nontraditional dental applicant

[jkim0626]

Some background about myself: I graduated from 4 year college in US with a BS degree by majoring in Biology. I attended international medical school. I have worked hard and passed the first year without problems. halfway through my second year, I have withdrew due to health issues. While I was in medical school, many things changed my perspectives and I have found passion in dental field. Long story short, I am working towards my application and making plans for what is best for me. I have 3.1 sGPA and 3.0 GPA overall. I know I do not have competitive GPAs.

I hope I do not sound like a medical school drop out who is just looking for a way out. I have many friends who are dental students and I know very well that dental school is often described more difficult than medical schools due to lecture+lab schedule. Although I was not even halfway through, having been in medical school, I know that studying to peruse a career in any health field is difficult and even more so if I do not have the passion.

I am asking for anyone's advice on few things:

1) How would I go about getting letter of recommendations since I have been out of undergrad for around 3 years? I have couple of professors and medical school I have attended who are willing to write me a letter.
2) Would the "medical school dropout" be a huge negative on the application? if so how much of a up hill battle would it be? I do understand that I must explain my reasons which I will on my personal statement.
3) Should I consider post bac, or masters program before trying for application cycle?


Thank you for reading my post and any advice is appreciated.

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[pubhealthdent]

Some background about myself: I graduated from 4 year college in US with a BS degree by majoring in Biology. I attended international medical school. I have worked hard and passed the first year without problems. halfway through my second year, I have withdrew due to health issues. While I was in medical school, many things changed my perspectives and I have found passion in dental field. Long story short, I am working towards my application and making plans for what is best for me. I have 3.1 sGPA and 3.0 GPA overall. I know I do not have competitive GPAs.

I hope I do not sound like a medical school drop out who is just looking for a way out. I have many friends who are dental students and I know very well that dental school is often described more difficult than medical schools due to lecture+lab schedule. Although I was not even halfway through, having been in medical school, I know that studying to peruse a career in any health field is difficult and even more so if I do not have the passion.

I am asking for anyone's advice on few things:

1) How would I go about getting letter of recommendations since I have been out of undergrad for around 3 years? I have couple of professors and medical school I have attended who are willing to write me a letter.
2) Would the "medical school dropout" be a huge negative on the application? if so how much of a up hill battle would it be? I do understand that I must explain my reasons which I will on my personal statement.
3) Should I consider post bac, or masters program before trying for application cycle?


Thank you for reading my post and any advice is appreciated.

At three years out, I would say you should get letters of rec from your med school faculty and dentists who you've shadowed or worked with. Asking someone to write a reference based on you being in their classes 3+ years ago would carry less weight, in my opinion.

With the dropping out, it's all going to depend on how you talk about it. In your essays, if you can spin it into like how you overcame some sort of adversity or realized that your passions lied elsewhere and knew that continuing with medicine was not what you truly desired than it could actually help you. It's easily all about how you make it sound. You have to make the schools believe that you made that decision because ultimately you knew that dentistry was your real passion.

Yes, your GPA is on the lower side but I've heard of people getting in with 3.0s. Do you have a competitive DAT score? You could always do a masters or post-bacc but you could also just try to apply to schools that have lower academic standards.

 

[NonTraDentalStudent]

I agree w/ the @pubhealthdent. It'd be tough, but it's not impossible. In response to your questions:

1. Even if you choose not to do a masters program, consider taking some advanced science courses, so you can make new connections w/ professors & get some excellent, current LORs. I'd think the MS letters would be beneficial as well. You'll absolutely want to get lots of shadowing hours, make solid connections with dentists & they will likely be willing to write for you as well.
2. You can spin this to work in your favor. Point out how med school led you to dentistry. As a fellow non-traditional student, I made a point of emphasizing how my previous career led me to dentistry, and how I (and my future patients) are better off for it.
3. A master's program absolutely wouldn't hurt

As far as GPA is concerned, I do feel that some schools may be a little more forgiving of nontraditional students. Personally, I didn't have a super competitive GPA, but that was also about 10 years ago & I had different priorities. Again, it's all about conveying how your experiences, good or bad, have made you a better student, and will make you a highly effective dentist.

Best of luck. You can get there!

 

[jkim0626]

At three years out, I would say you should get letters of rec from your med school faculty and dentists who you've shadowed or worked with. Asking someone to write a reference based on you being in their classes 3+ years ago would carry less weight, in my opinion.

With the dropping out, it's all going to depend on how you talk about it. In your essays, if you can spin it into like how you overcame some sort of adversity or realized that your passions lied elsewhere and knew that continuing with medicine was not what you truly desired than it could actually help you. It's easily all about how you make it sound. You have to make the schools believe that you made that decision because ultimately you knew that dentistry was your real passion.

Yes, your GPA is on the lower side but I've heard of people getting in with 3.0s. Do you have a competitive DAT score? You could always do a masters or post-bacc but you could also just try to apply to schools that have lower academic standards.

Thank you so much for the reply. Yes, I definitely agree that my personal statement needs to have a good explanation to why I dropped out and decided to go this route. I am currently planning to take to DAT around Feb or March of 2020 and go for the 2020 cycle. I think this will all depend on how I do on the DAT.

 

[jkim0626]

I agree w/ the @pubhealthdent. It'd be tough, but it's not impossible. In response to your questions:

1. Even if you choose not to do a masters program, consider taking some advanced science courses, so you can make new connections w/ professors & get some excellent, current LORs. I'd think the MS letters would be beneficial as well. You'll absolutely want to get lots of shadowing hours, make solid connections with dentists & they will likely be willing to write for you as well.
2. You can spin this to work in your favor. Point out how med school led you to dentistry. As a fellow non-traditional student, I made a point of emphasizing how my previous career led me to dentistry, and how I (and my future patients) are better off for it.
3. A master's program absolutely wouldn't hurt

As far as GPA is concerned, I do feel that some schools may be a little more forgiving of nontraditional students. Personally, I didn't have a super competitive GPA, but that was also about 10 years ago & I had different priorities. Again, it's all about conveying how your experiences, good or bad, have made you a better student, and will make you a highly effective dentist.

Best of luck. You can get there!

Thank you for your reply. I am currently planning to build up on my shadowing hours and do as best as I can on DAT and go for the 2020 cycle. Thank you for the supporting words. I should definitely work on my personal statement and most importantly do well on the DAT.