Personal Statement about Mission Trip

[hardworkingstudnt1231241]

Do dental schools frown upon a personal statement about mission trip?

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[Canadiandude93]

I included mine and talked about how it applied to my desire and ability to be a dentist. It worked out for me so I say go for it! It was a topic of discussion for my interviews.

 

[MavsFanForLife]

I mean, it was probably a life changing experience that showed your dedication to serving others....so I dont see why they would!

 

[cooliyak]

Do dental schools frown upon a personal statement about mission trip?

I wouldn’t focus on that, but if it meant a lot to you, for sure mention it. Cliché personal statements seem to be a pet peeve of a good amount of admissions committee members. Some of them who I have talked to even mentioned not to write about two things specifically: your mission trip or the time when you had braces.

 

[Cthuluhoop]

Since the majority of people who are pre-dental go on mission trips, I'm going to assume that whatever experience you had, although powerful to you, is totally generic and they will see many like it.

I would write maybe a paragraph about it and have it add to your whole purpose of "Why Dentistry?" but I would not write my entire personal statement about a mission trip, that's not very unique.

 

[macsak]

Since the majority of people who are pre-dental go on mission trips, I'm going to assume that whatever experience you had, although powerful to you, is totally generic and they will see many like it.

I would write maybe a paragraph about it and have it add to your whole purpose of "Why Dentistry?" but I would not write my entire personal statement about a mission trip, that's not very unique.

the vast majority of people who are pre-dental do not go on mission trips...

 

[Cthuluhoop]

the vast majority of people who are pre-dental do not go on mission trips...

Nearly everyone that I know who was pre-dental went on a mission trip. I was one of the few that I know that didn't. Regardless, it's still a pretty generic story that I'm sure ADCOM member see many of every cycle. If you can relate it to a family history, or something that makes it unique then I would do it. If it's just you going there then I would advise against it.

Personal statements are generic for the most part, you want to do your best to make it as unique and personal to you

 

[macsak]

Nearly everyone that I know who was pre-dental went on a mission trip.

that's different than "the majority of people who are pre-dental go on mission trips"

 

[Chubz0924]

The advice I was given by the health professions advisor was that you could mention the mission trip as one of the determining factors that made you passionate about dentistry, but do not focus your personal statement on just that!! Most schools, especially if they prefer IS students, want dentists who will practice in that state, not dentists who plan on practicing abroad.

For example, on my personal statement, I wrote a paragraph about how the mission trip I went on reassured my passion for dentistry and made me realize that I want to help underserved populations, etc.

 

[DentTreadOnMe]

If it’s a short mission trip kinda thing, don’t make it a big focus. If you’re LDS and did a 2 year mission, it doesn’t hurt to make it a big part of your personal statement, as I did.

I met many dentists on my US Spanish speaking mission, and they urged me toward th profession, so I combined the two as wanting to be a dentist and serve the underserved Hispanic population.

It worked for me and was a topic of discussion in my interviews. I was accepted to 5 schools so clearly it doesn’t hurt and can help you. Although, I did apply mainly to schools in the south where people are generally more religious. Northerners might not respond as well to religious stuff. Idk. Something maybe to consider....

 

[cooliyak]

If it’s a short mission trip kinda thing, don’t make it a big focus. If you’re LDS and did a 2 year mission, it doesn’t hurt to make it a big part of your personal statement, as I did.

I met many dentists on my US Spanish speaking mission, and they urged me toward th profession, so I combined the two as wanting to be a dentist and serve the underserved Hispanic population.

It worked for me and was a topic of discussion in my interviews. I was accepted to 5 schools so clearly it doesn’t hurt and can help you. Although, I did apply mainly to schools in the south where people are generally more religious. Northerners might not respond as well to religious stuff. Idk. Something maybe to consider....

I disagree. LDS missions are just as cliché as dental mission trips. They are nothing special in the eyes of admissions committees, generally speaking. Admirable maybe and interesting for the first few LDS applicants that they may encounter, but beyond that, I would recommend not making that a huge focus of your personal statement either. Mention it, sure, especially if it is part of why you want to be a dentist/in healthcare, but don’t focus too hard on it.
Also, if you are LDS, don’t get into a doctrinal discussion/debate about continuing revelation (or any other topic for that matter) with your interviewer. That is not the time. Simple, easy to understand answers are best.

 

[DentTreadOnMe]

I disagree. LDS missions are just as cliché as dental mission trips. They are nothing special in the eyes of admissions committees, generally speaking. Admirable maybe and interesting for the first few LDS applicants that they may encounter, but beyond that, I would recommend not making that a huge focus of your personal statement either. Mention it, sure, especially if it is part of why you want to be a dentist/in healthcare, but don’t focus too hard on it.
Also, if you are LDS, don’t get into a doctrinal discussion/debate about continuing revelation (or any other topic for that matter) with your interviewer. That is not the time. Simple, easy to understand answers are best.

I disagree with the idea that LDS missions are nothing special in the eyes of the adcoms. My interviewers asked lots of questions regarding my experience and how I came to gain unique insights into the Hispanic population as a result. If your mission gave you a good multicultural experience, I’d argue that it would be VERY important to communicate that to adcoms, especially today as they’re hunting for diverse applicants.

In fact at one school, one of my interviewers was from Spain and I got to speak Spanish with her. She was very interested in the mission.

In any case, I DO agree that nobody should focus heavily on the religious aspects of the mission, just the service and cultural elements. They’re not interested in your beliefs, but how your service helped you develop characteristics that make you a unique applicant.

 

[cooliyak]

I disagree with the idea that LDS missions are nothing special in the eyes of the adcoms. My interviewers asked lots of questions regarding my experience and how I came to gain unique insights into the Hispanic population as a result. If your mission gave you a good multicultural experience, I’d argue that it would be VERY important to communicate that to adcoms, especially today as they’re hunting for diverse applicants.

In fact at one school, one of my interviewers was from Spain and I got to speak Spanish with her. She was very interested in the mission.

In any case, I DO agree that nobody should focus heavily on the religious aspects of the mission, just the service and cultural elements. They’re not interested in your beliefs, but how your service helped you develop characteristics that make you a unique applicant.

And I’ve heard the exact opposite directly from some admissions committee memebers at multiple schools. Every school is different and every interviewer obviously will have their own perspectives, but it is all very blah after a while. Especially since there seems to be an overrepresentation of Mormon applicants (anecdotally, although I wouldn’t be surprised if real numbers reflect that). The main point is to be unique, however you can do that.

 

[DentTreadOnMe]

And I’ve heard the exact opposite directly from some admissions committee memebers at multiple schools. Every school is different and every interviewer obviously will have their own perspectives, but it is all very blah after a while. Especially since there seems to be an overrepresentation of Mormon applicants (anecdotally, although I wouldn’t be surprised if real numbers reflect that). The main point is to be unique, however you can do that.

You’re probably right haha. I’d like to see statistics on LDS applicants as well. I’ve always been curious about the percentage of applicants that are LDS because it seems like there are a TON!

 

[doc toothache]

Do dental schools frown upon a personal statement about mission trip?

Mission Trips- The Good, The Bad, The Ugly.

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