Quickie

[Dentalstu02]

Does anyone know about requirements for recommendation letters...? I have one from a dental school professor i had a research class with, and a bio professor, but I cant get one from a chem professor right now. Can I get another from a bio professor or someone else, or do i need a chem one????

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[vixen]

each school is different on their requirements. If they say science prof, it can be bio, chem, etc....I have one bio, one chem, one physics, one psych, one dentist and my advisors....but this is my second time applying remember

 

[Dentalstu02]

Thanks Seema. Do I have to go on each individual site to see what letters they need, or is it posted somewhere??

 

[vixen]

to be honest, I don't know, and I know on the supp materials tables they're not very specific w/all the schools....I guess it can't hurt to check the schools' website....sorry.

 

[ItsGavinC]

I think that Seema is correct -- the school websites are probably the easiest way to go. Another option is to call the admissions office for each school (#s are listed on the AADSAS supp. materials page) and ask them directly. That might be a good way to get to know the offices and throw your name around.

 

[Dentalstu02]

Thanks for the info. I am applying to 19 schools, however, so I guess I should just get one from a chem prof to be safe.

 

[StarGirl]

WOAH!!!!! DentalStu02!! are you sure you want to apply to 19 schools? That sounds like an awful waste of money (unless your gpa is below a 3.0 and DAT scores are 18's and below)... I applied to 16 and by Aug I was so overwhelmed that I didn't even respond to 4 or 5 schools and then another 4 or 5 which I left un touched till really late (which wasn't smart cause those were the harder but the schools I wanted to go too) and paying secondary and school fees add up! not to mention interview fees... just to let you know that there's a HUGE time comittment with each school you apply too =) so if you can narrow it down it might be even better for you =)
good luck

 

[DesiDentist]

Originally posted by StarGirl
WOAH!!!!! DentalStu02!! are you sure you want to apply to 19 schools? That sounds like an awful waste of money (unless your gpa is below a 3.0 and DAT scores are 18's and below)... I applied to 16 and by Aug I was so overwhelmed that I didn't even respond to 4 or 5 schools and then another 4 or 5 which I left un touched till really late (which wasn't smart cause those were the harder but the schools I wanted to go too) and paying secondary and school fees add up! not to mention interview fees... just to let you know that there's a HUGE time comittment with each school you apply too =) so if you can narrow it down it might be even better for you =)
good luck

StarGirl,

Why were you so overwhelmed? Its August 1 almost and the only thing i'm overwhelmed with is my DAT. Do all schools have supplementary materials? I thought it was only a few schools like NOVA, UPENN, UNLV?

Schools like Temple, NYU, and others just want their fees and have no other requirments other than the AADSAS application.

Did Columbia have a secondary/supplementary application?

DesiDentist

 

[ohgee]

hmm...

i thought usually schools ask for letter of rec from 2 sci professors (research counts too), 1 non-sci, and 1 from a dentist...

Do you think the ones I got are okay for most schools? My letters don't really show my academic strengths...

1 from O-chem professor, 1 from research, 1 from non-science, 1 from volunteering (a physician writes it) , 2 from 2 dentists?

I know the o-chem is not going to be strong because professor doesn't know me well.... the rest of them i am sure are fine...

Thanks....

 

[StarGirl]

hmm the schools that I applied to that had secondaires were:
Nova, UPenn, UCLA, UCSF, Temple umm maybe a few more....
but w/ school and having to study for the DAT and keeping track of who you need to send checks to right away and who you have to wait for and worrying about schelduling for interviews... I don't know about you, but by end of Aug beginning of Sept I had two interviews already (even before I took my DAT's) and I kept having to push back the DAT cause of more and more stuff to do for applications... and then to juggle studying for classes and traveling it was just too hectic....

 

[DesiDentist]

Originally posted by StarGirl
hmm the schools that I applied to that had secondaires were:
Nova, UPenn, UCLA, UCSF, Temple umm .....

Temple had a secondary? I know the other schools definately have secondary, but I thought Temple just had you do an essay at the interview??? If anyone could clarify this I would be grateful.

I heard the UCSF secondary was hellish, it had like 12 essay questions.

How about Columbia, was there a secondary for that school??

DesiDentist

 

[UBTom]

Number of schools to apply to I think depends on one's situation..

With so few dental schools in the country, it is difficult to get into a dental school outside your state/region of residence if one does not have a real brainbusting academic record/CV. As my grades are good but not spectacular, that's one of the reasons why I applied to only four schools (all within my state): NYU, Columbia, UB, and SUNYSB.

Glad my strategy worked for me!

 

[nycdoc]

Temple sends you a secondary when they invite you for an interview..it's short- 1 or 2 pages long.

 

[wasabi007]

yes, temple had a secondary that you had to bring with you to the interview.

in terms of specific letters of rec, the only school that i applied to that was picky about what type of science letters of rec you send is tufts--they specifically want one bio and one chem letter (this was confirmed by the admissions office when i called to inquire.) so, upon hearing that, i didn't send the app fee to tufts because there was no possible way that i could have obtained a letter from a chem prof at that time. however, the strange thing is, much later in the application cycle, i received an interview invite to tufts despite my incomplete application. it said that all i needed to do was to send in the app fee and schedule an interview! i found that to be very strange being that the admissions office told me that i DEFINITELY needed a letter of rec from a CHEM prof to apply. so, if you have your heart set on tufts, perhaps you can just send them what you do have and maybe they'll overlook the replacement of one science letter with another?

-wasabi007