When do ppl apply?

[steven87]

i just took my dat and plan to apply in august for these reasons?

I have no letters of recommendations

I have no volunteering with a dentist, but i have 200 hrs in an ER ( wanted to persue an MD career before )

I have been out of college for 3 years so i have no one advising

so when can i still apply and not be risky. I have a score of 21 overall and 22 in the science part and 18 in PAT. my gpa is 3.5 and i have 1 publication and 4 abstract. thx so much.

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[mlle]

apply now and get letters of recommendation and shadowing done asap. your application will take over a month to be verified and sent out anyway. good luck.

 

[steven87]

do i really need the shadowing a dentist part? and how do i go about applying?

 

[tinman831]

do i really need the shadowing a dentist part? and how do i go about applying?

Why would you apply to dental school when you have never even seen what a dentist actually does (through shadowing)?

 

[steven87]

well iam in the clinical field and i work with doctors daily so injections into the mouth or injections into the spinal cord are both similar and half the time i never had time due to work.

 

[Envision]

well iam in the clinical field and i work with doctors daily so injections into the mouth or injections into the spinal cord are both similar and half the time i never had time due to work.

I respectively disagree. you cannot assume your clinical experience in the ER is enough to give you an idea of what it is like to be a dentist. i have volunteered in the ER for 3 month and i have spent almost a year in the dental clinic. Although both have tangible elements, they are very different by nature. If i was the admission committee, i would definately question your sudden change in career goals. I suggest you go get some actual dental experience before you apply. It doesnt have to be to much, maybe 40 hours or so? at least at that point you can actually say that you know what your getting yourself into. right now, its a shot in the dark. my 2cent.

 

[prez_al]

I respectively disagree. you cannot assume your clinical experience in the ER is enough to give you an idea of what it is like to be a dentist. i have volunteered in the ER for 3 month and i have spent almost a year in the dental clinic. Although both have tangible elements, they are very different by nature. If i was the admission committee, i would definately question your sudden change in career goals. I suggest you go get some actual dental experience before you apply. It doesnt have to be to much, maybe 40 hours or so? at least at that point you can actually say that you know what your getting yourself into. right now, its a shot in the dark. my 2cent.

*nods in agreement* If you want to get into dental school w/o shadowing or letters, apply to Canada!!

 

[steven87]

well dont get me wrong i do plan to shadow but is that part included in the application that people send? can i shadow while applying ?

 

[Envision]

well dont get me wrong i do plan to shadow but is that part included in the application that people send? can i shadow while applying ?

generally speaking, it would be more appealing if an applicant had dental experience. this is universal among all fields. the thing with your application is in your ec section, your gonna write like....3 years of ER...probably other medical related activities, and on top of which nothing dental related. wouldnt you think that would make you less attractive as an applicant? i dunno, i would assume it would be a step backwards. i understand you plan to get dental experience, but i think your approach is misguided. Remember that getting dental experience is not meant to be a prerequisite to dental school. it is for you to understand wether or not you want to be a dentist. If you can't answer that for certain, what do you think the adcom would think? gl to you.

ps: yes, there is a folder on dental experience in the aadsas application.

 

[mlle]

no you should include it in your application. so you should start looking for dentists who will take you on (just call and explain you're a predent and you'd like to shadow the doc). Once you have a dentist to shadow, put their name down on the application, put in how many hours you will shadow and then submit.

Right now:
1) open an application and start working on it
2) submit transcripts to AADSAS
3) get recommendations
4) complete application and submit

good luck.

and thanks for the pm.