Getting into dental school: advice?

[Laila L]

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I'm a predental student right now, and I was wondering how competitive my grades are as far as getting accepted. I have a 3.8 right now overall and around 3.65 science gpa (though I still have more science classes to go..) What kinds of extracurriculars do people who get into dental school usually do? I'm a dental assistant right now, will that make me stand out at all, or is that not enough?

Also does anyone here go to/know anyone who goes to VCU dental school? any comments?

Thanks!

 

[Bean03]

Hi Laila,
I am a 3rd year dental student and I've been noticing it harder and harder to get into dental school. You're GPA is pretty good! And it's also great that you're assisting. They like to see that you know what you're getting into. I would suggest to have the dentist you work for write one of your recommendations. The also like to see that you are active in productive extracurricular activities; volunteering (preferably in the medical field) and doing RESEARCH! are good options. Make sure you take some science classes like anatomy, micro, biochem, etc to prepare you. Go visit the school(s) you want to go to and let them connect the name to the face. Let them know that you're interested. If you live close to a dental school, see if you can do some research with some of their faculty. It seems like you have a very good start but remember that it's really tough to get into dental school right now. The majority of students coming in have very impressive scores. The difference can be the desire for the profession - so you have to show them how much you really want to attend. Hope this helps. Good luck applying!

 

[1992Corolla]

Your GPA is fine and if you are worrying about it then don't.

Shadowing/assisting is good. Joining or starting a predental club is good. Some people have done research. Also joining other clubs that you are interested in helps. It shows diversity. Everything dental gets old, mix it up.

Service projects are good. Donating time and talents to those less fortunate help applications. Sincerity can be seen and felt so don't fake it.

Become good friends wth some professors for a letter of recommendation or two. Don't stop by the ofice a week before a letter is due and ask for one. You want reasonable time and networking to be done before asking for a letter. A good thing to do is go in to the office during the first few weeks of class and introduce yourself, your interest in dentistry and ask if they would be willing to write a letter later in the semester. Then stop by every few weeks and ask a question or small talk. Works wonders.

Pick up a hobby or an interest that you have always had and learn everything you can on the subject. Then include it in your application.

there are some more. look around

 

[Laila L]

Thanks to both of you for the info, it is very helpful!!

 

[tinman831]

Moving to predental.

 

[ummjoey]

it would be nice to put on your application that you have a job. i think working shows the schools you can handle responsibilities.

i was also a peer dental mentor for the health office at my school.

dental club?

tutor?

i listed all my ECs in my predent profile.

 

[aggie-master]

If you keep your GPA up and have a decent score on the DAT, you'll definitely get in somewhere.

Just keep up the good work and give your best effort on the dAT.