One Journey, Many Destinations: Your Path to Dental School

Webinar Transcription

2026-01-26 – One Journey, Many Destinations: Your Path to Dental School

Lydia: Hello everyone. My name is Lydia Hollon. I am a senior advisor here at CollegeAdvisor. Thank you so much for joining us tonight. I’m going to be your moderator for the evening.

Curtis: Thank you.

Lydia: Welcome to tonight’s webinar, “One Journey Many Destinations: Your Path to Dental School.” To orient everyone with its webinar timing For tonight, we’re gonna start with a presentation.

Then you answer your questions in a live q and a on the sidebar. You can download our slides under the handouts tab and start submitting questions in the q and a tab. Now let’s meet our presenter.

Curtis: Hey, thanks Lydia. So I’m Curtis Burrill. I’m the Senior Director of recruitment and education and outreach for Dental Education at the American Dental Education Association.

Um, I’ve been there for about five years working with students interested in the oral health professions, um, and helping them navigate the journey into dental school. I.

Lydia: Fantastic.

Curtis: And then, so just to real briefly, who a DA is, um, a lot of people who are looking at dental school or are interested in dentistry know who the a DA is.

The a DA is the American Dental Association. So if you become a dentist, you will join the a DA, but the A DEA, um, the e for education, um, our members are the dental schools in the US and Canada. So our primary focus is working with the schools to develop the curriculum that you’ll go through to become a dentist.

Um, also to make sure that the pathway is very clear and the application process is, is seamless. Um, so we have the, um, a d who’s a national organization, um, AD GO Dental is kind of our outreach for those applying and going through the path. Um, and then a DA sa, which we’ll go over in depth today, is the actual application process.

So.

Lydia: Great. So before I pass it off to Curtis to take us into the presentation, we’re gonna do a quick poll just to figure out what grade you all are in. So if you are a parent or in college or preparing for graduate school, feel free to just use that other option. If not, feel free to put in your grade.

So while I give people a chance to answer, I’m curious, Curtis, how did you get to this point in working with aia?

Curtis: Yeah, so I have an interesting background, just like everyone else’s journey. Um, I actually have a horticulture and landscape architecture degree from the University of Maine. Um, and I have a master’s degree in student affairs and student personnel from Springfield College.

Um, so my background is working with college students and high school students to I. Um, navigate the academic success and career pathways that they’re looking for. I’ve been doing that for about 15 years. I worked in optics and photonics. I worked at American University in dc, Tufts University in Boston.

Um, so it kind of been all over, but my path, just like most of our paths, was not a very straight line. Um, kind of goes all over the place, so.

Lydia: Got it. Yeah, I, I feel like most people end up taking more of a, not necessarily crooked, but the long scenic route to how they ended up where they are currently. A lot of people think that it’s the major in something and then you end up right where you thought you were always going to be.

Curtis: Yeah, and talking with dental students or students interested in oral health, there’s always a, an interesting story or something that happened or they didn’t realize dentistry was an option until later in life. So it’s, it’s interesting.

Lydia: Yeah. So looking at our poll, we have 10% in ninth grade, 20% in 10th, 10% in 11th, 50% in 12th grade, and then 10% in that other category.

So we’ve got mainly seniors on the call. I

Curtis: love that. Perfect. Well, they should be hearing back from their schools if they didn’t do early decision need time now. Right. So it’s exciting.

Lydia: Yeah.

Curtis: Nice. All. Are we good with the poll? Yes,

Lydia: we’re good.

Curtis: Awesome. Well, I’ll jump right into it then. Um, welcome everyone.

Thanks for joining me on this Monday evening. Um, I’m not sure where you are in the world, but I am on the East coast, um, just outside of dc. Um, and we got a lot of snow, so I’ve been working from home all day. Um, but one of the things that we’re gonna go over today is we’re gonna visualize kind of like a, I’m gonna use a, a road trip.

As kind of my analogy to kind of share with you what it’s like to prepare, um, for the application process. It takes multiple years to prepare to apply for most medical school, dental school, um, physical therapy, whatever it might be. Um, and it takes years to kind of get all that stuff together. So we’re gonna talk about going to, to Miami, um, which I would’ve.

Like to have been in today as opposed to here in snowy Virginia. So, um, if you guys are ready, we’ll get started. So whether you’re in high school exploring the profession, um, oral health or whether you’re already in undergrad, um, now is really the time to get started to build your pathway. Um, it’s never too late, um, but it’s always good to have some runway when you’re trying to figure out how to get into dental school and how to apply.

Um, so today I’m gonna share some resources to support wherever you are in your journey. Um, I’m gonna help you understand what, um, you’re doing and how to really set yourself up for success. Um, I’m gonna guide you in the upcoming application deadlines, final steps to make sure it’s as stress free as possible.

Um, share some insider tips and experts. Um, a DIA manages the application process for. All the dental schools. So we do know all the different stages and all the different resources to help you. Um, I’m gonna highlight some key resources, um, timeline management, preparation strategies. Um, so that’s all the things we’re gonna talk about today.

So hopefully you guys are ready for some fun. Um, we’re gonna cover relevant information for you from freshmen as an undergrad all the way up into, or freshman as in high school, all the way up to undergrad. Um, we’ll make sure stuff is really clear. And also make sure we keep you engaged. I’ll be asking you guys some questions to use the chat or use the emojis, um, just to kind of keep, keep you guys awake.

Um, dentistry can be a little boring. I’m try to make as fun as possible, so, all right. How are we feeling? Let’s take a road trip with me. We’re gonna go ahead and get started. Um. Okay, so the American Dental Education Association and a DA SaaS. Um, as you can see, we have 78 dental schools in the US and Canada.

That does change quite a bit. Um, I think we’re having two new ones being added recent in the next few months. Um, in the few years. Um, we also. Are having our annual meeting this year up in Canada. So if you’re a Canadian student, we’ll hope to see you there. And the a d ad SaaS stands for basically the Common app.

Um, it’s the American Dental Education Association Associated American Dental Schools application Service. You could see why we don’t use the full name. We have the acronym. Um, it’s a common app. If you are applying to undergrad, you know what the common app is? You’ll use one form to apply to all of the different dental schools that you would be considering.

Um, and on average, students apply to about 10 dental schools each time that they apply to dental school. Um, so there’s a lot of advantages for you. Everything’s in one place, multiple schools, keeps it kind of simple. We try to keep things in in one spot for you. Um, hopefully it will save you some time. Um, supporting information gets moved over when you take your DAT, which is similar to the mcat, which is similar to the SAT.

Um, so the DAT is our version of, uh. Official, um, exam you would take that that scoring goes into your application. Um, that comes from the a DA manages the DAT. It’s a lot of letters right there. Um, but it’s essentially the, the common exam that each person will take. That applies to dental school. Dental school, use that, um, the personal statement.

Um, experiences and achievements, um, and evaluations from those people that can support your application, um, into dental school. So you’ll do that all in one place, which is great. All the transcripts go to one place, which is super, um, easy. We designate those and get those out to all the schools for you.

Um, and the best part is that you can really track where your application is, the status, who’s received it, um, making sure that transcripts have come in, letters of recommendation have come in, so you can really watch that throughout the process. ’cause it can take. Six to eight months to kind of get through that process and get everything together.

Um, and your GPA is calculated consistently across all schools. So we have a uniform evaluation to make sure that schools are looking at the same students with a holistic review, um, of who you are and what you’re bringing to the table, which is great. We also have a dedicated customer service, um, support line, which is kind of cool.

Um, and I’ll share that information later, but it’s open 365 days a year. Um, and it’s a really great team of people that can help you, you know, anytime of day to help you kind of navigate some of the different parts and pieces of the application. Um. So everything you’re doing now is really building towards the application process.

Even if you’re a freshman in, um, high school, exploring this profession, understanding what you want to do is helping you kind of build that foundation for when you get up to your junior or senior year of undergrad and you’re actually applying to dental school. Um, if you’re already in undergrad. What you’re doing now is really helping you kind of get the pieces and parts together so you can really make sure that you have a solid application, um, because it does cost money to apply and you wanna make sure you’re getting the best bang for your buck.

Um, and really the bottom line is the idea ad test is your destination or sum will be to make sure that you’re prepared for this journey. So we’re really trying to make sure you have everything you need. To be fully prepared for when you click that button and submit your applications to the different dental schools.

So, so by using the party emoji, let’s use the party emoji. Um, who wants to join us to go on a road trip? Who wants to, to go on this little road trip to the idea a SaaS? Use the party emoji. I’m gonna use that. Yay. Okay, cool. All right.

So preparing for a road trip, what do people do? Use the chat feature and tell me what you’re doing to get ready for a road trip. I have some ideas here, obviously a playlist. Knowing the timeline, making sure you’re, you’re all fueled up, but what are other people? What are you, what are you grabbing from the store?

What are you doing to kind of engage and get ready for a road trip? Anyone wanna share? Okay. You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but it’s okay. Um, but we’re kinda looking at this as a, as a preparing to make sure that we’re ready to go as soon as we hit the road. Um, you, the biggest thing is why are you applying?

Um, we talk to students all the time about their why, you know, going through the application process and going to dental school and going through even. Applying to be an undergrad, going through undergrad, um, you know, you have to really know why you want to do something, what you’re dedicated for, um, throughout the application process.

It really helps keep you kind of like guided and keeps you kind of in the game. Um, you should look at, make sure you have a timeline, um, knowing what the dates. And important key dates are for when things open, close are due, is really important. But also your timeline of when you’re gonna take your DAT, when you’re gonna study for the DAT and having that whole timeline.

Um, and even just applying for undergrad, making sure you have a timeline for when you’re gonna apply to undergrad and how you’re gonna take your prereqs during undergrad to apply to dental school. So it can be an eight year process to really prepare for this application. All right. I think we’re good to go.

So we’re gonna move on to our next slide. Ready to go? Okay. So who’s riding with us in our, in our cars? There’s some pretty nice cars here. Um, I prefer an SUV, so I’m gonna take the scenic driver car for myself, but. As we kinda look at this, we wanna make sure you think about the why, um, as a mental playlist, to be on repeat, to keep you excited, to get you motivated during this road trip, to get through all those different bumps and road, you know, issues that might happen in the road.

Especially with some of these cars, they don’t have a very. If they can’t take any big bumps. So, um, so we’ve looked at the cars. Let’s take a look at the different types of cars. So we’re gonna talk about the road trip captain. So you are gonna figure out where you might land, which car you’re gonna be in by kind of where you are in the process.

So the road trip captain is someone that already knows how to apply to dental school. They’ve maybe gone through the cycle as of re applicant. They know the different process. They’re the road trip captain. They have the map, the plan, they know where the stops are. They’re really confident in how to get there.

Um, so they’re those in the orange car. The red sports car is our passenger royalty. Um, that’s what I prefer. Um, as they’re applying in the next few years, they, um, understand what the process is. They’re kind of like the passenger princess. Um, they know or print. Um, you know the destination, you know that you’ll get there, but you don’t really have the trip completely mapped out yet.

You’re still trying to figure out what to do. Um, so you’d be in the red car and then those that are still exploring, so those that are in high school, those that are lower, um, in the pathway, um, they’re really looking to figure out what it is. Maybe dental school, I don’t know, maybe it’s something else, but let’s take a look.

Um, so they’re more of a scenic driver. They’re taking it all in. Kind of assessing kind of what they might do. Um, you’re in the red Jeep, so it’s really good for off-roading to explore, which is really nice. So. Awesome. So before we hit the road, um, there’s one thing that Roadtrip needs to have, like I said, is a, is a, is the playlist, which, um, I bet already told us she needs a good playlist.

I appreciate, or he, they need a new playlist. Um, so for us it’s really about keeping the vibe, staying focused, getting in a good mood. It helps you when you’re struggling to make, you know, make it to the destination. I know for me, I like to, you know, open up the windows, get the energy going. Um, at my age, sometimes I have to turn the music down so I can pay attention, um, ’cause I’m old.

Um, but anyway, so, but a playlist is a really big, a big part of it. Making sure that you can stay motivated, making sure that you can stay on the, on the journey. Um, it’s important to kind of identify kind of your whys beforehand, so you really can make sure you have that playlist ready to go, so you can really be focused, ready to go when you’re applying, and also keep, you, keep the destination in mind.

So the destination is, is that final, final year becoming a dentist, becoming a dental, um, uh, professional oral health professional. So, all right. And then really those that us are in the orange or in the, um, the, the, the scenic drivers in the Jeep, you know, we’re really just trying to figure out what this is all about, right?

So trying to de navigate, um, what this is all about, where we should be looking, what we should be thinking about. And if you’re on this webinar now and you’re in high school, I commend you because you’re gonna be really, really ahead of the game for anything you do post-grad or even for undergrad as you apply to undergrad, um, institutions.

So you’re doing great. All right, so before we get on the highway, uh, we wanna make sure that we’re ready to go. We wanna make sure we’re strong applicants, we wanna make sure we understand, um, the different pieces and parts. Of how to really gear up to be a competitive applicant. So, um, not everyone on the call might know what a shadowing hour is, but shadowing is when you go into a dental oral health office and you spend the day, spend multiple, multiple days with different dentists, oral health professions.

Um, it can also be one of the 13 specialties. It doesn’t have to be, um, general dentistry. Um, it can also be with dental hygienist. But the shadowing hours are really key. Um, you don’t start tracking shadowing hours until you’re in undergrad. You can track them in high school, but they may not count them towards your 200 hours.

So I would track everything if I were you. That’s one of the big things I tell students. Um, but going to shadow when you’re in high school is really important because you figure out whether or not you like it or not. I’ve talked to plenty of students who have said, I went and shadowed, I liked it the first few times and then they did this, you know, tooth extraction and I couldn’t do it.

I had to leave the room just not for me. Um, so anyway, knowing. What you can and can’t do is also really important what you like and don’t like, and now’s the time to really explore that. So I tell students to shadow as many oral, uh, uh, as many professions as possible outside of oral health. Even. Um, you know, if you’re really into surgery and you shadow a surgeon, but that’s maybe not for you.

Maybe you want to go into dentistry and become an oral. Surgeon, so you never know. Um, really taking that time to understand and really put yourself out there and getting those, um, shadowing hours, it really, really makes sense. Um, it helps you, helps the schools confirm that you’re the right fit for the profession because you put the time in.

Um. And it also makes sure that you understand how dentistry works. So from general dentistry to the specialties, private practice, community health, there’s all kinds of different pieces and parts. So it’s really important to start, um, tracking those hours. Make sure you get them. If you’re a junior or senior and you don’t have enough hours, um, start working on that right away.

Um, it’s a really big part of your application. I wanna make sure you get that. All right. The next part is the DAT, and as I mentioned earlier, it’s a standardized test that covers all the different pieces and parts for the, um, oral health professions for dentists. So when you’re applying to dental school, um, all dental schools, but one.

Require the DAT. Um, and it’s a, an exam that students study for. There’s a lot of, um, opportunities for resources outside to have study groups and do different things. Um, but it really is covering biology, general chemistry, organic chem, perceptual ability reading, comprehensive quantitative reasoning. Um, it gives you a score between two and 600.

Um, which is fairly new. They did just change the scoring last year. Um, but the scoring change, but the test did not change. Um, typically it’s taken the spring of your junior year or the spring before you apply, depending on if you. Choose to take a gap year or not. Um, it’s really big to just make sure you’re, you know, making sure you’re taking the prereqs to prepare you for the exam.

Building a strong foundation in the sciences, of course, um, as a maybe later in undergrad, you’ve, you might have taken it, you might want to take it again. Um, you wanna make sure you have a competitive score and you had the opportunity to take it multiple times, which is nice. The third piece is letters of evaluation or recommendation.

Um, if you’re applying to undergrad, you might have already gone through this four letters of recommendation, but similarly, um, if you’re down pathway. Freshman, sophomore and undergrad or senior in high school, you really wanna make sure you’re thinking about and cultivating, um, people in your life that can write a letter of re recommendation for you for dental school.

Um, keeping in mind that you’ll want to identify professors, um, dentists that you shadowed. So you know, if you shadowed a lot as an undergrad. Um, you’re gonna, or even in high school, you might want to try to find that person to help them, um, provide you a letter of recommendation. Um, and also other academic or professional references.

So if you had a full-time job as an undergrad or if you are, um, you know, getting a degree that’s not really in the same realm as the sciences, because one of the great things about dentistry is you can get an undergrad degree in whatever you’d like. Um, as long as you’re taking the science prerequisites.

Um, so maybe there’s a professor that knows how dedicated you are to. Um, dance, if you’re a dance major or an art major in some way, and have them let a write, let write a letter of recommendation for you. Um, they really just need to speak to your academic abilities, your character, your suitability for the profession, um, you know, building those relationships.

Like I said, attending office hours. Engaging in research, talking in class, sitting in the spot where they can see you, helps build those relationships. Um, do that early. Um, you know, no one wants to go ask someone as a junior for a letter of recommendation and they’ve never really engaged them outside of the traditional classroom setting.

Um, and requests at least four to six weeks before you need them. So, you know, if the applications are opening in May, like they normally do. What’s four to six weeks before I would even say a little bit further. The longer you can give someone, the better. Um, the more support you can give them, like providing them with a resume, providing them with, um, information about what what you’ve done with them might also help them, um, in writing a letter of recommendation.

And then the last one of course is the pre-reqs. So not only do you need to take all of these pre-reqs, but you need to have strong grades. Um, it’s very competitive. Profession. Um, you need to have, you know, usually about eight hours of bio, um, uh, biochemistry, organic chemistry, physics, and then three or four semester hours of biochem.

Sometimes you need anatomy. It’s not a bad thing to have on there. And of course, english slash writing six semester hours. Um, and some schools have supplemental. Courses that they might want to take, like statistics or psychology. Um, when you’re looking at the schools that you are gonna apply to, you wanna make sure you take a look at what those supplemental prereqs might be.

There’s a list of them on our website. Um, they do change every year. So, you know, as you’re getting ready, take a look at those a year or two out. Um, all. So overall you just wanna make sure you have a strong GPAA strong science GPA. You want to think about your volunteering, community servicing, and experience your leadership experience.

Whether you become an RA or you run a club or an organization or student government in high school or whatever it might be, you wanna make sure you’re keeping track of that, your leadership experience. Any research that you might support, um, as an undergrad, it’s super helpful but not required. Um, a well-written personal statement of course, goes a long way.

Um, if you’re working on that for your undergrad, a application, um, think about it. In a different realm when you’re applying to dental school, you’re gonna be really focusing on why you wanna be a dentist and why, um, you are the perfect candidate for dental school and of course strong interviewing skills.

So dental schools will interview you, um, each of their candidates, whether or not in person or virtual. Most of ’em have gone back to at least one in person. Um, and one may be virtual before the second round. Um, so interview skills are really important too. Um, which is. Really good. So you can practice those, um, as an undergrad.

You can practice those in high school by running for an organization leadership position, um, whatever it might be, even applying for jobs. Um, never a bad thing. All right. So applying for dental school, it, it’s very stressful. Um, there’s lots of good things though to think about as you’re planning for underclassmen.

Starting early can really, and being intentional eliminates a lot of the stress. Um, for those that are lower in the pathway, then you really have a lot of time to think about it and build a, a timeline that will work for you. Um, you have time to pivot, you have time to kind of make some changes if you need to.

And for upperclassmen having. The plan and organization in place can make any process much smoother. I’m sure you, I’m, I’m an Excel spreadsheet person. I’m sure most of you all have your ways of organizing your lives, but, um, it’s a really great way to, to make sure you can stay on track and hold yourself accountable.

Um, I know for me, when I’m applying for things or if I’m doing something big, I like to make sure my, I have friends or others in the, in that are going through the same process to help hold me accountable and also just check me to make sure I’m going in the right way. So it’s never a bad thing. Um. All right, so as you’re preparing for dental school, there’s all these different things we’ve talked about, but what can we do?

What type of assistance do you need? So we’re gonna kind of take a, a bit of a break. We’re gonna pull over to the information center on our little road trip here to Miami. Um, and we’re gonna talk about some resources. So, um, a idea offers some amazing resources for you. Um, most of them are free, some of ’em costs less than 35, $40, um, if you need them.

So the idea official guided dental school is one of them. It’s a really great resource. It has every single bit of information about every single dental school you could possibly want. Their class size, their GPA, their average, DAT, all that information is there. Um, you also have, uh, our a idea Go dental events, which I’ll go, I’ll talk about one later.

That’s in Montreal. But we have virtual affairs, so you can meet admission staff from all the different dental schools. Um. We have different enrichment programs, um, that are available through the different calendar. You can talk to different schools and they’re doing their open houses virtually. We also offer, um, we’re doing one in February on the 27th, and I’ll make sure you guys all get the invite.

We’re doing a virtual, um, shadowing opportunity, which is really great through the University of North Carolina. So, um, you can actually see a dentist do some, um, things within the office virtually, which is great to kind of get an idea if you’re even interested and maybe potentially shadowing in person.

Um, we have the Dental School Explorer, like I said, similar, similarly to the official guide. They come together. Um, but the Dental School Explorer is actually the online version. The official guide is actually more of a book. Um, although it is digital, it is like more of a PDF kind of book. Um, and of course we have our support group, which we, we all need.

Um, we, I just talked about how I always need one when I’m applying for different things or doing something big. Um, you wanna make sure you have your support network, whether it’s your parents, your family, whatever it might be, but also. The ad staff and the aea, um, ad SaaS customer service can be your support as well, so keep that in mind.

Um, and then also the fee assistance program. So AEA offers, um, a fee assistance for students. You apply in June, um, and you get three designations to for free, um, if you meet the financial need for, um, the fee assistance program. So you save quite a bit of money. Um, but you have to apply to all three of the schools at, at the same time, which isn’t too difficult, but something to keep in mind.

So. All right. So we also talk about and do different webinars on like how to prepare for interviewing. Like I said, interviewing is really important. Um, so we offer opportunities for students to interview with each other, um, and practice, um, different interviewing tips and interviewing skills. Um, we also.

Bring in admission staff to talk about the process and what it looks like. And of course, current dental students talk about what their application journey was like, um, which is also super helpful. So we make some of those connections for you, um, through a Diago Dental, um, and our different, and our different opportunities.

Okay, so the next thing is the timeline. So the biggest thing for you to know is that everything that we do is about the same every year. So whether you are freshman in high school or a sophomore in undergrad, this timeline generally is not gonna change. The dates will change the specific dates, but you know, we open up the application in May, um, which means we open it for you, the applicant, to have a month to just start the application and build it out.

Um, in June you can start applying. Um, in mid August, September, that’s the first academic update period. We have a second one, December, February, um, this year or last year, um, December 15th was when the first round of acceptances went out for dental students, which is great. Which if you do the, the math, which means.

September, October, um, November were when they did interviews for most of the schools. Um, and then a DDI test closes in February, and then the new cycle begins again that next, that next May. So, so the cycle itself is pretty cyclical, pretty standard. Um, it’s been this way for a while, but. I would take this and work your way backwards.

So add in when you plan on taking the DAT, the months you plan on studying for the DAT, um, when you’re gonna ask your evaluations to, or evaluators to write their letters, um, all the different things that you are gonna need. I would build your own timeline for yourself. Um, ’cause it’s really important when do you order your transcripts?

Um, you know, are there any other dental school deadlines for any of the specific programs? Some schools have a different. Deadline to apply by than others. So each of those schools have a different deadline, um, or they follow the general one. So you have to really keep your eyes open of which schools are have application deadlines or not.

Okay. All right, so now we’ve gotten to the next part where we’re gonna do a little checkup on our car. You know, we’ve been driving for a while. Um, but knowing the different parts and different quadrants is really important. So the application, the idea, a test application has four quadrants. Um, it’s a personal information, academic history, supporting information and program materials.

Um, and if you. Reapply ’cause some students don’t get in their first round. Um, all that information will be carried over for re applicants so you don’t have to apply again. Um, if you go through that process, you just need to go back on and submit to, to the schools you’re applying to. All of your application will be the same unless you’ve updated or want to update different parts of it, which is really exciting.

Okay. All right, so we’re gonna get some gas to get back on the road and get ready, make sure we’re ready to apply. Um, you know, some of the things to consider, like I said, are costs, um, applying to dental school can be costly. The cost of an application is $264 for the first one, and then $115, um, after that for all the additional ones.

As I said, most students apply to about 10 dental schools. That’s the average. Um, of course, dental school, tuition, the supplemental application fees. If schools have an additional fees, um, you can find that out on the application itself. And then of course, traveling to. Interview and just hotel travel expenses.

You know, maybe getting a new suit or a new jacket or a new dress or whatever it might be. And then of course, tuition fees, living, um, all those different things. And unfortunately, financial aid is changing rapidly these last few years. So keeping that in mind, making sure you have a plan for how you’re gonna pay for dental school, um, is also really important.

Um. Like I said, we have a dental school, um, application, tuition fee, re reimbursement. Um, so if you are interested in looking at that, that would open in June. Um, and some dental schools also offer, um, tuition reimbursement as well as, um, some fee assistance as well, if you have any type of financial hardship.

So, all right. And then we’re gonna just get back on the road and kind of finish up our application, finish up our, our little road trip here. Our application opens in mid-May. Like I said, for you to start. Putting that all together. Um, and, and you can start applying in early June. Um, you wanna really keep in mind that when you’re applying to dental school, the road may get a little bumpy.

So mental health support, making sure you don’t give up. Keep it going. Um, you know, if you need that extra advice, try find that playlist that you put together. Figure out what you can do to kind of keep yourself motivated. Um, maybe identify some friends or people that have applied in the past. That might be able to help you get ready as well.

Um, and again, timeline, resources, reviewing the application materials and considering costs are the big, the big ones. And making sure that you’re ready to submit. Press that submit button as soon as you’re ready in June or throughout the course of the application cycle to apply to dental school. So, and then last but not least.

All right. Like I said, we have an event in Canada. We do this event every year, not in Canada. It moves every year. It was in DC last year. Um, but on March 21st, um, every single dental school in the US and Canada will be in Montreal. Um, we do a morning session that’s educational, and then we do a fair in the afternoon with all the admission staff from each of the dental schools.

It’s a great opportunity to talk to admission staff directly. A lot of them bring current dental students. You can talk to them as well. So if you’re looking for an in-person way to kind of navigate, you know. At least 50 to 75 dental schools in one place. Um, it’s a really great event. And just to keep it in mind, um, we do have the next few years laid out.

So if you are, you know, maybe a, a senior in high school right now, maybe next year, you might want to come when we’re in Chicago, um, or the year after that when, um, I think we’re in, I forget where we are, but, um, but we’ll keep you up to date. You can make sure you join Ad Dental, you’ll get all this information as well.

Kinda make sure that you are on the path to successfully applying to dental school.

All right, we’re gonna open up for questions. I think Lydia’s gonna pop back on.

Lydia: Yes, yes. All right. Thank you so much for that presentation, Curtis. Uh, like you said, we’re gonna switch over to the QA portion of tonight’s session. So, uh, feel free as you all, uh, listen to the q and a that we’re about to start to continue asking questions in the chat.

We will try and. Or in the q and a tab rather. And we’ll try and get to as many as we can. Um, and as a reminder, while we do wanna answer everyone’s questions, we do ask any questions that you ask. Keep them fairly general. We won’t be able to give specific answers on likelihood of acceptance to a certain program or what stats you need to get in order to get into dental school and things like that.

So keep it broad and relevant to the presentation, but we will try to get through everyone’s questions. So the first question that I have for you, Curtis, is if you, if someone is a senior right now who is on the session and really interested in becoming a dentist, what should they be doing right now as a high school student to prepare them for that future dental?

Curtis: Yeah. So there’s a couple things I would say. Um, the first one of course is that shadowing piece. Talking to your dentist, talking to an oral health professional that might be in your family, that might be, um, in your town. Um, don’t be shy, you know, stop by their office. Email them, give them a call. Um, we actually have some scripts written on our website, a go.a.org.

Go dental, um, scripts where you can. Take our our words and call them and ask them if they have opportunities for you in high school to shadow. Um, it’s a little tough in some states ’cause they don’t want anyone under the age of 18. So you have to kind of navigate what people will allow you to do. Um, but I would also look for virtual shadowing opportunities, which I know we’re gonna have one, I’ll make sure that you all receive an invitation to it.

But there are others that are provided, um, really making sure that this is what you want to do. There’s a great website that all the health professions worked on together. Um, it’s called Explore Health Professions. Um, and again, it’s an opportunity to kind of navigate all the different parts and pieces of every health profession.

Um, looking through dentistry, you can see how much the average. School costs, what the academics look like, what the average salaries are gonna look like. It’s all been updated recently since June of 2025. Um, and it has every health profession you can think of. So, um, it’s a great opportunity in high school to, this is your time to kind of explore and figure out what you want to do.

Um, and maybe you don’t know what you want to do and that’s also great. So, um. Finding out what you want to do and what you don’t want to do is actually more important at this time. And you know, of course, as you’re applying to dental, as you’re applying for undergrad, make sure that the school that you choose for your undergrad has a prerequisite.

So if you want to go into the health professions or dentistry, you need to make sure you’re taking those prereqs. Do you wanna make sure your undergrad has them? Um, so as you’re looking at where you’re applying this year, make sure they have those or have an um. A way to get those through a different, um, you know, maybe a, a shared community.

You know, university of Maine has different campuses you can go to all the different states, have different ones, but make sure you have those, the ability to get those prerequisites completed before you apply.

Lydia: Great. Um, another question that we have is, what should students be thinking about when they’re selecting their college, their undergraduate?

School, if they know that they want to go to digital school, are there certain programs or opportunities that they should be looking out for?

Curtis: Yeah, I mean, there really isn’t. I mean, what we tell people is to go and be successful as an undergrad. Um, dental schools want diverse, really, um, students that are passionate about many different things, not just dentistry.

So I always, when I talk to students, I always tell them, you don’t need to get an undergrad in bio. You can, if you’re passionate about architecture or you’re passionate about something else, you can get a degree in that as long as you’re taking the pre-reqs. Um, and it also sets you apart. You know, you’re, you know, you have a different story.

You’re able to talk about what you’re passionate about and how it connects maybe to the work that you want to do. You know, um, for me, I always talk about how I really love building and, you know, architecture and landscape architecture, and people ask me, well, how does that connect to. Health professions and it’s helping people and it’s making connections.

Um, and those are all the things that I think can make those connections as well. So think about what you are passionate about, how you wanna navigate, um, the prerequisites, and then also making sure that you maybe have access to students who have been successfully admitted into dental school. Make sure that there’s maybe a pre-health advisor or a pre-dental advisor.

Um, if there isn’t one, you can always find someone virtually or. Um, um, you know, maybe someone at a different school, but also talking to current dental students, seeing where they went, um, you know, if they went to your undergrad, that planning on going to ask them what they did, what they wish they didn’t do or what they wish they knew.

Now’s the time to kind of get that kind of plan set up. But you can pretty much go to any undergrad that has the pre-reqs and you can major in pretty much anything. Um, I will say the bulk of our students are bio or pre-med majors that then transition kind of into dentistry. So, but

Lydia: great. Um, another question that we have is what impact, if any, does your first semester or first I guess freshman year grades have on your ability to pursue dental school?

Should you be worried if you have a rocky start that first year of college?

Curtis: Absolutely not. We all have rocky starts, we have rocky middles, we have rocky ends. Um, I would say the biggest thing is they do look for a holistic student and they do average your, um, science and your general GPA. So, um, depending on if it’s in, if it’s in the sciences, I’d say if it’s really bad.

Redo it, get a better grade. Um, if it’s in more of the general, um, undergrad courses that you’re taking, um, maybe just think through whether or not it needs to be redone. But I would say that for the most part, they’re looking for a holistic student. They’re not looking for a straight A’s just doing bio, just doing the, you know, what it is to become, um, a dentist.

They wanna make sure that you’re part of a club, that you’re part of organizations that you can, you know, build relationships with. Um. Future clients, um, and future patients. Um, you know, make sure that you’re a holistic kind of student that’s been thinking through, not just academics, not just the shadowing, not just, um, the, the sciences and the academics, but making sure that you actually are able to navigate social settings and build relationships.

So, um, I think as long as you can talk to the why, that’s a really good place for your personal statement too. Talk about, you know, when I was a freshman, it was a rocky start. Had all A’s and was number one as an under, as a high school student. I went to this large school and you know, trying to navigate being part of a larger institution just takes a minute.

Um, and it’s okay. We’re all human. So, um, other than in the bio, in the sciences, I would say you’re probably okay if you can talk about the Y and what you learn from it.

Lydia: Awesome. Another question that we have is how are applicants viewed who entered college with a lot of credits and graduated more quickly?

So maybe they graduated in two or three years and didn’t spend as much time on an undergraduate campus.

Curtis: Um, there’s actually some programs that will take students without even completing undergrad. So they can just have all the pre-reqs and be a junior with so many credit hours and you can start applying to dental school.

So they don’t really look at. Whether or not you had a traditional four year undergrad, you know, experience. I know one of my nieces is going into undergrad, um, at UVA as like a junior because she’s taking so many classes. Um, so it’s very typical. It’s not uncommon these days. Um, I would just say it’s just part of the process.

Um, and as again, talking about that, you know, you’d be on the younger side, so. Maybe talking about what experiences you have, if you took a gap year, if you’ve got a master’s degree or something, um, before you applied to dental school. There’s always things that people do. Everyone’s journey is so different, but I would say that it doesn’t really play an effect other than making sure you meet the pre-reqs and have the um, GPA requirements.

Lydia: Got it. Um. And then one other question that I have, I know you talked about, um, how you can major in anything and still pursue dentistry, but do you have any guidance for students that are trying to decide between doing or science oriented major versus majoring in something else? Is there a benefit to doing one versus the other?

If you’re torn?

Curtis: Yeah, I don’t think there’s a benefit. I think for me, you know, being authentic and being true to who you are and what you’re passionate about, and you may not know what that is, that’s what college and, you know, um, high school and stuff is all about. Um, you know, you may not know what you want to do.

Like I said, I have a horticulture degree and this is what I do for a living, work for nonprofits, recruiting students into the dental school. So, um, I would say that it doesn’t really, ah. It doesn’t really matter what you major in. I say that to a lot of of students when we talk about, you know, what they’re thinking about doing and if they want to pivot from a, a program into something else, taking the pre-reqs.

But I will say, if you definitely wanna be a dentist, you want to go to as quick as possible. Um, obviously looking at taking courses that are getting a degree in. Which all your pre-reqs are, are done is probably the quickest way to do it. So it’s really about what you’re looking for. Are you looking for that quick kind of timeline?

Are you looking for an experience where you have different opportunities for different things? ’cause you still don’t really know? Um, I think it’s really important to kind of just think through what you want and what your priorities are. Um, and of course no one wants to be in college. You know, undergrad taking pre-reqs when you’ve decided you want to go in a different route.

So making sure you take those early. Um, or build ’em out throughout the course of your experience so you’re not just taking ’em all at the end because you made a, a decision to change right at the end. So,

Lydia: um, another question that we have is, do you have any recommendations about when to take the DAT based on the timing of applications for dental school?

Curtis: Yeah, so we tell students that most students will take it their the summer or their junior year, which means that they’ll. Um, typically use the end of their sophomore year, uh, or sorry, the end of their junior year, um, to study for it and then take it in June or July of that summer before they apply the next cycle, if that makes sense.

Lydia: Got it.

Curtis: So you can start your application in May and take the DAT in June or July or August, um, and then it gets added, so you don’t need to have the DAT completed before you start the application cycle. It can be part of that cycle. Now, you can take it a year in advance or if you want time to retake it, something to think about.

Um, we have students that have taken it not happy with it, then they’ll wait a year, do a gap year, take it again, and re and apply the next time. You really wanna make sure you’re the, as solid of a candidate as possible when you apply because it is expensive to apply to dental school and you don’t wanna do it more than once if you don’t have to.

I talked to a student, um, at Case Western. Who applied to 11 dental schools. And I said, well, what, what made you come to to Case? And he said, this is the one I got into. So, you know, it’s not always, um, a choice. Um, and he wants to be a dentist, and that’s what he, and he was like, I chose all the schools I would go to and I’m here.

So, um, you know, there’s really great opportunities to think about that as well. You know, sometimes your journey will find you. You don’t always get to kind of pick, so Right.

Lydia: Um, another question we have is what kind of electives should students be taking if they’re interested in dentistry?

Curtis: Oh, this is a great question, and this is actually something I go into more when I work with like our HOSA students or just focus on high school.

Um, dexterity is the most important part of being a dentist. So if you are into. Any type of, um, painting if you’re into knitting. I know this sounds weird, but like anything that’s really dexterous with your fingers, um, because you are gonna be in someone’s mouth and really fine tuning and fine motor skills.

Um, so any of those types of things, art classes are, are really big. Of course, science, math, those things as well. Um, and if there’s any type of pre-health or HOSA organization, um, I would say those are really great to be part of, but. Something that shows your dexterity. A lot of, um, interviews. One of the parts of the interview is a bench test.

Not every dental school does this, but they’ll actually have you do things with your hands to kind of show your dexterity, um, and kinda your ability to do different things. So really think about those things. Of course, it’s better as you’re younger, as you get older, you know, you kinda lose some of that.

So it’s all about building that up and having really strong, strong hands.

Lydia: That’s really helpful to know. I don’t know if everybody would’ve thought, thought to work on their knitting skills.

Curtis: I mean, it’s funny, we tell students all the time, like, just take up knitting, take up painting, um, you know, whatever it might be.

That’s really kind of using your fine motor skills.

Lydia: Uh, and when it comes to application strategy, do you have a recommended number of schools that most students apply to that balances that cost? Not just in terms of money but time, but also increases their odds of having options when it’s all said and done.

Curtis: Yeah, no, I’ve talked to students that apply to one school. I’ve talked to students that apply to 16. Um, our average, ’cause we do average out every applicant, um, is 10. So the 10 schools is on average, um, what people apply to. So, um, you know, if you do the quick math, it’s probably about. $1,500 to apply to dental school, um, each time for all the application fees and stuff.

So keeping that in mind when you’re applying. Um, some people apply to one school because they took the DAT late or they started the application late. They just wanna get one or two out there just to see. Um, and then they might reapply the next year and apply to more schools when they have more time. So depending on kind of where you are in the cycle as well, could, could dictate that.

Lydia: Okay. And one last question that I have for you is. Do you have any single piece of advice that you would give to the students that are with us right now to set themselves up for success in dental school?

Curtis: Yeah, the single most important thing I would tell students right now is finding a good advisor and talking to students who have gone through it before you.

Those are the two biggest things for me. Um, you know, knowing your resources like a DIA exists, um, attending as many events, learning about the profession as much as you can. You’re gonna invest a lot of time and money into going into dental school. Um, and going through dental school, you wanna make sure you love it, that it’s really what you want to do.

Um, so doing everything you can as early as possible to make sure that it’s really what you like. Um, I do tell students it’s better to know what you don’t like than to know what you do like sometimes, especially if you’re in high school, um, because it gives you at least a. A direction to try new things.

Um, I know for me personally, I tried being an EMT back in high school. I do not do well with blood. Um, so I ended that career real quick. But, you know, just knowing what you want to do and what you don’t like doing is also important. But finding a good advisor, talking to current dental students or those that are on the pathway, and utilizing all the resources that a d has and the a DA have for the DAT, and knowing that, knowing what all those letters mean.

Is setting you up to be successful.

Lydia: Fantastic. Well, thank you so much, Curtis, for joining us tonight and sharing your expertise about the process to dental school. I know that the people that joined us tonight as well are very appreciative of all the knowledge that you’ve shared.

Curtis: Well, I really appreciate it.

Thank you guys so much. I really appreciate it. Thank you, Lydia.

Lydia: And thank you to everyone at home for joining us and asking such great questions. Have a great night and stay warm.