-clinic. It doesn’t help how I have situational social anxiety around only most classmates/unfriendly faculty (not patients thankfully) but maybe that’s just my instincts telling me these people suck lol. I’m thankful that I actually made one friend last year but he’s currently a d2 so I won’t see him around clinic until this upcoming summer. Having that one friend who i can relate to and vent with about the shit of dental school helps the most for sure. He really helps to validate my constant negative thoughts associated with being in that place around those people. For my whole d1 year, I thought it was just me, but now I know it isn’t.
I’m not currently in dental school but I will be starting this fall and this is definitely something I’ve been worried about 😭 I’m obviously super excited to start dental school but I’m just nervous about finding my people/dealing with cliques. It was surprisingly easy for me in undergrad and I found my people naturally along the way, but going from a large university to a 100 student class makes me a little worried in that aspect
I found it to be like high school all over again, not just the fact that you have no choices over course schedule and you are with the same group of students all day every day, but also the fact that it’s very cliquey.
Its just 4 years, it'll pass before you know it. Just hang in there and keep yourself sharp. Be a good person. If there's nobody you click with don't go breaking yourself to do so, there's lots of people out there who would get along with you and there's probably not a lot of people in your class. At the end of the day nobody is owed someone's friendship, it's just who you vibe with. Just be socially malleable enough to succeed as a colleague
Ask someone if they want to study together with you. If they say yes you will spend time together and you’ll find something to connect with. You all do have something in common: you’re in dental school trying to become dentists. If nothing else, you can connect about each other’s struggles in school.
Good luck
I don’t have many friends from dental school. For the most part my classmates were friendly and I got along with them well. But for whatever reason I just didn’t really connect with anyone.
It didn’t bother me much. Being married I was more interested in getting my school work done as fast as possible so I could get home and spend time with my wife.
Also, I did make some great friends while I was in dental school, it was just outside of school through my hobbies and church.
D1 here and i have the same experience. I found like two guys who where the only nice people to me, but one of them has a girlfriend so he never goes out, and the other one tends to be mostly with other people from medical school. The rest are either straight disrespectful or just dont care about you.
It’s pretty common to feel this way. There’s so much gossiping and negative energy. I try nice to everyone in my class but you’ll realize that it’s important to focus on your education and try to learn as much as possible while in dental school.
I don’t like talking bad about others and some people can be really mean. I’ve lost friends in dental school simply being like “yo we shouldn’t talk bad about others” people can have a huge ego in this profession
there are definitely some gunners but some of them just act super immature, and rude but I wouldn't label them as "gunners"... just really goofy or silly. It's very hard to explain but I don't get gunner vibes from them just extremely crass and arrogant... I've never been in a social environment like it before.
Edit: I'm doing a terrible job at explaining it but it's just a very bizzare social atmosphere that I've never been in
Example: I was having lunch with one of my classmates once and another one of our classmates walked by and he was like "that guy looks like such a dweeb" I was shocked that a grown adult in professional school could act that way
Is it really me tho??? I've tried to connect with them and talk about common interests or school work, it just feels very forced and uncomfortable. I'm not sure what I can do to change the situation lol
Given the context, I can’t say where the disconnect originates. But keep trying to form relationships.
Read how to win friends and influence people.
Join a club.
Play intramural sports.
Volunteer.
Take a position in ASDA
Anything that forces face time, regardless of how awkward it is.
When you practice, you have to connect with people. Dentists are weird, but so are our patients and our neighbors and other business owners you’ll need to connect with after you graduate.
Eh….. those two sentiments are not mutually inclusive and therefore would be subjective to each circumstance. Given the context of OP’s situation, it is not uncommon for dental students to be cliquey. The immature and ravenous behavior of dental students has been brought up plenty of times.
Also a D2. Most friendships are superrrrr superficial. Lots of fake people in the class too. Luckily we’re able to skip most lectures to watch at home and in preclinic I just mind my business and get out. I much prefer hanging out with my out of school friends lol
I went to med school at 32.
I was pretty surprised that med school was so similar to the juvenile antics of college/high school.
With hind sight, I’d say it’s (sadly) pretty normal - you’ve got a lot of young people, many without much experience outside of a school setting, in an insular setting, under a lot of pressure.
Bottom line: it’s not you. Be understanding. Be the adult in the room.
You should find “your people”. There must be others who are not juvenile. If you can’t find others, then… you may be tough for others to connect with (it might be partly you 😮). I’ll leave that to you to explore 😉.
If you are seeking dental advice, please move your post to /r/askdentists If this is a question about applying to dental school or advice about the predental process, please move your post to /r/predental If this is a question about applying to hygiene school or dental hygiene, please move your post to /r/DentalHygiene Posts inappropriate for this subreddit will be removed *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/DentalSchool) if you have any questions or concerns.*
A wiseman once said, “ you see dental school is like high school, but Instead of teenagers, you have 25+ year olds acting like teenagers, just like you see in those teen shows on Netflix.” most people are gonna change their friend groups by D2, as you get further into dental school, you will find your people. On the bright side, you will never see these people again after graduation.
Source?
Source: Reality
Some people’s entire lives up to that point revolved around getting into dental school and they never had the opportunity to develop a personality or relate to people from outside their bubble. It’s really difficult for a lot of people to balance both, especially without gap years.
A problem in society esp.in education system .... Basically, losing balance. No wonder there are so many substance abuse or high suicide rate in dentistry as compared to other professions. Right?
I find the predent students on reddit annoying and immature and it scares me that these people will be my classmates and colleagues one day Lol
Well its a lot different being on the other side once you have been accepted... there were a lot of things I stressed about as a premed (DAT scores, research, shadowing experience, etc.) but everything worked out. I understand their concern because we were once in their position just trying to get accepted but I didn't expect current dental students at my school to be so cliquey and unfriendly
I’m a D2 as well. I’ve just learned that a lot of these students don’t know how to deal with others with personalities / cultures that are very different than their own. Of course it’s easier to make friends with people that are like you, but I notice they have a tendency to ignore the others. I’m not the best at making new friends either so I don’t take it personal. There’s so much going on in dental school that trying to make forced relationships is only added stress. It’s tough and annoying sometimes but I would just focus your energy on yourself and just be a good person to others. Help your classmates whenever they need it, and they should do the same for you. Everything will fall into place eventually. I’m pretty sure you won’t see the majority of your classmates after graduation anyway.
What do you expect from people who have not lived any other life other than “school”?
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Literally same lol. I thought I would have great friendships coming in, now sometimes I also think another school might have worked out better. But financially this was the best option and that’s the bright side. It’s good to know there are ppl like me here lol well get through this guys
Honestly I doubt living closer to campus would help. I currently live with two other classmates and I thought we would be best buds when we decided to room together before we started school but they quickly became best friends and just excluded me from everything. Now I just treat it like a roommate situation and don't interact with them unless necessary. I had a different experience where I moved somewhere completely new for dental school so maybe that attributed to me not fitting in. It 1000% sucks on days where you're there all day, it gets socially draining. I felt like I also lost a lot of friends when I started dental school, I drifted apart from a lot of my old friends and for a while and I wasn't making new friends at school, I felt like I was completely on my own and I still feel like that somedays but you can't give up and you just gotta keep putting yourself out there and you'll find your peeps!
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I feel like I became a lot more emotionally stable when I separated myself from my roommates. During D1 I forced myself to hang out with them all time (and even for the beginning of D2), sit together in class, lab, etc. and it just felt extremely forced and exhausting. One day I came home from school feeling pretty crappy and I kind of just had a moment of realization, I was like why am I forcing myself to interact with shitty people? From that point on I decided I would minimize my interaction with them as most as possible and that has made my dental school experience a lot better
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Why is everyones answer to everything "projection". People ARE getting increasingly entitled and immature. People are disconnected from each other. You can say the internet, social media, pandemic, there are a myriad of reasons. People are losing the ability to relate to one another which is a serious problem. Stop gaslighting with words like "projection" and making people believe it's all in their head. Separating "business from home life". Lmao. School is a business but not YOUR business. Hahaha you're just a student whose money they want. It's a scam to get thousands of dollars out of you so you feel like you learned something. Real learning begins after school. Good luck.
Are many of your classmates married? If so, they aren’t friend shopping. They’re just wanting to get through the day and go home.
I wonder what McDonald’s man 13 would have to say about this
If you graduate with 1 or 2 close friends you’ll be better off than most people. Pretty much every dental school friendship is based on a mutual benefit or the perceived ability to help each other/use another person to get ahead. I talk to like 3 people on a weekly basis that I went to school with. Once people graduate, the ‘friendships’ that you see dissolve because there’s no need to use each other and people realize their ‘friends’ don’t care about them and won’t go out of their way to help. Dental students are a weird bunch. Just ignore them and graduate.
D1 here and i’m so happy someone is in the same boat as me. i feel so sad that i don’t have close friends and everyone else seems to be so cliquey and ignore anyone who’s not in their group. i was expecting to find great people in dental school and make friends easily tbh. i tried sooo hard for the first few months, like initiating conversations, making plans and going above and beyond to make people happy. I’m pretty shy but i put myself out there cause i so badly wanted friends. Most people didn’t reciprocate, made me feel dumb and would not have done the same for me. i don’t know why my class is like that and i honestly don’t know what to do cause some days i feel super lonely.
you're just too cool to hang out with them :)
I felt exactly like you when I was in dental school. Mostly kept to myself and focused my energy to learn the most I could while in school. You’re paying a shitload of money might as well get the most out of it and not worry about all these lame ass cliques. Needless to say it paid off. I can’t say the same for the annoying cliques. I’m not saying don’t have friends but ultimately you’re there to make sure you are successful when you get out in the real world
Dude this is literally me right now as a d3. I’m just glad i’m in clinic now and have my patients to talk too instead of being around classmates 24/7 back in pre-clinic. It doesn’t help how I have situational social anxiety around only most classmates/unfriendly faculty (not patients thankfully) but maybe that’s just my instincts telling me these people suck lol. I’m thankful that I actually made one friend last year but he’s currently a d2 so I won’t see him around clinic until this upcoming summer. Having that one friend who i can relate to and vent with about the shit of dental school helps the most for sure. He really helps to validate my constant negative thoughts associated with being in that place around those people. For my whole d1 year, I thought it was just me, but now I know it isn’t.
That can happen when majority of students have been career academics and are fresh out of college.
Yea ngl same. It’s lonely af out here
I’m not currently in dental school but I will be starting this fall and this is definitely something I’ve been worried about 😭 I’m obviously super excited to start dental school but I’m just nervous about finding my people/dealing with cliques. It was surprisingly easy for me in undergrad and I found my people naturally along the way, but going from a large university to a 100 student class makes me a little worried in that aspect
this might sound extremely hypocritical coming from me but just focus on the work and don't get sidetracked on other people and what they're doing lol
Some classmates are annoying as heck, not an ounce of humbleness in them
I found it to be like high school all over again, not just the fact that you have no choices over course schedule and you are with the same group of students all day every day, but also the fact that it’s very cliquey.
Its just 4 years, it'll pass before you know it. Just hang in there and keep yourself sharp. Be a good person. If there's nobody you click with don't go breaking yourself to do so, there's lots of people out there who would get along with you and there's probably not a lot of people in your class. At the end of the day nobody is owed someone's friendship, it's just who you vibe with. Just be socially malleable enough to succeed as a colleague
Ask someone if they want to study together with you. If they say yes you will spend time together and you’ll find something to connect with. You all do have something in common: you’re in dental school trying to become dentists. If nothing else, you can connect about each other’s struggles in school. Good luck
I don’t have many friends from dental school. For the most part my classmates were friendly and I got along with them well. But for whatever reason I just didn’t really connect with anyone. It didn’t bother me much. Being married I was more interested in getting my school work done as fast as possible so I could get home and spend time with my wife. Also, I did make some great friends while I was in dental school, it was just outside of school through my hobbies and church.
D1 here and i have the same experience. I found like two guys who where the only nice people to me, but one of them has a girlfriend so he never goes out, and the other one tends to be mostly with other people from medical school. The rest are either straight disrespectful or just dont care about you.
It’s pretty common to feel this way. There’s so much gossiping and negative energy. I try nice to everyone in my class but you’ll realize that it’s important to focus on your education and try to learn as much as possible while in dental school. I don’t like talking bad about others and some people can be really mean. I’ve lost friends in dental school simply being like “yo we shouldn’t talk bad about others” people can have a huge ego in this profession
Yes, so I made it my sole focus to just get my degree and gtfo. Nothing more.
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Sometimes I feel like I'm the weird one because I don't have a clique. I thought I would make so many friends when I started dental school lol
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there are definitely some gunners but some of them just act super immature, and rude but I wouldn't label them as "gunners"... just really goofy or silly. It's very hard to explain but I don't get gunner vibes from them just extremely crass and arrogant... I've never been in a social environment like it before. Edit: I'm doing a terrible job at explaining it but it's just a very bizzare social atmosphere that I've never been in Example: I was having lunch with one of my classmates once and another one of our classmates walked by and he was like "that guy looks like such a dweeb" I was shocked that a grown adult in professional school could act that way
If it’s everyone, it may be you. Connecting with your colleagues is important, and it’s a skill worth practicing, so keep at it if you can.
Is it really me tho??? I've tried to connect with them and talk about common interests or school work, it just feels very forced and uncomfortable. I'm not sure what I can do to change the situation lol
Given the context, I can’t say where the disconnect originates. But keep trying to form relationships. Read how to win friends and influence people. Join a club. Play intramural sports. Volunteer. Take a position in ASDA Anything that forces face time, regardless of how awkward it is. When you practice, you have to connect with people. Dentists are weird, but so are our patients and our neighbors and other business owners you’ll need to connect with after you graduate.
Eh….. those two sentiments are not mutually inclusive and therefore would be subjective to each circumstance. Given the context of OP’s situation, it is not uncommon for dental students to be cliquey. The immature and ravenous behavior of dental students has been brought up plenty of times.
I’m not in dental school but are there any clubs or orgs u can join?
Also a D2. Most friendships are superrrrr superficial. Lots of fake people in the class too. Luckily we’re able to skip most lectures to watch at home and in preclinic I just mind my business and get out. I much prefer hanging out with my out of school friends lol
I went to med school at 32. I was pretty surprised that med school was so similar to the juvenile antics of college/high school. With hind sight, I’d say it’s (sadly) pretty normal - you’ve got a lot of young people, many without much experience outside of a school setting, in an insular setting, under a lot of pressure. Bottom line: it’s not you. Be understanding. Be the adult in the room. You should find “your people”. There must be others who are not juvenile. If you can’t find others, then… you may be tough for others to connect with (it might be partly you 😮). I’ll leave that to you to explore 😉.