Something tells me to share everything I have learned over the four years of undergrad to acceptance to dental school. I couldn’t imagine where I would be without the support and guidance of my family, friends, and mentors. I do hope everything written could be of some use. I encourage everyone to comment on their experiences and give their opinion since everyone’s path to becoming a dentist differs. Thank you!
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The first year of undergrad can be tumultuous; it’s a world of possibility, yet it feels as if there’s no single point to begin. When I stepped into my first class, I felt all I needed to do was “go with the flow.” Yet going in blindly is too risky. I needed a framework of goals and an overall strategy. I knew I wanted to be a clinician in the future. I primarily leaned toward dentistry but was also open to other options. All I knew was I needed the essential prerequisites, experiences, and grades. Here’s where my research began:
From a simple Google search on my choice school’s website, I learned about the requirements for GPA, DAT, volunteering, research, and more. Furthermore, I went to the ADEA website and SDN to get more statistics concerning IS/OS acceptance rates*. Having a basic framework in mind, I knew what dental schools would expect from a competitive applicant, especially regarding grades.
I wasn’t an extraordinary student in high school, primarily low A’s and B’s. I knew that if I wanted a high GPA, it wasn’t just hard work that would make it happen but strategy. Watching the study strategy playlist on Med School Insider’s YouTube channel, I learned about three study strategies I used throughout undergrad: Spaced Repetition, Active Learning, and Pomodoro Technique. After carefully considering how I knew, I realized that these study strategies led me to finish my undergraduate studies with a 4.0 GPA. Below, I included the playlist I used to develop how I learned. Having an overall plan for how to study, I turned my attention to extracurriculars.
Joining the PreDental Club was one of the most important choices of all my undergrads. Not only I met amazing friends, but I also found plenty of volunteering, shadowing, leadership, and clinical opportunities as well. Reaching out to dentist speakers and guest volunteer coordinators allowed me to join volunteer organizations, meet amazing mentors, and land a dental clinical job. Being an active member, both in the group chat and in person, allowed me to be known, and I eventually took leadership positions, such as VP and president. I found that just having these experiences doesn’t make them authentic experiences, though. Making an effort to help others, take leadership roles, and profoundly learn about dentistry allowed my extracurriculars to be meaningful. I found that many predental students have a checklist mentality; once they get the title, they do nothing with it. Dental schools can see right through this, and their questions probe whether these experiences are done for a genuine reason. My biggest advice is to do these experiences with passion. Do what you love, dental schools DO see it. Let’s talk about each type of experience and how (In my opinion) to make the most out of them.
Some schools require hundreds of shadowing hours, which sometimes seems almost useless. Like any experience, if you go in with the wrong mindset and reason, you will not get much out of it. The two primary uses for shadowing are determining whether dentistry is right for you and the equally important of FINDING A MENTOR. It is sometimes difficult to see and comprehend the procedure, but conversing with my dentist made all the difference. Getting a glimpse of the world of dentistry, both the good and the bad, shaped my view of the field. Who knows, maybe my mentors could help me in the future, either in dental school or once out in the field! Like many of my experiences, I found shadowing through my club, just like my dental job.
Working in a dental office is finicky. Not only do you have to balance school and work, but constantly learning new skills is an unspoken must. I found my orthodontic office technician job through an advertisement in my club group chat. Working at the office, I made sure to make myself useful, building up to become an assistant. Working in the dental field helped solidify my choice and made me realize that dentistry was right for me. Though my friends got accepted without clinical experience, working at an orthodontic office helped me practice fine mechanical aptitude and patient care while working in the mouth. It sounds self-explanatory, but having your hands in someone’s mouth makes all the difference. Having shadowing and clinical experience out of the way, let's talk about volunteering and miscellaneous experiences.
To make volunteering meaningful, like every other experience mentioned above, doing the extra mile makes all the difference. My biggest mistake during undergrad was having one of my volunteer experiences being just for the checkmark. I didn’t enjoy it; those who cared about the cause felt that way. Trust me, no one likes that one pre-health student who’s there on the resume. One of my best choices was deciding to find other experiences that would help the community and that would fall in line with what I liked. Combining good deeds with passion reflects the true you, something dental schools look at. I found my favorite volunteering experiences through my club and religious organizations.
I believe one of the primary reasons I became accepted to dental school is that, for the most part, everything I did was out of love and not for the application. In addition to all the experiences I mentioned above, I had many hobbies, including making jewelry, working out, and nature. Thousands of competitive applicants fit all the checkmarks, yet they have nothing to say. My biggest advice is to find the best method to make the grades you want and follow your heart when choosing your experiences. I do hope this post is helpful for y’all, and please make sure to visit the links below that helped me on my journey. Please feel free to share your story and advice as well. This will be a 6-part series of everything I learned up to acceptance. The next post will be about the DAT.
Dental School Website link:
U.S. Dental Schools| ASDA | ASDA
Dental School Statistics Links
Applicants, Enrollees and Graduates
https://boosterprep.com/admissions/dentistry/dental-schools
Study Strategy Links: This is one of the videos I used, the playlist is easy to find
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first year of undergrad can be tumultuous; it’s a world of possibility, yet it feels as if there’s no single point to begin. When I stepped into my first class, I felt all I needed to do was “go with the flow.” Yet going in blindly is too risky. I needed a framework of goals and an overall strategy. I knew I wanted to be a clinician in the future. I primarily leaned toward dentistry but was also open to other options. All I knew was I needed the essential prerequisites, experiences, and grades. Here’s where my research began:
From a simple Google search on my choice school’s website, I learned about the requirements for GPA, DAT, volunteering, research, and more. Furthermore, I went to the ADEA website and SDN to get more statistics concerning IS/OS acceptance rates*. Having a basic framework in mind, I knew what dental schools would expect from a competitive applicant, especially regarding grades.
I wasn’t an extraordinary student in high school, primarily low A’s and B’s. I knew that if I wanted a high GPA, it wasn’t just hard work that would make it happen but strategy. Watching the study strategy playlist on Med School Insider’s YouTube channel, I learned about three study strategies I used throughout undergrad: Spaced Repetition, Active Learning, and Pomodoro Technique. After carefully considering how I knew, I realized that these study strategies led me to finish my undergraduate studies with a 4.0 GPA. Below, I included the playlist I used to develop how I learned. Having an overall plan for how to study, I turned my attention to extracurriculars.
Joining the PreDental Club was one of the most important choices of all my undergrads. Not only I met amazing friends, but I also found plenty of volunteering, shadowing, leadership, and clinical opportunities as well. Reaching out to dentist speakers and guest volunteer coordinators allowed me to join volunteer organizations, meet amazing mentors, and land a dental clinical job. Being an active member, both in the group chat and in person, allowed me to be known, and I eventually took leadership positions, such as VP and president. I found that just having these experiences doesn’t make them authentic experiences, though. Making an effort to help others, take leadership roles, and profoundly learn about dentistry allowed my extracurriculars to be meaningful. I found that many predental students have a checklist mentality; once they get the title, they do nothing with it. Dental schools can see right through this, and their questions probe whether these experiences are done for a genuine reason. My biggest advice is to do these experiences with passion. Do what you love, dental schools DO see it. Let’s talk about each type of experience and how (In my opinion) to make the most out of them.
Some schools require hundreds of shadowing hours, which sometimes seems almost useless. Like any experience, if you go in with the wrong mindset and reason, you will not get much out of it. The two primary uses for shadowing are determining whether dentistry is right for you and the equally important of FINDING A MENTOR. It is sometimes difficult to see and comprehend the procedure, but conversing with my dentist made all the difference. Getting a glimpse of the world of dentistry, both the good and the bad, shaped my view of the field. Who knows, maybe my mentors could help me in the future, either in dental school or once out in the field! Like many of my experiences, I found shadowing through my club, just like my dental job.
Working in a dental office is finicky. Not only do you have to balance school and work, but constantly learning new skills is an unspoken must. I found my orthodontic office technician job through an advertisement in my club group chat. Working at the office, I made sure to make myself useful, building up to become an assistant. Working in the dental field helped solidify my choice and made me realize that dentistry was right for me. Though my friends got accepted without clinical experience, working at an orthodontic office helped me practice fine mechanical aptitude and patient care while working in the mouth. It sounds self-explanatory, but having your hands in someone’s mouth makes all the difference. Having shadowing and clinical experience out of the way, let's talk about volunteering and miscellaneous experiences.
To make volunteering meaningful, like every other experience mentioned above, doing the extra mile makes all the difference. My biggest mistake during undergrad was having one of my volunteer experiences being just for the checkmark. I didn’t enjoy it; those who cared about the cause felt that way. Trust me, no one likes that one pre-health student who’s there on the resume. One of my best choices was deciding to find other experiences that would help the community and that would fall in line with what I liked. Combining good deeds with passion reflects the true you, something dental schools look at. I found my favorite volunteering experiences through my club and religious organizations.
I believe one of the primary reasons I became accepted to dental school is that, for the most part, everything I did was out of love and not for the application. In addition to all the experiences I mentioned above, I had many hobbies, including making jewelry, working out, and nature. Thousands of competitive applicants fit all the checkmarks, yet they have nothing to say. My biggest advice is to find the best method to make the grades you want and follow your heart when choosing your experiences. I do hope this post is helpful for y’all, and please make sure to visit the links below that helped me on my journey. Please feel free to share your story and advice as well. This will be a 6-part series of everything I learned up to acceptance. The next post will be about the DAT.
Dental School Website link:
U.S. Dental Schools| ASDA | ASDA
Dental School Statistics Links
Applicants, Enrollees and Graduates
https://boosterprep.com/admissions/dentistry/dental-schools
Study Strategy Links: This is one of the videos I used, the playlist is easy to find
