Research or DA

[yazmataz]

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Hi everyone! I'm asking for a friend who is currently deciding between taking a job in a UC research lab or as a dental assistant. She has about a 3.3 cGPA and is planning to take her DAT next year. She wants to go to a dental school in CA, preferable UOP or UCSF. Which job would maximize her chances?

Edit: Also she has about 30 hours of shadowing experience, a letter or rec from a dentist, and is hoping to get more shadowing experience!

 

[princeafrica]

DA

 

[thestylishgeek]

DA by a long shot

 

[AppalachianDentalBoy]

DA get paid my dude. She needs to raise her GPA and do well on the DAT for those schools though.

 

[doc toothache]

Research requiring some college background or da, which a hs drop out can do.

 

[yazmataz]

also the research position is a paid position and this is all occurring during her gap year!

 

[yazmataz]

DA by a long shot

can i ask why : )

 

[yazmataz]

Research requiring some college background or da, which a hs drop out can do.

research is a payed position at a prestigious bay area lab which requires a degree and experience. so which do you think is better? 🙂

 

[yazmataz]

also if she picks the research and does well on the DAT could she be competitive for Western?

 

[pma96]

I would personally pick research to add more diversity of activities to my application and at least in my experience the research jobs pay more. But if she doesn't have many shadowing hrs then I would do DA. At the end of the day, I don't think dental schools care that much what job you have during the gap year as long as you continue to also do something dental related (shadowing, volunteering, etc.)

 

[thestylishgeek]

can i ask why : )

for sure!
imho, your friend's overall application would be most benefited with experiences that show a strong desire to become a dentist. the DA position would provide exactly that. in undergrad i did research + was active in predental society, and throughout the application cycle i feel the adcoms were more interested in my involvement in the latter. now, if your friend is aiming for schools known for being research-driven (ucsf/harvard/etc) then that's another story, but the gpa needs significant improvement to get into those schools~