How important is applying early?

[bdrensch]

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I'm a former pre-med student, that just decided my senior year that I am more passionate about dental medicine. unfortunately this puts me back a little, not to mention I didn't decide to go pre-med until halfway through my undergrad anyways. Needless to say I have alot of EC, dental clinic, research and volunteering work to do. What would you say is more important? Building my resume and applying later or simply applying early with a decent resume but less than ideal, EC wise?

Thanks!

 

[doc toothache]

After doing some shadowing, you may well decide that dentistry is not for you.

 

[bdrensch]

I have shadowed. I was more talking about other extracurriculars. I've got little to no volunteer work, I wasn't part of any clubs, and I just started research. I have a lot of work to do in the extracurricular departments and I have a lot lined up for the next year. I have yet to take the DAT (I am confident I will do well) and my GPA is relatively average. WIll probably have a BCP of 3.69 and 3.75 cumulative after I graduate, but with a strong upward trend. I'm from South Dakota, so unfortunately there is no dental school, so I also have the challenge of apply Out-of-state strictly. With most application cycles opening up in May and closing in October, there is alot of work I could accomplish during that time, but I'm unsure if applying early is more important than building my resume or not.

 

[Glimmer1991]

Just get everything in before August. Submitting a few weeks earlier isn't as important as, say, a better DAT score or meeting the minimum number of shadowing hours.

 

[Luna724]

Just get everything in before August. Submitting a few weeks earlier isn't as important as, say, a better DAT score or meeting the minimum number of shadowing hours.

Continuing on what Glimmer said, getting a higher DAT score is vastly more important than simply stacking up shadowing hours as long as you meet the minimum requirement.

 

[bdrensch]

Perfect! Thank you guys, I appreciate the help. 🙂

 

[DRTigerJK]

It's not impossible. I was in a similar situation and started to pursue dentistry during April of last year. I actually did not start shadowing until June. I have 1 acceptance, 1 waitlist, 1 interview in 3 days and one I turned down. (And I am considered an international student also)

Now, if you want the best chance to get in and if you are SET on dentistry, start now. Study for the DAT and get a respectable score - higher the better and start asking for those letters of rec. My application completion was later than I wanted to because some Recs were not submitted early.

 

[Contach]

I submitted my applications in late october, but didn't get my final letters of recommendations in until early december. I got my first interview a few days after that. I ended up getting plenty of interview invites.

If you have a good application, applying late doesn't hinder you too much.

I too was deciding between dentistry and medicine. Chose dentistry early in my 3rd year of undergrad... Now, after graduating from dental school, I am in medical school (2nd year at the moment) going for OMFS. Oh the places we will go!

 

[bdrensch]

I submitted my applications in late october, but didn't get my final letters of recommendations in until early december. I got my first interview a few days after that. I ended up getting plenty of interview invites.

If you have a good application, applying late doesn't hinder you too much.

I too was deciding between dentistry and medicine. Chose dentistry early in my 3rd year of undergrad... Now, after graduating from dental school, I am in medical school (2nd year at the moment) going for OMFS. Oh the places we will go!

That's great to hear! Thanks for the advice. Congrats on the OMFS program, that would be my ideal situation and is exactly what I hope to do with my dental career in the distant future. good luck 🙂

 

[bdrensch]

It's not impossible. I was in a similar situation and started to pursue dentistry during April of last year. I actually did not start shadowing until June. I have 1 acceptance, 1 waitlist, 1 interview in 3 days and one I turned down. (And I am considered an international student also)

Now, if you want the best chance to get in and if you are SET on dentistry, start now. Study for the DAT and get a respectable score - higher the better and start asking for those letters of rec. My application completion was later than I wanted to because some Recs were not submitted early.

Out of curiosity, what were your stats?

 

[Faux]

You have six months until June. Sounds like enough time to get an EC or two and do some hours. The dental research isn't exactly necessary. You're on your winter break now, I would try and get a dentist to shadow since it can take some time to actual find one. Also go through cliffs and make some flash cards so that you can review through the cards through the actual semester. Unlike general chemistry and organic, biology tends to need time to sink in.