Predent with Premed LORs??

[Retimo]

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hey guys, long time first time..

I'm a nontraditional student who's been pursuing premed for over 2 years now. Prereqs via postbac with 4.0; MCATs, and LORs are done. I've been working in a hospital for most of those 2 years in clinical research, and I've got a published article and several poster/abstracts. I've realized that medicine is not the lifestyle for me (should've read SDN's advice sooner!), so lately I've been researching dentistry and loving every bit of it so far. I've got an appointment to shadow a dentist coming up, and god I hope I find my calling. Plus, I'm starting to study for DATs which should be soon.

With that said - and assuming that I do enjoy my experience shadowing - I'm really worried about my LORs. One of them has already been rewritten because of a previous career change into premed. Another one (probably my strongest one, from the doc I work with and have been published with) took over 6 months to get in the first place! The doc is kinda an arrogant prick who's too busy to write or rewrite LORs. I think asking for another would take forever, even if he just has to change a couple words of "medical" to "dental". So 1) I'm worried to go through all the trouble to ask again for a new LOR (i guess the embarrassment factor), and 2) worried that a rewritten one might not come in time for my app this cycle.

How bad would it be to present a premed LOR to a dental school? What if I accompany it with an explanation in my personal statement? Or what if I have one premed LOR (from my prick of a boss) and 3 predental LORs? Is any of this acceptable, or just completely insulting and self-defeating?

OK, maybe these are really stupid questions that deserve berating; and sorry for the predent ignorance... I think I just need to hear the answer to this one.
Thanks for any feedback and any advice!!!

 

[eternalxdemon]

it would be Extremely Horrible to present a pre-med letter to a dental school. it's like calling out your ex gf's name while doing things with your current gf.... no i take that back... it's 10 times worse. just ask the guy for a rewrite. and if it takes too long... you could wait til next cycle... by then u can rack up the dental shadowing hours. the more hours and the more dental stuff you do and dedication to dental you show the admissions committee will look alot better than a pre-med lor.

 

[TXgangsta]

Im in a similar situation, I am actually applying to both MD and DDS programs in TX and am using the same letters + 1 dentist + 1 volunteer coordinator. Ive already gotten an interview from UTSA Dental school for aug. 11th. There are a lot of pre-dents that will make you feel like crap about but the truth is alot of the things that could make you a good physician like work ethic, intellegence and sense of responsibility (things that make a LOR good) are also going to be beneficial if you become a dentist. A faculty member I spoke to at UTSA told me he applied to 13 MD schools and 3 Dental schools and got accepted to UTSA so went to school there and now teaches there. Its not totally unheard of, plus you will get faculty members like this guy interviewing you anyways.

 

[cherr1pop]

I'm not sure what to say regarding LOR from the doc but I'd say try to get to know the dentist you'll be shadowing and see if he'll be willing to write a letter for you. Some schools specifically require dentist's letters..

 

[gogiantsss]

even if you do get interviews, good luck talking your way out of that one 😛

get dental LORs.

 

[TXgangsta]

even if you do get interviews, good luck talking your way out of that one 😛

get dental LORs.

There is nothing to talk out of, I will explain why Im applying to both medical and dental schools, besides what my profs evaluated me on applies to both professions. Adcoms will not take the opinion of a PHD prof that heavily. My acceptance/rejection will not be determined by my LORs, a good LOR is a good LOR having said that, they dont matter THAT much.

 

[jigabodo]

Adcoms will not take the opinion of a PHD prof that heavily. My acceptance/rejection will not be determined by my LORs, a good LOR is a good LOR having said that, they dont matter THAT much.

I am not exactly sure how other schools work, but I am pretty certain LORs mean quite something to Louisville adcomms.

In order to receive an interview invite, you need to meet a certain GPA and DAT threshold - and that's pretty much it.

However, after you receive your invite it's about your interview performance and LORs that really count. We don't read LORs until the applicant is invited for an interview, but when we do, it means something and you will be asked quite a few questions based on them.

 

[whoispittsnogle]

Im in a similar situation, I am actually applying to both MD and DDS programs in TX and am using the same letters + 1 dentist + 1 volunteer coordinator. Ive already gotten an interview from UTSA Dental school for aug. 11th. There are a lot of pre-dents that will make you feel like crap about but the truth is alot of the things that could make you a good physician like work ethic, intellegence and sense of responsibility (things that make a LOR good) are also going to be beneficial if you become a dentist. A faculty member I spoke to at UTSA told me he applied to 13 MD schools and 3 Dental schools and got accepted to UTSA so went to school there and now teaches there. Its not totally unheard of, plus you will get faculty members like this guy interviewing you anyways.

SO TRUE. in fact i don't think there are ANY differences between a good pre-med application and a good pre-dental application other than shadowing a md vs. dds...all the volunteering/research/and other extracurriculars can be used for both. unless you consider some "pre-dental honors society club" as something of value...

to the OP, it doesn't have to be your "calling" that sounds so melodramatic👎 you wanna be in health care and be a professional but don't like the lifestyle of an md...if you shadow a dentist and get the big picture of what it's like and you like it, go for it, i think it's a great alternative to the medical route if you prefer what it offers over medicine. IT'S YOUR LIFE. the fact that you're a non-traditional student is a huge plus, 4.0 postbacc gpa is great i don't know how bad your undergrad gpa was but postbacc should help a lot, and your 2 year full time research experience will be UNMATCHED to the 99% of dental school applicants.

you have a lot going for you. just talk to your peeps about the rec letters. and remember that they are recommending you based on your performance in the classroom/lab/whatever and what they know about your character from interacting with you. getting an A in organic chemistry, having a scientific research paper published, and showing kindness and a spirit of service through volunteering are all good stuff that will make you a good candidate for medical school AS WELL AS dental school. so don't worry about the contents at all because it won't be that much work to change it from medical to dental.

about your prick of a boss, i'm sure he's a huge ******* and everyone at your lab hates him. but you might be thinking the worst of him. from my limited experience, the most arrogant and pompous docs/profs are usually also the most professional. he'll probably have your changed letter in less than a week. i would definitely ask him as well as anybody else you have to ask NOW.

i would DEFINITELY not send your medical school LORs.

 

[TXgangsta]

I am not exactly sure how other schools work, but I am pretty certain LORs mean quite something to Louisville adcomms.

In order to receive an interview invite, you need to meet a certain GPA and DAT threshold - and that's pretty much it.

However, after you receive your invite it's about your interview performance and LORs that really count. We don't read LORs until the applicant is invited for an interview, but when we do, it means something and you will be asked quite a few questions based on them.

I do see your point, but Im applying to both MD and DDS programs, and I fail to see how a good Letter of Evaluation for an MD program could hurt my DDS chances. I guess I will post any questions i get during my interview about the topic but for now its time to drink beer and play rockband, happy friday night everyone!

 

[jigabodo]

I do see your point, but Im applying to both MD and DDS programs, and I fail to see how a good Letter of Evaluation for an MD program could hurt my DDS chances. I guess I will post any questions i get during my interview about the topic but for now its time to drink beer and play rockband, happy friday night everyone!

Content-wise it probably wouldn't make much difference. The important things, however, that you need to look out for are the specifics such as "Dear medical school adcomms" and statements along the line of "I believe TXgangsta would be a great physician".

Anyways, it's Friday night and I have to study for my damn Gross exam. Louisville starts so freaking early. Boohoo. 👎