Hi all! I am a graduating senior planning to apply to dental school this summer.
I did not start out college as a pre-dental major. Although I was studying biomedical sciences/pre-health, it took me a little more time to decide where I fit into healthcare. I made the decision to pursue dentistry a little over a year ago, and I am taking a gap year.
Since then, I have around 150 hours of dental service/shadowing/assisting. As far as numerical stats go, I took the DAT last summer and did well with a 23 AA, 23 TS, 25 PAT. I have a cGPA of 3.81 and a sGPA of 3.7. From my shadowing and volunteering experiences, I know that I absolutely love dentistry and am filled with so much passion and gratitude that I found this career. I wish that I had known this sooner, so I could have started out as a pre dental or switched earlier.
However, back in my sophomore year (2018) I applied to my school's early admission PA program. I applied because I knew I loved healthcare and science, but I was still somewhat unsure of PA and had not yet explored other health careers (like dentistry!) I ended up getting rejected from the program and at that point I began shadowing dentists and discovered how much I love it. I chose to take a gap year to continue shadowing/volunteering and possibly getting an assisting job (once all this COVID craziness is over.) I believe that this all worked out for a reason, as I was led to dentistry. I just hope it doesn't significantly hinder my application.
How negative an impact do you guys think this will have on my application? I know that the AADSAS application asks about applications to prior health professions. I am prepared to articulate my journey and the reasons why I love dentistry and believe I will be a successful dentist. Thank you guys!
I did not start out college as a pre-dental major. Although I was studying biomedical sciences/pre-health, it took me a little more time to decide where I fit into healthcare. I made the decision to pursue dentistry a little over a year ago, and I am taking a gap year.
Since then, I have around 150 hours of dental service/shadowing/assisting. As far as numerical stats go, I took the DAT last summer and did well with a 23 AA, 23 TS, 25 PAT. I have a cGPA of 3.81 and a sGPA of 3.7. From my shadowing and volunteering experiences, I know that I absolutely love dentistry and am filled with so much passion and gratitude that I found this career. I wish that I had known this sooner, so I could have started out as a pre dental or switched earlier.
However, back in my sophomore year (2018) I applied to my school's early admission PA program. I applied because I knew I loved healthcare and science, but I was still somewhat unsure of PA and had not yet explored other health careers (like dentistry!) I ended up getting rejected from the program and at that point I began shadowing dentists and discovered how much I love it. I chose to take a gap year to continue shadowing/volunteering and possibly getting an assisting job (once all this COVID craziness is over.) I believe that this all worked out for a reason, as I was led to dentistry. I just hope it doesn't significantly hinder my application.
How negative an impact do you guys think this will have on my application? I know that the AADSAS application asks about applications to prior health professions. I am prepared to articulate my journey and the reasons why I love dentistry and believe I will be a successful dentist. Thank you guys!
