My Path to Dental School
When someone asks me the question “What is the path to becoming a dentist?” I am always at a loss of words of how exactly to respond. The path to dentistry is so multifaceted and contains several different routes, but I am always eager to share the path that I took. Growing up with a mom as a general dentist, I was exposed to the field from an early age. After shadowing a few offices in high school, I decided to apply for accelerated programs when applying to college. The goal of accelerated programs is to shorten the amount of time spent in undergraduate. I applied to and was accepted to the University of Pennsylvania 7-year bio-dental program which included 3 years of college and an admission into the 4-year DMD program at Penn Dental Medicine. In my application, I emphasized my ability to use my hands, my dedication to health care, and my drive to serve others. The 7-year bio dental program required that I maintain a cumulative 3.5 GPA and obtain a 19 on the DAT (Dental Admission Test). Because I didn’t feel the pressure to overextend myself in extracurricular activities, I chose to participate in clubs that I was especially interested in. For example, I was active in the Vietnamese Students Association and was a tutor for students in West Philly high schools. When the time came to prepare for the DAT, I spoke to peers who had taken the exam and DAT Bootcamp, an exam prep software was highly recommended. The program outlined a 10-week study schedule which I followed to prepare for the exam. The DAT consists of 4 sections: Survey of the Natural Sciences, Perceptual Ability Test, Reading Comprehension, and Quantitative Reasoning Test. One of the most daunting aspects of pursuing a career in dentistry is the high cost of dental school, average around $37,000/year for public schools and $67,000/year for private schools. [...]