Dentist in the family?

[drdeeeena]

I am wondering how having a dentist in the family like siblings, aunt, uncle, cousin,father or mothe will affect your admission to dental school?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[letsgfuad]

I am wondering how having a dentist in the family like siblings, aunt, uncle, cousin,father or mothe will affect your admission to dental school?

Im will be the first dentist in my family. Im sure it cant hurt if you do though.

 

[kevin512]

That is a difficult question to answer. It should help you, but can't take the place of a bad GPA or DAT score. My Mom is a dentist. I always made sure to mention it some way in my interviews just to cover all my bases. Overall, I will never really know if it even helped, but from my intuition, if I was on an ad-com I wouldn't pick someone who has lower stats w/ a relative dentist over a high stat candidate.

 

[PD3]

I know someone who mysteriously got into their father's alma mater even though their stats are well below the average for the first round. Who knows I could be missing something?

 

[Lopyswine]

I know someone who mysteriously got into their father's alma mater even though their stats are well below the average for the first round. Who knows I could be missing something?

was this at UCLA ortho???


seriously though,
having family members in the field is HUGE. Especially if they are alumni of the school you are applying to.

 

[blasterx]

I know someone who mysteriously got into their father's alma mater even though their stats are well below the average for the first round. Who knows I could be missing something?

The same thing happened to someone I know except it was his cousin.

 

[100dental]

was this at UCLA ortho???


seriously though,
having family members in the field is HUGE. Especially if they are alumni of the school you are applying to.

HUGE? I don't know about that. I used to think it would be a huge help, but from my experience, it's not.

My scores aren't great, but they aren't bad either. GPA: 3.68 overall, 3.35 science. DAT: TS19 AA19. I think I'm a fairly decent applicant, I mean, I do lots of volunteer work, am in service organizations on campus, have worked and observed at dental offices, and overall am really well-rounded both in the liberal arts and in the sciences. Plus, I have wonderful recommendation letters from all types of professors.

Never-the-less, I didn't even get an interview at the schools my brothers graduated from. I think it just depends on whether the alum still networks and keeps in touch with the school itself.

 

[armorshell]

I doubt the huge thing. My father and grandfather were both graduates of NYU dental and I didn't even get the courtesy of an interview with what I would consider above average stats.

 

[Phamdh23]

Im sure if wont get you into the dental school but the schools do notice. At my interview, they did not ask about why I wanted to become dentistry or if I knew anything about dentistry bc of the dentists in my family (4 in my family). Anything is better than nothing. Congrats and good luck to everyone

 

[drdeeeena]

i actually wasnt sure if it helps or not. I've heard it helps alot when applying to pharm school in canada ( iam from canada) so i wasnt sure if its the same case as in the states dental/pharm/med schools.

i think having a dentist in the family is good but it shouldnt put u in the same spot as another student with better stats

thanks everyone for ur comments

 

[caffeinehigh]

I think that it can help and hurt you.

(+) You can make the arguement that due to your lifetime or longterm exposure that you understand the profession better then some other applicants

(-) You could be questioned about whether or not it is you who is interested in the field, or rather it is your (mom/dad/brother) who is pushing you toward this profession.

In the end, I consider the + > -

 

[Gildan123]

alot of people at interviews have parents that were dentists.

 

[pestermen]

alot of people at interviews have parents that were dentists.

I noticed that during my interviews. Maybe it shouldn't help the applicant because of the extremely high amount of interviewed applicants with parents as dentist.

 

[chipab]

It could help to some degree, but not a lot.

 

[harjay]

(-) You could be questioned about whether or not it is you who is interested in the field, or rather it is your (mom/dad/brother) who is pushing you toward this profession.

An applicant at my last interview was 35yrs old and the biggest reason why it took him so long to decide on dentistry was that he had to make sure it was right for him (not for his dad).

His dad had sort of pushed him for a while and he was adamant about not getting pushed around. He avoided dentistry until he knew that it fit him better than any other career (and he got to experience a few of then in that time )