Extra-curriculars for Dental School?

[hs2013]

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As far as the ECs go for Dental Schools, what do they look for? Would volunteering at a Hospital really mean any since you want to go to Dentistry? In college I plan on playing for the schools tennis team, trying to get a bunch of shadowing in on General Dentists and Orthodontists but would you need more than just that? Especially if your grades and DAT score are high? Lets say a 3.8 cGPA 3.75 science GPA, a high DAT score(I do not know how the DAT scoring works), plus tennis team for 4 years and a lot of dental shadowing. Would that get most people into most dental schools?

 

[AlbinoPolarBear]

As far as the ECs go for Dental Schools, what do they look for? Would volunteering at a Hospital really mean any since you want to go to Dentistry? In college I plan on playing for the schools tennis team, trying to get a bunch of shadowing in on General Dentists and Orthodontists but would you need more than just that? Especially if your grades and DAT score are high? Lets say a 3.8 cGPA 3.75 science GPA, a high DAT score(I do not know how the DAT scoring works), plus tennis team for 4 years and a lot of dental shadowing. Would that get most people into most dental schools?

If you do all of the above and score 90th percentile on the DAT, you will be fine.

Now go out there and do it!

 

[kamepan]

Also keep in mind they like to see activities that will clue them on whether you will be good with interacting with patients or not in the future. For example, even if you don't put a lot of hours into shadowing but you participate in teaching programs where you work with students, that shows you know how to click with others and make them understand you. At the end of the day, a dentist is still has a role as an educator and that is very important. Just my opinion...it's not all about hospitals. Biggest things are grades and DAT though.

 

[dentalWorks]

As far as the ECs go for Dental Schools, what do they look for? Would volunteering at a Hospital really mean any since you want to go to Dentistry? In college I plan on playing for the schools tennis team, trying to get a bunch of shadowing in on General Dentists and Orthodontists but would you need more than just that? Especially if your grades and DAT score are high? Lets say a 3.8 cGPA 3.75 science GPA, a high DAT score(I do not know how the DAT scoring works), plus tennis team for 4 years and a lot of dental shadowing. Would that get most people into most dental schools?

There is no such thing as "what do they look for?"... ANY EC is good as long as it demonstrates you giving up ur free time to service your community.

Volunteering (IN ANYTHING ~ it doesn't have to be healthcare related) is usually a good form of EC for most pre-health students ~ cause they are the easiest to get hours into.

As far as shadowing goes, I don't consider it EC, I consider it a "requirement". Shadow a GP for approx 50-100 hrs, and maybe another 50 hrs into an orthodontist is more than enough.... anything more and its just a waste of time

 

[dantemac]

Based on dental school interviews so far, here is how I would rank what people have really cared about on my EC list so far:

A) Shadowing/Internship: They will want to know what you saw and how it affected your opinion of the profession.
B) Teaching Assistant: Shows leadership & ability to educate. But, the downside is I have gotten a lot of "So, why don't you just become a teacher?"
C) Work experience in family business: Want to see maturity, ask about responsibility and how to handle situations in real life.
D) Research: Only a handful of schools has cared to ask. The most they have said is "That's neat"
E) Volunteering: No school yet has picked this out and asked about it. Still glad I did it, though!
F) Clubs/School Activities: No mention, just fluff on the resume.