LORs for switching late

[Sean Shukoor]

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Hi,

I was a pre-med my whole college career until it dawned upon me that medicine may not be the right choice for me. I knew it wasn't for me from the beginning but because of the pressure from my family/friends, I went along with the flow until I realized that this is MY life and I will be the one that will be living with my choice for the rest of my life.

Anyways, so I started my researching/shadowing and came upon the conclusion that dentistry would probably be the only profession that I will enjoy doing.

Since I switched so late, do you think I will be able enough shadowing/volunteering hours for the next application cycle?

And more importantly, (anyone out there that has gone through a similar situation as me please feel free to comment), do you think that I should get my LORs from the committee at my school or from individual professors? The problem is that if I go through the committee, then they will rip me apart for my hours (seriously they love to "weed" out people at my place) and question my dedication, whereas if I go to individual professors, they will tell me that the committee is there for a reason

I guess I'm stuck either way, any advice would be greatly appreciated, especially from late switchers to dentistry

 

[Atticus]

Hi,

I was a pre-med my whole college career until it dawned upon me that medicine may not be the right choice for me. I knew it wasn't for me from the beginning but because of the pressure from my family/friends, I went along with the flow until I realized that this is MY life and I will be the one that will be living with my choice for the rest of my life.

Anyways, so I started my researching/shadowing and came upon the conclusion that dentistry would probably be the only profession that I will enjoy doing.

Since I switched so late, do you think I will be able enough shadowing/volunteering hours for the next application cycle?

And more importantly, (anyone out there that has gone through a similar situation as me please feel free to comment), do you think that I should get my LORs from the committee at my school or from individual professors? The problem is that if I go through the committee, then they will rip me apart for my hours (seriously they love to "weed" out people at my place) and question my dedication, whereas if I go to individual professors, they will tell me that the committee is there for a reason

I guess I'm stuck either way, any advice would be greatly appreciated, especially from late switchers to dentistry

Hi Sean,
Yes, I think you still have plenty of time to get enough shadowing and volunteering hours for this cycle. One thing to think about is this-- Did you do any volunteering in a hospital when you were thinking about medicine? Even if you have EC's (aside from shadowing, obviously) that are related to medicine, they are still EC's and still deemed valuable by admissions committees.
Re: Committee vs. individual letters-- Many schools REQUIRE that you have a committee letter if your institution has a committee, so you'll probably be forced to take that route regardless. Becuase the requirements of individual schools are different regarding LOR's, it is the best idea to just get the letter from the committee, as well as letters from individual professors and dentist(s), and submit them all as a packet to your schools (Many times, if you have a pre-health advisor, they will do this for you). I know it seems crappy to get so many different letters, however you really just need to suck it up and start requesting them now. I procrastinated on this, and ended up having complete applications much later thnn I should of.
Overall, if you stay focused you'll have no problems applying this cycle. I was in your exact position last year at this time (well, even a little bit later). I really finalized my decision to apply to dental school in the middle of last February, when I only had 20 shadowing hours. Luckily I had many other EC's because of my earlier interest in medicine, but really from March-June I studied for the DAT (couldn't commit a lot of time to it because intense work schedule). In this same time I also coordinated my NEW letters of recommendation (even though I had LORs for med school), got up to 50 hrs of shadowing (during the nights and on weekends), wrote my personal statement, and coordinated the rest of my application-- All of this while working 45 hours a week. Those months really kinda sucked but I knew I had to make it happen this cycle.
Anyway, It worked for me and I know it will work for you. Just stay focused!

 

[Sean Shukoor]

Thanks for the reply..That really helps a lot..I hope I can explain my situation to the committee

 

[javan287]

The problem is that if I go through the committee, then they will rip me apart for my hours (seriously they love to "weed" out people at my place) and question my dedication, whereas if I go to individual professors, they will tell me that the committee is there for a reason

The committee at my school was essentially the same way, in-class and out... just don't be afraid of them. As you said, it's your life and your decision and if you feel like dentistry is the right decision for you, don't let them talk you out of it. All you need to do is put your reasons for making the switch into words, and don't let them intimidate you.

 

[Sean Shukoor]

Thanks for the encouragement..by the way your last few words match very well with your avatar 😛