Volunteering

[ohgee]

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Hi all...
I need help in this. Recently I decided to volunteer at a dental office, to see if I would like Dental to be my profession. Since I just started, and lets say I liked dentistry as a profession. I am wondering if I will have enough volunteer experience by the time I apply. Which I hope to apply this coming round. Also, ususally how many hours people volunteer or work at dental office anyway? Thanks 🙂

 

[LAGIRL]

ohgee,

Don't worry about getting enough hours, schools just want to make sure you know what you're getting into and working in a dental office is the best way to find out if you really want to be a dentist. I had only 20 hours of working as a dental assistant before my interview and it was enough. Tufts gives preferential treatment to applicants who have completed more than 55 hours, but you should have plenty by the time you apply. And APPLY EARLY!!! Plan on mailing your AADSAS application the first week of june, that way all the schools get everything early and you have more chances. Good luck.

LAGIRL

 

[StarGirl]

i have over 500 but that's a lot more than you need. I'll say 80 is a good min to have... i think uop or some other school (i forgot which school, they're all a blurr now) wants 80 hours (although not a requirement, but heavily favored)
good luck!

 

[Beagle]

I think as long as you have experience and know what you're getting yourself into, than its alright with most schools. I think UOP does like a lot of hours though. I went there for undergrad, and A LOT of pre dents did a whole semester of an internship with a dentist. So the total number of hours was...roughly 150 hours for the semester. I really don't think the number of hours matters much though. Once, I went to a pre dental meeting and the dean of the UOP dental school said, "the best job that you can have on your application is a shoe salesman at norstroms" Apparently, theey really love personal interaction!

 

[ohgee]

Thanks for your guy's input

My plan here is that from April till August, I will be volunteering in a free clinic, and I will be volunteering in a private clinic. By then, hopefully I can know if I am really interested in this profession. If I decided to apply, I will take DAT during August, then from August till the end of September, I will go back to Taiwan (where I am from), and volunteer at a dental department of a hospital (probably like 6 hours a day). I probably then will submit my application in October...is that too late?

I don't know if apply late will hurt my chances...what do you guys think?

Thank you guys so much for these inputs... <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" />

 

[Beagle]

How is your GPA? If it is high and your DAT scores are good than I don't think october is too late. But everyone on this forum always says to apply early....

 

[ohgee]

I have about 3.6 GPA....
I've heard of people apply in Sept, oct, nov, dec even Jan....

Most people apply during July?

 

[Beagle]

You can apply in July if you want..some people do. but your GPA is very high so I don't see a problem with you applying later in the game!