A 7 Year Journey To Acceptance

I came to the U.S in September 2012, immediately following my graduation from dental school. I was a wife and a mother of a six-month-old baby at the time, full of hope and naïveté about what it took to get accepted into an advanced placement program. In the end, it was seven year journey to acceptance into an advanced placement program in a dental school in USA, and I’m sharing my story in hopes of inspiring you and hopefully save you some time as well.  

Get Accepted Into An Advanced Placement Program

I began the journey to the U.S dental school by taking NBDE part 1 in 2013. With part 1, I started applying to schools, but then I soon realized that I needed more than just part 1. In 2014, I took part 2. As I was on a dependent spouse visa and was not able to work, so I shadowed in a couple of dental offices and a hospital. By this time, I was taking care of 2 wonderful boys; however, I still had not received a single interview call. 

I decided to get some clinical experience to improve my profile, so in 2015 I went back to India and practiced for about a year, returning to the US in 2016. In 2016 I also got a work permit and started working as a dental assistant. 

Related Articles:

• NBDE Exam For Indian Students
• Indian Dentist In USA
• Guide To The INBDE For International Dentists

In 2017, after a year of working as a dental assistant, I got my first interview invitation. I was excited, clueless, with hardly four weeks to prepare. I didn’t know how to get going with bench test practice or how to prepare for an interview. I think that was my biggest mistake, and I did not do well in that interview. 

Armed with greater passion, I sent my kids to India to their grandparents to give me the time and space to focus on my career. I enrolled in a well-reputed bench test course where I met with wonderful people who gave me a wealth of knowledge on different schools and how to improve my application. 

In 2018 I decided to pursue a master’s in health administration (MHA) to enhance my leadership and knowledge of the U.S healthcare system. It was the best decision I ever made, as I was able to gain valuable skills and knowledge through the program. Even though it was a full-time program, I was able to work as a research assistant, clinical executive assistant, and volunteer dental assistant during this time. Additionally, I also did a lot of volunteering in different organizations. I also applied to some dental schools while in the program and got a couple of interviews but could not get an acceptance letter.  When I completed my master’s program in 2020, it had been three years since I had sent my kids to India, and I felt disappointed in myself for not getting through to any of the dental schools.

However, I wanted to be a good role model for my kids. I did not want to teach my kids to quit, so I decided to give it one more shot. I decided to put all my effort and energy into getting into a dental school. This was when I decided to get help from International Dentist Central. I worked with them on my applications, bench test, and interview preparation from the beginning of the CAAPID cycle. Even though it was in the middle of the pandemic and most schools were doing an online bench test, I made sure that I worked every day to improve my hand skills and submitted a prep every day to get reviewed by Dr. Alyssa to receive and act on the feedback she gives. 

Related Articles:

• Who Should Write My Letter Of Recommendation?
• Useful Dental Interview Tips 2021
• Advanced Placement Programs vs. Residency Programs

How I’ve Prepared Myself For Dental School Interview

In the 2020-2021 CAAPID cycle, I got five interview calls (NYU, LLU, Western University, VCU, and Colorado) and got accepted at VCU. At VCU’s bench test, they had asked interviewees to do five different exercises (2 class IIs, amalgam restoration, composite restoration, crown prep, and a temporary crown) and gave two weeks for practice. I believe that the acceptance would not have been possible if I hadn’t worked on my hand skills early on. 

I would never have achieved this success if I had not had my supporting family who stood with me in every decision.

Here’s a summary of my profile. 

• BDS- 2012, GPA- 3.2
• MHA- 2020 GPA- 3.62
• NBDE Part 1- 2013  & NBDE Part 2- 2014 (both first attempt
• Toefl- 110
• Six months of dental experience from home country
• 3 years of dental assistant experience
• shadowing experiences (private offices and hospital)
• A lot of non-dental volunteer work both in the US and home country
• 1.5 years of research assistant experience
• 1 publication
• Part-time Clinical executive assistant – 1 year

To conclude, it took me 7 years to get an acceptance letter. 7 years sounds like a very long and difficult journey to get acceptance into an advanced placement program in a dental school in USA, but with every step I took, I made sure that the experiences improved me as a person or as a professional. The journey was hard with lots of struggles, and many times I felt like quitting my dental journey, but it taught me a lot of life lessons and other skills that I am confident would help me in my future but I would not have had this moment of success if I had quit. Though the journey was hard and had a lot of struggles, it also taught me a lot of life lessons and other skills that I am confident will help me in my future.