Smooth Operater said:
Hello! I am in my 2nd yr undergrad. For those you who are in dental school or in the process of applying, What are some things that you wish you'd known when you applied?? What helpful tips/advices you guys have for pre-dent? Let's keep up this thread so future dental applicants can benefit from it.
1. Have fun in undergrad and enjoy that your friends live less than a minute's walk from you.
2. Don't take for granted that most of your pals in undergrad come from a similar background and are probably in a similar age group and probably have a lot in common with you. The people sitting around you in dental school might be married with 3 kids.
3. Appreciate the slackers whether you are one or your friends are. In some ways they have a better perspective on academics and life than the competitive people.
4. Find out your prospective dental school's basic science curriculum and take those classes in undergrad. Try not to avoid them. You don't need a 4.0 to get into dental school so a semester of microbiology or physiology in undergrad even if you don't get an A is fine. Aim for the B. The experience is worth it.
5. Shadow a dentist and collect teeth. Get details on how to store teeth. If you can assist, do it. Get as much hands on experience as you can. If you have a way of learning how to carve wax or pour models do it. If not, its ok but try to see as much as you can before you get here. Saves some time.
6. Go out and have fun every weekend. There might be more than a few weekends here when you don't get to do that. And keep up with all your hobbies.
7. If you don't have a close relative who is a dentist, try and find a mentor. Ask them how they like their job. Ask them stuff that you can't learn in a school.
8. Most of the people in my class took a DAT kaplan course. It worked, obviously. I bought books instead of taking a course. I used Kaplan (the book was harder than the actual test I remember) and Barron's (the PAT section was better than kaplan). Keep practicing. You WILL improve. The more you practice the PAT section, the easier it will be. Kaplan is excellent. Its concise and easy to read and I don't remember seeing any unfamiliar topics on the DAT.
9. On interviews ask students what they really think. I mean really.. take them aside and ask what the best and worst aspects of the school are. The school is scoping you out but you are scoping out the school too.
10. Don't go to a dental school because the city around it rocks. You won't have that much time for at least the first two years.
11. Figure out if you like research or clinical work. Pick your school accordingly.
12. Do you mind bad areas with a big patient pool? Pick your school accordingly.
13. Do you want prestige? Pick your school accordingly.
14. Do you mind being 4 hours from home as opposed to 30 minutes? Pick your school accordingly. And there will be times when you want to talk to your mom because you hate everyone and everything.
15. If you are a creative person who likes art and music, you will feel stifled here because everyone's all about school all the time. And when they aren't.. they want to hit the bars. The stoner in the back of the room at my uber-liberal-arts college has faded away. This place is hardcore. There are some cool people here but far less than in undergrad.
16. If you get an interview request, post about it here and get some tips. You can be mellow and have a sense of humor at some schools.
17. Get your study habits and time management skills in gear now.
18. Don't be daunted. It's a process. You have to have a decent GPA, a decent DAT score, some semblance of a personality, and a desire to be a dentist. You have 4+ years to get that. Of course its not easy but don't make it scare you either. If you're tired after undergrad or want to backpack across europe and you can afford to do so... then do it. Have fun. You don't have to get into dental school when you are 21 or 22. Most of the people here are at least a couple years older than that.
19. Really want to do this. There will be days when you have 12 more impossible chapters to read and you want to give up because you feel like its hopeless. Wanting to be a dentist (or maybe knowing you can sleep the entire next day when the exam is over) will get you through it.
I hope that helps a little.
