You know, my parents would do something similar when I took my SATs and was applying for undergrad--they'd tell all their friends that I scored over 2000 on my SATs when I got something in the 1800's, and it'd piss me off because I'd say the real score to my friends, but their parents would have been told something 200 pts higher. In my opinion, I didn't think it was that they thought highly of me, I felt that it was more of them not being looked down upon by their friends (even though I attended a top 25 university). Therefore, this time around for my dental apps, I'm the one who is calling all the shots. The only thing I let them do was tell their friends which school I was planning on attending. I told them they can't talk about anything else, and the only reason I gave them the liberty to even discuss that one school right now is because they paid for the entire app process and they had to listen to me everyday talking about the entire application process.
Though I might be complaining right now, I couldn't have done all of this without my parents' support. I know that they always have my best interest at heart, and I hope every other person out there knows that their parents are looking out for their best interest, too.
Someone earlier said that their dad was saying that they were in med school, and didn't even mention the switch to dentistry--a lot of people have asked me why I'm interested in dentistry and not medicine (as if medicine is the sole good job out there...) and I proceeded to then explain each and every one of the reasons I had. Perhaps, you could do the same thing with your parents and explain to them the benefits of being in dentistry rather than medicine? Hah, think of it as a killer interview.
To all of you who are still in touch with your parents, try talking to them and filling them in on this process. My parents aren't in any field even remotely related to healthcare, but now, they can hold their own in an entire conversation about dentistry and the application process because they had to listen to me vent about this application process. If you tell your parents the stats about where other people are and how you compare, and how out of 12000 applicants this year, only 5000 students will actually matriculate into dental school, and how the school you are planning on attending only interviews 300 out of the 3000 applications it received, and then only accepted 100 out of 300 interviewees, I'm sure your parents would get a better understanding of how hard their child worked in this process, and how damn smart their child is, and how proud they should be of their child for accomplishing such a great feat.
My parents keep telling me that a parent can never give up on their child, and as their child I believe that a child cannot give up on their parents. Sorry for getting so sentimental, but I believe it's really important to keep your loved ones in the loop, because this is about to get a lot more real in the upcoming months, and I know I will need their support to push me along in dental school in the upcoming 4 years.
P.S. If the OP and other posters on this thread could drop a line about if they've gotten into a dental school or not this cycle, it'd be much appreciated. I tend to be a sucker for happy endings, and I really hope all of you have gotten into the dental school of your choice! And if not, keep trying and you got thiss!! Good luck to you all! 🙂
