Applicant EC Advice Please?

[jimmpannzee]

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Hey guys, I’m a Biology Major in my second year at Texas A&M College Station. I plan on graduating a year early and applying this summer to all three Texas DS for fall 2014 admissions. Academically I don’t think I have to worry too much about my grades or DAT, but I tell myself that numbers aren’t everything-I don’t want to rely on just my scores to get myself into DS. I feel that if I was part of the ADCOM I would judge the applicant overall as a whole rather than mostly on their grades-this is where I come to you guys, I feel that my EC is lacking. By graduating in 3 years I didn’t have much time to work on areas that I wanted to. In my freshman year I told myself “school first”- I wanted to have a solid GPA foundation before working on other areas. In my second year I eased up on academics and focused more on shadowing, extracurricular, leadership, volunteer and DAT. I studied my butt off for the DAT to make sure if other areas were weak a good score could somehow make up for it.

Shadowing: My Pre-Dental advisor told me that it doesn’t matter how many hours you rack up, but enough hours to expose yourself to the field of dentistry and enough to know that it is the career you want absolutely want to pursue. I shadowed a dentist in my hometown freshman year winter break for 25 hours. The thing is, back in high school we had these two Clinical Rotations Programs. I took both classes and became a certified CNA and EMT-B. Throughout the year we were allowed to choose a variety of medical professions to shadow (ER, Laboratory, Orthopedics, L&D to name a few) I eventually got to shadow another dentist, an orthodontist and a periodontist each for roughly 20 hours. Am I allowed to include these shadows into medical and dental experiences even though it was during high school? In my questionnaire that I’m required to do, there’s a section for “list any other significant activity or pertinent information regarding you as an applicant not addressed anywhere else”-maybe I could include it there if anything. Should I be worried about my shadowing, medical and dental experience?

Volunteer: Last semester I was trying to join the Emergency Care Team organization to put my EMT skills to good use and earn volunteer hours, but their officer base did a poor job in organizing and leading new members-ultimately they did not allow me to achieve any good work- A whole semester wasted in disappointment 🙁 I did join Habitat my freshman year and with my “school first” mindset, I only volunteered 10 hours. I did other community service projects for another 15 hours for a grand total of 25 hours. My Pre-Dental advisor told me that consistency and a passion for long term projects is more important than numbers-I don’t have either yet and it’s freaking me out the most! I do honestly enjoy giving and helping my community, I just feel that I didn’t allocate my time as effectively as I wanted while in school. This semester I’m taking 13 credits to allow myself enough time to find something I enjoy as much as I can before applying. I’m will either join a better well known club organization that works with kids or this unique barrier-free camp. I’m very interested in the camp and believe that their goal and purpose offers an amazing opportunity to enrich the lives of children and adults with challenging illnesses or special needs. Unlike Habitat I have the opportunity to have interaction with the kids and have a sense of rewarding service and contribution rather than build a house and not being able to see or talk to the family often. Personally to me camp seems the closest to what a dentist should be like-having personal interactions with your patients as well as serving to enrich their lives in some positive way. I will focus the most on volunteer this semester, but do you think my low number of volunteering will put me at a disadvantage?
In our Pre-Dental club we would frequently go to elementary schools to teach kids the importance of dental hygiene: how to properly brush their teeth, floss and eating health. I went to about 10 schools for an hour each. Would this count as volunteer hours?

Extracurricular: I used to do beginner breakdance back in high school so I joined a dance group on campus for a year to explore and to keep up as well as doing a couple of shows. I’m also in two cultural student organizations: Philippine and Vietnamese. As for leadership, I’m the PR/ Social Chair for my Vietnamese club and next year will probably be president or vice president. As for leisure time I love the guitar, taught myself ukulele and beginner bass as well as working out. I used to do track in middle school and love to run. I believe that a healthy body and a healthy mind go hand in hand. I’m not too worried about my extracurricular activities so I will work on other areas.

Awards, Research, Jobs: So far I’ve only got one award I could think of-Gold Member of my Pre-Dental club. Throughout the fall and spring semesters Pre-Dental club members can obtain points by attending certain events. These points accumulate and members are awarded based on their activity of the academic year-Gold being the highest. Also is being on the Dean’s list considered as an award? Are awards, reserach, jobs held important to your application? I don’t have any research activities or jobs held since graduating from high school. Am I at a disadvantage or will my other areas make up for this lack?

Sorry for the multitude of questions, any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[telemonster]

I'll tell you what advisors and interviewers told me: they like to see long-term volunteering for a specific service, regardless of what it is. And obviously not everyone can be a president, but if you can get that it will help a lot.

Also, don't underestimate the importance of the interview itself. I have received 5 interviews this cycle but no acceptances, so the stats will get you an interview at least. Once you've gotten that far, don't let up! Focus on the positives of your ECs, not what you lack, and you should be fine.

In summary: the more ECs over a long time, the better.