Advice from my experience!

[daisyBDS]

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Hi all,
I got into UOP about 1 year ago and have been doing my very best to help new applicants over the past year. I hope I can be of more help to the people applying this year so please shoot your questions at me and I will try to make time to get to them (FYI dental school in USA is HARD!!)

To start here is some general info that I think answer a lot of questions:
There is a lot of paper work required before and even after acceptance.
I went to college in India and applied last year for the first time. I was following SDN religiously and found a lot of good posts. The posts that best helped gave me this advice and I got in:

- Don't waste your time!
- Hopefully you have a good GPA, but if not, do a lot more!!! for your application
- Be certain of your goals
- Apply for volunteering and research in local programs and hospitals. Better if you can visit a dental school.
- We are not writers, we are doctors, and so do not hesitate in getting professional help for your SOP, LOR and supplement applications. I recommend [email protected] because of personal experience. It's cheap, good and got me in!!
- If you are interested in a certain school than remain in contact with the school and try to see if you can observe there.
- For bench test- TAKE CLASSES!!! the expectation is very high!!
- Be sure of what you will say in your interviews!!!

Good luck and keep the questions coming!

 

[Nbde 2016]

hi!
congratulations on your acceptance and thanks for helping out. I just completed BDS and started preparing for NBDE immediately. I am going to go to the US on visitor visa from March to July to give the exams. I gave TOEFL and scored 113. I haven't received ECE yet but i'm sure my GPA will be above 3.
I have heard that it is necessary to have US experience in order to get into dental school. I want to make the most of the time that I have there. However, i have limited options as i am on visitor visa. Can u please suggest me something that will help improve my profile? Can you please share what was your profile so that I can get an idea.
Also I wanted to ask about the recommendation letters. People say you should have one recommendation from someone based in the US. Is it true? Because that wont be possible for me. I am going to get one from my Dean and two from college professors.

Thank you in advance!

 

[ourlovestory]

Hi daisyBDS, first and foremost, thank you so much for sharing your experience with the rest of us! This is really nice of you.
I have few questions:
- Why do you think observance is important if One is interested in a particular school? Is it just to feel comfortable with the school or does it give you any other advantages?
- Is there any SOP and LOR samples or guidelines that you can share?
- When you say bench test expectations are very high, what do you mean? Please expand a little bit on that.

Thanks again!

 

[drtoothache87]

Do you think it will be better to apply after I do a Dental Hygienist course and writing Part 1 and maybe Part 2 also?

Thanks in Advance.

 

[mrdentist2010]

Hi daisyBDS, first and foremost, thank you so much for sharing your experience with the rest of us! This is really nice of you.
I have few questions:
- Why do you think observance is important if One is interested in a particular school? Is it just to feel comfortable with the school or does it give you any other advantages?
- Is there any SOP and LOR samples or guidelines that you can share?
- When you say bench test expectations are very high, what do you mean? Please expand a little bit on that.

Thanks again!

Observation is important so that school committee knows that you have been exposed to the dental field in united states but working in dental field will be more advantage rather than observation.
SOP guidelines should be: first paragraph should describe why you decided to become dentist. Following paragraph explained what did you do in dental school and include like things you love to do or any extra curricular activities. Also include if you have any work experience after graduation of dental school. Explained why you decided to come to US and what kind of experience you have here and what is you plan after getting US dental degree. Be as specific as you can and grammatically correct.
Now a days lot of expectations are high on bench test because it has become very competitive. The more close to ideal preps you will do the more will be advantage. Thats not the only reason they will consider you for admission but they will look over all profile. If you do good preps and do excellent personal interview they will prefer you more than a person doing great preps. They just want to know that you know basic guidelines of preps. Hope this helps.

 

[mrdentist2010]

Do you think it will be better to apply after I do a Dental Hygienist course and writing Part 1 and maybe Part 2 also?

Thanks in Advance.

If you planning to do dental hygiene school than remember you have to do two years of hygiene school. Plus some dental school might have prerequisite to do before you start hygiene school. So think about it.But if you finish both of the boards than you can apply directly to florida dental hygiene exam and can become dental hygienist. I know its long and tough road but its not impossible. If you need help let me know, will be more than glad to help you.

 

[ourlovestory]

mrdentist2010 Thank you so much for the information! I hope others can share their experiences as well. Thanks again.

 

[mrdentist2010]

mrdentist2010 Thank you so much for the information! I hope others can share their experiences as well. Thanks again.

You welcome. If you need help let me know.

 

[drtoothache87]

If you planning to do dental hygiene school than remember you have to do two years of hygiene school. Plus some dental school might have prerequisite to do before you start hygiene school. So think about it.But if you finish both of the boards than you can apply directly to florida dental hygiene exam and can become dental hygienist. I know its long and tough road but its not impossible. If you need help let me know, will be more than glad to help you.

Thank you very much for the response mrdentist2010. So in Florida, a FTD can become a dental hygienist by just passing Part 1 and Part 2 of the NBDE and passing the Florida Dental Hygienist exam without going through the 2 years of Training? Is there any rule saying that we have to be a resident of florida in order to do this? If not, then working as a hygienist for a year in florida and applying for a dds program with part 1 and part 2 of the nbde would be a good application, I would assume.

 

[mrdentist2010]

Thank you very much for the response mrdentist2010. So in Florida, a FTD can become a dental hygienist by just passing Part 1 and Part 2 of the NBDE and passing the Florida Dental Hygienist exam without going through the 2 years of Training? Is there any rule saying that we have to be a resident of florida in order to do this? If not, then working as a hygienist for a year in florida and applying for a dds program with part 1 and part 2 of the nbde would be a good application, I would assume.

Yes, if you pass part 1 and part 2, you can take dental hygiene board. There are three parts for dental hygiene exam: 1) you have 120 multiple choice exam just like part 2 but relatively east, 2) 64 mcq's for florida law exam and third is SRP on patient. You dont have to be florida resident. Anyone with part one and part 2 can apply and process to register is relatively easy. Having a dental hygiene license will boost your resume.

 

[drtoothache87]

That's great to hear. I had no idea about this. Thanks a Million mrdentist2010. You might have just changed my life for the better with this information. 🙂

 

[NbdeKiller No 1]

Sir I will complete my 2 yr this year.i am planning to give nbde1 next yr so when should I go for exam during my 3 yr .which time is best.if I start preparing from 2 yr vacation how much time would I require?
I am from India.
Thx in advance