This is my story about my escapades to source an interview-winning, successful Statement of Purpose for CAAPID (SOP) as an international dentist who applied to two consecutive CAAPID cycles. As I embark on my third CAAPID cycle in March 2021, I can say with certainty that I have gained more insight into where I was lacking in my application and the mistakes, I would want my fellow international dentist friends, who are waiting to get into their dream dental schools to avoid. I share my failures, errors, and successes to help other candidates while on this tedious yet fulfilling journey we call the International Dental Program.
Preparing a Statement of Purpose for CAAPID for the First Time
As a first-time applicant to the 2019 CAAPID cycle, I was mostly unaware of the application process’s intricate details. I was relying on my many friends from dental school in my home country for guidance and instruction. While they did their best to steer me in the right direction towards an outstanding, victorious application, I did not secure even a single interview though I applied to 8 colleges with an above-average GPA, a 112 TOEFL, first attempts on both national board examinations and more than ten years of clinical experience. I had ticked all the correct boxes in terms of what we international dentists consider an excellent profile, yet the one thing lacking was my Statement of Purpose. My SOP stood out like a sore thorn despite being the first aspect of my application that I focused on and drafted by a well-known professional writer recommended by our CAAPID group on social media.
I was like an innocent little lamb that fell prey to the first hunter! I saw a few recommendations on social media (Facebook CAAPID group) and asking my friends, who mostly recommended getting professional help with my SOP. I went ahead and paid the $300 basic fee out with the SOP. If it were only a couple of hundred dollars that this little adventure would cost me, then I would perhaps be more forgiving and accommodating. Still, it cost me my first CAAPID cycle without a single interview, let alone an acceptance.
My full year of promise was lost due to my trust in a stranger to write my life story! Ironical right? The person who offered to write my SOP sent me a questionnaire with a handful of questions regarding my schooling, work experiences, hobbies, and USA experience. I filled in the questionnaire, and lo behold, within a week, I had a 5200 character SOP at my disposal. Now do not get me wrong; the SOP was grammatically correct, with accurate English and the exact word count I needed. I was very grateful to copy-paste it and submitted my application since it made work easier for me. I thought a professional would do a better job at jotting down my passions, my life story, than me.
My Experience in Rewriting an SOP for CAAPID
After applying to 8 schools, I waited with bated breath for an invite to interview. The interviews came, and I did not get a single invite, which broke my heart but not my spirit. I was determined to work harder, prepare myself further, refine my hand skills, put forth a more superior application, and excel in my second cycle. I requested a few trustworthy friends to go through all aspects of my application and give their honest opinion about what was lacking in my application. Unanimously my SOP was blamed as the culprit and the reason for my failure at my first CAAPID cycle. I felt my SOP was like a fairy tale, spun to perfection in terms of language but with not even an iota of reality about me as a person. My passions, dental journey, struggles, mishaps, failures, and successes were diminished and altered to show a different person who was totally unlike me. I sincerely needed to work on this facet of my application and asked around for recommendations on who would be the ideal choice to rewrite my statement of purpose for CAAPID.
A couple of my friends suggested another company, apparently an enterprise that had assisted several international dentists on their journey to become successful dentists in the US. They also aided with writing letters of recommendations, resume writing, supplemental answers, SOP, etc. I entrusted them with rewriting my SoP and my resume since it was my second cycle, and I did not want to risk not getting any invitation to interview again. I was charged an even heftier sum than the last time, but I willingly gave the 500 dollars for the SOP and the 300 dollars for the resume since I had heard glowing reviews and was optimistic about the outcome. My second SOP was again the result of a new questionnaire and the back and forth of emails discussing my past, present, and future goals and aspirations. A couple of weeks later, I was given a first draft to read and make any changes if I felt the need. Indeed, this SOP was more refined and superior to the first SOP, and I was thrilled that I had a winner at hand. I applied to 16 colleges and received two invitations to interview. I had frankly expected more interviews since I had improved my profile drastically besides taking help from top-notch professionals for my resume and SOP.
Learning from Mistakes and Preparing the Ideal Statement of Purpose CAAPID
I recovered from this setback of a second CAAPID cycle with no acceptance with a heart and mind even more set on my final goal of being a dentist in the US. Since it was only a couple of months to go for the next CAAPID cycle to start in March 2021, I realized early submission and having all documents ready would be key to my success. Several dentist friends mentioned International Dentist Central (IDC) being the finest hub for interview preparation. I enrolled for it and was pleasantly surprised to know that IDC offered interview preparation and other fields like bench test preparation, editing, and reviewing the complete application for international candidates. I had a very gratifying experience in the past while doing my interview preparation and mock interviews with IDC and trusted them much. The founder Alyssa Marshall is a dentist who had been through the same journey as an international program applicant herself, and Kevin was an adept specialist at the interview process. Imagine my joy when I read about the free one on one reviewing/ editing session offered by experts at IDC. I enrolled for the same and was promptly given several time slots from which I could choose to meet the expert from IDC according to my time zone and convenience.
Friends, especially all aspiring international candidates who have struggled with SOP, resume writing, and supplementals in the past, take my word for it when I say this was an altogether different experience. The team member/editor from IDC asked about me, my life story, my life goal in a zoom session, and also discussed at length my family, my childhood, what truly inspired me to be the person I am today, and my aspirations. This was the first time I met the person who was to help me with my life story face to face virtually, and I was amazed that this in-depth session, which had an experienced person telling me fields lacked in my application, was free of cost. I got great pointers from the expert as well as written notes the next day. I instantly realized that the primary aspect that lacked in my previous two experiences of getting assistance with my statement of purpose for CAAPID was this personal touch, this one on one interaction with a person whom I could narrate my story to and who would ask me the right questions about my life, my journey and bring out the best in me on paper so that my application stands out among thousands of international dentists aspiring to work in the US. The best part about this session was that I could extend my free 15-minute session to a 60-minute session and get detailed inputs on my statement of purpose for CAAPID for a nominal fee. IDC also offers different packages for editing Resumes, SOPs, LORs for all aspiring international dentists interested in applying to CAAPID. They have experienced, intelligent, friendly editors who are ready to go the extra mile to ensure their candidates’ success.
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- Interview Mastery Course
- Tips for Success in CAAPID as an International Dentist
- Virtual Options to Improve Candidacy in CAAPID
Final Words
Most SOP writers in the past tried to formulate the best sounding, grammatically perfect story of my life without even knowing me, meeting me virtually, or talking to me about the best way to present me to an admissions committee. This was the fundamental difference in strategy and philosophy that I noticed between IDC and my previous experiences. IDC’s process is more time-consuming, labor-intensive, challenging in finding the time, and more personal and interactive. The 15 min free review session followed by the notes sent by email the next day with all the essential pointers was enough to make me realize I had reached the correct place in my journey towards the international dental program. I so eagerly wanted to be a part of it. The genuine, eager interest in my life shown by my reviewer was enough for me to trust IDC and believe this enterprise was not only about making money but about making a genuine difference in my life and my dreams.
In the future, as I inch towards my next CAAPID cycle, if there is one aspect I would like to change if I could from the past, it would have to be my past experiences for my SOP, Letter of recommendations, and my resume. I would want all international candidates to learn from my experience and not waste additional money in applying to dental schools unless they have stellar SOPs, letters of recommendation, and resumes in hand. Let us invest our money, time, effort earnestly in the upcoming cycle and ensure our success.
Interested in getting help with your SOP, bench test, and interview? IDC has been helping candidates for several years now. Click below to learn more:
SOP Help/Editing Services | Bench Test Help | Interview Help
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