Dental School Personal Statement Examples and Tips
Crafting a compelling personal statement is a crucial part of your dental school application. In fact, many deans of admissions we've interviewed have emphasized that the personal statement is the only part of the application they read word for word. It’s your chance to showcase your motivations, experiences, and why you're a strong candidate for a career in dentistry. Here’s a guide to help you navigate the process:
Understanding the Personal Statement
The personal statement is typically a one-page essay, not exceeding 4,500 characters (including spaces), that provides dental schools with insight into who you are and why you're pursuing dentistry.
Key Elements to Include
Personal Motivation: Share the experiences or events that sparked your interest in dentistry. For instance, reflecting on personal dental experiences or mentorship can be impactful.
Relevant Experience: Highlight any clinical experiences, volunteer work, or extracurricular activities that have prepared you for dental school.
Skills and Attributes: Discuss qualities such as manual dexterity, attention to detail, resilience, and communication skills, which are essential for a successful dentist and may not be possessed by every other applicant. Doing so will help set you apart from the competition and demonstrate to the admissions team why they should accept you over other candidates.
Career Aspirations: Articulate your long-term goals and how the dental program aligns with your professional objectives.
Tips for Writing an Effective Dental School Personal Statement
Engage the Reader: Begin with a compelling introduction to capture attention. This can often be done with a story.
Be Different: Don’t spend too much time talking about experiences and stories that the majority of other applicants will also write about. This won’t make your application stand out; instead, it will just be one of the many thousands of similar personal statements they will read that cycle.
Be Authentic: Present genuine experiences and reflections to convey sincerity. A lot of applicants only talk about dental related experiences they have. It’s okay to share things that aren’t dental related. In fact, we encourage it because it shows you authenticity and that you are well rounded.
Maintain Clarity and Conciseness: Adhere to the character limit and ensure your essay is well-organized and has good flow.
Express Enthusiasm and Excitement: People are naturally drawn to positive energy, so avoid focusing too much on hardships or dwelling on negative aspects of your personal story. Instead, aim to end your personal statement on an upbeat and excited note. When you do, it can create a positive emotional connection with the reader. Smiling, even if it's not prompted by something funny, triggers the release of dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins—feel-good chemicals that improve mood and foster a sense of happiness. This boost in emotion can leave the reader with a favorable impression of you, making your personal statement stand out and increasing your chances of being chosen.
Proofread Thoroughly: Eliminate grammatical errors and seek feedback from mentors or advisors. Dental School Guide offers a personal statement review service where you can receive expert feedback on your personal statement.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Don’t spend too much time talking about common experiences that every applicant—or at least most—will have: Some of these include shadowing experiences, observations, and roles like working as a dental assistant or receptionist. When you write about things that the majority of other applicants will include on their application, it doesn’t tell the admissions team what makes you unique. Instead, relating your experience to shadowing or a dental-related job simply tells them that others who shadowed or worked in a dental-related job probably had a similar experience. This space should be used to highlight why they should choose you over others, not to show that you’re just an average applicant. Think of it like walking into a job interview where 50 other people are also being interviewed. If 49 of them all highlight that they were dental assistants and learned so much, and the 50th person walks in and highlights specific skills and traits that make them unique and a perfect fit for the job, which one do you think is more likely to impress the interviewer and get the job? Dental school admissions teams read thousands of similar stories every cycle. If you want to write a strong personal statement and increase your chances of getting in, you need to tell them what makes you a better fit.
Don’t spend too much time writing about how you developed a passion for dentistry and why you want to be a dentist: While many pre-dental students believe this is the main focus of a personal statement, that’s not the case. Deans of Admissions have expressed that, while they enjoy hearing about your passion for dentistry, they don’t want you to spend the majority of your personal statement on this. You can't assess someone's passion for dentistry just by reading an essay, as anyone can make up stories. Focusing too much on how you developed a passion for dentistry doesn’t demonstrate why you are a better applicant than others. What they really want to see is how the skills and traits you’ve developed make you a stronger candidate.
If you make a claim, you need to back it up with evidence: When discussing the skills, traits, and characteristics you have developed, you need to provide proof that you truly possess them. One way to do this is by adding a brief story.
You can view more dental school personal statement examples and gain further insights into writing the perfect personal statement through our personal statement review service.
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