Last Minute Shadowing/Volunteering

[DenTalFluoride]

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Hi guys, I'm planning on applying to dental schools this cycle. However, my shadowing and dental volunteering hours are severely lacking with about 20 and 50 respectively. I know I'm in a bad position as some schools have a minimum of 50 shadowing. As I just graduated and finished my DAT Monday, I have nothing to do at all for July. Is it safe to push my application until August 1st to rack in hours since it'll take time process the scores anyway?

I've already started to pound in 4 hours a day for volunteering in my usual dental clinic which will hopefully total to an additional 80 hours by August 1st. I've been also emailing dentists for shadowing opportunities and ideally shadow for 3-4 hours a day (with two separate dentists so I don't bother them too much). In the end, I'll have a total of about 80 hours shadowing and 130 dental volunteering. I also have an additional 40 hours of general volunteering.

Will it look bad that I crammed in most of my hours into one month? If I actually accomplish this, I feel it at least shows determination. I really don't have a choice, but I was wondering what everyone else thinks. Thanks


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[FeralisExtremum]

1. Your volunteering doesn't have to be dental related - if you have other volunteering hours of any kind those will suffice

2. I agree that 20 hours of dental volunteering is pretty low, but it also won't necessarily look good if you raise those hours by cramming them all into a single 1-2 month period right before applying. The point of shadowing is to show you have some experience or idea of what dentistry as an occupation will be like, and ideally it helps motivate you and shape your desire for going into dentistry over time. When you do the vast majority all at once right before applying, it comes across as a very transparent attempt to meet a minimum threshold for application purposes. Same goes for volunteering.

Like you said though, you really don't have a choice at this point.

 

[DenTalFluoride]

1. Your volunteering doesn't have to be dental related - if you have other volunteering hours of any kind those will suffice

2. I agree that 20 hours of dental volunteering is pretty low, but it also won't necessarily look good if you raise those hours by cramming them all into a single 1-2 month period right before applying. The point of shadowing is to show you have some experience or idea of what dentistry as an occupation will be like, and ideally it helps motivate you and shape your desire for going into dentistry over time. When you do the vast majority all at once right before applying, it comes across as a very transparent attempt to meet a minimum threshold for application purposes. Same goes for volunteering.

Like you said though, you really don't have a choice at this point.

Thanks for the reply. I didn't decide on dentistry until my first time shadowing a dentist on January 2016 during my junior year. But I definitely I agree I should have allocated my hours better. It'll be topic I'll have to address in my personal statement

 

[Illstartmydiet2maro]

Hi guys, I'm planning on applying to dental schools this cycle. However, my shadowing and dental volunteering hours are severely lacking with about 20 and 50 respectively. I know I'm in a bad position as some schools have a minimum of 50 shadowing. As I just graduated and finished my DAT Monday, I have nothing to do at all for July. Is it safe to push my application until August 1st to rack in hours since it'll take time process the scores anyway?

I've already started to pound in 4 hours a day for volunteering in my usual dental clinic which will hopefully total to an additional 80 hours by August 1st. I've been also emailing dentists for shadowing opportunities and ideally shadow for 3-4 hours a day (with two separate dentists so I don't bother them too much). In the end, I'll have a total of about 80 hours shadowing and 130 dental volunteering. I also have an additional 40 hours of general volunteering.

Will it look bad that I crammed in most of my hours into one month? If I actually accomplish this, I feel it at least shows determination. I really don't have a choice, but I was wondering what everyone else thinks. Thanks


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If you've done 80 hours just write 120.. no biggie to exaggerate a little. I asked my dentist and he was totally chill about it he doesn't even keep track lol