How to Apply to Dental School (AADSAS) By Ian Marion, Jeffrey Lee updated by Travis Wu and Kent Levan

General Tips Keep good records of your dental observations, awards, extracurriculars, leadership, research, work experience, DAT scores, Community service Go to the Career Resource Center and ask for help developing your resume Extremely helpful when filling out your app because all the info is in front of you APPLY EARLY: JUNE 3 rd SUBMIT EARLY! (as close to June 3 rd as possible)

Where to begin…..? First, go to Under the “For Students” section, click the hyperlink called AADSAS to set up an AADSAS account. After you setup your account, with your username and password, you will be given an AADSAS ID number. ◦ This is located at the upper right hand corner of your homepage. ◦ Important to have this written down for communicating with dental schools and ADEA

Home page Every time you log onto your account, a checklist will appear. Used to determine what areas of your account are filled There are also other tabs such as: My Profile, Print, Status, Instructions. ◦ These tabs will be extremely useful throughout the application cycle ◦ In each section, there are instructions on how to fill out that individual section

Colleges Attended Enter every college institution attended For every college, a transcript matching form must be printed, filled out, and submitted with your transcript Different schools have different policies on how to order transcripts This will be done multiple times throughout the application cycle ◦ For summer and fall course work; any coursework after submitting application

Coursework In addition to transcripts you have to enter your courses and grades into AADSAS You need the course name, number, grade and AADSAS equivalent. Special classifications, such as honors, are also included You have to include all coursework, including summer sessions and AP scores counted for college credit.

Coursework pt.2 You have to enter coursework by sessions You add courses to each session Make sure all of the grades entered into AADSAS match the grades on your transcripts You should have an idea of the courses you plan to take the following terms and enter them into AADSAS (classified as Planned/In Progress)

DAT Scores If you have taken the DAT you just enter the scores in If you have not taken the DAT you can enter an approximate date When you take the test make sure to send official score reports to schools that you wish to apply to Apply for DAT here:

Background Information This section should be filled out completely to the best of your abilities Manual Dexterity (600 characters): ◦ Limited in describing how you use your hands ◦ Talk about something, don’t leave it blank ◦ i.e: building models, drawing, painting, video games

Background Info (cont’d) Remaining questions: ◦ Family connections to dentistry ◦ Educational Programs to prepare for dental school  Preclinical Simulation Course, Kaplan DAT course ◦ Education issues: suspension, poor grades/academic interference ◦ Previous applications to dental school? Interested in other health professions? (Probably don’t say anything unless you’ve done something concrete)

Awards, Honors, Scholarships Enter college accomplishments over other accomplishments ◦ Higher priority is given to these awards ◦ Mention as many things as possible, don’t be shy

Dentistry Experience Name of supervisor Position Title Brief Description of Activities/experience Total hours From Date A to Date B Anything that exposes you to dentistry

ECs/Volunteering List activities in order of importance ◦ High school and/or college ◦ However, college is more relevant ◦ Know dates, total hours, average weekly hours, position, organization ◦ Good place to show leadership experience/ community outreach

Work Experience Start and End Dates Total Hours Brief Description of work Include Military Service

Research Experience Who your researching with What you did? Hours Position Type Start and End Dates If you can, get a letter of recommendation from your principal investigator.

Evaluators Pt. 1 Ask EARLY ! (That means all you 2+3’s out there: GET IT DONE NOW!!!!!) Get to know your professors, treat them out to coffee, talk to them about your goals and reasons for being a dentist, etc. ◦ Imagine if you were writing your own evaluation; what would you want to know to write a good one for yourself Can be done online or on paper For paper form, a matching form must be given to the evaluator

Evaluators Pt. 2 Make sure the LOE is waived for all letters Think now about who you want to write it and don’t just choose professors for classes that you’ve done well in Make sure that each evaluator is actually writing it when they said they would. They are human and can sometimes be forgetful or swamped with work. Allow AADSAS a couple weeks to process

Personal Essay Pt. 1 Brainstorm first There is no one way to write the essay but make it personalized and interesting Relate all past/present activities to how it will help you become a great dentist Be concise (4500 character limit w/ spaces) Make sure to proofread it multiple times

Personal Essay Pt. 2 “Address why you desire to pursue a dental education and how a dental degree contributes to your personal and professional goals.” Get feedback from others who are good at editing essays Try to get a rough draft finished early (preferably before apps start) to give ample time for all your editors to really pick it apart and make it that much better Make sure to read and know everything about your personal statement before your interviews

School Designations Add schools that you want to consider your application Apply to multiple schools ◦ Initial fee: $217 ◦ Fee per school drops with each additional school (+$68 for each additional school) ◦ Worth it to consider other schools outside of California; the outside world is not that scary ◦ Be aware that almost all dental school will require an additional application fee

“Status” Tab AADSAS updates every time they receive official documents (Transcripts, LOE forms) Check this often to ensure that all of your information is reaching AADSAS Once your application has been received by schools they will update your status here

Things to Remember Most sections can not be changed after you submit the application ◦ Apply early, but not before your application is as complete as it can be ◦ If you completed all other sections but just need to wait until you finish your DAT’s, submit the application anyway and then update the application later. ◦ Submitting early can put you on the school’s radar earlier than submitting after every single section is completely finished though they won’t give you a yes or no until you do finish everything

Things to Remember ◦ It takes about a week to fill out the application(unless you have everything already prepared ahead of time) ◦ It takes a few weeks for AADSAS to process the application, so expect a delay ◦ AADSAS periodically reopens to allow you to update coursework and send updated transcripts, do this as soon as possible

Additional Resources Student Doctor Network Pre-Dental forums: play.php?f=17 play.php?f=17 They can help you gauge your competitiveness and answer questions about schools

DAT and Suggested Study Material Most often you are taking the DAT the same summer you are applying (time management) Format ◦ 90minutes: 40 Bio questions, 30 Chem, 30 Ochem ◦ 60 minutes: PAT ◦ Break 15 minutes ◦ 60 minutes: Reading Comp ◦ 45 Minutes: 40 Qualitative Analysis Suggested study materials: ◦ DAT Destroyer (Study 3-4 times, know the solutions cold) ◦ DAT Achiever ◦ Topscore DAT ◦ Crack the DAT PAT ◦ Kaplan?

Questions?? If you know people who have filled out the application (like us), ask for help