The most difficult process of the dental application in my opinion was the ever elusive personal statement. If you think about it, by the time you apply, most factors have been determined either recently or by your last few years: DAT scores, GPA, volunteering, shadowing, experiences, etc. One item that has not, however, is the personal statement. Due to this, I believe it is important that it is a strong piece of writing, as it has the potential to make or break your application. In this post, I will highlight what the personal statement is, the general process I followed, and my reflections.

What is the personal statement?

To put it simply, it is a relatively short 4500 character (which includes spaces) essay that is an avenue for you to showcase to dental schools why you are a strong candidate for dental school. For reference, this was roughly a page and some change for me and about 750 words (quite short)!

Some key topics to touch on are why dentistry, key qualities about yourself, a story or two about shadowing and/or something you are involved in, etc. You do not have to touch on all of these, but these are what I think dental schools are looking for when reading these personal statements.

I would personally avoid topics such as why you didn't do well in a certain class, and other negative aspects. Even worse, do NOT write complaining about a professor or the rigors of a class. Dentistry is a professional school where you will eventually be an accountable individual for the work and procedures that you do. It does not look ideal when you don't take ownership for previous results and mistakes. There is a separate section on the application to discuss extraneous circumstances, and this should be where you include topics such as repeating classes, etc. If you do choose to write about this there, that is fine, just make sure to spin it in a positive light.

If you are thinking about or are applying for the HPSP, the essay will be quite different as is your audience. Let me know if you would like to know more about this, or reach out to me directly.

General Process (Writing Guide)

I was struggling to write my own personal statement back in the spring of 2020. After reading examples from various dental students online and watching YouTube videos, there was one resource that broke it down nicely and is what I ended up following as a guide. I can't remember the specific acronym they use in the video, but I will attach it below (credit to Dental School Coach):

It's kind of a lengthy video (55 minutes long) but you can speed it up as needed. It was a really nice resource for me and I think it will be for you too.

The general idea is that you have selected key experiences both while in school and shadowing, a moment or experiences that led you to consider dentistry, and some qualities that define you. You then put them all together under one beautifully written 4500 character essay that has a running theme throughout - easier said than done, I know. This will give dental schools insight to your background, how you view yourself and your passions, and why you would be a good fit into their school. This along with your scores and remainder of the package is your ticket to interviews. Good Luck!

General Timeline:

1. On a Word document just jot some thoughts for each of the categories I've listed above. To state them again, they are what made you think about dentistry, important experiences, a shadow story, and a theme you might want to fit it under.
2. Once you have these ideas down, should only be a few words, make a broader outline. Go into some detail of what was most important from these ideas, putting into words how you felt, the environment, etc.
3. Organize roughly how you may want these ideas to go.
4. Hardest step is just to write. Put that outline down in paper. You may find that 4500 characters is quite not enough! However, don't worry about the character limit and write so you can express your thoughts.
5. Once the draft is complete, take a day off to refresh your mind and then come back and revise. See how everything sounds, does it sound coherent? Is there enough detail? Are you doing more showing rather than telling? [This was what I struggled with but spices up your essay if you're willing to put in the work]
6. Revise, revise, revise. Have one to three people you trust look at it. Other students applying to Dental school, a professor, good friend/sibling.
7. Proofread, you don't want a silly spelling mistake to cost you. Grammarly may help : )
8. You're done!

My Reflections

Just going to bullet point things that I took away from the experience and some quick advice:

• Start early. Give yourself at least a month for the whole process. You don't need to work for hours everyday, but things come up and you don't want the PS to slow down your application from being sent out. However, if a week after the application cycle opens is not going to kill you like it may with medical schools
• Avoid cliché statements/topics like how you knew you were going to be a dentist when you were young, enjoy doing things with your hands, love for science. Now these may apply to you, so you can use them, just personalize it to make it sound genuine rather than just a statement that nearly 99.99% of other applicants can say.
• Show don't tell - Makes your PS memorable to the reader and more enjoyable. Let me know if you would like to see examples, but I do think that video above explains it super well.
• Remember to relax and take breaks. Taking a step back, going outside, doing non-school stuff may just help you overcome that writer's block
• Keep your experiences during your college/recent timeline. Schools want to see how you grew and learned from events recently
  

If you would like to see how I wrote mine (not that great) feel free to send me a message. Also I am open to writing on any topic, provide suggestions! Good luck with the journey. Ta-Ta!