Perseverance and always keeping your options open were emphasized repeatedly during the 2024 ADEA GoDental Recruitment Event that was held in conjunction with the 2024 ADEA Annual Session & Exhibition in New Orleans, LA. Speakers shared helpful hints and keys to success for the dental application process while providing anecdotes of their own experiences. In addition, more than 60 dental schools and organizations were present at the recruitment fair to share information and answer questions for predental students.
Karen P. West, D.M.D., M.P.H., ADEA President & CEO, advised attendees during her greeting that, “one school may not be right for you, but another one will. So, you need to research those schools.”
Leila Raymond, who graduated from Lawrence University in Appleton, WI, and now lives in New Orleans where she works as a dental assistant at a federally qualified health center, was not only excited to hear dental students speak at the event, but also to attend the recruitment fair.
“I’m excited to learn specifics about dental school,” Raymond said. “[I’m excited] To find out more from them. It’s easier to talk to admissions officers in person rather than by email.“
Leslie Villalta, a graduate student at Rutgers University, also attended the event to meet admissions officers. She said she wanted to become a dentist because she wanted people in her community, comprised largely of Latino immigrants to the United States, to see “someone who looks like me . . . like us can be a dentist.”
At the time of the recruitment fair, she had no preference on what dental school to which she wanted to apply. “I want to get to know the schools and get to know their mission statements first,” Villalta said.
Exploring the Ins and Outs of the Dental Application and Financial Aid Proces 
“You’re going to see some great dental schools today and get excited about applying, but then you have to consider how you’re going to pay for all of this,” said Paul Garrard, ADEA Senior Advisor for Student Financial Services, during his presentation, Money Matters: 10 Questions Every Student Should Ask.
Garrard shared the basics regarding the different forms of financial aid, from scholarships to loan types, but he said predental students should explore resources online at the ADEA GoDental Money Matters and within their own undergraduate and dental school programs once they’re admitted.
“At a number of dental schools, there is a person dedicated to financial aid or the number one conduit to the financial aid office,” Garrard said. “You should definitely consult them.”
During her presentation, Planning a Stress-free ADEA AADSAS® Application, Chonté James, ADEA Director of the Predoctoral Application Service, compared going to dental school to going on a road trip.
“You have to be prepared,” James said.
She shared the stage with Teddy Dong, a D3 student at University of Washington School of Dentistry, and Ananya Sawlani, a D3 student at University of Illinois Chicago College of Dentistry, who also offered helpful hints for a smoother journey to dental school.
Dong recommended creating a list with a wide range of dental schools. “Try to apply broadly to increase your chances of getting in,” he said.
“Don’t forget the supplemental application and fees,” Sawlani said. “The other thing is interview expenses. Hotel fees, flight expenses, and taking off work.”
She encouraged attendees to have a separate Excel spreadsheet for each school, listing these expenses.
David Rainwater, a D3 student at Louisiana State University Health New Orleans School of Dentistry (LSUSD), shared his 4 Ss for the ADEA AADSAS® (ADEA Associated American Dental Schools Application Service) application process during his presentation, One Bite at a Time: My Odyssey to LSU School of Dentistry.
Rainwater said applicants should start as early as possible. “The quicker you can get it all in, submit it the same day,” he said.
He also said applicants should saturate their applications with all their accomplishments, shadowing, research, volunteer hours, etc. They should also smooth out their applications by checking for accuracy and grammatical errors. And finally, submit it when the application is done.
“Remember to go have fun,” Rainwater said. “Life is too short. But just remember to stay focused. Stay dedicated. It will all be worth it in the end.”
Encouraging Students to Become More Involved in the Dental Profession/Passion
During her presentation, Persistence and Perseverance: Pathways to Dentistry, Kathryn Pawlak, D.D.S., shared how she always wanted to be a dentist and pursued the profession even before entering dental school by volunteering. While an undergrad, she developed the nonprofit Planet Smilez, organizing international dental service trips to the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, where she and others provided dental education for children.
By the time Dr. Pawlak was applying to dental schools, she knew “what was most important to me [in a dental school] was diversity and the ability to work within a community.”
She ended up going to the University of Maryland School of Dentistry because it fit those requirements. Dr. Pawlak also ended up expanding Planet Smilez into a Discovering Dentistry Camp, a program to recruit pre-dental school students in West Baltimore, not far from her dental school campus. She comes back to the dental school every year to run it.
“It was the spark to build my fire and my passion,” she said.
During How ADEA Helped Shape My Dental School Journey, Eboney Hinds, a D2 student at Western University of Health Sciences College of Dental Medicine (WU CDM), said she became even more passionate about dentistry as a profession when she became involved in the pipeline program at her dental school and later participated in ADEA Student Diversity Leadership Program at the 2023 ADEA Annual Session & Exhibition in Portland, OR.
“I was very impowered and inspired by that Annual Session program,” Hinds said.
Justin James Donato, a D2 student at WU CDM, also said getting involved in the ADEA Student Summer Pathways Internship – serving as class representative at Western University and as Vice Chair of ADEA Council of Students, Residents and Fellows last Annual Session & Exhibition – also helped him to get more excited about the profession.
Charged for a Bright Future
The speakers and schools present had a big impact on several of the 2024 ADEA GoDental Recruitment Event attendees. Jason Van Duzee, a student at University of Louisiana at Lafayette, said attending the event helped reignite his passion for pursuing dentistry. He said dentistry was his number one choice until his sophomore year in college, when he had to start taking classes like organic chemistry and got overwhelmed by the coursework. Van Duzee started to question whether dentistry was right for him and contemplated switching fields. But this year, a friend convinced him to attend a local ADEA dentistry event.
“I figured it was a sign,” Van Duzee said.
He said his first choice, now, was definitely LSUSD, but that he’s open to other schools. Van Duzee plans to work as a dental assistant during his gap year and then apply to dental school.
The predental students seemed to have just as much of an impact on some of the speakers.
“You are our future, and it looks very bright from where I’m standing,” said ADEA Immediate Past Chair of the Board Ana N. López Fuentes, D.M.D., M.P.H., to attendees.
See you next year on March 8, 2025, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, MD!
ABOUT ADEA:
The American Dental Education Association (ADEA) is The Voice of Dental Education. Our mission is to lead and support the health professions community in preparing future-ready oral health professionals. Our members include all 78 U.S. and Canadian dental schools, more than 800 allied and advanced dental education programs, 50 corporations and approximately 18,000 individuals. Our activities encompass a wide range of research, advocacy, faculty development, meetings and communications, including the esteemed Journal of Dental Education®, as well as the dental school application services.