What steps for a predent

[vienhuynh]

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Well, yea, I used the search and found that it is a good idea to do shadowing a dentist, and users here saying they have done xx hours, how do you prove that you have done that much hours and so on???

Also, I checked predents.com and find that the GPA and DAT is important, but stellar GPA and DAT applicants get rejected during interview too. Can I ask what been asked during the interview that may cause rejection??? Just curious, please dont feel offended by what I asking, just ignore the second question if you guys dont think it approriate.
Thank

 

[bing12]

They wont try to PROVE that you had shadowing hours unless something seems fishy, then they might( from what we hear) call and ask, but i think this very rarely happens. Instead, if they think you are sketchy wiht ur hours, they might just ask you questions about what you saw and encounter to prove that you shadowed those hours.

For interview questions: go on top of the SDN page towards the middle, and click interview feedback, it shows interview questions from each dental school. There are too many factors on why some students with high stats might get rejected, so you cant really pinpoint it.

 

[dentalWorks]

Well, yea, I used the search and found that it is a good idea to do shadowing a dentist, and users here saying they have done xx hours, how do you prove that you have done that much hours and so on???

Also, I checked predents.com and find that the GPA and DAT is important, but stellar GPA and DAT applicants get rejected during interview too. Can I ask what been asked during the interview that may cause rejection??? Just curious, please dont feel offended by what I asking, just ignore the second question if you guys dont think it approriate.
Thank

For most schools, they will believe however many shadowing hours you report. Some schools however (Forgot, was it tufts or temple?) required you to get a LOR from the dentist you shadowed and he must indicate how many hours you spent with him.

As far being rejected after the interview (especially for the stellar people).... Its highly unlikely for someone to get rejected because they answered 1 question wrong.... MOST LIKELY, it was because their personality didn't shine throughout the entire interview.... Whomever interviewed them didn't feel like they were a good fit for their class (sometimes things like like are VERY personal)

However, most people with stellar stats DON'T get rejected by ever school, only some.

 

[vienhuynh]

I see, and honestly, one question I honestly have no answer for is: tell me your leadership experience. I have no clue how to answer that, and since i dont do any extra activities or volunteer now, I dont know how to answer them....

 

[bing12]

I see, and honestly, one question I honestly have no answer for is: tell me your leadership experience. I have no clue how to answer that, and since i dont do any extra activities or volunteer now, I dont know how to answer them....

thats the problem....start doing these things so you can answer the question properly.

 

[vienhuynh]

but let say I do volunteer works, then how I define leadership experience specifically? I wasnt born in US so my definition of leadership is quite different. Could you guys give me some examples.

Just google it, and similar questions could be used to answer appear.
things like :

How have I motivated others?
Have I ever improved the performance of others?
Have I been able to make use of other people's talents and skills?
How have I addressed or helped other people to address their mistakes?

I find it easier understand this way. Thank 😀

 

[dentalWorks]

you don't have to populate EVERY SINGLE FIELD.... If you have no leadership experience, then leave it blank.... Don't try to invent a leadership role... its very black&white. You are either had a leadership position or not.

I doubt dental schools are accepting 4500+ applicants all coming from various positions at fortune 500 companies. The Criteria that matters the MOST and determines your success is your GPA+DAT, nothing else comes ever close.

 

[Doc Smile]

Well, yea, I used the search and found that it is a good idea to do shadowing a dentist, and users here saying they have done xx hours, how do you prove that you have done that much hours and so on???

Also, I checked predents.com and find that the GPA and DAT is important, but stellar GPA and DAT applicants get rejected during interview too. Can I ask what been asked during the interview that may cause rejection??? Just curious, please dont feel offended by what I asking, just ignore the second question if you guys dont think it approriate.
Thank

How far are you in your predental career? My advice is to get STELLAR letters of recommendation. Build great rapport with professors of not, keep an up-to-date resume to give to them when it comes time for Letters of Recommendation (LORs).

 

[vienhuynh]

with the science professor? or any professors at all? How about the professional dentists I may work with?

 

[Doc Smile]

with the science professor? or any professors at all? How about the professional dentists I may work with?

Would you rather have 10 mediocre letters of recommendation or 5 really good ones? While applying to DS or any professional school is a game, its more about the person when it comes to building rapport. I went to a small university (4,000 students total) so it was much easier to build rapport, especially bc the same 6 of us were taking the upper level chem classes. . . That was it, the same 6 people in my Advanced Organic Chemistry and Adv Inorganic Chem classes my senior year.

But, it depends on your committee requirements for your letters they send out. I think mine was 6 professors and 2 non-professors, with 4 of those 6 professors being directly related to your major. I had the 2 dentists I worked for as an assistant right one of the extra letters and then the Dean of Students right the other since i worked with him a lot as an RA bc I had two severe autistic/asburger's kids on my floor. My other 2-non-related profs were an art teacher and a psych professor. Those 2 were the hardest to build rapport with because I saw them so little. But, you just gotta be a good student and show a genuine interest in the feild, give them a resume and their minds will churn out a letter of recommendation.

Oh, and one more word of advice, as my brother once told me, who is the chair of the art history department at a small university, you have to ask the professor to right you a "Strong and positive letter of recommendation." that implies, to them, that if they cannot right a positive letter of recommendation that is strong, then they should say no. And if they don't write a strong positive letter, then they just suck balls.

 

[Mypeanut]

ROFL

if they don't write a strong positive letter, then they just suck balls.

The LOR I think are really effective if you get one from a professor that knows you personally and you did well in their class. There are lots of things you can do so your your prof knows you personally and about your qualities. They don't have to know about all of them but they can derive the rest if they know some.

This is what I did. Once I got A in one of my upper level chem classes. When I took the second class with the same prof I busted my ass and tried to top every tests and quizzes, utilized his office hours for help, ask questions in class, overall be very interactive with him, really showed him my enthusiasm to learn to the point that we were almost on first name basis lol. I got really great LOR from him (he even let me read it). Of couse you don't have to do the same but you get the point.