Pre-dental guides
Practical, honest guides for every stage of the road to dental school, written by our team and linked to the tools on this site. Where rules vary by school, we say so and show what our school data says.
Start here
Build your experience
- ShadowingHow to ask a dentist to shadow, how to behave in the office, how many hours schools expect, and how to record it.5 min read
- CertificationsBLS, dental assisting, radiography, scribing, EMT work and privacy and safety training: what each involves and how admissions committees tend to see it.5 min read
- ExtracurricularsManual dexterity hobbies, service, leadership, research and work: what admissions committees tend to value, and why depth beats a long list.3 min read
- OrganizationsASDA, HSDA, SNDA, ADEA and ADEA AADSAS explained, and how to start or strengthen a pre-dental club on your campus.2 min read
Apply
- Personal StatementHow to find your story, structure it, show rather than tell, and revise until it sounds like you.3 min read
- LettersWho to ask, when, how to make it easy for your writers, and how committee letters work.3 min read
- ApplyingThe application from account to submission, how to build a reach, target and safety list, what it costs and when to do each part.4 min read
- InterviewsTraditional interviews and MMIs, the themes questions come from, ethics scenarios, and how to answer "why dentistry" and "why our school".4 min read
Look after yourself
More tools: year-by-year checklist · School Match · How to apply (this cycle's dates and fees) · Mentors