Career changer

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Jupman

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Hello all, I need some general advice. I am currently working full time as an engineer. After much debate, I have decided to pursue dental school. I currently have my bachelor and master degrees in engineering and I have just started to take the prereq courses this semester. Anyways, how many shadowing and volunteering hours do dental schools like to see? Is there anything else that would make me stand out from other applicants? Thanks for your help!

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Hello all, I need some general advice. I am currently working full time as an engineer. After much debate, I have decided to pursue dental school. I currently have my bachelor and master degrees in engineering and I have just started to take the prereq courses this semester. Anyways, how many shadowing and volunteering hours do dental schools like to see? Is there anything else that would make me stand out from other applicants? Thanks for your help!

You're already an engineer, so that alone is going to set you apart from most applicants. Just work on getting good grades in your pre-reqs, get a solid DAT score, and try to get about 100 hours of shadowing under your belt.
 
What about volunteering? I regularly volunteer through work introducing sciences to kids. Is that the type of volunteering admissions like to see?
 
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What about volunteering? I regularly volunteer through work introducing sciences to kids. Is that the type of volunteering admissions like to see?

Absolutely. That is fantastic.
 
A safe number of shadowing hours is 150. More is better but superfluous in my opinion. Research resulting in publication (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. authorship) or poster is good.
It's good that you're an engineer. I know medical schools like people with engineering backgrounds. The same is probably true for dental schools as well. Any form of volunteering is good as long it shows that you dedicated your time for a sustained period. The volunteering part of the application is also where you get to show a little bit of who you are to admissions. It shows where your interests and concerns are.
 
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