How important is research for dental school?

[Jack8276]

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I am not looking to get into the best dental schools. I just want to get into a dental school, doesn't matter which as long as it is affordable. How important is research? Will I be fine as long as I do well on the DAT and my GPA.

 

[LifeLineBlue]

I think the consensus here on SDN is to do research only if you are really interested in it. There are many other extracurricular activities you can get involved in that would be beneficial for your application. Just so you know though, there is an entire subsection on the AADSAS application dedicated to research, however, in the end, its entirely up to you. Will research look good to some schools? maybe. Will other schools not even care about it? probably. It all depends. Just make sure you actually enjoy participating in any activity you do, everything will fall into place in the end.

 

[distressstudent]

Do not make it a priority unless you are absolutely interested.

 

[shyfox9p]

It looks good to some schools. Others are like "Meh"

 

[Demilaax]

Vague question. It depends on what you have on your application, it certainly wont hurt your app. But to answer your question, it's possible to get accepted anywhere without any research experience. Now...things will change if you're going for the dual degree with PhD

 

[DentalDoge]

Do not make it a priority unless you are absolutely interested.

Yeah cause then theyll ask you about it.

EDIT: you guys are dinguses, posting in such short successions. Added quote.

 

[sjv]

Can only help you but not required.

 

[tooth knockn]

Yeah cause then theyll ask you about it.

EDIT: you guys are dinguses, posting in such short successions. Added quote.

You are a a-hole....

That's not nice to say.....

 

[Mycoalwin]

Not to hijack this thread but...

Aiming for top schools, would more dental exposure be more valuable then having an "okay" amount of dental exposure + research (in other words, will it add that much icing to the cake)? One only has so much time on his/her hands!

 

[LaughingGas]

It is possible to interview and get accepted without research, however 2 interviewers from 2 different schools were researchers; I had nothing to say that were interesting to them.

 

[dental_eddie]

I got in with 0 hours of research. It depends on the schools you are applying too.

 

[KermitMorgenstein]

It is not important for gaining an acceptance into dental school. However if you are interested then try it. LifeLineBlue sums it up