no research experience = bad?

[Longcatislong]

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How important do you guys believe research experience is to dental school applicants? I am a post-bacc student doing my prereqs. I majored in sociology, so as an undergrad I never really did any biological science research. And I doubt that as a post-bacc I'll be able to find any meaningful research opps any time soon.

So long as I have good grades, DAT and some dental shadowing experience will I be a competitive applicant?

 

[FROGGBUSTER]

dental schools, especially the upper-tier ones, love kids that do research.

i think if you just want to get an acceptance, good numbers + shadowing + some ECs + a solid interview can get you into lots of places. if you want to get an acceptance from a top-tier dental school without research experience, that's doable too, but you need to have some stellar things in your app.

what type of school are you aiming for?

 

[yappy]

How much research is considered "enough" research? By the time I apply I will only have ~9 months of cancer research experience.

 

[MrAvicii]

dental schools, especially the upper-tier ones, love kids that do research.

i think if you just want to get an acceptance, good numbers + shadowing + some ECs + a solid interview can get you into lots of places. if you want to get an acceptance from a top-tier dental school without research experience, that's doable too, but you need to have some stellar things in your app.

what type of school are you aiming for?

there are no rankings for d-schools, so whats considered "top tier" you mean ivy leagues that are good for specializing, but terrible for clinic?

 

[FROGGBUSTER]

How much research is considered "enough" research? By the time I apply I will only have ~9 months of cancer research experience.

9 months of research experience + a passion for it that comes out in your interviews should make a big difference in getting accepted, but what's even more impressive is if you actually have your name attached to some papers and/or strong letters from your supervisor.

 

[FROGGBUSTER]

there are no rankings for d-schools, so whats considered "top tier" you mean ivy leagues that are good for specializing, but terrible for clinic?

i mean the research-oriented dental schools, yes, like the ivies, ucla, ucsf, etc.

 

[MrAvicii]

How important do you guys believe research experience is to dental school applicants? I am a post-bacc student doing my prereqs. I majored in sociology, so as an undergrad I never really did any biological science research. And I doubt that as a post-bacc I'll be able to find any meaningful research opps any time soon.

So long as I have good grades, DAT and some dental shadowing experience will I be a competitive applicant?

as frogg said depends where you want to go to school. I wouldnt worry about it. I was a post bacc and only had time for minor research. you can still be admitted into d-school and while some may favor them i dont see it as a make or break my application type of thing.

 

[cottonschwab217]

I would highly discourage people from doing research just because they think they have to. If you really dislike research or have no interest in it, then don't do it. Spend that time you would have used on research to focus on things that actually appeal to you like volunteer work or shadowing or EC's. I think one of the biggest mistakes people make on their applications is that they do what they feel they have to do instead of what they actually want to do. I think it is fairly easy for interviewers to see through people who pad their apps with things they don't enjoy. Nothing could be worse, to me anyways, than having to talk about something you really disliked during an interview while having to pretend you loved it. I have zero research experience, but still got plenty of interviews, and a couple were to prestigious research heavy schools. Research is not nescessary, but if you choose not to do it make sure you can explain why and make sure you fill up your time with something else.

 

[dentalWorks]

How important do you guys believe research experience is to dental school applicants? I am a post-bacc student doing my prereqs. I majored in sociology, so as an undergrad I never really did any biological science research. And I doubt that as a post-bacc I'll be able to find any meaningful research opps any time soon.

So long as I have good grades, DAT and some dental shadowing experience will I be a competitive applicant?

I'll answer that with my own experience:
Last cycle, I applied to 18 schools, and had 9 interviews all before Dec 1st.... I made it VERY clear in my application that I had zero research experience AND that I had no interest whatsoever in any research (wanted to be clinician 100%).

Even on of the schools that accepted me is notorious of having top research program (U of Michigan).

So to answer your question, research does NOT make you more competitive at most dental schools.

 

[Double Bonded]

I don't have any research: 6 interviews only 1 of which I consider "top tier".

Why didn't I do research: I was lazy and it looked like boring grunt work.

 

[knugget]

I would highly discourage people from doing research just because they think they have to. If you really dislike research or have no interest in it, then don't do it. Spend that time you would have used on research to focus on things that actually appeal to you like volunteer work or shadowing or EC's. I think one of the biggest mistakes people make on their applications is that they do what they feel they have to do instead of what they actually want to do. I think it is fairly easy for interviewers to see through people who pad their apps with things they don't enjoy. Nothing could be worse, to me anyways, than having to talk about something you really disliked during an interview while having to pretend you loved it. I have zero research experience, but still got plenty of interviews, and a couple were to prestigious research heavy schools. Research is not nescessary, but if you choose not to do it make sure you can explain why and make sure you fill up your time with something else.

the hardest part is finding a lab in which you are genuinely interested in their work, that coupled with a supervisor who allows you to maintain your normal schedule and only requires flexible hours.

disclaimer: i'm not applying this cycle, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

 

[flapaTron]

there are no rankings for d-schools, so whats considered "top tier" you mean ivy leagues that are good for specializing, but terrible for clinic?

man. you're just full of gems aren't you

 

[MrAvicii]

man. you're just full of gems aren't you

just stating the obvious 🙂 dont be mad at the truth, be mad at the schools.

 

[iralex801]

Research is boringgggggggggg zzzzzzzzzz. I didn't do any and I got some interviews. IMO it's not necessary.

 

[UltimateHombre]

I personally haven't done any hardcore biological research, but i have done some social science research... is this something i should put under the research section? What do dental schools think of social science research?

 

[flapaTron]

just stating the oblivious 🙂 dont be mad at the truth, be mad at the schools.

fixed that for you.

 

[HMI]

How important do you guys believe research experience is to dental school applicants? I am a post-bacc student doing my prereqs. I majored in sociology, so as an undergrad I never really did any biological science research. And I doubt that as a post-bacc I'll be able to find any meaningful research opps any time soon.

So long as I have good grades, DAT and some dental shadowing experience will I be a competitive applicant?

I got into UCSF with no research experience and I know of another classmate that had no research either. I honestly think that your GPA and DAT are the most important factors for Dental school admission.

 

[FROGGBUSTER]

So to answer your question, research does NOT make you more competitive at most dental schools.

I really have to disagree. You can get into research-oriented schools if you have great grades+DAT, but research (and especially an intention to continue research while in dental school) definitely makes you more competitive. I interviewed at UCLA recently and that is all my interviewer and I talked about for 45 minutes, even though I myself have no research experience! The top dental schools want students who will contribute to the field.

 

[Jackson-Ave-Dental]

I really have to disagree. You can get into research-oriented schools if you have great grades+DAT, but research (and especially an intention to continue research while in dental school) definitely makes you more competitive. I interviewed at UCLA recently and that is all my interviewer and I talked about for 45 minutes, even though I myself have no research experience! The top dental schools want students who will contribute to the field.

lol yeah... they want people who'll make discoveries and be on the front page news and then the school will step in and say, "Guess where he went to school?"

 

[toothexplore]

I really have to disagree. You can get into research-oriented schools if you have great grades+DAT, but research (and especially an intention to continue research while in dental school) definitely makes you more competitive. I interviewed at UCLA recently and that is all my interviewer and I talked about for 45 minutes, even though I myself have no research experience! The top dental schools want students who will contribute to the field.

i am currently a full-time researcher, cannot stand it. but what my understanding is, having publications (though not imperative), will give you a leg up in credibility for anything you wish to pursue

 

[duckdds]

I know at Michigan, one of presentations was about research at that school and she started off saying "All of you here have done science research before..."

Depends on the school, there are some that really value it and there are some that don't give a rats ass about it.

 

[jeffity]

Guess I'm just going to be a peon clinician from a no-name school who doesn't contribute to the field and just waits for you guys to publish the journals so I know what to do next.

 

[dentalWorks]

I really have to disagree. You can get into research-oriented schools if you have great grades+DAT, but research (and especially an intention to continue research while in dental school) definitely makes you more competitive. I interviewed at UCLA recently and that is all my interviewer and I talked about for 45 minutes, even though I myself have no research experience! The top dental schools want students who will contribute to the field.

You can literally count the number of research oriented schools with 1 hand (you might need an extra finger or two) and even those schools accept students whom have zero research experience.

To make your self competitive for dental schools (in general), one needs GPA and DAT, everything else is secondary.

 

[toothexplore]

You can literally count the number of research oriented schools with 1 hand (you might need an extra finger or two) and even those schools accept students whom have zero research experience.

To make your self competitive for dental schools (in general), one needs GPA and DAT, everything else is secondary.

the latter statement is true, but I would bank research pretty high up in the ECs.
i'm going to go ahead and disclaim the first statement, because i think all accredited schools are also "research institutions"

a university's reputation is often governed by how much funding they receive.
your contribution to the school = high impact publications = funding
so yes, schools will like it if you pursue research and have the previous experience to backup your desire

 

[FLOSS UR TEETH]

You can literally count the number of research oriented schools with 1 hand (you might need an extra finger or two) and even those schools accept students whom have zero research experience.

To make your self competitive for dental schools (in general), one needs GPA and DAT, everything else is secondary.

I would have to disagree with a lot of your comments. IMO research definitely can put you a leg up especially with a publication. How do you think Thomas Edison invented the light bulb? The answer is from research. By learning through research, sky is the limit and to be quite frank, without research dentistry would not be nearly as advanced as it is today. No matter if the school is research oriented or not I would be willing to bet that admissions would definitely appreciate an applicant with genuine research experience- it can only be a plus.

To answer the OP's question, no you won't lose points for not having research but IMO research will only help you out. Numbers aren't everything.

 

[dentalWorks]

I would have to disagree with a lot of your comments. IMO research definitely can put you a leg up especially with a publication. How do you think Thomas Edison invented the light bulb? The answer is from research. By learning through research, sky is the limit and to be quite frank, without research dentistry would not be nearly as advanced as it is today. No matter if the school is research oriented or not I would be willing to bet that admissions would definitely appreciate an applicant with genuine research experience- it can only be a plus.

To answer the OP's question, no you won't lose points for not having research but IMO research will only help you out. Numbers aren't everything.

the latter statement is true, but I would bank research pretty high up in the ECs.
i'm going to go ahead and disclaim the first statement, because i think all accredited schools are also "research institutions"

a university's reputation is often governed by how much funding they receive.
your contribution to the school = high impact publications = funding
so yes, schools will like it if you pursue research and have the previous experience to backup your desire

This what happens when you take a life time achievement (example: Edison 's light bulb) and apply it to everything..... Majority of your typical pre-dental applicants are simply getting involved in whatever research just to put that down on the application, and schools know that..... Therefor, its not exactly a measure

I have personally spoke with admission members (from my schools and other schools) whom SPECIFICALLY said that research is overrated and "we usually don't consider it a strong factor for our entering class".....

And to show my point: I think 2 years in a row ('08 and '09) U of Michigan was awarded the most research grants out of all dental schools in the nation (I think UCLA came in 2nd or 3rd for those 2 years)..... I made my intentions VERY clear during my interview that I would not get involved with research and yet... I was still accepted, how do you explain that?

I said it before and I'll keep saying it, research will not make you more competitive at MOST dental schools.... and IMO, its an irrelevant factor. If you have extra time to kill and your truly not interested in research, spend it wisely studying harder for the DAT, or raise the GPA, don't waste your time with research unless you have a real genuine interest in the matter.

 

[HoustonDAT]

guess i'm just going to be a peon clinician from a no-name school who doesn't contribute to the field and just waits for you guys to publish the journals so i know what to do next.

lol

 

[jirotrom]

Well, I go to Baylor and its pretty heavy on research but you don't need it to get in. I have never done research and they don't expect students to have really done anything significant in research. If you have, awesome ass it wont hurt but I can tell you point blank, its not needed and you shouldn't stress.

EDIT: BTW, completely agree with dentalworks

 

[r2thekesh]

Why is there such a negative opinion about research?

When you treat a patient, you make a diagnosis, create a treatment plan, then do the treatment, and record the results. When you do science, you ask a question, hypothesize an answer, plan/do an experiment, and record the results.

Another question to ask is what is the difference between being a dentist and a trade profession? It isn't eight years of post high school education (because many people apprentice/learn for much longer) or crazy tuition. It's research and advancing the field.

But that research doesn't need to be lab research. It can be a private practitioner publishing a public health study. It can be someone trying a new treatment or new technique. Or it can be lab research.

Did you realize that much of the research going on now is the reason dental schools are switching to the DMD idea that dentistry is part of the human physiology? Or that a dentist can diagnose a childhood leukemia in close to 30% of the cases up to 6 weeks before a medical doctor?

If I have any concrete advice for any of you is to keep an open mind and learn to read scientific papers. It helps your critical thinking, your reading score on the DAT, and you may learn something that can help your future patients.

But I'm just a fellow pre-dental so what do I know?

 

[flapaTron]

Why is there such a negative opinion about research?

When you treat a patient, you make a diagnosis, create a treatment plan, then do the treatment, and record the results. When you do science, you ask a question, hypothesize an answer, plan/do an experiment, and record the results.

Another question to ask is what is the difference between being a dentist and a trade profession? It isn't eight years of post high school education (because many people apprentice/learn for much longer) or crazy tuition. It's research and advancing the field.

But that research doesn't need to be lab research. It can be a private practitioner publishing a public health study. It can be someone trying a new treatment or new technique. Or it can be lab research.

Did you realize that much of the research going on now is the reason dental schools are switching to the DMD idea that dentistry is part of the human physiology? Or that a dentist can diagnose a childhood leukemia in close to 30% of the cases up to 6 weeks before a medical doctor?

If I have any concrete advice for any of you is to keep an open mind and learn to read scientific papers. It helps your critical thinking, your reading score on the DAT, and you may learn something that can help your future patients.

But I'm just a fellow pre-dental so what do I know?

one of the better posts in this thread. 👍

 

[UltimateHombre]

I said it before and I'll keep saying it, research will not make you more competitive at MOST dental schools.... and IMO, its an irrelevant factor. If you have extra time to kill and your truly not interested in research, spend it wisely studying harder for the DAT, or raise the GPA, don't waste your time with research unless you have a real genuine interest in the matter.

Ya i totally agree with this as well. Out of the 62 dental schools maybe 10 are super research oriented. So DW is totally correct in saying, it wont make you more competitive at MOST schools (most being the other 52).

I also 100% agree that GPA and DAT is the most important factors in getting into dschool. These are based on statistical data and evidence. Everything that is related to EC's is completely anecdotal and opinionated evidence, simply because there are no statistical averages for # of research hours per applicant or # of volunteer hours per applicant.

At the end of the day your DAT and GPA get you into dschool. No amount of EC's, research, or publications will make up for a sub par of either. So your time is better invested in good grades and DAT studying.

 

[Longcatislong]

Ya i totally agree with this as well. Out of the 62 dental schools maybe 10 are super research oriented. So DW is totally correct in saying, it wont make you more competitive at MOST schools (most being the other 52).

I also 100% agree that GPA and DAT is the most important factors in getting into dschool. These are based on statistical data and evidence. Everything that is related to EC's is completely anecdotal and opinionated evidence, simply because there are no statistical averages for # of research hours per applicant or # of volunteer hours per applicant.

At the end of the day your DAT and GPA get you into dschool. No amount of EC's, research, or publications will make up for a sub par of either. So your time is better invested in good grades and DAT studying.

Which ~10 schools might these be?

 

[MrAvicii]

Ya i totally agree with this as well. Out of the 62 dental schools maybe 10 are super research oriented. So DW is totally correct in saying, it wont make you more competitive at MOST schools (most being the other 52).

I also 100% agree that GPA and DAT is the most important factors in getting into dschool. These are based on statistical data and evidence. Everything that is related to EC's is completely anecdotal and opinionated evidence, simply because there are no statistical averages for # of research hours per applicant or # of volunteer hours per applicant.

At the end of the day your DAT and GPA get you into dschool. No amount of EC's, research, or publications will make up for a sub par of either. So your time is better invested in good grades and DAT studying.

+1 👍 you and dw hit it right on the head. You can use the ADEA surveys for further evidence that "soft factors" like EC, research, etc. are not nearly as important as a High GPA + High DAT combo. I'd rather give up research while taking classes instead of doing worse in those classes because I had less time to study due to research.

People on this site dont quite use the #s to their advantage as they should. Theres really no need to guess what factors adcoms find most important. That info is widely available, one should use it to make the best choices possible to maximize their chances of admission. There's no need for "I think" or "I feel" type decisions in the application process. Best to always use past results for future success (although this doesnt work 100% of the time; it does work the majority of the time.)

 

[UltimateHombre]

Which ~10 schools might these be?

There are a few that have a long standing reputation of being research oriented... a few that come to mind: Harvard, Columbia, UPenn, UCLA, UCSF, UMich, UConn, maybe UMinn. To be honest there are so few, they are hard to think of...

Sure every dental school has "research opportunities", but the fact is that Dentistry, for the most part as a profession, is vastly more clinical than research or academic oriented. There will always be research, but the vast majority of predents are going into dentistry to be clinicians... not scientists.

If you don't believe me... look into the number of DDS/PhD programs out there... not a whole lot. In fact the number is almost negligible when compared to MD/PhD programs. If you are truly interested in research why not go for the PhD or even MD... way more opportunities there. The fact is that most of us predents are going into dentistry for one or more of the following reasons: it allows for a comfortable lifestyle, where we pick our hours, run a business, not be on call, while still having meaningful patient interactions. Research is really not apart of that spectrum... again this is for a majority of predents, not everyone.

And remember, this is just my opinion, take it for what it is worth... not much.

 

[jirotrom]

Why is there such a negative opinion about research?

When you treat a patient, you make a diagnosis, create a treatment plan, then do the treatment, and record the results. When you do science, you ask a question, hypothesize an answer, plan/do an experiment, and record the results.

Another question to ask is what is the difference between being a dentist and a trade profession? It isn't eight years of post high school education (because many people apprentice/learn for much longer) or crazy tuition. It's research and advancing the field.

But that research doesn't need to be lab research. It can be a private practitioner publishing a public health study. It can be someone trying a new treatment or new technique. Or it can be lab research.

Did you realize that much of the research going on now is the reason dental schools are switching to the DMD idea that dentistry is part of the human physiology? Or that a dentist can diagnose a childhood leukemia in close to 30% of the cases up to 6 weeks before a medical doctor?

If I have any concrete advice for any of you is to keep an open mind and learn to read scientific papers. It helps your critical thinking, your reading score on the DAT, and you may learn something that can help your future patients.

But I'm just a fellow pre-dental so what do I know?

Don't worry, when you are in you will be forced to do this anyways and to be honest at least for me I couldn't care less at the moment. You have so many other classes that weigh far more towards your grade that you see reading scientific papers and analyzing them as a distraction. To be honest there isn't that much research going on by actual dentists in the field, there is a grat lack o them, but hey you sound like a person who would go that DDS PHD route... more power to ya!

 

[jirotrom]

Ya i totally agree with this as well. Out of the 62 dental schools maybe 10 are super research oriented. So DW is totally correct in saying, it wont make you more competitive at MOST schools (most being the other 52).

I also 100% agree that GPA and DAT is the most important factors in getting into dschool. These are based on statistical data and evidence. Everything that is related to EC's is completely anecdotal and opinionated evidence, simply because there are no statistical averages for # of research hours per applicant or # of volunteer hours per applicant.

At the end of the day your DAT and GPA get you into dschool. No amount of EC's, research, or publications will make up for a sub par of either. So your time is better invested in good grades and DAT studying.

Also, I don't believe these completely true, I feel EC's do count alot, at my Interviews all we talked about was how I was a music major... If you do research you better know that research well, because some of my friends got bum roasted with questions on the research they had a part in. Research requires you having a fire for what you are investigating, If you are just doing it to pad your app for dental school entrance, don't waste your time. Depending on your dental school you will get research opportunities. I'm at a school where I think a little more than 50% of the students do research after D1 year because we are offered so many opportunities to participate.

 

[MrAvicii]

Here is some Proof. Instead of trying to guess whats the most important factor. Here it is:

As you can see the Most important factors by using the Very Important column are sGPA, oGPA and non-science GPA. An interview is the most important out of those 4 but lets leave that alone.

Now assuming that Research falls inline with either Community Service or Professional Experience (doesnt matter how you look at it) schools still find it to be a 32 or 35 on the "Somewhat Important" scale, but look at Letters of Rec that are at 31 on the Very Important line!!!! DAMN! Your letters are more important than your research 😱 Yup ladies and gents! this is what schools have reported for the 2009 to 2010 cycle and thats how they feel.

So now we can rest easy and stop using the spotty logic of "I think" or "I feel" Its always best to hear it straight from the horses mouth 🙂

 

[toothexplore]

Here is some Proof. Instead of trying to guess whats the most important factor. Here it is:

As you can see the Most important factors by using the Very Important column are sGPA, oGPA and non-science GPA. An interview is the most important out of those 4 but lets leave that alone.

Now assuming that Research falls inline with either Community Service or Professional Experience (doesnt matter how you look at it) schools still find it to be a 32 or 35 on the "Somewhat Important" scale, but look at Letters of Rec that are at 31 on the Very Important line!!!! DAMN! Your letters are more important than your research 😱 Yup ladies and gents! this is what schools have reported for the 2009 to 2010 cycle and thats how they feel.

So now we can rest easy and stop using the spotty logic of "I think" or "I feel" Its always best to hear it straight from the horses mouth 🙂

32 or 35 is not the scale, its the number of schools. yes, more schools value letters over experience... but 23 schools still find its "Very important." thats about 1/3 to 1/2 of all schools and im positive each of us had applied to said schools

 

[toothexplore]

also, "somewhat important" is still pretty important to me so long story short, just do whatever you can to backup good stats.

 

[MrAvicii]

32 or 35 is not the scale, its the number of schools. yes, more schools value letters over experience... but 23 schools still find its "Very important." thats about 1/3 to 1/2 of all schools and im positive each of us had applied to said schools

so compare 31 very important in LOR vs 23 in the others haha that makes it even that much worse. I understand your enthusiasm but "somewhat important" is just that. its not the same as very important and doesnt receive the same weight or consideration. (just saying)

 

[GO BABY GO]

Here is some Proof. Instead of trying to guess whats the most important factor. Here it is:

As you can see the Most important factors by using the Very Important column are sGPA, oGPA and non-science GPA. An interview is the most important out of those 4 but lets leave that alone.

Now assuming that Research falls inline with either Community Service or Professional Experience (doesnt matter how you look at it) schools still find it to be a 32 or 35 on the "Somewhat Important" scale, but look at Letters of Rec that are at 31 on the Very Important line!!!! DAMN! Your letters are more important than your research 😱 Yup ladies and gents! this is what schools have reported for the 2009 to 2010 cycle and thats how they feel.

So now we can rest easy and stop using the spotty logic of "I think" or "I feel" Its always best to hear it straight from the horses mouth 🙂

take a good look at this graph avicii posted people. If all the schools except 3 feel professional experience is very important-somewhat important then OBVIOUSLY doing research will not hurt you and will probably HELP you if anything. Of course research looks good. This should be a no brainer and common sense; it's even evidenced by our friend avicii who was kind enough to post the ada chart saying so.

and by the way, no one is saying it is more important than GPA or DAT dentalworks and whoever else arguing this topic.. but its something that can merely make an applicant stronger if they aren't as strong in the GPA or DAT area. This does not mean an applicant can have very low GPA and DAT and get in because he/she did research but it can make one stand out a little more.

 

[MrAvicii]

Here is a list of schools that consider Professional Experience (Assuming Research is lumped into this category) to be Very Important:

(Notice how the Ivys are not even on this list LOL 😕)


UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA
WESTERN UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES
UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
MEDICAL COLLEGE OF GEORGIA
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, CHICAGO
INDIANA UNIVERSITY
LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI, KANSAS CITY
U. OF MEDICINE & DENTISTRY AT NEW JERSEY
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, BUFFALO
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
CASE SCHOOL OF DENTAL MEDICINE
UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA
MEHARRY MEDICAL COLLEGE
UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE
TEXAS A&M, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF DENTISTRY
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, HOUSTON
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, SAN ANTONIO
VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO

 

[MrAvicii]

take a good look at this graph avicii posted people. If all the schools except 3 feel professional experience is very important-somewhat important then OBVIOUSLY doing research will not hurt you and will probably HELP you if anything. Of course research looks good. This should be a no brainer and common sense; it's even evidenced by our friend avicii who was kind enough to post the ada chart saying so.

lol thanks for twisting my logic around and putting words in my mouth. No one said it wasnt important, the point is that Research is LESS important than Letters of Rec. (meaning more schools find it "Very Important" to have strong LORs vs. having Prof Experience.)

 

[GO BABY GO]

.

 

[toothexplore]

Here is a list of schools that consider Professional Experience (Assuming Research is lumped into this category) to be Very Important:

(Notice how the Ivys are not even on this list LOL 😕)


UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA
WESTERN UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES
UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
MEDICAL COLLEGE OF GEORGIA
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, CHICAGO
INDIANA UNIVERSITY
LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI, KANSAS CITY
U. OF MEDICINE & DENTISTRY AT NEW JERSEY
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, BUFFALO
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
CASE SCHOOL OF DENTAL MEDICINE
UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA
MEHARRY MEDICAL COLLEGE
UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE
TEXAS A&M, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF DENTISTRY
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, HOUSTON
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, SAN ANTONIO
VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO

how is this even possible when many schools not on the list impose MANDATORY shadowing hours

the ADEA guide is discrepant, cuz as far as i'm concerned, "REQUIRED" trumps any level of "importance"

 

[GO BABY GO]

lol thanks for twisting my logic around and putting words in my mouth. No one said it wasnt important, the point is that Research is LESS important than Letters of Rec. (meaning more schools find it "Very Important" to have strong LORs vs. having Prof Experience.)

dude u really need to start looking at the previous posts before being so quick to comment (look at ur previous posts in other threads for example lol).. people are completely bashing research on this thread.. and you just proved that research is important-somehwhat important for 99% of the schools whether you like it or not lol

NOONE who is in favor of research said that research is more important than LOR, GPA, DAT.. we are merely saying that there is absolutely no harm in doing research, so you my friend stop putting words into our mouths.

 

[MrAvicii]

avicii dude u really need to start looking at the previous posts before being so quick to comment (look at ur previous posts in other threads for example lol).. people are completely bashing research on this thread.. and you just proved that research is important-somehwhat important for 99% of the schools whether you like it or not lol

NOONE who is in favor of research said that research is more important than LOR, GPA, DAT.. we are merely saying that there is absolutely no harm in doing research, so you my friend stop putting words into our mouths.

theres no harm in applying to d-school either, but i was just trying to show what the schools consider more important. Therefore I would rather focus on my GPAs and LORs then on Research (which yields less benefit than the other aspects.)

 

[SN1]

I almost a junior in college who have completed all of my prereqs. I have ZERO EC related to dentistry, am I f****?

 

[GO BABY GO]

theres no harm in applying to d-school either, but i was just trying to show what the schools consider more important. Therefore I would rather focus on my GPAs and LORs then on Research (which yields less benefit than the other aspects.)

so do you believe that by just having a good GPA and LOR, but no extracurriculars, will give you the best shot at getting into any dental school? So do you believe extracurriculars don't mean anything? just curious everyone is entitled to their own opinion i guess.

 

[GO BABY GO]

I almost a junior in college who have completed all of my prereqs. I have ZERO EC related to dentistry, am I f****?

IMO, yes. lol not really that maybe a lil harsh. but seriously, you are just limiting your options by not having any experience at all with dentistry. it will be that much harder for you to gain admission.