Whether to Include High School Shadowing Hours

[Autumnus]

Hello everyone! I am a junior in college and planning to apply this upcoming cycle (2022-23). I currently have ~50 hr at a general practice and ~50 hr of orthodontist. I also worked at a general & pediatric office as an assistant for ~450 hours. I have heard a lot about not including high school shadowing hours in my application, but I had about 300 hr at a general office junior and senior year of high school because I was applying to some 7-year programs (although I did not end up attending any).

I did not get as many shadowing hours in college partially because of the pandemic and my other commitments, so I am wondering if I should include my high school shadowing hours since I did have a lot of them and they would somewhat reflect my commitment.

I would really appreciate some advice!

P.S. I do expect to get ~20hr of endo/perio before I submit my application, but I do want to focus on my DAT (in May) and writing my personal statement.

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[Lemillion]

I see no harm in including your HS shadowing hours. Best case scenario it reflects your early commitment to a career in dentistry and improves your chances. Worse case scenario it becomes another bullet point on your application and unlikely to be counted against you.

 

[Autumnus]

I see no harm in including your HS shadowing hours. Best case scenario it reflects your early commitment to a career in dentistry and improves your chances. Worse case scenario it becomes another bullet point on your application and unlikely to be counted against you.

Thank you so much!

 

[macsak]

Hello everyone! I am a junior in college and planning to apply this upcoming cycle (2022-23). I currently have ~50 hr at a general practice and ~50 hr of orthodontist. I also worked at a general & pediatric office as an assistant for ~450 hours. I have heard a lot about not including high school shadowing hours in my application, but I had about 300 hr at a general office junior and senior year of high school because I was applying to some 7-year programs (although I did not end up attending any).

I did not get as many shadowing hours in college partially because of the pandemic and my other commitments, so I am wondering if I should include my high school shadowing hours since I did have a lot of them and they would somewhat reflect my commitment.

I would really appreciate some advice!

P.S. I do expect to get ~20hr of endo/perio before I submit my application, but I do want to focus on my DAT (in May) and writing my personal statement.

120 hours shadowing plus many more assisting is fine
do not list high school shadowing...

 

[PurpleSails]

High school shadowing is definitely more like an icing on the cake to show you have been committed to this path for a long time, but you still need the actual "cake" in terms of college shadowing hours. You shouldn't try to add high school hours to cover up a lackluster college shadowing, but if you have 120+ by the time you apply, it should be enough by itself.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Eh... while you can list high school shadowing, we really want to be sure you have an equivalent amount of experience in a dental clinical environment. Just like your grades, we would care about what you did in college lately (or postbac if applicable).