When Should I Apply? I want to go abroad.

[thetriumph]

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Hi everyone,

Thank you in advance for any and all advice!

So I think I may have screwed myself in terms of applying to dental schools. I am currently a junior and it is fast approaching May 15th. But I have not yet taken the DAT, written my personal statement or gotten letters of rec! I know this isn't a huge problem--I could do this all next May, but there is another sort of dilemma I'm in.

The thing is, I really wanted to go abroad, live and teach English abroad, backpack Europe or SouthEast Asia, for a decent amount of time (about a year or so) before going to dental school. Through SDN I learned that it was quite difficult to defer admission after getting accepted, so I was thinking of going abroad after graduation, summer '09, and applying after coming home.

I now realize that I may have to lose two entire years before going to dental school if I choose to go this route...

May 2009 - I graduate from college, but can't apply to D-schools because I'll be abroad and how would interviews work...?
summer 09 through whenever - go abroad
May 2010 - apply, wait, interview, wait, matriculate Sept 2011

This is TWO years I need to wait. 🙁
I don't know if travelling the world would be worth it if I have to wait this long... Does anyone know if phone interviews are ever conducted?

Has anyone been in a similar situation, and if so, how did you resolve it? Has anyone taken this 2-year hiatus, and was it worth it, in your opinion?

Thanks.

 

[ummjoey]

if you want to take a whole year off, then you might have to apply 2011 cycle.

if you apply 2008 cycle, then you cant take a year off because you will miss your senior year........

if you apply 2009 cycle and get the earliest acceptance (12/1/2009), then that will leave you with about 8 months of "vacation time." that is saying if you get accepted to your number one choice. even when you have the 8 month "vacation time," i wouldnt recommend taking all 8 months off. there is a lot of paper work that needs to be taken care of after your acceptance.

if you apply 2010 cycle. you will need to finish your senior year (may/june 2009). take a year vacation (it is now may/june 2010) and apply. i think it will be too late to apply when you come back from vacation on may/june 2010 because i dont think you will be ready to apply, unless you prepare for the application while on vacation or during your junior/senior year.

if you are thinking about applying in 10 days, then i would recommed finishing your ps and getting your lors asap. those 2 things you can do before the application comes out. might as well finish them before, so you can focus all your attention on the application in 10 days. i know people apply in 10 days and already have their ps done and lors just waiting for the matching forms.

in the end, the decision is really upto you. you want to travel? then travel. you want to get into dental school asap? then apply now.

i have never heard of a phone interview.

i dont know your stats. but, if you are just looking to take a 2 year hiatus, then i would rather have you improve your application with those 2 years.

 

[Chuda2008]

Personally, I would do whatever it takes to have the travel experience. So what if you have to wait two years to apply, this is the time that you can travel without anything really holding you back. My different travel experiences and the different times I have studied abroad have been some to the best times of my life and also they have helped shape who I am and how I look at the world. From my different dental school interviews I would say that my experience abroad made me look different from all of the other competitive GPA/DAT scores. Plus it is way more relaxing to talk about your amazing experiences during an interview than answer as many "interview" questions as the time will allow.

As I see it you have three options.
1) Apply now and hope to defer a year.
- If this happens you are risking not being able to defer, and from the sounds of it, your application would be rushed so that would put you at a dissadvantage. Then, what happens if you get accepted, but can't defer? Do you give up all of your travel plans? Do you withdraw, travel anyways, and then reapply? If you reapply after getting accepted I think dental schools will question why you applied the first time if you were not serious about attending dental school.

2) Apply next year and travel at the same time.
-There is a chance you could graduate and apply that May and then travel until Sept/Oct, schedule all of your interviews close together and then travel from Dec to June. It could be done, but it is risky and I feel like it will compromise both your travel and application. You will constantly have to be going to between both experience which will be stressful and not allow you to fully submerge yourself in the foreign culture and experience.

3) Graduate, travel next year, and then apply the following year.
- If you are serious about traveling this is really the only way to go. Before you graduate, get pretty much everything ready to apply. LOR's, all transcript request forms, and everything together so that when you apply a year later everything other than your personal statement will be ready. Then go travel!!! If possible, think about setting up some kind of informal internship with a dental clinic in a foreign country. Figure out how to volunteer or work with children. All of these experience will most importantly change your own viewpoint of the world, but they will also look great when you apply to dental school. Then when you come back you will be ready to apply plus you will have some life experience that will let you standout among all of the applicants. If you are accepted in December, you can still travel afterwards. Also after traveling, you might decide that dentistry is not for you, and then you will be happy to figure that out before four hard years and a huge debt. Plus, when you do apply the schools might see you as more confident in your decision to become a dentist because you took a year off to consider if it is what you really want to do.

I guess you have to ask if waiting a year will really change the outcome in the end. I would argue that it will not. You will still be a dentist, applying to dental school will still be stressful, and dental school will still be difficult. You can always travel if you really want to, but if you don't do it now it will be harder and harder to do it. After dental school you will be 250K in debt and most likely in the best position to continue into dentistry instead of take a year off to travel.

Sorry this is so long, but I hope it helps.

 

[thetriumph]

Chuda and Ummjoey,

Thank you SO MUCH for your input and for spelling everything out for me. Chuda, I think I may go with option 2. I didn't realize that was a possibility, so I'm really thankful you told me about that. While it may compromise my travel and application, I think it just might work for me!

Option 1 is definitely risky. There's no guarantee of deferral and I don't want to be in a position where I have to give up traveling for school. I also didn't think about how it could look bad if I were to be accepted then applied again. ALSO, being at a big public university, I haven't been proactive enough in getting letters of recommendation, so I definitely need to work on that and it would be tough getting that together in 10 days.

Applying in May of my senior year, then backpacking Europe or SE Asia from June-August after graduation, then doing interviews and taking a break at home from Sept-December (I'd get to spend the holidays with family!), then going to Asia to teach English from Jan-August (...is August too late?) sound AMAZING.

I may be too optimistic in thinking this might work out, but I'm not really aware of what could somehow foil this amazing plan. What are some problems I can anticipate if I go with option 2?

Thanks again for your help! You both are awesome.

 

[ummjoey]

Chuda and Ummjoey,

Thank you SO MUCH for your input and for spelling everything out for me. Chuda, I think I may go with option 2. I didn't realize that was a possibility, so I'm really thankful you told me about that. While it may compromise my travel and application, I think it just might work for me!

Option 1 is definitely risky. There's no guarantee of deferral and I don't want to be in a position where I have to give up traveling for school. I also didn't think about how it could look bad if I were to be accepted then applied again. ALSO, being at a big public university, I haven't been proactive enough in getting letters of recommendation, so I definitely need to work on that and it would be tough getting that together in 10 days.

Applying in May of my senior year, then backpacking Europe or SE Asia from June-August after graduation, then doing interviews and taking a break at home from Sept-December (I'd get to spend the holidays with family!), then going to Asia to teach English from Jan-August (...is August too late?) sound AMAZING.

I may be too optimistic in thinking this might work out, but I'm not really aware of what could somehow foil this amazing plan. What are some problems I can anticipate if I go with option 2?

Thanks again for your help! You both are awesome.

no problem, but just playing the devils advocate..........

after you apply in may of your senior year. you will be getting secondaries throughout summer. depending on the schools you apply to.

a few problems that might come up during jan-aug. you might get late interviews and acceptances. might be dangerous to not check your mail for so long. there is also a lot of things that need to be taken care of during this time after acceptance. i just got a big packet from UCLA and i need to do a bunch of paperwork.....

when you are away on vacation, there is really no way for schools to get in touch with you.

i was just playing devils advocate. make sure to keep your optimistic point of view. i am sure everything will work out fine.