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Personal Essay
The personal essay is very important. It is a board's or interviewer's first chance to get a glimpse of you as a person. As a future doctor or dentist. To see some of your personaliy and what you have dealt with or done over the course of your life and college career that has had an effect on you and your efforts to get into medical or dental school. It will likely give them a story as to why you have chosen to take on the task of becoming a doctor or dentist and hopefully will leave them with the feeling that they want you to come to their medical school or dental school as you will make an outstanding doctor whom they will be glad to call their own. Take the time to make this particular writing the best piece of writing you have ever written or ever will again. Why? Becuase this will help get you into professional school. It will help you become what you have always wanted to become deep down in the deepest darkest little corner of your being, a professional. A person that has the privelage of taking care of those in need, of those in a position to rely so heavily upon you that you can become overwhelmed but you are glad to do it in fact you love doing it. The essay really is this important! Do not take it lightly.
Letters of Recomendation
The letters of recomendations you will ask for are a very important part of your application process. They also provide a little look into your life and character. The board or person who decides if you get an invitation to maritculate at a particular school will no doubt use them to get a better picture of you as a person. You want these letters to come from professors or bosses or a doctor etc that you have shadowed and hopefully know well. You want them to be able to write a well articulated letter that strongly conveys thier conviction and support of your entrance to medical or dental or professional or graduate school. This means that you do not want to ask professors whom you do not know or in whose class you did not do so well, as they will likely not have too much to say on your behalf. It likewise means that you will want to ask professors that you know and preferably have also had for class and have done well in that class. You see that you want to give them as many possible good things to say for you from multiple angles as possible. If you have a professional committee at your school you will likely want to ask for a letter from them. Again I cannot stress enough, how much you do not want to ask someone for a letter of recomendation that you cannot say with confidence to yourself that they can and will give you an excellence letter. A good letter can put you over the top while a bad letter can ruin you. As I heard the secretary of my biology department say that a long time professor at my school could make sure you would not get into and medical or dental school with a few short words in his letters. Of course, he does not come out and say that this person should not be accepted but he does so subtly which is still not good. So be very cautious in who you trust and in who you ask to do this very important part of your application. Do not over look it!! DO NOT WAIT TILL THE LAST MINUTE!!!!!!! This is not something to overlook.
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