Extracurriculars!

[chikwa]

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How would you "rank" or prioritize the various types of extracurriculars in terms of importance? I'm wondering because my GPA is somewhat low, and I would like to know which ECs to focus on over the next year to pad up my resume some. Some of the ECs I am talking about are:

-Academic enrichment programs
-Dental experience
-Club leadership positions
-Volunteering
-Work
-Research

Also, if you volunteer in a free dental clinic, would this be categorized as dental experience or volunteering?

 

[dental wahoo]

How would you "rank" or prioritize the various types of extracurriculars in terms of importance? I'm wondering because my GPA is somewhat low, and I would like to know which ECs to focus on over the next year to pad up my resume some. Some of the ECs I am talking about are:

-Academic enrichment programs
-Dental experience
-Club leadership positions
-Volunteering
-Work
-Research

Also, if you volunteer in a free dental clinic, would this be categorized as dental experience or volunteering?

for rankings for each school, check out this document put out by the ADA. should help you get a sense of what ECs are weighted more heavily than others.

http://www.ada.org/sections/professionalResources/pdfs/survey_ed_vol2.pdf

also, there are other threads debating the dental experience vs volunteering free dental clinic issue.

 

[Medwell]

Here's the 2010 official rankings of extracurricular activities:

1. The ones you are interested in and want to do.
2. The ones you aren't actually all that interested in, and think will look good on your resume.

 

[chikwa]

for rankings for each school, check out this document put out by the ADA. should help you get a sense of what ECs are weighted more heavily than others.

http://www.ada.org/sections/professionalResources/pdfs/survey_ed_vol2.pdf

also, there are other threads debating the dental experience vs volunteering free dental clinic issue.

Thank you! The link was very helpful 🙂

 

[Dugu1]

Reguarding the free dental clinic, I'd personally put it under...BOTH. The fact of the matter is Dental Experience shows up first on your application and this is dental experience (and if you're anything like me this was the most fun dental experience you had so it naturally has the most hours aka first dental experience I put into my app). I put it under volunteering because it is volunteering (again the most fun volunteering experience I had = most hours = top of volunteering list). Now some may say, oh you're dumb to put it under both. Well, 1.) it is both so that is not dumb, 2.) I really enjoyed it and it was/ is one of my favorite things to talk about, esp. during interviews, so having it twice really put emphasis on it and 3.) this is not meant as bragging but just to drive the point home, I got accepted everywhere I applied so it's clearly not a big deal having it listed twice. By the by, mission dental work has been the best experience I've had and I hope you continue to do it and if you're reading this and haven't done any yet go do it now! It changes lives and will undoubtedly change yours. Good luck!

 

[chikwa]

^Thank you for the advice. I plan on listing it under both categories also 🙂 I enjoy it a lot also, which is one of the reasons why I posted this thread. I would much rather volunteer at the dental clinic and meet different types of patients than do research (I have a little experience) or other volunteer work (I have none)... and I was wondering if the lack of variety would hurt me greatly. Your response helped me alot.

 

[Dugu1]

Hey, glad it helped! With respect to variety... dental schools like well rounded people and that is often associated with doing a variety of things. However if you haven't done a variety of things dont go out next week and do ten different volunteer things just so you can put it on your app. Dental schools will see this and know that you're most likely doing it for filler. Instead be confident in what you've done and tell them how you really feel about your experiences just like you did above! Just be real with the schools and they will respect that so much more than you jumping through hoops to be the super candidate.