help

[Taufiq Khaled]

I usually don't post to forums and just lurk around and read but lately I've been lost and I don't know where I stand. I plan on applying to dental school this application cycle and the last thing I want is to have an incomplete application. I was wondering if you guys could point me to the right direction on whether or not I am behind/what I can improve on.

What I have so far:
GPA: 3.72 (probably gonna go up this semester a little more)
DAT: N/A (taking it in May)
Shadowing: Shadowed OMFS for a little over 50 hours of surgeries. ( Looking for 2-3 general dentists that will let me shadow) I have a target of around 100 total hours.
Work Experience: I have 3000+ hours working in a convenience store and of those 3000+ hours, I have 250 hours where I ran the business while the owner was out.
Recommendation Letters: I am hoping that my cell bio professor writes me one, I have another non science professor who is willing to write me one, and I plan on asking the OMFS surgeon for one as well as I have a nice relationship with him. A big problem I have is that I have only 1 science professor so far that might write my letter, and the requirement is two as yall know, and I have no idea what to do because I have no real relationships with professors due to COVID messing with school being all online.

If you guys have any advice on what I can do to make this look better, advice on getting recommendation letters, or any comments or anything at all please reply. ALL help is appreciated

Thanks

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[FosterWallace]

Your app looks good to me. Some professors can be understanding of your situation, I would reach out to professors who's class you have done well in and ask them to write you a letter. Maybe something along the lines of "I know we dont know each other well but I thoroughly enjoyed your class and received an A, if you would consider writing me a letter of recommendation for dental school I would really appreciate it" and send them a resume/personal statement so they have something to go off. I know some people who got letters from professors theyve never spoken to. Cant speak to the quality of those letters though so YMMV

 

[Taufiq Khaled]

Your app looks good to me. Some professors can be understanding of your situation, I would reach out to professors who's class you have done well in and ask them to write you a letter. Maybe something along the lines of "I know we dont know each other well but I thoroughly enjoyed your class and received an A, if you would consider writing me a letter of recommendation for dental school I would really appreciate it" and send them a resume/personal statement so they have something to go off. I know some people who got letters from professors theyve never spoken to. Cant speak to the quality of those letters though so YMMV

Thanks for the quick response, funny thing is I actually tried that with one of my professors, and he completely ignored my request

 

[FosterWallace]

Thanks for the quick response, funny thing is I actually tried that with one of my professors, and he completely ignored my request

just ask others. when youre in a tight spot you dont have many other options

 

[dnz2]

I usually don't post to forums and just lurk around and read but lately I have been feeling very lost and I don't know where I stand. I plan on applying to dental school this application cycle and the last thing I want is to have an incomplete application. I was wondering if you guys could point me to the right direction on whether or not I am behind/what I can improve on.

What I have so far:
GPA: 3.72 (probably gonna go up this semester a little more)
DAT: N/A (taking it in May)
Shadowing: Shadowed OMFS for a little over 50 hours of surgeries. ( Looking for 2-3 general dentists that will let me shadow) I have a target of around 100 total hours.
Work Experience: I have 3000+ hours working in a convenience store and of those 3000+ hours, I have 250 hours where I ran the business while the owner was out.
Volunteering: Literally nothing, I cant find anything to do.
Recommendation Letters: I am hoping that my cell bio professor writes me one, I have another non science professor who is willing to write me one, and I plan on asking the OMFS surgeon for one as well as I have a nice relationship with him. A big problem I have is that I have only 1 science professor so far that might write my letter, and the requirement is two as yall know, and I have no idea what to do because I have no real relationships with professors due to COVID messing with school being all online.

If you guys have any advice on what I can do to make this look better, advice on getting recommendation letters, or any comments or anything at all please reply. ALL help is appreciated

Thanks

sorry to hear that you're overwhelmed, has your semester finished already/are you still in any courses? You could potentially try doing weekly meetings with one of the profs whose course you are in try to build a bit of a relationship and at the end of the semester request an LOR. and as mentioned above email as many profs in which you did well in their course. best of luck

 

[Taufiq Khaled]

sorry to hear that you're overwhelmed, has your semester finished already/are you still in any courses? You could potentially try doing weekly meetings with one of the profs whose course you are in try to build a bit of a relationship and at the end of the semester request an LOR. and as mentioned above email as many profs in which you did well in their course. best

I'm still in my spring semester of junior year so that's what I'm doing now with one professor but I'm at a loss with the second science professor.