The Ultimate Guide on Getting into Dental School
12 steps to help your pre-dental application process
- Do your research
- It’s all about the prerequisites
- Conquer the Dental Admissions Test
- Be active in your community
- Research
- Be a leader
- Shadow a dentist
- Take a tooth waxing course
- Take a PAT prep course
- Do something outside of the box
- Be yourself
- Don’t give up!
STEP 1: Do Your Research
Find an accredited dental school and look at their requirements.
Make a list and check it twice like old Saint Nicholas. Find out the requirements, make a check-list, and get the requirements checked off! Be mindful of trying to take too many tough science requirements at once. You don’t want your GPA to suffer.
You should do your homework before selecting a school. An architect wouldn’t build a house without blueprints. So neither should you. It’s important to learn a little bit about each school and the city that surrounds it.
“What is the average class size?”
“Is it semester or quarter system? “
“Problem based learning versus traditional classroom lectures?
“Do you like cold or warm weather? “
All of these factors play a role in selecting a school. Use them to your advantage in prioritizing your list of school picks. You should choose a dental school that you see yourself attending.
If you’re one of the lucky students whose aunt or uncle serves as dean or mom and dad donate thousands of dollars annually, you can stop reading. You're set. For the rest of us, make sure you choose an accredited dental school. I went with UCLA’s requirements, compared it to UCSF and Harvard. Everyone dreams of Harvard. Dental school requirements are generally universal. Some schools require statistics, some schools require psychology and philosophy.
TIP: Make a spreadsheet to get organized
STEP 2: It’s all about the pre-requisites
Pre-requisites are the specific courses that each dental school requires you take in order to apply.
Take the needed prerequisite science courses, get good grades, and ask for letters of recommendation after completion.
While taking the required classes show up during professor office hours. After you finish taking the class and have an “A” to show for it, ask you professor who should know you well by now if s/he can write you a great letter of recommendation. The key word is great! Look into her or his eyes. If you see any hesitation, do not use this letter for your application.
I was able to see all my letters of recommendations. A professor that likes you will let you see what he or she wrote about you. He or she will ask you if there is anything you want added or changed. If you don’t get to see the letter, be suspicious. It might have some reservations about you.
By the time you are ready to apply to dental school you will have a stack of great letters of recommendation to choose from
TIP: Office Hours Are a Must
STEP 3: Conquer the Dental Admissions Test
Beat the DAT before it beats you. The DAT tests your ability to study hard not your intelligence. If you want to become a Dentist bad enough, you will study that much harder for a stellar score. Your score reflects how much work you are willing to put into a test that influences your chance of becoming a dentist.
Study for it, attack, and conquer. The DAT includes two scores one for the overall academic average of the DAT sections, and a Perceptual Abilities Test score.
The PAT will be the most novel part to you. This section tests your ability to visually interpret and make a decision. You will be measuring angles, counting cubes, and visualizing in 3D.
I recommend taking a class to prepare for the DAT. I took Kaplan. The DAT is an expensive test costing $433 currently so you only want to take this test once. Study hard, and study right. The best part about the preparatory course is your access to a database of questions. Kaplan and other courses have simulated DAT tests.
When looking at preparatory courses beware of the price sticker they can set you back a few hundred dollars, but a one time fee towards a lifelong dream is worth it.
Only take the DAT when you are ready. I pushed back my test date a few times. I took my DAT in the summer when I had adequate time to study and isolate myself from the world. I remember saying no to friends, dates, and future ex-boyfriends a lot. Let everyone know that you will be off the radar until you conquer the DAT.
Do not be afraid to take the DAT twice to bump up your score. I took mine a year apart and the second time I devoted a month to fully studying for the DAT. I bumped up my PAT by two points, and improved by Academic Average by one point improving in four sections. It was worth it to me to give my aplication an edge.
You can apply to dental schools by opening an AADSAS application and not have your DAT score. Dental schools will not look at your application until your DAT score is in. Some students do this, but I on the other hand like to know my numbers. I made sure I had my DAT score at the number I wanted before I submitted my dental school application on ADEA AADSAS.
TIP: Search other resources:
- Kaplan DAT Course Book + online access to tests
- Crack the DAT
- DAT Bootcamp by Ari
- Turn off Facebook, twitter, snapchat, instagram and all social media
STEP 4: Be active in your community
Volunteer - in anything that you are interested in. It doesn’t have to be related to dentistry. The goal is to be an active member of your community.
Join the local pre-dental student club at your university. These students will one day be your colleagues, get to know them now!
TIP: Join United Students in Veterans Health club, volunteer tutoring kids in the area, help at the nursing home
TIP: Join the pre-dental club at your school. If you don't have one, create one!
TIP: Join Student Doctor Network . Connect with PreDental Students.
STEP 5: Research
Participate in research if it exist in your college. Some research oriented schools, such as the big universities like UCLA and UCSF like to see this on applications. Only do research if you enjoy it.
TIP: There is funding for research. Make sure you get some.
STEP 6: Be A Leader
Do something that shows leadership skills. Join a club and run for office. Organize a drive collecting canned food, toothbrushes, or warm coats. Make a kickstarter for a good cause. Be a leader at your church.
TIP: If you can’t find an enjoyable club to join, then start one with friends.
STEP 7: Shadow a dentist
Imagine Peter Pan’s shadow. That is what you will become. Shadowing is either required or highly encouraged for dental schools. It is necessary to observe the field that you are interested in pursuing. You will stand over a dentist's shoulder watching her or him work once or twice a week to see if you are interested in the career.
This does not make you an assistant. You are there to observe the dentist work. You will be behind the dentist watching and listening. Try to ask a few questions if the dentist is a talker, but don’t get in the way of treatment.
Interested in specializing in orthodontics, endodontics, or another specialty? Dental schools want to know that you want to be a dentist. You can shadow these specialties, but a majority of your hours should come from observing general dentistry. There will be plenty of time to shadow the different specialties when you are in dental school.
Shadowing a dentist means watching a dentist work, not filling charts with the front desk. If this work gets pawned off to you, that is not what you are there for. Politely decline advances of work unless you are offered a paying job there.
TIP: Remember to show up to the office in nice business casual clothes and closed toe shoes. The office should provide a scrub top or gown.
TIP: Ladies with long hair tie your hair back.
TIP: Ask your dentist in person if you can shadow her or him. If you don’t have an appointment until next year call and ask. Last resort would be email.
TIP: If you shadow a dentist and are absolutely bored then dentistry may not be for you.
STEP 8: Take a tooth waxing course
UCLA has pre-dental courses offered by Mark Hunt and Vinmar Solutions. If you have spare time and money, I highly suggest the Tooth Waxing course. You learn if you are good with your hands and get to practice your hand eye coordination. If you successfully pass the course then you get a certificate and letter or recommendation.
I didn’t use the letter of recommendation from this course, but the class gave me a boost of confidence towards pursuing dentistry. That confidence will pick you up when you start doubting yourself.
TIP: If a dental tooth waxing course does not exist near you, then do something that shows good hand eye coordination. Jewelry making, painting, drawing, video games, piano, tennis, and table tennis.
STEP 9: Take a PAT prep course
These exist, you just have to find them. I took a PAT prep course offered by an architect at UCLA. It helped with looking at the two dimensional PAT questions and interpreting them in three dimensions. We used wax blocks and carved depth into them among other activities.
TIP: If you can’t find a PAT prep course, carve teeth out of small wax blocks. Purchase a buffalo dental knife for this. Do things that make you interpret 2D drawings in three dimensions.
STEP 10: Do something outside of the box
Participate in something outside of dentistry. This shows that you are human and have other interests.
Dental schools are looking for well rounded likable people that they will associate with long after school if finished. Strong Alumni Associations are key to schools. Admissions committees are looking to invest in people. Have hobbies. Volunteer. If you don’t have and hobbies, try something new. Take up golf, tennis, or soccer.
TIP: Do things that show you have good manual dexterity, drawing, painting, building models, pottery.
STEP 11: Be yourself
When it comes down to it. Just be yourself. These are some tips to help you get into dental school, but if you absolutely do not like painting or drawing then you don’t have to do it to make your application look good. Do things that you like to do. Dental schools want to get to know who you are.
STEP 12: Don’t give up
Persistence is key. Preparation for dental school is daunting with all the requirements and steps to take, but don’t give up. If you take the DAT and get a low score, take it again. If you apply once and don’t get it, take some extra classes, and apply again. The people that want to be dentists deep down inside won’t give up.