Questions about christian organization and applications (URGENT)

[BabyShades]

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Hello everyone,

I know dental schools and admission committee have their views with religion. As in, not everyone on the adcoms are going to be catholic/christian. Do you think it is a bad idea that I am going mention few christian organizations on my application? I feel that this might be the biggest red flag, especially that some of these organizations are really conservative.

For example, if I created a Salvation Army group here at the university. Would that look bad since Salvation Army is about promoting human rights through their faith. I know that Salvation Army does not discriminate between homosexual when they are providing services. Also, is it weird that I am also an officer for Red Cross at my university?

I feel that Red Cross emphasizes neutrality, and as a founder of Salvation Army here at my university contradicts neutrality.

I know that for my Salvation Army organization, I would be definitely NOT be (sorry forgot the not, on first post) focusing on faith when I am presenting it to the university. The organization is mainly for providing assistance to those that are less fortunate and any disaster relief. For my other christian organization, I was teaching asian culture and the language. However, it was under the church.

Please give me any advice if y'all have any!

 

[gn4]

It's not a bad idea. You should go ahead and mention it. I was a counselor at a Christian camp for a couple of summers in TX and it was brought up in a positive light in my interviews.

 

[BabyShades]

It's not a bad idea. You should go ahead and mention it. I was a counselor at a Christian camp for a couple of summers in TX and it was brought up in a positive light in my interviews.

Oh okay, I think I will carry on with it then. Also, did Baylor brought it up with a positive light?

 

[ModifiedBass]

0 schools would take volunteering with the Salvation Army and the Red Cross as a negative.

 

[Daneosaurus]

0 schools would take volunteering with the Salvation Army and the Red Cross as a negative.

The Red Cross is secular, I'm pretty sure. Also, I'm an atheist but I have great respect for the Salvation Army - they give the a higher percentage of their proceeds to charity than any other organization.

 

[techyguy]

Do you think it is a bad idea that I am going mention few christian organizations on my application? I feel that this might be the biggest red flag, especially that some of these organizations are really conservative.

The biggest red flag is that you somehow feel like you'd be persecuted for serving in a few christian organizations. What gave you this idea?

 

[BabyShades]

The biggest red flag is that you somehow feel like you'd be persecuted for serving in a few christian organizations. What gave you this idea?

Hmm, I was just saying this because one of my friends told me that it might not be a good idea. This is because some people have different beliefs and views. With that being said, it may contribute to an argument and may look down upon. However, I guess that's not the case!

Also, thank you everyone else for your responses!

 

[techyguy]

Hmm, I was just saying this because one of my friends told me that it might not be a good idea. This is because some people have different beliefs and views. With that being said, it may contribute to an argument and may look down upon. However, I guess that's not the case!

Also, thank you everyone else for your responses!

Your friend may consume a little too much of the choose your own adventure news outlets we have around these days, where they make their money off of these types of trumped up controversies. I'm glad you asked here, but you should have a few arguments against this person anyway. Christianity is, by a wide margin, the predominant religion of the country. You will not suffer any persecution at the hands of a dental school admissions committee.

Somewhat anecdotally, schools that specialize in fulfilling the needs of underserved communities may have a heavy christian presence. On the whole, religion will not matter a lot, though.

On to the good side - you will be asked about any leadership roles you have had. You should be able to come up with a few really good stories from what you mentioned. Were you ever at odds with anyone, and how did you overcome the disagreement? What were the outcomes? There is the generic question, "what were some challenges you have faced?" You might try to come up with one example from your christian organization roles, and one from somewhere else, just in case you get to talk a lot about the cool organizations before that question comes up (IOW, try not to sound 1-dimensional). Beyond that, I would definitely advise trying to find either a generic list of dental school questions, or a list for the specific schools that you will be applying to, because what you listed sounds like it should provide you with phenomenal material. ...And practice some. Don't become overly scripted, but definitely get to where your answers will be in the front of your mind regarding these experiences.

 

[ICUrunning]

It depends on what you are doing with the groups. From the looks of it, you are just volunteering and giving back to the community and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

If you were using the Salvation Army as a front to proselytize, however, that is another matter.

 

[Glimmer1991]

No school will have even the slightest problem with this. Where I am in the south, a large percentage of the volunteer organizations have a Christian basis. I was heavily involved with Habitat for Humanity--and they have a firm Christian basis. You will never receive any flack for this.

I mentioned my faith in my interviews, though only in passing. If they judge me for that, it's not a school I'd like to attend, anyhow! 🙂

 

[Miley Cyrus.]

Your friend may consume a little too much of the choose your own adventure news outlets we have around these days, where they make their money off of these types of trumped up controversies. I'm glad you asked here, but you should have a few arguments against this person anyway. Christianity is, by a wide majority, the predominant religion of the country. You will not suffer any persecution at the hands of a dental school admissions committee.

Somewhat anecdotally, schools that specialize in fulfilling the needs of underserved communities may have a heavy christian presence. On the whole, religion will not matter a lot, though.

On to the good side - you will be asked about any leadership roles you have had. You should be able to come up with a few really good stories from what you mentioned. Were you ever at odds with anyone, and how did you overcome the disagreement? What were the outcomes? There is the generic question, "what were some challenges you have faced?" You might try to come up with one from your christian organization roles, and one from somewhere else, just in case you get to talk a lot about the cool organizations. Beyond that, I would definitely advise trying to find either a generic list of dental school questions, or a list for the specific schools that you will be applying to, because what you listed sounds like it should provide you with phenomenal material. ...And practice some. Don't become overly scripted, but definitely get to where your answers will be in the front of your mind regarding these experiences.

+1.

If you are Christian, you are not going to experience discrimination for doing some charity work based on your faith. Now if you were non-Christian, then there is actually legitimate reasons to worry. While certain news outlets are justified in criticizing the big scope of government, Christians are NOT 'under attack'. If you keep bringing up your faith in an interview or essay, then yes maybe then it would be a problem because you're applying to dental school not a church. As Glimmer said, just mention it in passing. You shouldn't hesitate to put those activities on your application, so long as you emphasize the community service related aspect.

The only time I've ever heard of it being a problem is when this one adcom member said an applicant he interviewed stated that she wanted to go into dentistry because when her patients were receiving treatment, she felt that because the patient couldn't really talk during the treatment and it would be only her as the dentist doing the talking, she could have an opportunity to preach the gospel better to her patients. The adcom member said that was really crazy and hence the girl was denied admission. I agree with the adcom member in this instance.

If you are still worried, I recommend you apply to the newly formed Bluefield Dental School in Southwest VA. It is a new school and it is Christian based and has applicants list their Church-related activities and Church affiliations, which is something no other school does. I'd give it a look. From their website:

"Bluefield College School of Dental Medicine will strive to spark the interest and passion in students to serve their fellow humans in a Christ-centered way."

"Shadowing experience and participating in volunteer activities such as the Mission of Mercy clinics (http://vdaf.org/Missions-Of-Mercy/mission-of-mercy.html), Habitat for Humanity, church-related, or other outreach programs is expected."

 

[MBlue16]

If they judge me for that, it's not a school I'd like to attend, anyhow! 🙂

^this