Dental School Advisor: Your Secret to Success in

How Competitive Is Dental School? 

The process of becoming a dentist is almost as complicated as the journey from high school to medical school. Students must take the prerequisite classes, prepare for and take the Dental Aptitude Test (DAT), choose the right dental schools, and, finally, prepare applications to those schools. Doing all this can be overwhelming, and it is easy to get a few things wrong when you don’t have the guidance of someone who knows the dental school admissions process inside and out. Additionally, dentistry has become more popular over the last few years, and consequently, gaining admission to a dentistry program is more competitive. Admission to a dental school is also made more difficult by the fact that there are comparatively fewer dental schools than medical schools. For instance, dental school acceptance rates in Canada sit under 12.1%, and there are only 10 Canadian dental schools. In the US, the average acceptance rate for dental school hovers around just 6.4%.

Because average acceptance rates for dental schools in the US and Canada are as fiercely competitive as those for medical schools, this means you’ll need every advantage you can get when applying to dental school.

Dental school advisors help students navigate the complex admissions process, provide the tools they need to create a solid dental school application, and help them prepare for some of the most difficult dental school interview questions. Dental school advising can include curriculum planning in college or as early as high school: preparing students for the necessary exams and forms, writing the dreaded dental school personal statement, and navigating financial aid applications. Their job is essentially to advise and guide students as they go through the entire dental school application and help them stand out in the competitive applicant pool.

Average dental school acceptance rates in the US

Average dental school acceptance rates in Canada

How Do Dental School Advisors Help Students? 

A dental school advisor can help you get accepted to dental school in a number of ways. Dental school advisors can act as not only your guide to the admissions process and dental school application requirements, but as your coach when you are preparing your application and acing your dental school admissions interview. They can also help you out with all the other questions you might have about applying to and attending dental school.

#1: Dental school advisors provide guidance

Dental school advisors provide personalized guidance based on your background, experiences, and statistics. They can give you advice on which dental schools to apply to, based on your stats, and they will know where you stand the best chance of getting accepted. If you are applying to highly competitive dental schools, an advisor can help you plan what steps you’ll need to take to strengthen your application and make it competitive. As professional advisors, they have gone through this process multiple times with different students, all with unique backgrounds and qualifications. Dental school advisors can walk you through the various official dental school application systems, such as TMDSAS for dental schools in Texas. They also keep up with dental school admissions trends and other changes in the field, making the information they bring to the table very valuable.

#2: Dental school advisors boost your chances of acceptance

The number of schools that offer dentistry programs is rising, but so is the number of applicants. In other words, if you look at dental school acceptance rates, you will notice that they are getting more competitive. A high DAT score and a good GPA are just not enough anymore. To become a dental school student, you need to submit a compelling, well-rounded application, and that’s where things get tricky because being an excellent candidate on paper is not enough. You’ll need to prove to the admissions committee why you are an ideal candidate.

Dental school advisors can work with you to identify the weak points in your application and help you improve on them. For example, your academic records might be excellent, but your interview skills may be lacking, or you might not know how to write a strong personal statement. You might need advice on choosing dental school application experiences examples. Or, if you have a low GPA or unsatisfactory DAT score, a dental school advisor is a wise investment. Your advisor can give you tips for boosting your GPA by instructing you on which courses to take or helping you study to retake the DAT with a higher score, both of which will improve your chances of getting accepted. In short, you’ll need to nail every component of the dental school application and meet or exceed the dental school requirements for your best chance of getting into a competitive program.



A dental school advisor knows what dental school admissions committees are looking for, what the requirements are, and how to impress admissions in both your application and your interview. Dental school advisors can give you thorough, in-depth application review and work with you to polish your application, prep for your interview and even teach you the best study strategies to ace the DAT.

Have questions about the dental school application process? This video can help:

#3 Prepare for DAT and CASPer

Dental schools often have the DAT and situational judgment tests (SJTs) like CASPer as a part of their admissions requirements, just like medical schools. To prepare for your DAT or CASPer, a dental school advisor can be a great resource to use. Advisors often use practice tests and question banks students can study and will show students how to create a solid study schedule for the DAT. If you’re preparing to take the CASPer test, a dental school advisor can give you passages to practice with or teach you strategies for answering situational questions.

#4 Dental school interview prep

Dental school advisors also give students a solid foundation for the professional world by teaching them how to prepare for interviews. Using mock interviews to simulate the real thing, a dental school advisor can evaluate your interview performance and provide coaching and feedback. A good advisor will provide students with strategies for answering questions specific to the dental school they’re applying to and general questions that are very popular in academic and professional settings, such as "tell me about yourself" or "what is your greatest limitation?". Dental school advisors can orient you on what to expect and how to prepare for multiple mini interviews (MMI) commonly used by medical and dental schools.

#5 Dental school written application

Writing your dental school personal statement or other admissions essays can be a challenge. An advisor acts as a sort of essay writing tutor by working with you to brainstorm significant experiences or decisions from your life which led you to apply to dental school. From there, they can review your draft and coach you on writing an engaging narrative in your essay which demonstrates why your experiences and knowledge will make you a good future dentist.

Dental school advisors can be helpful when choosing the best referees to write your dental school letter of recommendation or guide you on how to choose the best dental school extracurriculars, too. If you need to write an extracurriculars section in your application, a dental school advisor will help you frame your non-academic activities in a way that highlights how they have contributed to your skills as a dentist.

#6: Dental school advisors save applicants time, money, and stress

Applying to and going to dental school can be expensive. A dental school advisor can save you the cost and time of reapplying by helping you get accepted the first time around. An advisor can also guide you on applying for financial aid once you’re accepted or find scholarships you may be eligible for to help fund your education.

Having someone who knows the dental school admissions process inside and out can also save you time and effort. Often, applicants spend a lot of time researching the schools they’re interested in, the application process and requirements, and then studying for the DAT and preparing for the admissions interview. This time doesn’t even include the hours necessary to brainstorm, write and edit dental school application essays or fill in your extracurricular activities. Working with a dental school advisor saves you from a lot of trial and error. A good advisor will be able to answer your questions, help you with time management or organization, and streamline the application journey for you.

Last but not least, working with a dental school admissions consulting expert will help put your mind at ease. The application process can be overwhelming and stressful, mainly because it involves a lot of different components that are difficult to get right when you do not have good information. For example, no one can predict the exact questions that you will be asked during a dental school interview. Still, dental school advisors can help you review and practice answering the hardest dental school interview questions. This gives students a better idea of what to expect, which goes a long way toward reducing nerves.

#7: Dental school advisors help students develop valuable skills

While helping you prepare your application, dental school advisors will give you strategies, study techniques, and other skills that you can use in dental school and beyond in your professional career. For example, if a dental school advisor helps you brainstorm and craft your personal statement, they will do so by teaching you ways to improve your self-reflection and writing skills. Both are skills that students use again in dental school and during their careers. Not only that, but in preparing your dental school application with an advisor, you’ll be developing your professional skillset, including time management, organizational, critical thinking, communication, and analytical abilities.

Check out these 5 difficult dental school interview questions and expert responses to ace the interview!

How to Find the Best Dental School Advisor

There are hundreds of dental school admissions consulting services and dental advisors out there. Not all dental school advisors have the credentials or experience necessary to help you. Furthermore, not every qualified advisor is right for your specific needs. So, if you do decide to use the services of a dental school advisor, here are five things to keep in mind as you search for one: 

Interested in seeing some of the key points from this blog summarized? This infographic is for you:

Conclusion

Getting into dental school is competitive, and it gets more challenging every year as the profession becomes more popular. To increase their chances of admission, students need to make sure every aspect of their application is solid and stands out from the pool of high-achieving applicants. Dental school advisors help students achieve their goal by helping them through the entire admissions process and giving them tools that will help them throughout dental school and beyond. Finding the right dental school advisor can be the key to your success when applying to competitive dental schools.

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To your success,

Your friends at BeMo

BeMo Academic Consulting

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