Official AADSAS Q&A Thread 2020-2021

[S_Diamond_DDS]

Thank you so much! You gave me so much relief. I had a mental breakdown over this HAHA.
One last question, small mistake like this doesn't affect admission at all right? especially when they can figure out easily that it was a silly mstake?? It is my first applying so I get lots of anxiety

Yeah it’s not that big of a deal. If it was a grammatical/spelling error on your personal statement or something, then I might be more worried for you.

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[macsak]

Yeah it’s not that big of a deal. If it was a grammatical/spelling error on your personal statement or something, then I might be more worried for you.

lol

 

[FutureDentDee]

What is the best way to add conferences to your application? Also, it is worth it to list small 1 day volunteer experiences separately?

 

[NJ_Doc]

is there a way I can see the small paragraphs and total hours I wrote for my experiences in the Experience section of AADSAS? I did not save my small explanations and would like to review those before I do interviews with some schools just to practice some answers to questions.

 

[S_Diamond_DDS]

is there a way I can see the small paragraphs and total hours I wrote for my experiences in the Experience section of AADSAS? I did not save my small explanations and would like to review those before I do interviews with some schools just to practice some answers to questions.

Where you submitted your application, you should see a place where you can download your entire app, what you wrote in your experiences section should be in the download.

 

[AJAAJA]

My application just got verified. It took 4 days. Is it normal? I thought it would take about 2-4 weeks to get verified.

 

[S_Diamond_DDS]

My application just got verified. It took 4 days. Is it normal? I thought it would take about 2-4 weeks to get verified.

Yes it’s normal.

 

[artist2022]

My application just got verified. It took 4 days. Is it normal? I thought it would take about 2-4 weeks to get verified.

Since it's been about a month since the application opened up, taking less time is normal as most people submit right in June --> thus the possible 2-4 week wait time. When I applied way back in August 2017, it only took 3 days So it's fine, don't worry about it. Focus on filling out secondaries for schools that don't have it on AADSAS, paying secondary fees, and making sure your app is complete at every school so that it can start to be reviewed.

 

[stuff curry]

After submitting my application, I noticed afterwards that I had left out contact information for an experience. I have contact information for my other experiences and only this one was left off. I should have paid closer attention before submitting my application and now feeling a lot of regret. Is it reasonable to contact schools that I've submitted my application to and update them on that information? Thanks

 

[S_Diamond_DDS]

After submitting my application, I noticed afterwards that I had left out contact information for an experience. I have contact information for my other experiences and only this one was left off. I should have paid closer attention before submitting my application and now feeling a lot of regret. Is it reasonable to contact schools that I've submitted my application to and update them on that information? Thanks

If it is not your most crucial experience then I would just let it go. If they care enough to ask about it, then they will and just explain what happened. Technically, there could be a lot of reasons why you left off the contact info. If it is like the crown jewel of your experiences (this was your 2000 hour experience, where the others were 10 hours or was something important to your app in a major way) then maybe you could update your profile with a duplicate experience only this time you add the contact info? Just some thoughts... But yes, you could also send them emails, I just always tried to avoid emailing my schools with my mistakes, especially since there’s a good chance they won’t notice (or care) in the first place.

 

[stuff curry]

If it is not your most crucial experience then I would just let it go. If they care enough to ask about it, then they will and just explain what happened. Technically, there could be a lot of reasons why you left off the contact info. If it is like the crown jewel of your experiences (this was your 2000 hour experience, where the others were 10 hours or was something important to your app in a major way) then maybe you could update your profile with a duplicate experience only this time you add the contact info? Just some thoughts... But yes, you could also send them emails, I just always tried to avoid emailing my schools with my mistakes, especially since there’s a good chance they won’t notice (or care) in the first place.

I'm not sure if the experience would be considered my crown jewel but it is important to my application. Would duplicating my experience and adding the contact info be frowned upon? Assuming that I add in the description that I have updated the contact info.

 

[S_Diamond_DDS]

I'm not sure if the experience would be considered my crown jewel but it is important to my application. Would duplicating my experience and adding the contact info be frowned upon? Assuming that I add in the description that I have updated the contact info.

Well it seems to me you only have 3 options: email schools, leave it alone, or duplicate the experience. Pick your poison. Either way, I don’t think it will be a big enough deal that it would change your trajectory this cycle, in terms of interview invites/acceptances. When I think it all over I think in your situation, I’d choose option B, simply leave it alone.

 

[Dentist_T]

Hello All!

So quick question, I was able to do some more shadowing and I would like to post an update to AADSAS - which is straightforward enough., but I was curious does anyone know how the schools are notified of the update?

Would it be good to email the schools' admissions committees to make sure they received it? I've heard people doubling an update confirmation email as a letter of interest as well, do you think that is a good idea? (I am super nervous whenever I am trying to email a school because I know they're all busy and I don't want to bug them you know?)

Anyway, I guess I am just asking for general thoughts and/or advice on the topic!

Thanks and good luck everyone

 

[lji200001]

How many experiences should you limit yourself to?

 

[artist2022]

I was curious does anyone know how the schools are notified of the update?

Would it be good to email the schools' admissions committees to make sure they received it? I've heard people doubling an update confirmation email as a letter of interest as well, do you think that is a good idea? (I am super nervous whenever I am trying to email a school because I know they're all busy and I don't want to bug them you know?)

They're get a notification that an update was made to your application. You can email them as well but if it's only a few hours (<50 imo), I wouldn't bother with an email, unless it really boosts your app (if you had less than 100).

How many experiences should you limit yourself to?

Probably 20, unless you had really, really significant ones.

 

[predentttbear]

Hi, should I be concerned if my app status for UoP went from 'waiting to receive additional materials' to 'none' after submitting my supplementaries?

 

[PreDentGator2021]

Hi, should I be concerned if my app status for UoP went from 'waiting to receive additional materials' to 'none' after submitting my supplementaries?

I don’t think so, it labeled me as “none” for awhile before switching to under review

 

[Dentist_T]

Hello Again Everyone,
I have got a new question for y'all.
So I have been shadowing, but that "shadowing" quickly turned into a sterilization tech/dental assisting, which has been really really fun, but I am in no way an actual licensed dental assistant. All of my training has been on the spot and informal (I mean it's not like I do much other than hold the suction anyway haha) but I was wondering how much of these details should I include in this whole application process (ie experiences section/ interviews) I mean I assume by virtue of the dentist allowing me to do all these things that everything is fine and we're not breaking any rules -- but I've been pretty worried about it so I wanted to reach out and see if anyone had any thoughts?

Also if I did end up updating my AADSAS with this would it serve me better in the shadowing section or as a dental experience?

Thanks!

 

[S_Diamond_DDS]

Hello Again Everyone,
I have got a new question for y'all.
So I have been shadowing, but that "shadowing" quickly turned into a sterilization tech/dental assisting, which has been really really fun, but I am in no way an actual licensed dental assistant. All of my training has been on the spot and informal (I mean it's not like I do much other than hold the suction anyway haha) but I was wondering how much of these details should I include in this whole application process (ie experiences section/ interviews) I mean I assume by virtue of the dentist allowing me to do all these things that everything is fine and we're not breaking any rules -- but I've been pretty worried about it so I wanted to reach out and see if anyone had any thoughts?

Also if I did end up updating my AADSAS with this would it serve me better in the shadowing section or as a dental experience?

Thanks!

if you need the hours to reach the minimum number, then keep it as shadowing. In this case, I would not go into the fact that you weren’t observing the doc and only talk about what you learned from the doc while observing him in the shadowing description. If you have enough shadowing hours, you could probably label this as dental assisting or something else you see fit as a dental experience. If you did it this way, you could explain all the things you got to do. Anything you did will not break any rules as it was done under the overseeing doctor’s license.

 

[Dentist_T]

if you need the hours to reach the minimum number, then keep it as shadowing. In this case, I would not go into the fact that you weren’t observing the doc and only talk about what you learned from the doc while observing him in the shadowing description. If you have enough shadowing hours, you could probably label this as dental assisting or something else you see fit as a dental experience. If you did it this way, you could explain all the things you got to do. Anything you did will not break any rules as it was done under the overseeing doctor’s license.

Ah ok, that makes clears things up a lot. I figured I was fine since I was under the dentist's supervision, but I wanted to be sure so I didn't inadvertantly get her in into some kind of trouble.

I have around 70 shadowing hours which is definitely above the minimums of all the schools I applied to. I've put in around 100 hours thus far with this new experience so I was on the fence about whether to bolster up my shadowing or list it separately.

I think I am going to list it as an experience rather than shadowing that way I have the opportunity to talk about all of the hands-on experiences I was exposed to!

Your advice is very much appreciated!

 

[hoping4dmd]

Hey everyone I wrote about one sentence for each of my experience descriptions and am wondering if that is enough as I already submitted my applications. I assumed that since the admissions committee has thousands of applications to go through, it would be better to just write 1 or 2 short, incomplete sentences for each activity since I have about 8. However, I am having some second thoughts but have already submitted my application. Should I be worried?

 

[NJ_Doc]

Incomplete sentences like resume style is fine as long as you get your full description across. It's usually a good idea to keep it to resume length + 1 or 2 more sentences to add detail about the experience since admission committee's that are not familiar with your region, undergrad institution, etc may need more of a description. I could of put one sentence for my job as a waiter but I went into what I learned about leadership and interpersonal communication, for example. There is a max character count for a reason. Either way I wouldn't worry since there isn't much you can do after being verified.

 

[hoping4dmd]

Incomplete sentences like resume style is fine as long as you get your full description across. It's usually a good idea to keep it to resume length + 1 or 2 more sentences to add detail about the experience since admission committee's that are not familiar with your region, undergrad institution, etc may need more of a description. I could of put one sentence for my job as a waiter but I went into what I learned about leadership and interpersonal communication, for example. There is a max character count for a reason. Either way I wouldn't worry since there isn't much you can do after being verified.

Thank you! Do you think that it is fine that for some of my sentences, I wrote: "organize ..., participating... and contacting..." instead of: "organizing ..., participating..., and contacting..."? As in I did not put a comma before the "and" in my list and my verbs were not the same (not all the verbs ended with "ing")?

Also, should I bother including a 4 hour experience where I boothed at a dental conference?

 

[alpark]

Hello! I will be reapplying this cycle, and I was wondering if my official DAT score report from last year is still valid for the schools that I applied to last year. I will be applying to the same schools + 5 more schools, and I wanted to know if I have to request an official score report for all of the schools again or just the 5 additional schools. Thank you!

 

[Dentist_T]

Hello! I will be reapplying this cycle, and I was wondering if my official DAT score report from last year is still valid for the schools that I applied to last year. I will be applying to the same schools + 5 more schools, and I wanted to know if I have to request an official score report for all of the schools again or just the 5 additional schools. Thank you!

I believe DAT scores are valid for up to 3 years (correct me if I am wrong anyone). As for the schools getting the score, I wouldn't know. But there is a way you can check.

If you go to the "check status" tab in your AADSAS application you will be able to see whether or not AADSAS received your official score report. In that tab, you can also download your application exactly how the schools would see it and see if your official score report is included in it. Otherwise, I would say you'd probably have to re-order official score reports. (If you have to re-order, I'd say just reorder for the 5 schools you know you are applying to, otherwise, that would be very expensive!)

Hope that helps a little bit!

 

[S_Diamond_DDS]

Thank you! Do you think that it is fine that for some of my sentences, I wrote: "organize ..., participating... and contacting..." instead of: "organizing ..., participating..., and contacting..."? As in I did not put a comma before the "and" in my list and my verbs were not the same (not all the verbs ended with "ing")?

Also, should I bother including a 4 hour experience where I boothed at a dental conference?

I was always told to write in complete sentences. These descriptions can be kept to 1-2 sentences. Yes, you could include a 4 hr conference. Be sure to highlight a specific insight(s) you gained from this experience.

 

[alpark]

I believe DAT scores are valid for up to 3 years (correct me if I am wrong anyone). As for the schools getting the score, I wouldn't know. But there is a way you can check.

If you go to the "check status" tab in your AADSAS application you will be able to see whether or not AADSAS received your official score report. In that tab, you can also download your application exactly how the schools would see it and see if your official score report is included in it. Otherwise, I would say you'd probably have to re-order official score reports. (If you have to re-order, I'd say just reorder for the 5 schools you know you are applying to, otherwise, that would be very expensive!)

Hope that helps a little bit!

Thank you so much! That was super helpful

 

[macsak]

Hi, i was wondering how they wanted us to answer the "description of childhood residency" portion.

describe where you resided as a child...

 

[hoping4dmd]

I was always told to write in complete sentences. These descriptions can be kept to 1-2 sentences. Yes, you could include a 4 hr conference. Be sure to highlight a specific insight(s) you gained from this experience.

Thanks! Am I screwed then? As I already submitted with incomplete, list-like sentences. I just added the 4hr conference but didn't highlight specific insights because for all my other activities, I did not do this and wanted to keep my descriptions consistent. Will this affect my chances? I've already paid so much for all the applications (

 

[S_Diamond_DDS]

Thanks! Am I screwed then? As I already submitted with incomplete, list-like sentences. I just added the 4hr conference but didn't highlight specific insights because for all my other activities, I did not do this and wanted to keep my descriptions consistent. Will this affect my chances? I've already paid so much for all the applications (

Oh my bad, thought you hadn’t submitted yet. No, there’s more than one acceptable way to do it. As long as your descriptions are easy to read as incomplete sentences, then you’re fine. And whatever description you gave for the conference is fine, just was making a suggestion not realizing you had already submitted.

 

[Fth24]

Will my application still be considered as early for this cycle? When are apps considered late?

 

[AJ2017025]

A lot of schools have sent invites this time last year and even earlier. Are a lot of schools going to wait until late August or even September to start sending them because many haven't taken their DAT? Hoping it doesn't completely throw away the better chances for those who had a complete application Day 1.

 

[kavitykween]

Hey everyone! I just had a couple of specific questions regarding the experiences section that I could hopefully get some help on:

1. I participated as a volunteer teaching assistant at a summer camp at my university for two separate summers (2015 & 2017). I was considering just combining the two experiences into one entry with the different dates, however upon looking at the AADSAS application, I am unable to enter in two different start and end dates. Should I just make two separate entries for the same experience and give slightly different descriptions for the two entries?
2. I am currently a sterile tech/hygiene assistant at a dental office and I was wondering under which "experience type" this would go under? Since it's obviously dental related, I am assuming it would go under the "Dental Experiences" section, however since it is my current job I wasn't sure if it would be filed under "Employment"?
3. I held a year-long position in my universities dental club, however my club (and many of the clubs on campus) did not have an "official" supervisor. When entering in this experience, is it mandatory that there be a supervisor listed for contact information? And would it be frowned upon by admissions committees/AADSAS if I left that section blank for this experience?

 

[S_Diamond_DDS]

Hey everyone! I just had a couple of specific questions regarding the experiences section that I could hopefully get some help on:

1. I participated as a volunteer teaching assistant at a summer camp at my university for two separate summers (2015 & 2017). I was considering just combining the two experiences into one entry with the different dates, however upon looking at the AADSAS application, I am unable to enter in two different start and end dates. Should I just make two separate entries for the same experience and give slightly different descriptions for the two entries?
2. I am currently a sterile tech/hygiene assistant at a dental office and I was wondering under which "experience type" this would go under? Since it's obviously dental related, I am assuming it would go under the "Dental Experiences" section, however since it is my current job I wasn't sure if it would be filed under "Employment"?
3. I held a year-long position in my universities dental club, however my club (and many of the clubs on campus) did not have an "official" supervisor. When entering in this experience, is it mandatory that there be a supervisor listed for contact information? And would it be frowned upon by admissions committees/AADSAS if I left that section blank for this experience?

1. You might just make it one experience from 2015-2017, since it looks cleaner. Your hours should reflect only having worked there for two years. And you could say in the description, I worked at the camp in the summers of 2015 and 2017.

2. It could go under employment or dental experience. I’d probably categorize it under dental experience, since this title carries more weight.

3. No.

 

[Dentalskier]

Hey! I have a question regarding inputting our experiences, honors, and awards. Does the order in which we put them into the portal matter? I noticed that my experiences are automatically organized chronologically based on when the experience began. I have already submitted and my experiences are still ordered chronologically on the PDF, but I was wondering if the schools see the order that I put them into the portal. Thank you in advance.

 

[TheRealDrDRE]

Is it okay to not fill out all of the pre-requisite boxes? For instance I'll be taking physics this fall but didn't put that on my unofficial transcripts though that'll be on my official transcript. Should I try to change this if I've submitted my transcripts for review? Will not having pre-reqs done automatically disqualify me? Please help, thanks!

 

[S_Diamond_DDS]

Hey! I have a question regarding inputting our experiences, honors, and awards. Does the order in which we put them into the portal matter? I noticed that my experiences are automatically organized chronologically based on when the experience began. I have already submitted and my experiences are still ordered chronologically on the PDF, but I was wondering if the schools see the order that I put them into the portal. Thank you in advance.

I believe it organizes for you (don’t have to do anything extra) both by chronological order and how you categorized it. You can verify this by going to the page where you would submit and then downloading your app to see what the school(s) will see (before you click submit).

 

[stuff curry]

Hey! I have a question about updating experiences. Currently, I am volunteering at a local food bank and I have should have some (60+) volunteering hours to add to my application. I feel that this could help my application out this cycle as I do not have much volunteering hours currently. My question is, if I add this experience into my application through ADSAAS, would schools get notified of this? Should I email them to update them to draw more attention to this? Thanks!

 

[kavitykween]

Hey everyone I have another quick question! I am using Interfolio for LORs and they just notified that one of my letter writers did not include a signature in the closing. It is on official letterhead. Should I contact the writer (the dentist I shadowed) for an edited version? I don't really want to bug them with something so small, but I know it is important for Committees to ensure legitimacy.

 

[S_Diamond_DDS]

Hey everyone I have another quick question! I am using Interfolio for LORs and they just notified that one of my letter writers did not include a signature in the closing. It is on official letterhead. Should I contact the writer (the dentist I shadowed) for an edited version? I don't really want to bug them with something so small, but I know it is important for Committees to ensure legitimacy.

Yes, you’ll need that signature.

 

[kavitykween]

Yes, you’ll need that signature.

Thank you for the feedback! I just sent an email to my dentist, and she definitely added a handwritten, physical signature on the letter Is there any way that Interfolio could have gotten this incorrect by chance? And should I just call Interfolio and ask, since the letter is confidential, for them to check?

 

[artist2022]

Is it okay to not fill out all of the pre-requisite boxes? For instance I'll be taking physics this fall but didn't put that on my unofficial transcripts though that'll be on my official transcript. Should I try to change this if I've submitted my transcripts for review? Will not having pre-reqs done automatically disqualify me? Please help, thanks!

You need to fill those boxes out, otherwise you will not be able to submit to that specific school. You need to add all planned courses that you have, and match those. Up until you pay for your first application, you can change your transcript. If you have already paid, you won't be able to make any changes to your transcript until August 15th, when you'll only be able to ADD classes.

Hey! I have a question about updating experiences. Currently, I am volunteering at a local food bank and I have should have some (60+) volunteering hours to add to my application. I feel that this could help my application out this cycle as I do not have much volunteering hours currently. My question is, if I add this experience into my application through ADSAAS, would schools get notified of this? Should I email them to update them to draw more attention to this? Thanks!

Schools will be notified. It's up to you to email but they're busy as it is and may not respond anyway.

 

[S_Diamond_DDS]

Thank you for the feedback! I just sent an email to my dentist, and she definitely added a handwritten, physical signature on the letter Is there any way that Interfolio could have gotten this incorrect by chance? And should I just call Interfolio and ask, since the letter is confidential, for them to check?

Yes call interfolio. They can verify whether the letter has a signature or not.

 

[kavitykween]

Hey guys, I have another question/problem regarding the letter of recommendation section on AADSAS. As I was entering my LOR's, I received a notice from Interfolio claiming that one of my letters (from my dentist whom I shadowed) did not get her letter properly submitted through the quality check and apparently was missing her physical signature. She resubmitted it through Interfolio and got it re-checked by quality control and had it corrected. Unfortunately, when I went back to my AADSAS account, I am now unable to remove her previous letter of rec that I had initially submitted. Would there be any way to send my schools this re-evaluated letter of rec? Or should I contact AADSAS to see what they recommend? Since I haven't submitted my entire application yet, I'm slightly stuck on how I should proceed from here.

 

[S_Diamond_DDS]

Hey guys, I have another question/problem regarding the letter of recommendation section on AADSAS. As I was entering my LOR's, I received a notice from Interfolio claiming that one of my letters (from my dentist whom I shadowed) did not get her letter properly submitted through the quality check and apparently was missing her physical signature. She resubmitted it through Interfolio and got it re-checked by quality control and had it corrected. Unfortunately, when I went back to my AADSAS account, I am now unable to remove her previous letter of rec that I had initially submitted. Would there be any way to send my schools this re-evaluated letter of rec? Or should I contact AADSAS to see what they recommend? Since I haven't submitted my entire application yet, I'm slightly stuck on how I should proceed from here.

Call aadsas first. Maybe they have a unique solution. They’ll probably tell you you’ll need to send the signed letter directly to admissions at each school. Honestly, it’s not that hard to do. Just get the admissions address info and send. I think express send is even an option. Just be sure to let admissions know you’re sending it, the reason, and that they’ll need to attach it to your submitted aadsas app.

 

[kavitykween]

Call aadsas first. Maybe they have a unique solution. They’ll probably tell you you’ll need to send the signed letter directly to admissions at each school. Honestly, it’s not that hard to do. Just get the admissions address info and send. I think express send is even an option. Just be sure to let admissions know you’re sending it, the reason, and that they’ll need to attach it to your submitted aadsas app.

Just called them and reiterated the same message. *Sigh*. Ok, so I could just ask my letter writer to print out X-amount of letters, send them to the schools I applied to, and then I could inform the admissions team from those schools that my letter writer screwed up and I mailed them an updated version? Would that suffice, or do schools only take LOR's via email/online systems?

 

[S_Diamond_DDS]

Just called them and reiterated the same message. *Sigh*. Ok, so I could just ask my letter writer to print out X-amount of letters, send them to the schools I applied to, and then I could inform the admissions team from those schools that my letter writer screwed up and I mailed them an updated version? Would that suffice, or do schools only take LOR's via email/online systems?

Why wouldn’t you send the signed letter via interfolio to all of the addresses? Once it’s uploaded to your dossier, you can send the same letter as many times as you want and to whoever. And yes, think you need an official third party service, like interfolio, to hold/mail letters for confidentiality. And tell the schools, it was YOUR mistake, since you didn’t check that the letter was signed before sending it on aadsas.

 

[Hi Just Lurking]

Where does bi-racial find itself on the URM/ORM continuum? (I’m Filipino/white)

 

[Leahjoos]

Where does bi-racial find itself on the URM/ORM continuum? (I’m Filipino/white)

URM or ORM - Filipinos? <— here’s a similar thread


Edit: Oops just realized you put the title of that thread in here.

 

[Hi Just Lurking]

URM or ORM - Filipinos?

Edit: Oops just realized you put the title of that thread in here.

Thanks! I’ve actually looked at that thread before. It sounds like Filipino is up in the air depending on where you apply. I’m just wondering if being bi-racial is its own sub category, or it’s just the ‘average’ of the two races.