Volunteering/Research

[KAP]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I'm applying to schools in June and have only one semester of volunteering at the dental unit of my university's hospital. However, I have a really high GPA and will get decent DAT scores. How much research and / or volunteering did you guys do that got into schools like UCLA, Upenn, nyu, etc.?

 

[Sprgrover]

I had about 40 hours of volunteering as a dental assistant at a non-profit dental clinic in addition to some other extra-curriculars and volunteering experiences. I think that with what you have now you should be just fine. Best of luck!

 

[jav316]

I had about 40 hours of volunteering as a dental assistant at a non-profit dental clinic in addition to some other extra-curriculars and volunteering experiences. I think that with what you have now you should be just fine. Best of luck!

hi - what kind of qualifications did you have in order to be able to volunteer as dental assistant? i know there are some courses but i'm wondering if you need to complete a course to volunteer
thanks 🙂

 

[asr28]

Kap,

Your high GPA (3.4+) and DAT scores (20/21+) will get you really far..you will most likely get interviews at all the top schools. Volunteering at a dental clinic/hospital is great as well, but having a dental research project behind you is a MAJOR plus to get in (but def not required). I've completed 2 dental research projects in my undergrad years and that really impressed my interviewers. In fact, at most of the interviews I've been to (eg. Upenn, Uconn, Columbia, Buffalo, Stony Brook, etc), all they wanted to talk about was my research! I've gotten interviews at all the schools I've applied to (except Harvard so far) and have been accepted to all the schools I interviewed at! I attribute most of this to my research! =)

 

[Sprgrover]

hi - what kind of qualifications did you have in order to be able to volunteer as dental assistant? i know there are some courses but i'm wondering if you need to complete a course to volunteer
thanks 🙂

None - I simply called them and they were starved for assistants so I went in and learned as I went along.