Standing Out...HELP

[chuteboxe84]

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Hey everyone,
I live in North Carolina and the only dental school that's around here is UNC. Since it is a pretty competitive school i was wondering if you all had some ideas of what i could do to stand out from all the other applicants. My GPA is descent and i'm gonna take the DAT soon. I know a lot of people that have higher GPA's though, study abroad and have participated in research. I have some friends that attend the dental school at UNC and they have told me that research is not really required and that shadowing or volunteering at a dental office is more important than anything. I'd really appreciate any helpful pointers on how to stand out. Thank you.

 

[ackbar]

you stand out by having decent DATs and GPA to get an interview, then you stand out by having a great interview. For all dental schools.

 

[Dukie]

I'd have to agree. UNC is extremely competitive and like other good schools, requires good grades and scores. Yet, there is no guarantee for getting in. The things you mentioned, such as research and shadowing, are nice, but only because they show interest. Schools want to see interesting people who will make good medical health professionals. Don't seek out a specific activity or series of activities to make yourself an ideal candidate. Do things you are interested in and schools with see that. If you try to get in based on what you think they want, schools will see right through that. This is part of the reason UNC has three interviews. They want to see the real you.

That said, you need to have other options. UNC is great, but there are other places that you can go. I would certainly encourage you to apply, but keep an array of possibilities open. Good luck to you.

 

[dane4695]

Just get to the interview and shine. I've noticed most people say "so and so school is really competitive..." and I think that can be said for nearly every school. No school is going to take just anyone, so knowing this write a really good essay and keep the grades high 🙂 I think once you get to the interview point, you've got a great chance of getting in. Oh, and since you haven't taken the dat yet, be sure to do well on that puppy. It's easy to study for- so get to it.

Good luck and don't stress! 🙂