Thank you so much for this feedback, it's super helpful. I have a couple different experiences that made me realize this was the correct path for me. Should I frame my personal statement around those instead of delving more into my background and relating experiences to dentistry? I had a rough freshman year that hurt my GPA and was thinking that maybe dentistry wasn't the right place for me, but I ended up volunteering at a massive free dental clinic and realized that's where I needed to be and that's what I wanted to do so I buckled down in school and extracurriculars and my lowest science grade since then has been an 87 in O Chem 1. I've continued to shadow throughout COVID and obtained my DA cert. this semester and am signed up to volunteer at a free/low cost clinic near me but I haven't had much free time to do so with classes + studying for the DAT. Definitely 100% sure this is where I want to be. Would you advise talking about how I overcame that slump in freshman year? I've read many places that you don't talk about negatives in the personal statement but I credit that time in my life with helping me find the endurance and motivation to make a complete 180.
This is decent progress. Now ask yourself, what about those experiences made you enamored with dentistry? What parts of those activities did you find stimulating or rewarding? What skills have you gained and/or what qualities do you possess that will enable you to positively contribute to your class/the field of dentistry? It appears you have ample things to discuss so its really just distilling it down to effectively communicate your story. And ensuring that the reader knows you 1) understand the profession 2) are committed to dentistry and 3) have the qualities that will make you a successful dental student/dentist.
There is a multitude of ways you can organize your personal statement so its hard for me to say how to approach it. Comparing dentistry to your hobbies or providing an anecdote is completely fine as long as it has substance (which was my issue earlier). Using two paragraphs to simply capture your outdoorsy background and how that has refined your manual dexterity is a poor use of real estate and lacks substance, in my opinion.
If you want to personalize your essay by providing information about yourself/your hobbies, you have to think a bit deeper about how they relate to dentistry and how they tie into a cohesive essay. Do your hobbies and dentistry demand similar skills needed to be successful (skills such as patience, persistence, attention to detail, critical thinking, problem solving etc.)? Essentially skills you will undoubtedly need throughout dental school and beyond. Once you establish some parallel between your hobby and dentistry, you will need to communicate how 1) this has contributed to your decision to pursue dentistry and 2) how the skills you gained through your hobby gives you a unique/valuable approach to dentistry. This can be a recurring theme throughout the paper, its own paragraph, or referenced in the introduction and conclusion etc. How you do this is up to you but you want to make sure there is a purpose for every sentence you write (limit redundancy).
Your exposure to dentistry and how you have progressively strengthened your passion for dentistry is a solid way to organize your draft. In my opinion, you can probably incorporate everything (hobbies + most impactful experiences) to write a well rounded PS. I probably wouldn't mention any negatives and just discuss what you contributed, what you learned, and how this experience has shaped your visions for dentistry.
Just remember, it doesn't necessarily matter how you organize your essay or what themes you choose to include. Just make sure everything you say is impactful and demonstrates you are someone who did not choose dentistry based on a whim. If you limit the fluff and just focus on substance, chances are it will be a great paper.
