WAMC Switching from pre-med to pre-dental

[orangeclouds]

Hey everyone! I graduated from college last spring and am currently in my gap year. My experience as a clinical research assistant has also given me a lot of insight into the structure of medicine and I'm disillusioned to say the least... I'm pretty sure I don't want to be pre-med anymore but I do want to stay in healthcare. I have also been doing a lot of reflection over the past couple months and have recently been exploring dentistry. I shadowed my childhood dentist for a couple days during the holidays and really loved it. I would love any feedback/suggestions to become a more competitive applicant.

I am currently planning on doing more shadowing in the next few months, register to take the DAT, and complete missing prereqs (microbio, anatomy, and physiology). If I complete all of this, will I be competitive for this upcoming cycle? If not, please share what I can do to become more competitive.

Thank you in advance!

Date of submission: N/A
Overall GPA: 3.6
Science GPA: 3.55
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: 3.55
DAT score (include AA and all sections): N/A
State of Residence: Idaho

Undergrad Attended: Prefer not to share
Major: Anthropology
Minor: None
Minority? African-American female
Reapplicant? No
Nontrad? No

Shadowing Experience: a couple hours with my childhood dentist over the holidays
Volunteering Experience: 2 years of volunteering at a women's shelter (became a lead during my time there), 1 year of volunteering as a reading tutor for underserved elementary school students
Employment: 9 months as a clinical research assistant (current job),1.5 years working as an orientation leader, 2.5 years as an administrative assistant in my school's admissions office
Research: 2 research internships (2 posters & 1 publication)
Other Extracurriculars: 1.5 years as lead editor of college art magazine
Have you volunteered/shadowed/attended events at any dental schools? Not yet, unsure of how to start! I'm open to any suggestions
Relevant Honors or Awards: Full ride university scholarship, won outstanding thesis award in my department
LOR type and strength: 2 PIs, 1 anthropology professor, women's shelter supervisor, physics prof (these are all the people I could think of so far)
Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags: have not taken the DAT, anatomy, physiology, or microbio yet

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[Ryxndek]

Hi OP, welcome to the forums! Please fill out a formal WAMC using this template. I will move your thread to the WAMC threads. Feel free to edit your original post and you can keep the info you already have either at the top or bottom. This way we can give you better advice!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Welcome to the forums!

Subscribe to the ADEA GoDental newsletter. Run through the ADEA GoDental website. Reach out to the admissions teams at the schools closest to you. Find out if their ASDA or SNDA chapters are running pre-dental visit days for aspiring applicants this spring (like Texas Tech University-El Paso Pre-Dental Weekend!).

Applying in a few months, as in by June? What are your practice test scores on the DAT? Do you know if you have to take Casper? Many other dental schools are running recorded video interviews as a preliminary step towards a live (web or on-site) interview.

As it stands, how many hours of dentist shadowing or assisting have you done? How many hours in general dentistry versus a speciality (pediatrics, ortho, endo)?

 

[orangeclouds]

Hi OP, welcome to the forums! Please fill out a formal WAMC using this template. I will move your thread to the WAMC threads. Feel free to edit your original post and you can keep the info you already have either at the top or bottom. This way we can give you better advice!

Thank you for moving my post! I edited it and formatted it using the template.

Welcome to the forums!

Subscribe to the ADEA GoDental newsletter. Run through the ADEA GoDental website. Reach out to the admissions teams at the schools closest to you. Find out if their ASDA or SNDA chapters are running pre-dental visit days for aspiring applicants this spring (like Texas Tech University-El Paso Pre-Dental Weekend!).

Applying in a few months, as in by June? What are your practice test scores on the DAT? Do you know if you have to take Casper? Many other dental schools are running recorded video interviews as a preliminary step towards a live (web or on-site) interview.

As it stands, how many hours of dentist shadowing or assisting have you done? How many hours in general dentistry versus a speciality (pediatrics, ortho, endo)?

Got it! Just signed up for the newsletter and reading through their website. Planning on reaching out tomorrow to learn about upcoming pre-dental visit days.
Yes, I'm interested in seeing if I can become competitive to apply in June. I have not yet taken a DAT practice test nor taken Casper. I'm currently working full time, do you think it would be achievable for me to take the DAT between now and June?
I have 8 hours of dental shadowing which is not much. I only spent two afternoons shadowing my childhood general dentist while visiting my folks back home. How many hours do you recommend?

 

[Ryxndek]

I would aim to have 100, as this will cover every school's requirement. I would check schools you're interesting in to see if you could aim for less. For LOR's I would look into getting a couple science profs. 2 PI's is overkill, you really only need one. Did one teach you in a class? You could use them for a science letter if they're stem. Generally I recommend 2 sci, 1 non-sci(dentist, non stem prof, etc) and then a supervisor (your PI, employer, volunteer supervisor). This will cover ~90% of schools requirement. Some require 3 scie letters, in this case you can have that letter sent directly from the letter writer to the school. (double check if you need to do this, and ask the school what email and if that's acceptable).

Without a DAT score it will be difficult to really say what schools you should apply to. But I would for sure have Meharry and Howard on the list as they're HBCU's and your app aligns well with their mission. Being from Idaho, and no dental school, you'll probably want to look into; Creighton, OHSU, Washington, Minnesota, Colorado, UNLV, Roseman to name a few.

 

[orangeclouds]

I would aim to have 100, as this will cover every school's requirement. I would check schools you're interesting in to see if you could aim for less. For LOR's I would look into getting a couple science profs. 2 PI's is overkill, you really only need one. Did one teach you in a class? You could use them for a science letter if they're stem. Generally I recommend 2 sci, 1 non-sci(dentist, non stem prof, etc) and then a supervisor (your PI, employer, volunteer supervisor). This will cover ~90% of schools requirement. Some require 3 scie letters, in this case you can have that letter sent directly from the letter writer to the school. (double check if you need to do this, and ask the school what email and if that's acceptable).

Without a DAT score it will be difficult to really say what schools you should apply to. But I would for sure have Meharry and Howard on the list as they're HBCU's and your app aligns well with their mission. Being from Idaho, and no dental school, you'll probably want to look into; Creighton, OHSU, Washington, Minnesota, Colorado, UNLV, Roseman to name a few.

Neither of my PIs taught me in a class but I will reach out to another science prof.
Will my clinical research be a hindrance to my dental school application? I don't really have much time to go to dental assisting school so I'm worried about not having much dental experience besides shadowing. Clinical research pays my bills haha!
Also, will I be at a disadvantage if I take those 3 prereqs while applying?

 

[Ryxndek]

Neither of my PIs taught me in a class but I will reach out to another science prof.
Will my clinical research be a hindrance to my dental school application? I don't really have much time to go to dental assisting school so I'm worried about not having much dental experience besides shadowing. Clinical research pays my bills haha!
Also, will I be at a disadvantage if I take those 3 prereqs while applying?

Def need to get a science prof, if not 2 then. Double check schools requirements but generally you need 1, if not 2 to apply.

Clinical research shouldn’t be a problem. I had only dental shadowing as my dental experience and did just fine when I applied. I had a lot of molecular biology/pharmacology research and it was brought up in almost all my interviews. You can try and leverage your research into your application as well.

No you shouldn’t be at a disadvantage, plenty of applicants apply with prereqs still left (I had physics 2 left) and get in. Your acceptance will just be contingent on passing the class with a grade of C or higher. Some schools, very few, require prereqs to be done by the time you apply. Only one I know of it’s stony brook but there could be another.

 

[orangeclouds]

Def need to get a science prof, if not 2 then. Double check schools requirements but generally you need 1, if not 2 to apply.

Clinical research shouldn’t be a problem. I had only dental shadowing as my dental experience and did just fine when I applied. I had a lot of molecular biology/pharmacology research and it was brought up in almost all my interviews. You can try and leverage your research into your application as well.

No you shouldn’t be at a disadvantage, plenty of applicants apply with prereqs still left (I had physics 2 left) and get in. Your acceptance will just be contingent on passing the class with a grade of C or higher. Some schools, very few, require prereqs to be done by the time you apply. Only one I know of it’s stony brook but there could be another.

Would it be okay to take these prereqs at a community college or should I do them at a university? It would be cheaper for me to take all of my remaining prereqs at my local CC than to take one class at my alma mater.

 

[Ryxndek]

Would it be okay to take these prereqs at a community college or should I do them at a university? It would be cheaper for me to take all of my remaining prereqs at my local CC than to take one class at my alma mater.

You can take at CC, though some schools like Tufts will not accept them (most will but some have exceptions). So again, just do your research on which schools accept which prereqs. I believe there's a good list linked in my signature that tells you which schools will not accept CC credits. You can start there and then I would reverify since the list is 4 years old.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I should point out the SDN How to Guide for getting into dental school. Make sure you go to our home page and look up that Resource.

 

[orangeclouds]

Thank you all for your helpful responses! I've been diligently studying for the DAT and have been thinking about my school list. If I score 20+, am I competitive for the following schools?

Roseman
UConn
Marquette
UNC
Meharry
BU
Tufts
Temple
UPenn
Pitt
NYU
Buffalo
Howard
VCU

I'd prefer to apply where I've completed most of the prereqs (including anatomy). I plan on taking anatomy either this fall 2024 or spring 2025. I'm also really interested in leaving my current area and moving to the east coast. I'm open to any suggestions on improving my school list!

 

[macsak]

Thank you all for your helpful responses! I've been diligently studying for the DAT and have been thinking about my school list. If I score 20+, am I competitive for the following schools?

Roseman
UConn
Marquette
UNC
Meharry
BU
Tufts
Temple
UPenn
Pitt
NYU
Buffalo
Howard
VCU

I'd prefer to apply where I've completed most of the prereqs (including anatomy). I plan on taking anatomy either this fall 2024 or spring 2025. I'm also really interested in leaving my current area and moving to the east coast. I'm open to any suggestions on improving my school list!

how did you come up with this list?

 

[orangeclouds]

I have some family near the east coast so I focused my school list on that area. I'm also open to casting a wider net. Any school suggestions?

 

[macsak]

I have some family near the east coast so I focused my school list on that area. I'm also open to casting a wider net. Any school suggestions?

i suggest you look at mission fit
"family near the east coast" is not mission fit...

 

[orangeclouds]

i suggest you look at mission fit
"family near the east coast" is not mission fit...

I have a good amount of research and community service experiences so I'm unsure of what types of schools to focus on. Based on my app, what type of "mission" would you say that I fit (research vs. community service)?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Again, it's hard to give you a list without a real DAT score. But given your demographic as an African-American female, a strong academic profile will command attention if you are interested.

I appreciate you doing all the outreach to the ADEA newsletter. I don't know if you went to the New Orleans recruitment fair recently. Connect with SNDA officers at schools you are interested in, or follow their social media accounts.

Also, did you know... Idaho Dental Education Program | Idaho State Board of Education . This could be dependent on where you have enrolled for undergrad, but check Creighton for more information:

Admission

www.isu.edu