Important Steps to a Career as a Dentist
- Overall GPA.
- Psychology GPA minor (if you have one).
- GPA last two years in college GPA.
- Maintaining a high GPA from your freshman year on
- If you do not get an A or B in a course you should probably repeat the course.
- The research experience you get does not have to be in the exact area as that which you hope to be involved in dental school.
- Get even more involved in research by doing a Senior Honors thesis or some other research where you can get your name on a conference presentation or journal publication. This kind of recognition is rare for an undergraduate and will really boost your standing when you apply to medical school.
- You can get involved in research as part of Independent study course and thus earn credit hours and possibly increase your GPA if it counts as a graded course or volunteer.
- An advantage to working in a lab is that you get to know a faculty member who can write you a strong letter of recommendation when you are ready to apply to graduate school. Given you need more than one letter of recommendation, it is probably best to work in two different labs as an undergraduate.
- By doing an internship you can again show your high level of motivation for medical school.
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This internship can be with an on-campus clinic/organization, or off-campus clinic/organization dealing with dentistry.
- There are a number of skills you can develop in addition to what you learn in classes and by conducting research-- computers, writing, and oral communication skills.
- You might volunteer at a dental clinic.
- This involvement demonstrates a high level of motivation and interest in dentistry. Any involvement just adds to your overall record and makes you a more competitive applicant.
- It is not critical that you are employed in a medical (such as those listed above) as an undergraduate, but if you can get such a job that is a real bonus.
- Adds to your overall record and makes you a more competitive applicant.
- Shadowing gives you insight into the life of a dentist.
- Demonstrates a high level of motivation and interest in a dental profession.
- What is the DAT? If you are not clear about the DAT, you must understand that this is the standardized exam that almost everyone who applies to dental school must take. It can be viewed as the “dental SAT or ACT”. Because it is a standardized exam that means everyone across the country and even in the world takes the same exam in the same way.
- Your DAT scores are extremely important. Because the DATs are a standardized test, the argument is that this score allows each dental school selection committee to compare your score in an equal fashion against all other applicants.
- This gets even more important if you are going to a college that is perceived as less strong academically. For example, if you go to the University of Kentucky (U.S. News and World Report college ranking of 129) and get a high DAT score and a student going to Harvard (U.S. News and World Report college ranking of 2) gets a low DAT score your application will likely be viewed as quite strong.
- Another way DAT scores can work for you is if you have only mediocre grades (e.g., a 3.20 overall GPA), but you score really high on the GREs your high score can, in effect, offset those modest grades.
- As far as preparing for the DAT, some argue that you should begin preparing for the DAT by your sophomore year. This would involve using DAT practice books and software on a regular basis. You might also consider taking a DAT course from a company like Princeton Review or Kaplan.