I feel like i have a great Recommendation letter from dentist, or am i just flatterring myself?

[MedTechtoDentist]

So I was able to get a recommendation letter from a dentist whom I shadowed. He used to be a Professor at a local dental school for 25 years. Was on the 9/11 team identifying victims and is on the state dental board. Since I really want to go to my local state school (not where he taught), I feel like people may know his name and that should help me ?

Of course, provided that the rest of my application is great.

Am I right on this, or flattering myself ?

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[dshen92129]

IMO any dentist that has some type of status in the dental field or is known for something is going to hold some type of weight.

 

[Michael_Scott]

ha, thats exactly what I thought but au contraire my friend.
It all comes down to your GPA and DAT. period. period. Now if they are deciding between you and another student, it may have an effect but very unlikely.

 

[TrevorwestDDS]

This is totally my opinion, but I think the content of the letter is more important than who writes it. If he can give genuine insights into your character and personality, then it will help make you a unique, hard to pass up applicant. For one of my letters, I chose a professor that taught a class in which I had received a B. Throughout the semester I spent a ton of time working directly with him just to manage that grade, but because of that, he knew my work ethic much better than a professor who taught a class I breezed through with an A.

 

[Master Yoda]

So I was able to get a recommendation letter from a dentist whom I shadowed. He used to be a Professor at a local dental school for 25 years. Was on the 9/11 team identifying victims and is on the state dental board. Since I really want to go to my local state school (not where he taught), I feel like people may know his name and that should help me ?

Of course, provided that the rest of my application is great.

Am I right on this, or flattering myself ?

I don't think his accomplishments will help you get into your local dental school. It depends on the content of the letter.

 

[FeralisExtremum]

I don't think letters make a big difference unless they are negative and raise a major red flag.

 

[doc toothache]

So I was able to get a recommendation letter from a dentist whom I shadowed. He used to be a Professor at a local dental school for 25 years. Was on the 9/11 team identifying victims and is on the state dental board. Since I really want to go to my local state school (not where he taught), I feel like people may know his name and that should help me ?Of course, provided that the rest of my application is great. Am I right on this, or flattering myself ?

He must be an exceedingly important guy judging by the capitalization of his former position. How much it will help you is a function of how well liked he is in academic circles.

 

[Kingfish23]

Imo, DAT + GPA >all else. Obviously a strong letter will help you more than a mediocre one. However, Adcoms are seeing thousands of letters per cycle, and as mentioned above, it is the content of the letter that matters most!

 

[MedTechtoDentist]

Me and him hit it off. I think he really likes me. So i think my letter wont be a generic one. Hopefully.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

Cool