Let's share some info on applying AADSAS!! Q & A

[anthonys]

The following is mentioned in red on Official Scores senction on AADSAS:

Please be aware that AADSAS is in the process of receiving and processing DAT scores from the ADA. If AADSAS has received your DAT score from the ADA, you may see it posted to your application as early as June 23, 2012. AADSAS will continue to receive scores after this date and post them to applications as they are received. Please be patient while these scores are posted.

Should I wait for e-submit until my dat score gets posted?


Another: How many hours of job shadowing would be appropriate?

I got paid for working at dental office. Does it look bad if I get paid instead of volunteering or shadowing?

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[Tangymoose]

1- No, the DAT scores will still be updating even after you submit

2- It depends on the school? I heard some schools have a min. # of shadow hours but the number ranges a lot.

3- No, I don't think they care if its paid or volunteer work. Any dental experience is good dental experience.

 

[anthonys]

In the section 'professional experiences', there's "Include on coversheet".

Can somebody tell me what it does?

 

[cyron1]

kind of a dumb question but i'm confused...

in order to submit the app do the LOR need to be in? How does it work? I have everything done except having my professors upload to interfolio which I use. I'm trying to get this as early as possible, but I am confused as to when LOR are needed to be sent in..

 

[Tangymoose]

anthonys - I'm guessing but here is my input on it. ADEA creates a coversheet (or the first page of your application that dental schools see) of all your stats like gpa, experiences, schools, etc. Since it all has to fit into 1 page, there is a limit on how many extracurricular can be listed. Thus, when AADSAS asks you to pick which experiences you want schools to see first.

You get to pick about 3 for the schools to see first per section (ie. 3 awards, 3 work experiences, and so on..)


cyron1 - NO, LOR do not need to be in. You can continue to update/edit this section after you submit your application. Send them in ASAP but you can submit app before you finish.

"Letters of Evaluation are also accepted through ADEA AADSAS, but does not hold up the processing of your application; letters received after your application has been sent to your designated dental schools are forwarded to those schools after receipt by ADEA AADSAS"

 

[predentlove]

If the course name on my transcript are caps is it okay if i write them with only the first letter caps?

I think it's easier to read:

General Chemistry I - CHE 202
Multivariable Calculus - MAT 202

vs.

GENERAL CHEMISTRY I - CHE 202
MULTIVARIABLE CALCULUS - MAT 202

I got two different answers when I called AASDSAS....

 

[suarez 7]

If the course name on my transcript are caps is it okay if i write them with only the first letter caps?

I think it's easier to read:

General Chemistry I - CHE 202
Multivariable Calculus - MAT 202

vs.

GENERAL CHEMISTRY I - CHE 202
MULTIVARIABLE CALCULUS - MAT 202

I got two different answers when I called AASDSAS....

Go with the first choice.

 

[Tangymoose]

Honestly, I don't think it matters. I put mine in all caps because that's the way my unofficial transcript has it written but either will work.

 

[anthonys]

Tangymoose; thanks for your reponse. it def. helps.

Here's my following qs.

I have only 3 shadowing and 2 volunteer and 2 work experiences.
Since you mentioned picking 3 or 2 for coversheet per section. I wonder normally how many shadowing, volunteer and experiences do students put?


When would be considered EARLY? I am trying to gather everything by this week and esubmit maybe this weekend.

 

[Tangymoose]

Depends on what you have? The more the better?

I only had 2 work experiences, 1 shadowing, and 7 volunteers/clubs/others (3 of which were less than 30 hours) so that's all I had to put. Out of the volunteer work, I choose the ones with most hours or the ones that showcase me best as an applicant.

Everyone always asks this question. I think (and I have NO experience with this as this is my first cycle applying) anything within the first 2 weeks is early enough for sure to be in the first batch. What's more important is getting your transcripts and LOR in asap. Just make sure to triple check your application before you send it in. If I had submitted mine any earlier, I would have missed out on a couple of errors/mistakes/etc.

 

[predentlove]

Hello...
silly question:

is dental school a proper noun in personal statements?

is it applying to Dental School.. or applying to dental school...

 

[Tangymoose]

I would say dental school unless you were referring to a specific one. Sounds little weird to be capitalizing it.

 

[predentlove]

thankss !! i agree

 

[Muelitas]

I have a question, if I have all the information in, but without my transcripts in AADSAS, can I still submit or do I have to wait til my transcripts show?

 

[telemonster]

I have a question, if I have all the information in, but without my transcripts in AADSAS, can I still submit or do I have to wait til my transcripts show?

If you've already attached your matching form and ordered the transcript then go ahead and submit the application. It takes several weeks to send the transcript and have it processed by ADA so it will hold your application back if you wait. LoR and transcripts both can be processed after the primary application.

 

[Muelitas]

Great! Thanks!!

 

[predentlove]

How did you guys format your personal statement?

Did you guys put a space between the paragraphs? Or is it recommended to not include a space?

Is it possible to indent the paragraphs? (I have been unable to do so)

Thanks

 

[predentlove]

Is there a way to print out your whole application once it is submitted?
Or do I have to submit each section page by page?
I have to send a copy to my school.

Thank you

 

[jeffity]

Is there a way to print out your whole application once it is submitted?
Or do I have to submit each section page by page?
I have to send a copy to my school.

Thank you

Print link on the left side.

 

[jeffity]

How did you guys format your personal statement?

Did you guys put a space between the paragraphs? Or is it recommended to not include a space?

Is it possible to indent the paragraphs? (I have been unable to do so)

Thanks

I couldn't indent either. I put a space between paragraphs. So it just looked like blocks. That's what I saw across the table when my interviewer had it printed out too.

 

[anthonys]

I wonder this only happens to me..
I don't see my DAT scores on AADSAS yet.

 

[jeffity]

I wonder this only happens to me..
I don't see my DAT scores on AADSAS yet.

The actual scores will never show. Just a couple of dates.

 

[molar3]

random question-- is everyone filling out the community service/volunteer/ec section on aadsas all the way, ie- limit 10? so is everyone listing 10 things?
do you think it looks really bad if we dont max out to 10. i have 9 , but if i add another, it will be from about 2 yrs ago bc im a postbacc now and itd be from ug... just wonderinggg

 

[anthonys]

The actual scores will never show. Just a couple of dates.

I don't even see the dates, literally nothing on the official section page.

The following is what I see on that page:

Please be aware that AADSAS is in the process of receiving and processing DAT scores from the ADA. If AADSAS has received your DAT score from the ADA, you may see it posted to your application as early as June 23, 2012. AADSAS will continue to receive scores after this date and post them to applications as they are received. Please be patient while these scores are posted.
There is no DAT score information available. ADEA AADSAS matches DAT scores to your application based on the following questions.

Do you already see your dat info with dates?

 

[jeffity]

I don't even see the dates, literally nothing on the official section page.

The following is what I see on that page:

Please be aware that AADSAS is in the process of receiving and processing DAT scores from the ADA. If AADSAS has received your DAT score from the ADA, you may see it posted to your application as early as June 23, 2012. AADSAS will continue to receive scores after this date and post them to applications as they are received. Please be patient while these scores are posted.
There is no DAT score information available. ADEA AADSAS matches DAT scores to your application based on the following questions.

Do you already see your dat info with dates?

No. Give it some time. AADSAS hasn't dump scores in yet. They will before the first mailing, but I wouldn't expect anything for at least a week. After that they're updated weekly.

 

[anthonys]

I see thx

 

[anthonys]

Random Q

Low undergrad GPA / High Masters GPA / right above average DAT

+ Virginia Resident

Would it be worth to apply Michigan, Louisville, UNC, UMKC (Kansas High School graduate), Buffalo??

 

[Tangymoose]

I would say to Louisville and Buffalo for sure.

Michigan has a Sociology, Psych, Biochem, & Microbio requirement. If you have those fulfilled, it's a good school with decent OOS numbers.

I know absolutely nothing about UMKC.

 

[LeoK]

I have questions to put course work...

1. One year course: I have a few one year long (both term 1 & 2) courses. I called and asked about it. They told me that just put into the 1 term and put 6 credits (or whatever it is the best...). But, I read post here that someone was told to put them in both term 1 & 2 with half credits. What should I do?

2. Fall vs Winter vs Spring: Our school has one "Winter Session" (that is what we called) into two terms. 1st term is from Sep. to Dec. and 2nd term is from Jan. to April. Originally I put my 1st term as Winter and 2nd term as Spring but it messed up the order. Again, I called and I was told to put 1st term as "Fall" and 2nd term as "Winter". Does anyone has similar problem?

3. Too long course name: I also read the post that I should not abbreviate at all but when I asked about it, they told me that I can abbreviate for long course name. But I don't think I can even abbreviate some of my course names to put down anyway. For example one of them is "Integral Calculus with Applications to Physical Sciences and Engineering" instead of simple Calculus II. Should I just write as mush as possible and not bother about abbreviation?

Many thanks in advance!

 

[celina08]

I got some questions too
1. Some schools require anatomy which I didn't take yet, if I take it this summer will it delay my applications?
2. I took DAT last summer and didn't check all the schools to send score to so what should I do to add the schools I didn't check?

 

[Tangymoose]

LeoK - I can't answer any but the 3rd question. Put it like it says on the transcript! If not, just put enough of it so the when AADSAS looks at your course work, they can match up the classes. If you missing a couple words here and there, it won't make a difference...as long as AADSAS can match it up

celina08- I would hold off on this unless you are 100% sure this is school you want to go to. Some schools will allow you into their school without taking certain classes even if they are required. Some schools will make you take it. Some schools even require you to take at it a university as opposed to at a community college.

You could take it if you want to. Anatomy would be a good class to take since you end up retaking it again in dental school but if you aren't sure how well you will do in the class and how it fits into your summer plans, I would hold off on it.

Also, yes. You would have to send the scores to the school you didn't select.

 

[ohnoitsjanna]

Hi everyone,
just had a few questions -

1) Are we notified when the AADSAS recieves our transcript?
2) What is the difference between the LOE and LOR? Does the writer send in the LOR with the LOE because I had my profs send the LOR through interfolio and the LOEs sent to AADSAS electronically.

thanks for the help

 

[ROCOCO8]

Is it unprofessional if I use "&" instead of "and" when it asks to describe all our shadowing/extracurriculars/research etc... There's only 175 characters allowed (which is basically nothing).

 

[LaughingGas]

My question is that I took summer courses during freshmen year.
Now I'm not sure which ones were during Summer session I or session II, because in my transcript appears as Summer.
How should I report this?

 

[Tangymoose]

ohnoitsjanna - No, but you can check on the site daily to see if your transcript has been recieved. Sometimes, ADEA won't tell you they recieve your transcript until days after they recieved it (ex. they say they get it the 6/11 but they won't tell you until 6/15

They are the same. Recommendations vs Evaluators. Some schools refer to them as LOR, others use LOE but they are the same thing.

ROCOCO8 - absolutely not. When you have so little characters, you cut corners where you can: doing lists, incomplete sentences, using &, etc

LaughingGas - I would say either check your "official" transcript? (ie, the exact copy of the one your school will mail out, you can buy an "unofficial official" one from your school for a few dollars)
or list them as Summer Session I....AADSAS will probably verify it & adjust it as necessary?

 

[zidi08]

Hi everyone, I guess this is a dumb question, but I am really confused:

I notice that each section of the application starts with "Using all capital letters or not capitalizing properly does not present a professional image to your application". Does that mean I need to capitalize every letter in every single word that I put down, or just to capitalize the first letter of a word where it is necessary, like we do in the normal writing?

Thanks for helping!

 

[jeffity]

ROCOCO8 - absolutely not. When you have so little characters, you cut corners where you can: doing lists, incomplete sentences, using &, etc

That's a bold move.

 

[Tangymoose]

zidi08 - No, write as you normally would for capitalization! They just don't want ALL CAPS or no caps at all on application.

jeffity & ROCOCO8 - there just isn't enough room to do otherwise. I'm not saying go crazy but its okay to lose a couple words here & there. An example:

Free Wheelchair Mission

Worked at ______ Branch, focused on community awareness and outreach, helped raise funding to provide wheelchairs to impoverished disabled people in developing nations.
​

(note lack of complete sentences but still coherent!)

 

[zidi08]

Thanks Tangymoose!
So dumb, no wonder my RC score is low.

 

[sacapuntas]

zidi08 - No, write as you normally would for capitalization! They just don't want ALL CAPS or no caps at all on application.

jeffity & ROCOCO8 - there just isn't enough room to do otherwise. I'm not saying go crazy but its okay to lose a couple words here & there. An example:

​

Free Wheelchair Mission

Worked at ______ Branch, focused on community awareness and outreach, helped raise funding to provide wheelchairs to impoverished disabled people in developing nations.​

(note lack of complete sentences but still coherent!)

That is different that I interpreted your previous post, I was picturing you shortening that description to something like:

Wrked at ______ Branch, focused on comm. awareness & outreach, helped raise funding 2 provide wheelchairs 2 impoverished disabled people n dvlping. nations.​

 

[ROCOCO8]

Thanks guys... I actually did not end up using "&", I thought it would look unprofessional. It's a challenge to condense our summaries for sure, but it can be done!