I AMA 2nd year dental student at Barts, ask me anything.

Ummm...yeah sounds good i guess?

How much dental shadowing?
What did you learn from it?
Why the anaesthetics dept?

The grades look decent - the UKCAT is important obviously.

I'm not sure what else to say about it really? Maybe get some more dental shadowing organised, have you actually done any yet? If not then you could be in a bit of trouble.

Hey, thanks for creating this thread! I am hopefully going to be applying for Dentistry this year, my stats are as followed:

GCSES- 11A*s
AS- 4 As
A2 Predictions- A*A*A
UKCAT- 650 (not amazing, but not terrible)
As for work experience, I have completed 3 weeks in 2 different GDPS, several days at an Orthodontist, and two days in a Maxillofacial ward.

From your judgement, do you think I have a reasonable chance of getting an interview at QM? Understandably it depends on the cohort, but if you could offer any advice/opinions, that would be great.

Did my ukcat today. Got an average of 575 which isnt great at all so I'm considering Biochemistry courses that dont require Biology at A2. Opting for dentistry after that hopefully. Thanks anyway

Evidence of manual dexterity is desirable but not essential, it 99% of cases they can actually teach you all of the manual skill you need. I would just mention that you work with computers and that you find the process of being creative and working with small part fulfilling and enjoyable.

As for the UKCAT that's unlucky, i understand that you're upset but don't fret toot much. I got into Barts with 632.5 so it's far from impossible

Also don't get too hung up on Barts/Kings, yes they're two very good unis (the two best in my biased opinion) but there's lots of other universities that are very good and it'll do you good to get out of London. Don't be one of those people who spends their life living in london, living at home whilst in uni and then working in london. There's much more to the UK, go out...find some independence and experience a different bit of culture. These are just my opinions of course...

4 A's at A level is good but it does nothing for your UKCAT score, everyone will have at least 3 A's predicted or higher tbh. It's much more down to your extracurriculars, work experience and how you do in the interview etc.

As for work experience, i've addressed this elsewhere in this thread a few times so scroll through and find that, but briefly...it's much more important to talk about what you learned rather than what you saw. Talk about the qualities a dentist needs to have and the things that surprised or shocked you etc. As for DoE - that should be self-explanatory to a clever applicant, just talk about team leading, working within a team, communication, problem solving ... all of the obvious things really!

And I'm sorry I didn't get to be your tour guide, maybe i can meet you at the post-offer open day next year!

Ryan.

Unlucky! Best of luck in your future career but i think you may struggle to find courses that don't require biology for Biochem! :s

How do you get over looking a people's mouths?

Found quite a few actually! Nearly 7

The title says it all, ask me any and all questions you want, related to dentistry, admission, university, life, myself or otherwise. Quote me for response.

Has anyone's breath nearly killed you?

Thanks for your reply btw.

What activities/extra-curriculars do you participate in during uni to boost your CV up?


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How many hours per day did you have to do during your work experience in the practitioner's/dental lab?
Do any students have part time jobs?

Thanks for answering!

Hey there, so I'm quite lucky in that I've been involved in quite a lot of stuff since starting at Barts.

I enter quite a lot of dental competitions and I've been lucky enough to win a couple. In my first year I had an all expenses paid trip up to glasgow to present at an oral medicine conference and I've won some cash prizes besides that as well. Barts has a clinical research group which i'm a member of too.

I also was the treasurer and subsequently the president of the maxillofacial surgery society at Barts.

I'm a member of the orchestra and choir and perform at all the concerts, I also do a lot of music outside of uni and I've played concerts in cadogan hall, the Royal albert hall, the royal festival hall and the barbican. (music is a big part of my life!!) in first year i was a rower, in the second year i played squash but more recently i've found that my wednesday afternoons are always too busy for sport unfortunately.

I also work in two paid roles - as a student ambassador for QMUL (helping at open days, sitting on interview panels, leading campus tours, going out to schools to give talks etc.) and i work as a PASS student organiser - PASS stands for Peer Assisted Study Support and we essentially support the lower years and mentor them through their lectures. These are both great roles that have given me some vital skills and taught me a lot about working with people.

I volunteer and find this really fulfilling, Barts have a long history of RAG and are very successful at it.

Ryan.

Could you explain what you do in these dental competitions?

What is Barts like? And what is the student population at Barts like?