1. Pre-Dental Club February Meeting
Please Sign-In on Sheet
Monday, February 22nd

2. Happy Monday 

3. Today’s Agenda: EPPA Scribe Program Rep – Myke
Habitat for Humanity Spring Break Trip
Tips on Applying to Dental Schools
Kaplan Course Raffle!
Dental School Mock Interviews
Dinner With Dentists Event
Dental School 7:00pm

4. EPPA Scribe Program

5. Habitat for Humanity – Spring Break Trip!
March 13th-20th
El Paso, TX
Building Home and Home Maintenance
Other Details:
Stay in a church/house provided by affiliate
Work 8:00am -3:00pm weekdays and have time to explore on the weekends and after work
More info?
Thomas Coyne (fellow pre-dent) at
Visit

7. ASDA Webinars This Week
Scholarships 101: Federal Programs for Aspiring Dental Students
Tuesday, 2/22, 7:00 – 8:30 pm CST
Hot Topics: Midlevel Providers and Licensure
Wednesday, 2/22, 7:00 – 8:30 pm CST
Go to:

8. Cost of Applying $$$ - Plan Ahead
DAT Study Material (Cliff’s AP Biology (free), DAT Destroyer ($200), DAT Bootcamp ($130), Cad’s Videos ($50/month), DAT Genius ($80) – Buy used study books too!
Kaplan DAT Course is ~ $2000, but self-studying can be just as effective / cheaper
DAT: $415
App fee is $244 for first dental achool, $93 for each additional.

9. Costs Continued… Supplementary Application Fees: $30 - $100 / school.
Average Student Applies to ~ 8 schools
Round trip plan ticket ~ $200
Hotel Room $80 per night.
Deposit of $500 - $1000 to hold your spot if accepted

10. Costs Continued…
With studying, DAT, applying to 8 schools, visiting 4 for interviews, and a deposit to hold you spot, total comes out to be ~ $4000
Big picture though --- it’s worth it, and relative to other debts of dental school tuition, not bad.

11. Kaplan Raffle $10 No limit to entries per person
The award is a promotional code for up to $2299.
Three Options:
Self-paced
Live Online
In Person
Can be used for any professional exam, i.e. MCAT, LSAT, GRE………DAT!  

12. 10% Discount - Kaplan
As a member of the Pre-Dental Club, you are entitled to a 10% discount off Kaplan Test Prep courses. To redeem your 10% discount:
Visit
Select your program and find a schedule that work best for you
Enter discount code LUMBMTC4310 during checkout.

13. Picking Dental Schools
> 60 Dental School in US

15. That’s way to many to Compare!
Just kidding, it’s possible.
Helpful resources:
Pre-Dental ASDA Membership gets you a booklet of dental schools and other info.
ADEA publishes an official guide to dental schools. It’s $15 for a digital copy.
Eric will share his spreadsheet of all dental schools – a bit outdated, 8/2013 – good template to start with.

17. Consider Requirements for Each School
Most dental schools don not take AP credit for chemistry and biology pre-requisites.
They want to see your abilities put to the test in college level courses.
Most dental schools accept credit for math and English pre- requisites, -- not always true.
Many schools require biochemistry and microbiology. Some schools require psychology, business, statistics, or composition classes.

18. You do not need to have all of these classes taken by the time you apply, but you do need them completed by the time you matriculate.
Grades of C- or lower often times will not be accepted for pre- requisite credit.
Some schools have a GPA cutoff of 2.5, 2.7, or 3.0.
Some schools have a DAT cutoff of 17 in every section.
Good rule of thumb, if you have any questions, ask in and KEEP that – then you have proof of what was said.

19. Letters of Recommendation
AADSAS accepts 4 letters of rec.
Schools vary in letter requests.
3 science professors
2 science professors
Employer
Volunteer coordinator
Dentist
Take your professor to lunch! The U will pay for it. Go to office hours, sit in the front of lecture, answer questions, and don’t be afraid to be wrong. Being incorrect is a learning experience.
Try to ask a professor whose class you managed an A- or better in.

20. In-State & Out-of-State Applications
Many schools do not highly consider out of state applicants, ie: Oregon, ashington, Illinoi-Chicago, Southern Illinois, South Carolina, Alabama, Texas Schools, and Georgia
Applying to such schools could be waste of $200.
Check ADEA official guide or each dental school website for infographics outlining where applicants come from.
Some schools give discounted tuition for in-state residents
Some states allow you to claim residency and pay in-state tuiton after a year or two.
Private schools generally don’t offer different tuition between res/non-res

22. You’ll be there for four years!
Does the cost fo living in New York appeal to you?
Is the University of Pacific’s 3-yr program something you would consider?
Can you see yourself living there for four years? (Remember, you’ll be busy with dental school, not tons of time to go and explore)
Do you want to practice in that area after graduation? Apply for different state’s license?
When do you begin hands-on training?
Does school have affiliated community clinics where you can get a lot of hands on experience?

23. Use Student Doctor Network!
Can be a bit overwhelming sometimes…
Take everything with a grian of salt – including what I’m telling you, need to double check your sources!
Make sure to change search settings to results from 2014 onward. Old threads might contain useless information, as the path to dental school is ever-changing.

24. RELAX!
You don’t need a 4.0 GPA, a 30 DAT, to cure cancer in a lab, 2000 volunteer hours.
Holistic application 
You do need good grades, solid DAT, and some meangingful experiences.
Come to our social events to relax and hang out! We usually don’t talk about dental stuff but its reassuring to hang with others that are the same boat. YOU CAN DO IT!
I gave up a directed research opportunity I could have used on my application but truly didn’t’ feel I would be interested in it. Do not jump through hoops for the sake of jumping through hoops.
Many people take a few cycles to get in. It will be worth in the end and if you really want to do it, it will work out!

25. Ice Skating Social Recap
Skate Social was a success :D

26. Dental School Mock Interviews!
Get into groups of 3-4 to share answers.
Take it seriously – but have fun with it too  It’s good practice to see what you don’t know / need to think about.
Third, we could do a sort of mock interview session, where we show some questions on the projector that might pop up at dental school interviews, and we have our club members get in groups of 3-4 to share their answers to the question. This could serve as the social part of the meeting, and take a good 25 minutes. Then we'd have some time left over for

27. Tell me about yourself.
What do you like to do with your free time?
Why do you want to do dentistry?
What sort of hand-eye coordination experience do you have?
What is something that you don’t like about dentistry?
What is an important quality that you think a dentist should have?
What is your biggest strength?
What is your biggest weakness?
How do you feel about group work?
What would you do if you knew some fellow dental students werecheating with an exam copy?
If you could meet one person, dead or alive, who would you meet?
What do you do when you’re stressed?
If you could be an animal, which one would you be and why?

28. Dinner with Dentists – April 18th Mississippi Room – Coffman 6:30 pm – 8:00pm-ish ~$15 a head (free for dentists)

29. Will send out an invite template.
Dinner with Dentists Date – Google form, going to send out.
General Dentists, Specialists, Etc.
Still Determining pricing but will be free for dentists, and for us pre-dents probably about $15 bucks a head (we are paying for the dentists who are graciously giving up their time)

30. Membership Dues New Members, please pay $30 membership fee
We will likely have leftover shirts for you at March Meeting

31. Tshirts – Last Day to Pick Up!
If you ordered long sleeve, must pay $3 extra to pick up your shirt.
After the meeting please come to the front to pick up your shirt.

32. Keep Informed! Website: http://umnpredent.wordpress.com
Facebook.com/umnpredent

33. Thanks for coming! Future Meetings
Monday, March 28th
Dinner with Dentists – Monday, April 18th
Monday, April 25th
Remember you must attend 4 meeting and/or social events to be eligible to run for an officer position.

34. Dental School Tours! Raise of hands who wants to take a tour?
One or two groups