Need advice!!!plz!!

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davidi5109

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Hello,
I'm currently a senior in UCLA.
Having dream of becoming dentist since my highschool, I've been in tremendous stress as becoming senior..

I came to US when I was 11 and became illegal since 9/11 happened. I really want to become dentist and am still waiting for any immigration reform that can give me hope of getting permanent residency that can help me to get in and pay for tuition for dental school.

At school, I have gpa of 3.4 (2 W's and A's and B's) and haven't taken DAT
yet. I am currently a president of student org, and got 120hrs of volunteering at dental office during summer.

Due to tutoring 4 children and making money to pay for rent and etc., I am currently having hard time managing my schedule and to study. My parents are working very hard to pay for my tuition and I've started to tutor kids since my sophomore year to help myself out financially without help from my parents besides the tuition, which is costly for my family.

After graduating, I have no plans and can't work or anything due to my current status. I would like to ask for any advice of what can I do during my gap years while i'm waiting and would really appreciate any help.

Also I would like to ask if it's okay for me to take DAT after graduating....and if there is any possible way of raising my chance of getting into dental school with my currently gpa and experience.

THANK YOU.
 
davidi5109 said:
Hello,
I'm currently a senior in UCLA.
Having dream of becoming dentist since my highschool, I've been in tremendous stress as becoming senior..

I came to US when I was 11 and became illegal since 9/11 happened. I really want to become dentist and am still waiting for any immigration reform that can give me hope of getting permanent residency that can help me to get in and pay for tuition for dental school.

At school, I have gpa of 3.4 (2 W's and A's and B's) and haven't taken DAT
yet. I am currently a president of student org, and got 120hrs of volunteering at dental office during summer.

Due to tutoring 4 children and making money to pay for rent and etc., I am currently having hard time managing my schedule and to study. My parents are working very hard to pay for my tuition and I've started to tutor kids since my sophomore year to help myself out financially without help from my parents besides the tuition, which is costly for my family.

After graduating, I have no plans and can't work or anything due to my current status. I would like to ask for any advice of what can I do during my gap years while i'm waiting and would really appreciate any help.

Also I would like to ask if it's okay for me to take DAT after graduating....and if there is any possible way of raising my chance of getting into dental school with my currently gpa and experience.

THANK YOU.
Click to expand...

It's not as bad as you think... you don't have to be a perm res. to be accepted to dental school and you don't have to be a perm res. to claim residency in some states.

Unless you have a lot of money, there's no way of you being granted perm res. while you are an undergrad student (maybe if you file for refugee, i am not familiar with that route). It's very hard to file for green card with only an undergrad degree, almost impossible. Once you graduate from your school, you will have 1-2 years where you are allowed to apply for work i think it's called PTO, look in to it.

The biggest problem for you is... HOW WILL YOU PAY FOR DENTAL SCHOOL? you will not qualify for credit-line in the US because your parents are not here... and if you struggle to pay for tuition in undergrad, dental school is going to cost way more. That's something you should really be looking in to.
 
Thank you so much for your reply.^^

My parents are actually here as undocumented(illegal) as well and I'm just waiting for DREAM ACT or any other immigration reform that can allow me to get green card.... as long as anything that comes out that grants me "legal" status, I can acquire green card right away... My family applied for green card long time ago, and we can get it soon..

I know that I can apply for dental school, but my family can't pay the tuition. I'm waiting for green card, so that I can go to military or apply for loan once I get accepted(hopefully) in the future.

Also I would like to ask if it's okay for me to take DAT after graduating due to limited time I have to study anything else besides for school...
 
davidi5109 said:
Thank you so much for your reply.^^

My parents are actually here as undocumented(illegal) as well and I'm just waiting for DREAM ACT or any other immigration reform that can allow me to get green card.... as long as anything that comes out that grants me "legal" status, I can acquire green card right away... My family applied for green card long time ago, and we can get it soon..

I know that I can apply for dental school, but my family can't pay the tuition. I'm waiting for green card, so that I can go to military or apply for loan once I get accepted(hopefully) in the future.

Also I would like to ask if it's okay for me to take DAT after graduating due to limited time I have to study anything else besides for school...
Click to expand...

Military scholarships have gotten competitive, i hear you need 3.5 these days.

Where are you from?(sounds like you are from south of the border) Are you enrolled at UCLA as an intl student?

Getting a greencard can take a very long time depending on your status. I am actually applying for a greencard, and in my case it usually takes about 5-8years.

But I have heard of people waiting 15+ years for their greencard.
 
davidi5109 said:
Thank you so much for your reply.^^

My parents are actually here as undocumented(illegal) as well and I'm just waiting for DREAM ACT or any other immigration reform that can allow me to get green card.... as long as anything that comes out that grants me "legal" status, I can acquire green card right away... My family applied for green card long time ago, and we can get it soon..

I know that I can apply for dental school, but my family can't pay the tuition. I'm waiting for green card, so that I can go to military or apply for loan once I get accepted(hopefully) in the future.

Also I would like to ask if it's okay for me to take DAT after graduating due to limited time I have to study anything else besides for school...
Click to expand...


Uhhh...it's America, it's gonna take awhile to get your green card. Get real, champ.
 
Um...

Idea... & YES THIS HAS BEEN DONE BY 4 people that I KNOW...

1. Why dont you apply to a graduate program which is easy to get into.

and let them sponsor your visa so you can pursue your graduate education. While applying to schools which accept international students then you can get the visa sponsored from the d-school. Once you graduate you go work for the dental clinics like the give kids a smile etc... and they will sponsor you visa then you will get a green card down the road.


2/4 did this

DID d-school in diff country. Then came back to US applying to masters program at cheap univ. and easy to get into and they sponsor them. While here they apply to international 2 year or 3 year dental program. yes it could take anywhere from 8-11 years. B/c some countries you have to do it for 5 years. Now they work for give kids a smile kind of clinic which sponsor there visa pay is unbelievable good.
 
take out some of the personal information. dont give out too much info. on the net.
 
Is there anything I can do to help myself with raising my chance of getting into dental school,,if possible.
I know my gpa is pretty low, and my extracurriculum isn't that great.. and I had pretty hard time dealing with school and managing time....
Any advice of what can I do to improve my chance n prepare myself during those gap years in the future???
 
Last edited:
peanutb123 said:
Um...

Idea... & YES THIS HAS BEEN DONE BY 4 people that I KNOW...

1. Why dont you apply to a graduate program which is easy to get into.

and let them sponsor your visa so you can pursue your graduate education. While applying to schools which accept international students then you can get the visa sponsored from the d-school. Once you graduate you go work for the dental clinics like the give kids a smile etc... and they will sponsor you visa then you will get a green card down the road.


2/4 did this

DID d-school in diff country. Then came back to US applying to masters program at cheap univ. and easy to get into and they sponsor them. While here they apply to international 2 year or 3 year dental program. yes it could take anywhere from 8-11 years. B/c some countries you have to do it for 5 years. Now they work for give kids a smile kind of clinic which sponsor there visa pay is unbelievable good.
Click to expand...

No! not every job can qualify you for greencard, you need to be a highly skilled worker, and dental assisting is not considered highly skilled.

The people you know were probably working as engineers/scientists (title of the job and the reputation of the employer plays a big role in greencard apps)

And both of your solutions will still req. a lot of money, he will not have his tuition reduced, going abroad to Austrailia might be slightly cheaper but countries like UK or Ireland is actually more expensive than in the US.

I am sorry OP, like lmaozedong1 said, this is America, getting a greencard in your situation is going to be nearly impossible.
 
DUDE delete all that personal information... people can track you down very easily...
 
In addition, I was thinking of going to graduate school, but it cost too much money since my family is having financial problem recently as economy goes down....
Are there any graduate school where I can do post-bac, or anything else where I can spend sometime actually doing something?
 
wantVCUdental said:
No! not every job can qualify you for greencard, you need to be a highly skilled worker, and dental assisting is not considered highly skilled.

The people you know were probably working as engineers/scientists (title of the job and the reputation of the employer plays a big role in greencard apps)

And both of your solutions will still req. a lot of money, he will not have his tuition reduced, going abroad to Austrailia might be slightly cheaper but countries like UK or Ireland is actually more expensive than in the US.

I am sorry OP, like lmaozedong1 said, this is America, getting a greencard in your situation is going to be nearly impossible.
Click to expand...


Lol i am pretty sure my cousins are dentists...
 
What do you meant by personal info??? I didn't really put any personal info I think...?
Thanx
 
Thing is that with my current status as "undocumented/illegal", I can't apply for green card...I just gotta wait for any immigration reform such as dream act...
Also even if I go to another country to go to dental school, I can't come back to US for more than 10 years....which means I can't see my family for long time...

I'm just wondering if there is anything I can do that is less costly and can spend time raising my chance of getting into US dental school.......TT
 
You school name, that you are this type of ethnicity, and you are president of this certain organization, your age.

Um... if i go to school website and do a small search i am pretty sure i can find you... so thats why i am telling you to delete that stuff before google cahce picks it up.
 
wantVCUdental said:
Can you tell us how your cousins did it? which forms did they file as "dental assistants" to qualify for greencard? Because that would help a lot of us...
Click to expand...

They are not DA. They are DENTISTS... They came here did their masters in dental science related then applied to the 2 & 3 year programs... Even the dentist that i was shadowing did the same thing... TO the OP... have you consider this last option falling in LOVE.... W/ US citizen 😉 and may be tying a knot... you are here might as well do it.
 
Well, getting married may be the option for me.....
It's just that no matter what kind of things I do, I can't obtain green card in my current status, as I have researched and talked to immigration lawyers regarding this info....
Just hoping that Dream Act or any kind of immigration reform passes that can help me to obtain green card...

Also just as a side note, will my current status as undocumented immigrant and having been in stressful circumstances regarded during admission when I apply to dental school, let's say once I obtain green card and is able to apply/financially able to pay for dental school?
 
davidi5109 said:
Hello,
I'm currently a senior in UCLA.
Having dream of becoming dentist since my highschool, I've been in tremendous stress as becoming senior..

I came to US when I was 11 and became illegal since 9/11 happened. I really want to become dentist and am still waiting for any immigration reform that can give me hope of getting permanent residency that can help me to get in and pay for tuition for dental school.

At school, I have gpa of 3.4 (2 W's and A's and B's) and haven't taken DAT
yet. I am currently a president of student org, and got 120hrs of volunteering at dental office during summer.

Due to tutoring 4 children and making money to pay for rent and etc., I am currently having hard time managing my schedule and to study. My parents are working very hard to pay for my tuition and I've started to tutor kids since my sophomore year to help myself out financially without help from my parents besides the tuition, which is costly for my family.

After graduating, I have no plans and can't work or anything due to my current status. I would like to ask for any advice of what can I do during my gap years while i'm waiting and would really appreciate any help.

Also I would like to ask if it's okay for me to take DAT after graduating....and if there is any possible way of raising my chance of getting into dental school with my currently gpa and experience.

THANK YOU.
Click to expand...

honestly friend, 99% of SDN members aren't going to be too helpful because we don't have these problems. Some dental schools are VERY strict about the type of applicants they accept (must be legal USA residents etc etc).... And the other problem is, 1 year of dental school will cost you between $60-90,000 (tuition + living expense)....How will you pay for this?

The BEST thing you can do is to call up every dental school you are interested in, and ask to speak with an admission counselor, they are there to help. Tell them your situation and ask them for advice.
 
davidi5109 said:
Well, getting married may be the option for me.....
It's just that no matter what kind of things I do, I can't obtain green card in my current status, as I have researched and talked to immigration lawyers regarding this info....
Just hoping that Dream Act or any kind of immigration reform passes that can help me to obtain green card...

Also just as a side note, will my current status as undocumented immigrant and having been in stressful circumstances regarded during admission when I apply to dental school, let's say once I obtain green card and is able to apply/financially able to pay for dental school?
Click to expand...

What's the difference between this situation and others involving people from Japan or Korea? I have several friends who are in med school that are of eastern decent and are not US citizens and the only thing they are here for is to attend school. Is this situation different because this person is already in the states? By the way, funding school internationally is difficult but not impossible. You have to go through private lending such as a bank from your home country. Also, as a senior at UCLA you should have been asking these questions about 2 years ago. Good luck and hope things work out.
 
This is a dumb question, but why can't you just apply for citizenship or get a green card or why didn't your parents? (I know this sounds ignorant, but I don't really understand. My parents had green cards and then became citizens and it didn't seem that hard.
 
Well..., I know it could've been easier way for my family...It's just that time I came, 9/11 happened about time our visa expired and some kind of agency guy or something took our money and all the necessary documents and ran away. When my family tried to get change visa, our previous visa became expired,,,,and we became illegal. It was just that my family was in bad circumstances...
 
Maygyver said:
This is a dumb question, but why can't you just apply for citizenship or get a green card or why didn't your parents? (I know this sounds ignorant, but I don't really understand. My parents had green cards and then became citizens and it didn't seem that hard.
Click to expand...

obtaining a green card post sep-11th has become one of the hardest things. In the old days (pre sep-11th), it used to take people approx 5 years from the time they first submitted thier green card application.

Today.... it takes.... no one exactly knows cause you apply and you wait, and wait, and wait, and wait some more lol. Estimates are 10+ years, but again, no one really knows haha.
 
Teach for America!!!

(i haven't read if anyone has suggested this yet, but here's the link)
http://www.teachforamerica.org/after-the-corps/graduate-school-partnerships/
There are many dental schools that are associated with this program and will deffer your acceptance for up to 2 years from MANY medical and dental schools across the nation!!! Check it out! They will also help you pay off any student loans you may have.
 
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