I had the pleasure to speak to a fellow Carleton dentist in the making who requested that I touch on a few topics. They were quite the questions, and will take a while to answer. I will start with the first one and answer with time in a multi-part series. If you have your own questions to ask, feel free to reach out using the "Contact Me" page. Without further ado:

The personal statement. That's the quick answer if you were looking for it. But to go in much more depth, the dental application is processed through an online platform called ADEA AADSAS which is powered by Liasoncas. Within the application there are four main sections you will see, which are Personal Information, Academic History, Supporting Information, and Program Materials. See the picture below for what it will look like for you -

Personal Information: Just what it sounds like you will fill out your information such as name, family, and contact information. Shouldn't take you more than an hour. This year there was an addition for a short essay on the impacts of COVID-19 to your situation, but I don't think/hope it doesn't return for future years.

Academic History: Here is where you enter information such as which high school and college(s) you have attended. You will also have to input manually your transcript as well as order them from your school.

For Carleton folks, here's a helpful conversion of trimester to semester hours:

According to the back of your CARLETON COLLEGE transcript, 6 of units is equivalent to 3.33 of semester hours. Change all the terms into semesters.

Course with a Zero credit lab: 6.00 Units = 5.00 Semester Credits.
Course with a Lab that has credits: 6.00 Units = 3.33 Semester Credits.
For other units values:
5.00 Units = 3.00 Semester Credits. 4.00 Units =  2.25 Semester Credits.
3.00 Units = 1.67 Semester Credits. 2.00 Units = 1.25 Semester Credits.
1.00 Units = 0.67 Semester Credits.

This should take an hour or two but it's pretty straightforward.

Supporting Information: This is the section that will take at least a week to complete. It encompasses your experiences, achievements, personal statement, and official place to request a letter of recommendation. Since this section can be expanded quite a bit, I will wait on it and write a post regarding each of these separately.

Program Materials: After you add a program, it will give you a location to view a blurb about the school, pre-requisites and any supplementary questions that are needed before submitting the application. On average, most schools asked quick questions but you may see some that requests 500-1500 word essays regarding various topics.

As for the personal statement, since it is the most difficult part of the app, let me talk about that quick. I think once you get to the point of the application you have already taken the DAT or are about to take it. That's probably the most time consuming and stressful part of the process as a whole, but the personal statement comes second. I truly think it's an important component to your package as it's a way for dental schools to get to know you and hear your story beyond just numbers. In other words, it is what separates you from students with similar stats. I will link a new post about how I navigated this obstacle. Just know it will take multiple revisions, many many hours, and some frustration. It's 4500 characters total, not much more than a page, but it needs to be an effective 4500. Good luck, and reach out if you have questions.

Thanks for tuning in. Ta-Ta!