personal statement- add med schools explanation?

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hokie4life

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how much should i reexpalin that i applied to med schools here? i withdrew before sending secondaries and say that in the other place on AADSAS which asks have u ever applied to other prof. schools....i know it looks awful even though i didn't go through with even applying fully but how much should i address it in my ps?
 
You should not focus much on med school on your dental school personal statement. If you had a change of heart because you found out medicine really wasn't for you after developing a passion for dentistry, that is fine to include. But don't focus on the med school part. Save that explanation for the interviews. The personal statement is for telling the committee why you want to be a dentist and why you would be a good candidate.

exactly! i totally agree. everyone just seems to be telling me how horrible it is that i applied to med schools and that i better win over adcoms and show that i'm not settling or something so i can at least get an interview. i just didn't want to keep remindig them of this flaw cuz i alreayd have to explain it elsewhere in the apps. i am so tempted to take it all out cuz my ps is too long right now but still feel compelled to tell them i am not settling and really do want be a dentist for the right reasons...i guess i gota find that right balance somehow
 
if your applying for next year's cycle you should quit screwing around with your ps and get the app in asap.
 
if your applying for next year's cycle you should quit screwing around with your ps and get the app in asap.

yea i'm applying for the 08 cycle and am waiting on my dentist to confirm i can put him on my apps cuz he woudl be the one i'll ask for a signature when the verification hours forms come around. I SOOOOO HOPE he tells me by tmrw so I can submit that sucker...i'm gonna finish it all off so i can just get his word and hit submit (and burn that hole in my wallet🙄) but get this lovely cycle progessing and hopefully hear some good news 🙂
 
My friends brother is a extremely competitive applicant for both MD and DDS/DMD programs and is actually planning on applying to both and hoping for a full ride in either. His gpa is a 3.98 and is president of his UG and has a list of ECs and research that surpass anything i have ever seen. He does not really care what he goes into because as he said it dentistry is just a medical specialty and going to medical school does not guarentee you the specialty. Anyway he's applying to both the medical and dental schools at the same institutions ands hoping they will not know. I'm sure he'll deny it if asked at the d-school interviews because (and i would too) they (admissions) are jackasses about stuff like this. From my perspective from talking to my dental friends from ug, many dentists are still bitter about not getting into md programs back in the day and see md wanna bes as the kid that beat them up when they were young.
 
yea i don't think it's right to compeltly lie. i think it's okay that my interests changed. I wanted diffrent things when i came into college and now after maturing and growing up more to find myself and what i want i realize it's not in medicne and i'm not embarressed to admit that. i hope adcoms see that and just dont'see it as settling or me being so girly because i'm saying i like the fact that i can have a life with dentistry to do other things too like start a family someday. ofcourse i like other thigns about it too but this was a big thing i didn't want earierl and now that i am starign to think about this stuff i realize medicine doesn't hold such flexibility in life.

is this too cheesy for adcoms? i hope they don't see it as me being less capable and wanting to do work now. ah i just need to finish this thing!
 
oh i forgot, other than listing the wanting a family and flexibility thing...is it okay to list things from highschool that show my dexterity and hand eye coorination like from playing sports or other hobbies? i explain them in the other part of the apps but wanted to emphasize it still more
 
I made a more hrrible thing in the adcoms eyes - I witdrew from dental school in my second year back in 1997.


Can you please elaborate on why you did this? I'm genuinely curious.

By the way, consistently solid advice you have been giving people. In this thread, and others. At all times there are 1 or 2 people on SDN who give excellent advice before the eventually stop posting, and you're one of them. People: follow this guy's advice.
 
THANK YOU! your advice has been awesome and def. helped me feel more confident about my ps. you'r e right it's the truth whether it's cheesy (want family and flexible career) or looks not so hot to begin with (med school part). i'm sure ppl lie but i think i'd just freak myself out so much more and be a bag of nerves on interview day too just waiting for them to interrogate me if i lied...probably doesn' happen but honesty is still the best policy

again cheesy but- gotta stay true to who u are. i just hope my truthful but not the ideal predent ps probably get me in somewhere and is an asset and not a weight on my apps...

but seriously THANK YOU for your great advice and help! 😳
 
I sure hope he gets into med school because anyone who will intentionally deceive the adcoms to get in when they are more than qualified, I wouldn't want them as a colleague.

How honest were or will you be in your interview?

Interviewer: So why did you choose dentistry

NAVY: Because teeth (money and off time) are so interesting

Don't tell me you are completely honest in your application and didn't strech the truth. Do you honestly think dentistry is too good for someone that lies. Get off your high horse. Adcoms aren't the most honest group of people either. Just look at how they market thier school or the equal opportunity slogan saying "no preference for certain races". I assure you, you already have people way worse.

Oh ok. I just realized something, the reason the chill remarks were because i'm in the forum of bitterness. You probably were the med school reject (whether self-rejected or school rejected) and that is why your upset to hear of such stats.
 
i just wanted to say i'm sorry for bringing up a topic that instigated you guys to butt heads a bit. Joe I don't think we said we were "upset to hear of such stats' That's great that someone is a qualified candidate but then why do they still feel like they need to lie about applying to both it they are so confident they should get into both programs. Lieing might work for others but I agree with NAVY that you should always be honest. Plus at the end of the day the school that ou have to lie so much to get in, well is that worth it? I know I'm thinking I will just go whereever I can get in right now but the ideal school is the one that takes me with my honest flaws and little setbacks like the fact that i applied to med schools. I hope that adcoms realize poeple grow and mature and find themeselves and their interests at different rates and apperciate the ones who are hoenst to themselves and them about it. I know this could totall bite me int he butt and hopefully it will pay off at least ssomewhere but at least I know I earned acceptances based on my honesty and true qualities. Sorry if you felt you were in a chill forum. I know I hate that too when you're just trying to offer office but lieing is just not the right kind, for me at least. I guess that's why it pissed me off that ppl get in like this. makes you question the righteousness of the world a little cuz honest ppl better not all be shafted!

honesty is the best policy! i just hope i can still say that with an acceptance letter in my hand too because it'll make it so wroth it to know i got in and didn't give in to such shortcuts. i guess our morality and eithics are tested even as predents i hope i end up in a place where they appreciate honesty in the adcoms so i can expect it from my peers too.
 
for the person who posted this thing in the first place....i have the same problem! i said in my app that i was applying to med. but i hadnt really thought twice about it! i guess i just figured i would do it as a back up (i know that isnt usually) and felt that it was important that i be honest in my application. I guess i would be happy helping people as a physician, however i would truly rather be a dentist! AND NOW i'm NOT applying to med at all b/c i know all that i want to do is dentistry. so i'm super worried about that part of my app!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
First, thank you for the kind words. I am just trying to help others - even if I do bash a few people every now and again for making stupid comments. Please look past my flaws and see that I truly seek to assist eveyone I can with the most honest and accurate I feel I can give (although I am wrong or missig info at times.) Thank you.

I wouldn't sweat it. I bash people much more often than you do for making much less stupid comments. When you call someone out, it is for a good reason, and they have it coming. Through and through, the advice you give to people on the forum is of a high quality amongst a sea of poor quality. Hopefully some people on this forum follow your advice.


To answer your curiosity without hijacking this thread, I was young, immature and hadn't had much life experience (like most people here) when I entered d-school the first time over a decade ago. Without going into detail, I had some personal issues that weighed heavy on my life. That combined with the continued build up of stress of school and a lack of desire (not dislike) for dentistry because I really didn't know much about it, I just wasn't putting much effort into school and was finding myself wanting to be down at the Riverwalk in San Antonio partying much more than being at school or studying. I passed, but not like I did in undergrad. I didn't have the desire at the time to be a dentist, so I felt I wasn't doing myself or my future patients any justice by being in school. I joined the Navy shortly after. I grew up in the Navy, got married and here I am a decade later back in my second year of d-school.

Hope that settles your curiosity.

It does. I was curious how someone could leave dentistry, but you explained it well. Thank you for satisfying my curiosity.
 
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