Pre-Orthodontist same as PreDental???? HELP!

[kn0101]

Ok I've written in my personal statement about how I came to know that I wanted to be a dentist. As soon as I got braces, I knew and I wanted to be an orthodontist (a specialized dentist) and I soon got experience working for my orthodontist at the age of 16. Would dental schools look at me negatively because I want to be an orthodontist and not really a general dentist and becuase I have no experience with general dentistry but about 6 years of orthodontic experience???

ALSO, my GPA is a 3.4 and 3.0 sci gpa with marked continuous improvement. My DATs are 20 AA and 21 TS and 20 PAT, should i retake the DATs to increas my odds and maybe get a 22+ since my GPA is not superb?


PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR STATS AND WHAT SCHOOL YOU GOT INTO b/c I DONT KNOW WHERE TO APPLY!

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[jorUW]

Ok I've written in my personal statement about how I came to know that I wanted to be a dentist. As soon as I got braces, I knew and I wanted to be an orthodontist (a specialized dentist) and I soon got experience working for my orthodontist at the age of 16. Would dental schools look at me negatively because I want to be an orthodontist and not really a general dentist and becuase I have no experience with general dentistry but about 6 years of orthodontic experience???

ALSO, my GPA is a 3.4 and 3.0 sci gpa with marked continuous improvement. My DATs are 20 AA and 21 TS and 20 PAT, should i retake the DATs to increas my odds and maybe get a 22+ since my GPA is not superb?


PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR STATS AND WHAT SCHOOL YOU GOT INTO b/c I DONT KNOW WHERE TO APPLY!

I dont know if a lot of people know about this yet for this cycle, but go to www.predents.com

They have a huge data base of SDNers from last cycle. It includes their stats, which schools they applied to, where they were interviewed, accepted,
waitlisted. All of this is compiled to show the averages for each school. I believe Pdizzle made the webpage. It's a nice tool to compare yourself with last cycle.

 

[oldboy]

Ok I've written in my personal statement about how I came to know that I wanted to be a dentist. As soon as I got braces, I knew and I wanted to be an orthodontist (a specialized dentist) and I soon got experience working for my orthodontist at the age of 16. Would dental schools look at me negatively because I want to be an orthodontist and not really a general dentist and becuase I have no experience with general dentistry but about 6 years of orthodontic experience???

ALSO, my GPA is a 3.4 and 3.0 sci gpa with marked continuous improvement. My DATs are 20 AA and 21 TS and 20 PAT, should i retake the DATs to increas my odds and maybe get a 22+ since my GPA is not superb?


PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR STATS AND WHAT SCHOOL YOU GOT INTO b/c I DONT KNOW WHERE TO APPLY!

Everyone starts out on the same playing field when dental school starts. It isn't until you actually research the numbers about specialization that you realize that going into ortho, endo, or oms is not as easy as some may think. You basically have to be #1 or #2 in your DENTAL SCHOOL class (much harder than college) and get 95% or more on part 1 of the boards.

 

[galangvu]

Ok I've written in my personal statement about how I came to know that I wanted to be a dentist. As soon as I got braces, I knew and I wanted to be an orthodontist (a specialized dentist) and I soon got experience working for my orthodontist at the age of 16. Would dental schools look at me negatively because I want to be an orthodontist and not really a general dentist and becuase I have no experience with general dentistry but about 6 years of orthodontic experience???

My advice, focus on getting into dental school first. Most of EVERYONE who goes into dental school wanting to specialize... WANTS to be an orthodontist. Not everyone who wants to become one actually becomes one. it all depends on how well you do in dental school. So, right now... redirect your personal statement to get into dental school. You could mention that you might want to specialize, but dont let that be the main thing in your paper. save it until you apply to an ortho program.

 

[Chrono1984]

I also got into dentistry through my orthodontist. However, you will soon learn that "everyone" wants to be an orthodontist. It is one of the most competitive residencies and you won't be doing yourself favors by saying this is all you want to do.

I thought orthodontics was all I would like too, until I shadowed a GP and oral surgeon. They all have their own merits and pros/cons.

I really don't think it's practical to make a specialization decision until you are in dental school and are exposed to the specialities. It's ok to be interested, but unless you plan on finishing in the top 10% and get 95s on the board exams, I wouldn't say orthodontics is guarantee.

So you need to ask yourself if dentistry in general is appealing, or just orthodontics. If you go into interviews and on your PS say, "I want to be an orthodontist, I would be unhappy as a general dentist," I doubt you will get accepted to many programs.

My advice is to revise your PS, and go shadow some other fields in dentistry (at least a GP). Nothing wrong with having goals for yourself, but you really need to be practical as well.

 

[xylashellx]

i wouldnt mention that you are only interested in ortho...maybe say something like "i have researched other specialites in dentistry to get a better understanding of the profession as a whole" or something along those lines. i think that dental schools think they are being "used" if you only want to specialize.

and i think your stats are great dont waste your time unless you have ALOT of extra time to retake the dats and think you will do better.

 

[aggie-master]

I think you should do what the posters above have said.

If you haven't done so already, make sure that you shadow a GP and ask yourself if you would like doing his/her job just in case you are not able to get into an ortho program after dental school.