heres advice to people thinking of re applying, i wont be posting any more advice about gap years so people read this
Personal Statement:
this is what is going to get you your interview and probably the most important part of the whole application, other than predicted grades/ukcat.
you need to show:-
-motivation for dentistry
-work experience
-manual dexterity
-non-academia/extra curricular
-volunteer work (preferably of a caring nature)
-evidence of team work/interpersonal/leadership skills (duke of ed./sport)
Extra curric:
i would advise anyone to try and do the duke of edinburgh award if its available, silver or gold, it is incredibly useful when coming to write your statement. you will find to complete the award you have to do a variety of things that tick off a lot of the boxes for your ps. interpersonal skills, team work, leadership and organisational skills to name a few.
Take up a team sport if you dont do one already as being a dentist it is obviously vital to be able to work as part of a team.
music/drama or any hobbies that show your manual dexterity need to be mentioned. if you dont have anything to show your manual dexterity then take something up like pottery classes/ airfix model building.
the way in which this is written is extremely important, you MUST link everything to dentistry and how it would make you a good dentist.
work experience:
- nhs general practise is a must
- try organising some at a hospital if you can e.g. max fax
- dental lab is also useful, try to do something practical e.g. make a denture which you can take to your interviews to show your manual dexterity
get as much experience as possible in as many different areas as you can.
maybe arrange some voluntary work abroad to africa like tanzania, malawi etcc or asia like cambodia or india
also, start writing your personal statement in the summer....
try and make your personal statement with unique hobbies
also improve on your ukcat score, start preparation earlier etcc and do more practice papers..
CHOOSE uni wisely