Dental School Admission Coaches

[LilyBrunes]

I ran across a few websites online that have people who charge hourly and claim they can coach you into having a better application and better chances for dental school. I was just wondering what everyone's opinion on this is. Can they actually help? Or is it everything that you can basically do on your own?

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[Muggsy Bogues]

They have these for free. They're called your school advisor.

 

[doc toothache]

They have these for free. They're called your school advisor.

There might be a difference between "advising" and "coaching".

 

[HillsNayyr]

You don't need one. Don't be lazy, the information to help your application is out there. Research the schools, find out what they like, where your unique stats have the best chance of getting in, actually spend a good chunk of time on your essays, etc, etc.

 

[dentalWorks]

I ran across a few websites online that have people who charge hourly and claim they can coach you into having a better application and better chances for dental school. I was just wondering what everyone's opinion on this is. Can they actually help? Or is it everything that you can basically do on your own?

your best source of information, advice, and just people who have "done it all" is right here SDN.

 

[youknowthedrill]

They have these for free. They're called your school advisor.

Seriously? Most advisors just want to get you out of their office ASAP and don't have a clue what dental schools are looking for. One of my favorite biology professors is my advisor. He is very knowledgeable about the courses I should take to graduate from my college, but doesn't know a thing about dental school requirements, shadowing, the DAT, etc.

I would imagine that a coach would give you unbiased feedback on your personal statement and help you develop great interview skills.

 

[HillsNayyr]

I would imagine that a coach would give you unbiased feedback on your personal statement and help you develop great interview skills.

Most schools have departments that offer mock interviews for free. Despite the fact that they aren't affiliated with dental schools they still help a lot.

 

[LilyBrunes]

Thanks guys! I figured that most of the information was here, just didn't know if there was anything extra that they have that would be worth paying for. But that's true, everyone here would know better having gone through it.

 

[dentalWorks]

Seriously? Most advisors just want to get you out of their office ASAP and don't have a clue what dental schools are looking for. One of my favorite biology professors is my advisor. He is very knowledgeable about the courses I should take to graduate from my college, but doesn't know a thing about dental school requirements, shadowing, the DAT, etc.

I would imagine that a coach would give you unbiased feedback on your personal statement and help you develop great interview skills.

I don't want anyone to bite my head off... but I agree with youknowthedrill.

My experience with pre-med / pre-health undergrad advisers has taught me that they are discouraging, give bad advice, and flat out don't know what they are talking about.

I've been reading SDN since 2006, this is by far, the BEST resource for information. And heres the kicker, its free. We even have a few members who are trustworthy and do a decent enough job critiquing personal statements (again, FOR FREE).... Doc toothache is one of those members.

Don't waste your money for a "coach", use that money for more important things like better DAT preparation material, applying to few more additional schools, heck, use that money for something fun, anything is better than pre-med coach

 

[MechZZ]

If you think about it. Your adviser has not taken the classes you've taken, they didn't go through the same test or situations. THEY HAVE NO CLUE WHAT YOU'RE GOING THROUGH.

 

[allDAT]

I don't think that a pre-dental coach is a wise investment. It's true that most pre-health advisors have a narrow knowledge about the dental school admissions process, but being a diligent student is all that's necessary.

I would recommend buying the latest version of ADEA's Official Guide to Dental School and take a look at the stats you need to get into dental school.

You may also want to purchase the Student Doctor Network's Dental School Admissions Guide.

After that, try and find a younger dentist to mentor you through the process - my guess is that he or she won't charge you for any services, and is probably more knowledgable than a pre-health coach.

Good luck

 

[HillsNayyr]

i would recommend buying the latest version of adea's official guide to dental school and take a look at the stats you need to get into dental school.

+9million

 

[doc toothache]

Free advice tends to be ignored; paying for coaching may make one ponder a little longer.

 

[jeffity]

Pre-health advising varies so much from school to school from what I gather. I stopped in yesterday since I'm applying in 7 weeks and have never been in just to see if I completely forgot something. What a waste of time. She knew two things about dental school: jack and s***.

All the info is out there. Buy the book mentioned above. Invest a few hours on a weekend and use the search function on here to find answers to most of your questions. I find a lot of people are a little lazy about it. They'd rather have someone just tell them what to do.

 

[John Durian]

Money is better spent elsewhere. Buy the ADEA, spend a few hours reading the stickys on SDN, check out predents.com, and have your friends conduct mock interviews.

 

[UBERlowGPA]

I used my pre-health/pre-dental advisor at my school extensively. However, the best advice I was given was from the admissions offices at the schools I was interested in applying to.

I called the schools and set up times to meet with an admissions advisor. They have FIRST HAND KNOWLEDGE of exactly what they're looking for in a qualified candidate. Bring EVERYTHING: transcripts, class schedules, test scores, a resume, etc. They will be the MOST honest with you in terms of what you need to improve upon and what you need to do to gain admission to their school. It's also a great opportunity for you to connect your face with your future application. If the school doesn't allow meetings or doesn't have advisors available to meet with, try contacting the dean of admissions and trying to set up a time to meet with them directly. Or if the school sends a representative to meet with your pre-dent club, email that rep beforehand and ask to have a one-on-one with them after their presentation.

I found that most of the advice I was given from my pre-dental advisors, pre-dental club, peers, and dental students, was "feel good" advice. "Oh that's great!" or "That might be good enough." Sadly, that type of information is NOT valuable. Sometimes you need someone to tell you what SUCKS so that you can work hard to improve.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[dentalWorks]

I used my pre-health/pre-dental advisor at my school extensively. However, the best advice I was given was from the admissions offices at the schools I was interested in applying to.

I called the schools and set up times to meet with an admissions advisor. They have FIRST HAND KNOWLEDGE of exactly what they're looking for in a qualified candidate. Bring EVERYTHING: transcripts, class schedules, test scores, a resume, etc. They will be the MOST honest with you in terms of what you need to improve upon and what you need to do to gain admission to their school. It's also a great opportunity for you to connect your face with your future application. If the school doesn't allow meetings or doesn't have advisors available to meet with, try contacting the dean of admissions and trying to set up a time to meet with them directly. Or if the school sends a representative to meet with your pre-dent club, email that rep beforehand and ask to have a one-on-one with them after their presentation.

I found that most of the advice I was given from my pre-dental advisors, pre-dental club, peers, and dental students, was "feel good" advice. "Oh that's great!" or "That might be good enough." Sadly, that type of information is NOT valuable. Sometimes you need someone to tell you what SUCKS so that you can work hard to improve.

Just my 2 cents.

Good point

 

[FutureDentalSt1]

No need to spend additional money on a coach or advisor...if you have questions find someone who has been accepted to dental school...and hopefully this is the place where you can ask people (you can ask me I'd be happy to help...I'm a non traditional applicant)