Application Prep Review

[PugCountry]

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Good evening,

I am applying for the 2017 cycle, and until then, I have a lot to "check off" my to-dos in order to be ready to submit my application early. Regardless of how you feel about applicants checking off volunteering, shadowing, etc. for the sake of building a solid application, it has to be done. (FYI, I dislike this as much as you do).

I only recently decided to pursue dentistry, so I may have some gaps in my application. Can you point out anything critical I am missing (if I have any)? With only 8 months until June, I want to make sure I cover my grounds starting today. Although 8 months may seem far away, I cannot afford to drop everything to focus on my application, so I must allocate my time well now.

Here are some details about myself that may be relevant:
-Graduated this spring
-Working 55 hours a week so time to prep for dental school is somewhat limited
-Pre-reqs complete
-DAT not yet taken (scheduled for March)
-Letters not yet collected (will reach out to contacts the day after my DAT is (hopefully) done with)
-Shadowed one dentist so far. Is 100 hours of shadowing enough?
-Volunteering - virtually none. I am going to try to do 2-3 hours over the weekends and hope to rack up around 50 hours
-Did research for 1.5 semesters but wasn't heavily involved
-Personal statement not yet written - doing it in April after I get some more shadowing under my belt?



If you find any typical to-dos of a predent missing, please let me know!

 

[hoppingpre]

The paucity of volunteering hours is the only one that sets off a red flag for me.

 

[obscurlit]

I would say maybe try shadowing under one more dentist. I know some schools like to see variety or at least more than one since each office really is different, even if they're both general dentists or the same type of specialist. 100 hours is pretty solid for most schools though.

Also, maybe just think about what to write about on your personal statement. Honestly, it's one of the most important pieces in my opinion, because it's basically you telling your story aside from all the numbers and whatnot. It takes a lot of time to write, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, and be satisfied with, so it's good to think about it ahead of time for sure.

 

[ajj70]

100 hours is fine if they were with a general dentist. Some schools have a minimum requirement for shadowing a general dentist. I do agree that shadowing 2 or 3 dentists is valuable, not only for your application but to see different practice models for the future.

You need to get some volunteer hours, but also know, seeing all of those hours in the last 8 months before applying is going to turn off some of the schools that like to see volunteer work

Research really isn't all that important unless you want to go to a couple schools, Harvard for one, that require that

I would not wait until March to contact profs/dentists for your LOR's. I would do that probably right after Christmas/Winter break so they have time to prepare and they haven't booked their LOR's for other people. That seems to be one of the things that delays applications more than anything because not all profs are prompt. Give them a deadline well before June 1st to have the letter done.