Previous Application to Med School a Terrible Thing???

[Dying2beDDS]

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I applied to Med school last year and then decided midway through the app process that medicine was NOT for me. I applied to dental school this year. I explained the reasons behind this decision at length in my personal statement.
Do you think the adcoms really look down upon this? I imagine it must be pretty common, and I've even heard of several people applying to both at the same time and getting in to both medical and dental.
To me, it looks a lot worse to apply to both types of school at the same time than to have previously applied to med school.

Any thoughts? And please don't just speculate.

Thanks guys!!!

 

[food4thots]

I applied to Med school last year and then decided midway through the app process that medicine was NOT for me. I applied to dental school this year. I explained the reasons behind this decision at length in my personal statement.
Do you think the adcoms really look down upon this? I imagine it must be pretty common, and I've even heard of several people applying to both at the same time and getting in to both medical and dental.
To me, it looks a lot worse to apply to both types of school at the same time than to have previously applied to med school.

Any thoughts? And please don't just speculate.

Thanks guys!!!

well.. if u explained your reasoning well, i don't think it should be a problem. people change their goals all the time.

 

[howui3]

I applied to Med school last year and then decided midway through the app process that medicine was NOT for me. I applied to dental school this year. I explained the reasons behind this decision at length in my personal statement.
Do you think the adcoms really look down upon this? I imagine it must be pretty common, and I've even heard of several people applying to both at the same time and getting in to both medical and dental.
To me, it looks a lot worse to apply to both types of school at the same time than to have previously applied to med school.

Any thoughts? And please don't just speculate.

Thanks guys!!!

not at all a problem!!!!!

out of all my interviews only UCLA asked if I applied to med schools and then why I switched to dental school.

i explained my reasoning and it was not a problem.

good luck.

 

[ysk]

I applied to Med school last year and then decided midway through the app process that medicine was NOT for me. I applied to dental school this year. I explained the reasons behind this decision at length in my personal statement.
Do you think the adcoms really look down upon this? I imagine it must be pretty common, and I've even heard of several people applying to both at the same time and getting in to both medical and dental.
To me, it looks a lot worse to apply to both types of school at the same time than to have previously applied to med school.

Any thoughts? And please don't just speculate.

Thanks guys!!!

I'll just answer a small part of your question... or not even. But let me advise you that you wanna try to avoid the mistake of sounding like you are making an excuse for applying to dentistry and sounding overly-defensive. I mean, the fact that you have applied to med school before may raise eyebrows and questions, and yes, you might need to explain it (whether that's in your personal statement or during interviews). But what I'm trying to say is that don't over-do the explanation and raise the "i was once a premed" banner before it's even brought up. Like you said, there are plenty of students that did the same thing.

And instead of explaining in your essay what aspects about medicine you didn't like and why you switched from medicine, you should talk about what you like about dentistry. And when you explain what you like about dentistry, maybe try to come up with things that are unique to dentistry and not also in medicine. For example, instead of saying you like the interaction with the patients, perhaps you could say you like working with your hands. Just whatever but be honest. Hope this helps.

 

[howui3]

I'll just answer a small part of your question... or not even. But let me advise you that you wanna try to avoid the mistake of sounding like you are making an excuse for applying to dentistry and sounding overly-defensive. I mean, the fact that you have applied to med school before may raise eyebrows and questions, and yes, you might need to explain it (whether that's in your personal statement or during interviews). But what I'm trying to say is that don't over-do the explanation and raise the "i was once a premed" banner before it's even brought up. Like you said, there are plenty of students that did the same thing.

And instead of explaining in your essay what aspects about medicine you didn't like and why you switched from medicine, you should talk about what you like about dentistry. And when you explain what you like about dentistry, maybe try to come up with things that are unique to dentistry and not also in medicine. For example, instead of saying you like the interaction with the patients, perhaps you could say you like working with your hands. Just whatever but be honest. Hope this helps.

good advise.

you don't want to put down medicine, instead build up your passion for dentistry.

personally, i did not mention my past med school application. instead i only mentioned it when asked. ucla had a question about this on their secondary so i told them i applied to med schools in the past and then explained why i switched and why i think den is a better fit for me.

 

[082004]

I had previously applied to medical school, masters in nurse anesthesia and masters in physician assistant. I did not explain anything in my personal statement, and I was NOT asked about anything in my interview. As long as you know you are being true to yourself, you should be able to bring that across to others if you are asked. It shows that perhaps you have thought about your life and motives maturely and honestly. Good for you!