ECs help.

[yuppers]

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Hey, I am in need of some advice on ECs. How much volunteering is a good amount to have? Is research needed? Any other info relating to clubs or any other ECs?
I have about 40 hours in volunteering mostly at a dental clinic and Im in pre-dent club.
What I am wondering most about is research. I may be looking in to doing research for my senior year, but havent done any yet because I really wanted to finish all the science courses in my major (bio) and minor (chem).
I want responses that are not biased by my GPA and DAT (which I know are good). However, if you really want to know the stats ask.
Thanks ahead of time. 🙂

 

[doc3232]

Hey, I am in need of some advice on ECs. How much volunteering is a good amount to have? Is research needed? Any other info relating to clubs or any other ECs?
I have about 40 hours in volunteering mostly at a dental clinic and Im in pre-dent club.
What I am wondering most about is research. I may be looking in to doing research for my senior year, but havent done any yet because I really wanted to finish all the science courses in my major (bio) and minor (chem).
I want responses that are not biased by my GPA and DAT (which I know are good). However, if you really want to know the stats ask.
Thanks ahead of time. 🙂

I don't think shadowing matters at all. I think the shadowing is to know if dentistry is right for oneself.
I'm not surprised you don't have time for research considering a bio major and chem minor...
What are your stats?

 

[yuppers]

I don't think shadowing matters at all. I think the shadowing is to know if dentistry is right for oneself.
I'm not surprised you don't have time for research considering a bio major and chem minor...
What are your stats?

oGPA is 3.9 and science is around that.
PAT 24, ochem 26, bio 20, gen chem 22, RC 20, QR 18, AA 21, TS 22.

 

[yuppers]

Also I never mentioned shadowing but I have 100ish hours of that. Which I do think it is important because schools require it. Back to the research, I just wanted to wait till I have a good base of knowlegde before staring any research which maybe I shouldn't have. But do you folks have any good ideas for possible research topics?

 

[Vicviper]

Research is really one of those things that just makes you stand out from others, especially if they have similar stats. In talking with my research adviser, who is a research dentist, she had said that if you really want to get into competitive specialty programs, you need to do research in DS, so being exposed to research in undergrad will probably help you in the long run too.

About ideas for research, just ask around what your favorite professors are doing in their labs (if you are at a research school). Also, you don't really need to do dental research, I asked an Adcom member from UCSF and he said that as long as it isn't like English, theater, or fine arts research, and the research is beign done in a scientific way, it doesn't matter.

As far as not having taken some of the other science classes, it really depends on the research professor. At my school (UC, Irvine), there is a huge list of professors with a blerb about their research and requirements for their lab, and it really varies from person to person. As long as you're dedicated, I'm sure you'll be fine!

Good luck!

 

[yuppers]

Thanks for the info.
Anyone elso who can give some more input?

 

[yuppers]

please. anyone???? someone?????

 

[MTD52]

Also I never mentioned shadowing but I have 100ish hours of that. Which I do think it is important because schools require it. Back to the research, I just wanted to wait till I have a good base of knowlegde before staring any research which maybe I shouldn't have. But do you folks have any good ideas for possible research topics?

Shadowing is definitely good for a lot of reasons, but it is not listed technically as a "requirement" for all schools. Correct me if I'm totally off the mark here..

 

[smiles323]

I didn't do any research. It's not a requirement, it just is one more thing to supplement. So if you do some your senior year, I'm sure that will suffice--mention your plans somewhere in your app. They do like community service too. And any other ECs help to show that you're well rounded and can handle being busy and have fairly good time management skills. Or at least this is my take

 

[yuppers]

Shadowing is definitely good for a lot of reasons, but it is not listed technically as a "requirement" for all schools. Correct me if I'm totally off the mark here..

Thanks for responding. Pretty sure for all the schools I am plannin to apply to. But you are right that a lot do not "require" however if you call them Im sure they would say it would help.

 

[yuppers]

I didn't do any research. It's not a requirement, it just is one more thing to supplement. So if you do some your senior year, I'm sure that will suffice--mention your plans somewhere in your app. They do like community service too. And any other ECs help to show that you're well rounded and can handle being busy and have fairly good time management skills. Or at least this is my take

Thanks for the response. I would mention the research in the place where it asks for future classes. How many hours of volunteering would make you "well rounded" in your opinion?

 

[aguacero]

oGPA is 3.9 and science is around that.
PAT 24, ochem 26, bio 20, gen chem 22, RC 20, QR 18, AA 21, TS 22.

I wouldn't be too worried about EC's. You're looking good.

 

[yuppers]

I wouldn't be too worried about EC's. You're looking good.

I didnt give the stats unless someone asked (which lasted 2 posts )because I wanted answers that are not influenced by them. Numbers are not the only thing, but I see where you are coming from.

 

[Contach]

Thanks for responding. Pretty sure for all the schools I am plannin to apply to. But you are right that a lot do not "require" however if you call them Im sure they would say it would help.

yes, a lot of schools requires some shadowing. check out Doctoothache's ADEA statistics extrapolation.

 

[Contach]

But do you folks have any good ideas for possible research topics?

Are you thinking of coming up with an idea and opening up your own research lab?

I hate to break it to you, but you won't have the luxury of doing 'your own' research for a very, very long time.

 

[Contach]

Hey, I am in need of some advice on ECs. How much volunteering is a good amount to have? Is research needed? Any other info relating to clubs or any other ECs?
I have about 40 hours in volunteering mostly at a dental clinic and Im in pre-dent club.

stop thinking about what you need to get into dental school.
getting into dental school, or medical school involves luck and resembles a lottery system regardless of what you do.

start thinking about what you enjoy doing (in terms of hobbies and ECs) and what activities will make you a more well-rounded person.

 

[yuppers]

Are you thinking of coming up with an idea and opening up your own research lab?

I hate to break it to you, but you won't have the luxury of doing 'your own' research for a very, very long time.

What I meant to say is that I want to do a lit review or run an experiment on something that was researched previously. That something is the idea that a fellow student could help me out on.
... was I that confusing?😳

 

[Contach]

What I am wondering most about is research. I may be looking in to doing research for my senior year, but havent done any yet because I really wanted to finish all the science courses in my major (bio) and minor (chem).

you don't need to know what enzyme breaks down alpha-ketoglutarate to do research. you definately don't need it to clean petri dishes.

 

[Contach]

What I meant to say is that I want to do a lit review or run an experiment on something that was researched previously. That something is the idea that a fellow student could help me out on.
... was I that confusing?😳

why do you want to do this? how does it advance our knowledge or help towards something that could advance our knowledge?

you should probably try and find a supervisor, they will be more than happy to take you in: free labour.

 

[yuppers]

stop thinking about what you need to get into dental school.
getting into dental school, or medical school involves luck and resembles a lottery system regardless of what you do.

start thinking about what you enjoy doing (in terms of hobbies and ECs) and what activities will make you a more well-rounded person.

Well I really enjoy volunteering, but you have to look at the ultimate goal which is dental school. Being a dentist is what I will really enjoy so I must by default try to improve my "luck" of getting into dental school. Therefore I am asking about the value research.

 

[yuppers]

why do you want to do this? how does it advance our knowledge or help towards something that could advance our knowledge?

For my own knowledge.... an undergrad can only go so far in improving the lives of millions.

 

[Contach]

Well I really enjoy volunteering, but you have to look at the ultimate goal which is dental school. Being a dentist is what I will really enjoy so I must by default try to improve my "luck" of getting into dental school. Therefore I am asking about the value research.

that's a good response, but I can't believe that anyone is truly this one-dimensional. there's gotta be something else that makes you tick...

 

[yuppers]

you don't need to know what enzyme breaks down alpha-ketoglutarate to do research. you definately don't need it to clean petri dishes.

Well, I want to do research and when I have to look at some previous lit and experiments I want to read them and have an understanding of what they are saying. Instead of googling every other word.

 

[yuppers]

that's a good response, but I can't believe that anyone is truly this one-dimensional. there's gotta be something else that makes you tick...

Im confused on what you are trying to imply?

 

[Contach]

For my own knowledge.... an undergrad can only go so far in improving the lives of millions.

lol

if you don't have a supervisor, or if you aren't affiliated with a research lab, you will be faced with many limits in 'research'.

if you want to make the claim that research is "any advancement of one's own knowledge" then i am afraid to say that you are taking research out of context. If that is the case, then I can put "research: 100000 hours for checking NHL statistics of my favourite hockey teams" on my dental school applications....
Scientific research helps advance science, you can't do this on your own at this level. People subscribe to 5 year PhD programs to learn to do research. Get a supervisor and become apart of something.

 

[Contach]

Well, I dont want to do research and when I have to look at some previous lit and experiments I want to read them and have an understanding of what they are saying. Instead of googling every other word.

From my experience, this is what eventually ends up happening. This is the process of research, and will help you develop skills like acquiring resources, problem solving and critical thinking. Not all the information will be fed to you in lectures for the rest of your life. It will be a struggle for the first few weeks, but once you get comfortable with the very specific niche your research program deals with, you won't have troubles with terminology.

you have to understand that research occurs in very specific sections of science, things that you will never learn no matter how many 4th year biology courses you take.

I understand that I am shaking your paradigm, and I expect you to be reluctant in accepting this, but hopefully you can take something from this.

 

[yuppers]

lol

if you don't have a supervisor, or if you aren't affiliated with a research lab, you will be faced with many limits in 'research'.

if you want to make the claim that research is "any advancement of one's own knowledge" then i am afraid to say that you are taking research out of context. If that is the case, then I can put "research: 100000 hours for checking NHL statistics of my favourite hockey teams" on my dental school applications....
Scientific research helps advance science, you can't do this on your own at this level. People subscribe to 5 year PhD programs to learn to do research. Get a supervisor and become apart of something.

Obviously this has to be school related not sports come on there buddy. To me research can be as simple as looking into something of your interest to get better understanding. What is research to you?

 

[yuppers]

From my experience, this is what eventually ends up happening. This is the process of research, and will help you develop skills like acquiring resources, problem solving and critical thinking. Not all the information will be fed to you in lectures for the rest of your life. It will be a struggle for the first few weeks, but once you get comfortable with the very specific niche your research program deals with, you won't have troubles with terminology.

I understand that I am shaking your paradigm, and I expect you to be reluctant in accepting this, but hopefully you can take something from this.

Well, this answers the question I just posted. I see where you are going...

 

[MTD52]

I know that the whole point of this post was to get ideas uninfluenced by your grades, which is great. However, I gotta tell ya, with those stats, and the fact that you volunteer at a clinic and are in a dental club, you really shouldn't be too worried...

I'm with Contach though if you really want to enhance your resume. I think you should just do some volunteer or related work on something you like to do, not so much based on what will be most "dental related." That being said, I have to disagree with the idea that getting accepted has a lot to do with luck...Regardless, I think you are sitting pretty well

 

[Contach]

nevermind.