Personal statement about Immigration

[barrons12101]

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Is the topic about immigrated cliche? I am afraid to use it in my personal statement since everyone uses it. What's your opinions?

 

[AppalachianDentalBoy]

Does it play a role in why you want to be a dentist? If it does and you can write a compelling narrative around it then I would.

 

[Faefly]

Doing so is not a bad idea because you will be screening out schools that aren’t a “culture fit” for you anyway.

But yeah, like AppalachianDentalBoy mentioned, if you can tie it within the realm of “why dentistry,” then you’re good

Are there schools like that?

 

[SpitfireX9]

If it's meaningful, why not?

 

[AppalachianDentalBoy]

If it's meaningful, why not?

People have tons of meaningful experiences in life. If you can't connect it to the prompt "why dentistry" then you are writing a bad essay.

 

[deleted480308]

Is the topic about immigrated cliche? I am afraid to use it in my personal statement since everyone uses it. What's your opinions?

You should have a native english speaker (preferably someone with academic grammar training) review your writing

 

[BasicG]

Definitely bring it up. There's only so many reasons why an applicant wants to be a dentist and the adcoms have read them all. What they haven't read is your story. Imo, a personal statement should be about your story and how you got to where you are now, which should naturally answer why dentistry. That's what I did and I received 14 interviews. At all my open file interviews, the interviewers always brought up something from my personal statement.

Here's the first paragraph of my personal statement which addresses my parents being immigrants.

All my life, I have been pressured by my parents to be great. My father is from Ethiopia while my mother is from Ukraine. Like most immigrants, my parents came to the United States to create opportunities for themselves and their future kids. For as long as I can remember, they have obsessively pressured me to become a surgeon. According to my parents, surgeons were the apex of societal figures. At a young age, I was unaware what occupation I wanted to pursue as an adult, but I knew my career choice had to be something of my choosing, not my parents.

 

[PreDenting]

Writing about your story of immigrating has the potential to be a great story if it's framed properly and tied into the theme of your essay. While there can be many reasons to implement a story of immigration in your essay, one compelling reason is diversity. Dental schools don't want a homogenous class composition. They want variety and diversity. They want people from all walks of life, religions, experiences, nationalities, etc.

That's where it can help. But then again, it all comes back around to how it fits in your essay and how it relates to "why dentistry."

And I strongly agree with SB247 regarding having someone with personal statement writing experience review your essay.

 

[TheDentalSchoolCoach]

Is the topic about immigrated cliche? I am afraid to use it in my personal statement since everyone uses it. What's your opinions?

Depends on how you articulate the story. I have seen both great and really terrible execution of this theme.

 

[setdoc7]

There are two professional (?) sources on this board, and I am wondering what credentials they have and what gives them any credibility or authority to dispense advice? Graduating from dental school simply taught them how to be a dentist, and school gives little insight into the actual inner workings of the admission process. Even if they somehow worked in the admissions office, they no longer do (do they?) and each year presents new challenges to each individual school. I would be interested to hear how this professional coaching works, and how would anyone know if the acceptance data they report is even true? Just me being curious.

 

[TheDentalSchoolCoach]

There are two professional (?) sources on this board, and I am wondering what credentials they have and what gives them any credibility or authority to dispense advice? Graduating from dental school simply taught them how to be a dentist, and school gives little insight into the actual inner workings of the admission process. Even if they somehow worked in the admissions office, they no longer do (do they?) and each year presents new challenges to each individual school. I would be interested to hear how this professional coaching works, and how would anyone know if the acceptance data they report is even true? Just me being curious.

Good question! After helping 900+ students, we see patterns among applicants. Although things change every year, those changes are not fundamentally and drastically different. Students will continue to need help with their personal statement, application advice, time management, and such. Parents will continue to be concerned whether their sons/daughter will gain admission to a dental school.

Dental School Coach helps at the intersection of all of these challenges. In my opinion, the biggest help that we provide applicants is to give them a system and structure around their application process so that they can methodically tackle things that are coming in their ways. We also get parents involved in the process to create more accountability for the students. That said, not all students will need or desire such accountability or structure. But, it helps immensely to be systematic throughout the process.

Also, as ADEA, AADSAS, TMDSAS change over the years, we continually update our knowledge base and stay updated with their changes so that we can provide most-up-to-date advice to our students and parents. Change is inevitable, but fundamentally the way that we help our clients won't change much.

Hope that answers your question.

 

[macsak]

There are two professional (?) sources on this board, and I am wondering what credentials they have and what gives them any credibility or authority to dispense advice? Graduating from dental school simply taught them how to be a dentist, and school gives little insight into the actual inner workings of the admission process. Even if they somehow worked in the admissions office, they no longer do (do they?) and each year presents new challenges to each individual school. I would be interested to hear how this professional coaching works, and how would anyone know if the acceptance data they report is even true? Just me being curious.

LOL
plus, I love how both of them started posting this year right when may 14th hit...

 

[setdoc7]

I am as usual in awe of the amount of hand holding anyone needs to complete the application process. Dentistry, if you do not already realize, is about accountability and compliance, among other things. Putting together an application is just the beginning of a long road which may include hospital privileges, insurance compliance, state regulation compliance.....the list is endless. College juniors should be capable of navigating the AADSAS process, and if they are not, should think twice obout D school, which comes hard and fast the first year. For those who do seek out your help, or your competitor on this site, I think IMHO that some notation about help in the preparation of the application, including the PS should be noted, so that the admissions committee is aware that the applicant sought assistance to complete it.
But back to my original question...what credentials do you or your competitor bring to the table? Other than perhaps being dentists? Has anyone been an admissions officer? Dean? Board of Trustees? After working with 900+ students. how many were accepted on their first admission attempt? How do you recruit your clients? Do you target certain schools? Do you provide any break or free services to qualified applicants who cannot afford your fees? What is your relationship to ADEA, if any, and the Council of Deans? I mean, giving you a large fee with all of the promises I have seen on the website seems almost like a guarantee that using the service will get you in somewhere. A little more clarification on your services will go a long way.

 

[macsak]

I am as usual in awe of the amount of hand holding anyone needs to complete the application process. Dentistry, if you do not already realize, is about accountability and compliance, among other things. Putting together an application is just the beginning of a long road which may include hospital privileges, insurance compliance, state regulation compliance.....the list is endless. College juniors should be capable of navigating the AADSAS process, and if they are not, should think twice obout D school, which comes hard and fast the first year. For those who do seek out your help, or your competitor on this site, I think IMHO that some notation about help in the preparation of the application, including the PS should be noted, so that the admissions committee is aware that the applicant sought assistance to complete it.
But back to my original question...what credentials do you or your competitor bring to the table? Other than perhaps being dentists? Has anyone been an admissions officer? Dean? Board of Trustees? After working with 900+ students. how many were accepted on their first admission attempt? How do you recruit your clients? Do you target certain schools? Do you provide any break or free services to qualified applicants who cannot afford your fees? What is your relationship to ADEA, if any, and the Council of Deans? I mean, giving you a large fee with all of the promises I have seen on the website seems almost like a guarantee that using the service will get you in somewhere. A little more clarification on your services will go a long way.

I believe DSC was accepted, but never attended
his fees for PS review went from a few hundred to over a thousand in the past year or two...