waikiki said:
Good point Fariba,
Let me give you an update. I checked the AADSAS site yesterday and they finally have my GPAs posted (the previous GPAs I had were roughly calculated on my own).
Cum.GPA-3.66
Sci GPA-3.31
Activities- shadowing a pediatric dentist (not too many hrs though), hospital volunteer, mentor, pianist, piano tutor, pre-dental society and a few small stuff 😡
Honors- Dean's list (3 semesters)
Condensed, but should give you an idea of what I've been doing.
Thanks.
YOUR GPA WENT UP!!!!! Thats awesome
So that helps a little...
I think its great that you volunteered at a hospital - volunteering always helps with schools like ASDOH, Penn, OSU, UNC, Minnesota, UofM, MCG (if you are a resident), Howard, USC, and UoP. They all have programs that incorporate working in underserved areas. There are many others, but I tried to narrow them down to schools where you would probably be more competitive in, with your stats. (Some of those schools dont take too many out of staters, though... but you didnt tell me what your residency status is.) You will probably have a better chance of schools that are in your state.
The piano tutor part is a plus - having skills as a teacher will help you in so many ways, specifically - patience and communication when dealing with patients.
I didn't understand the mentor part. You may have to elaborate on that.
Finally, in my opinion I think you have a chance for some interviews. However, I would highly recommend either getting a job with a dentist to get some clinical training so that when you DO go for your interviews and they ask why you want to be a dentist - you will have the right amount of exposure to give them a reason you can back up.
Shadowing a pediatric dentist for a few hours will not give you the amount of exposure you really need (I am sure you had a blast in the office- but this field of dentistry is TOTALLY different than the others) Find the time to shadow all the different specialties and make notes of the various procedures you saw and of those that interested you. There are about 7 specialty practices you can go observe in. So about 4 hours per office gives you 28 hours of observation. You could do more than that if you wanted.
Point is, get some more exposure to the field.
Oh, and I am pretty sure most pre-dental students are a part of some kind of pre-dental club or society. It will most likely be on a lot of applications, so dont rely on that to make your app. stand out.
Your stats are good, you seem to have the passion to become a dentist. But, the admissions comittee may not see that right away. Work on getting some more exposure and you will be all set! I hope I helped.
I wish you the VERY best of luck, waikiki.
j/k
