The Application Process

Applying for dental school is not cheap.
There are typically two rounds of applications. The first round of application goes through AADSAS; the cost differs per application depending on how many schools you apply to. It costs between $100-$200/application. The more you apply, the cheaper it is. The AADSAS application contains your basic information. You fill in when you took all of your pre-requisites and where. You fill in your GPA. Your activities. Your letters of recommendation either get uploaded directly to the website or if you have a pre-health office at your university they may accumulate your letters of recommendation online and can submit them for you (depending on the school). You will also submit your essay. Make sure you have somebody review it for you checking both for spelling and grammatical mistakes as well as content. Put your English composition classes to task and write a kick ass essay. I was asked about my essay at one of my interviews so if you haven't taken a look at it for months I would recommend reviewing it before you interview.
The second round of applications are the supplementary applications. Dental schools will send you the supplementary through your email if you meet their minimum requirements (1) That you have surpassed the minimum DAT score and GPA and 2) are willing to write them a check between $50-$100 to review said supplementary application). Some schools have you fill out a few more short essays and the more annoying ones have you redo your list of pre-requisites classes (even though they already have that information).
I would recommend doing your application as soon as you can. I believe the AADSAS application my year opened in early July but you can check on the AADSAS website. Dental schools have rolling admissions. The earlier your submit your applications and check/money order, the earlier you can be interviewed and the earlier you can get accepted. Don't dilly dally.
I hope this was helpful!
Peace,
YL

Introduction

I decided in my junior year of college that dentistry was the profession for me. I shadowed doctors, physical therapists, nurses, veterinarians... None of it felt right or even very interesting until I realized, while shadowing, what dentistry actually encompassed. I was enthralled and in love. As I battled my body which was trying to black out, I was thrilled. I would duck my head down for short increments until my head started feeling like a normal weight and then would bring it back up to watch the artistry of dentistry.
Because I made my decision somewhat late I could not graduate in time and finish all of my prerequisites. I graduated in the spring of 2012 and then moved to California where I took my last two prerequisites. The benefit of moving to California (besides California being a pretty cool place to be) was that the class sizes were beautifully small at San Jose State where I took biochemistry and my second physics class. There were only about 40 people in each of those classes which made it easier for me to make a connection with the professors. I attended their office hours and participated in class. Both of the professors wrote me letters of recommendation. After I finished my courses I took a DAT course and studied full time for a couple of months. For the last five months I have been working as a dental receptionist.
I had a lot of questions as I went through the process of applying to dental school. I spoke with people who had been through the process but some of the information they told me did not match up exactly with my experience. I got into 4 dental schools on December 2nd.  I thought I would write a blog that would try to answer some questions about the application and interview process.
Best,
YL