Timeline

September-December:

• Submit the HSAC introductory worksheet. This will get the ball rolling with HSAC and the committee letter.
• Become familiar with the application process. Good sources of information are the AADSAS sites and your HSAC advisor.
• Gather information about dental schools. The ADEA Official Guide to Dental Schools is updated each spring and available for purchase at the ADEA site.
• Check to make sure that you are on track to complete the prerequisites courses for dental school.
• Continue to gain dental, community service and/or research experience during the next year.

Winter Break:

• Start writing your personal statement. Get started while you don’t have classes to worry about.
• Each student who wishes to interview with their committee in the spring for a summer or early fall application process must present, without exception, a strong working draft of their personal statement by the Friday following Spring Break. These statements should be submitted directly to your HSAC advisor.

January – March:

• Request letters of recommendation from faculty and dentists individually. Utilize this Letter of Recommendation Form. Have the letters sent to the chair of HSAC at hsac@smcm.edu.
• You are welcome to begin collecting letters as early as you want, but do not wait until after March to start collecting letters.
• Continue writing your personal statement. A strong working draft must be added to your file by the Friday after Spring Break.

March, by the Friday following Spring Break:

Review your file. It should contain:

• A polished working draft of your personal statement.
•  Letters of recommendation from professors and supervisors. Two from faculty within your major, one from outside your major, and at least one from a supervisor of practical experience in health care.
•  A current St. Mary’s College transcript, and transcripts from classes taken outside of St. Mary’s College.
•  A draft of your personal statement.
•  A résumé highlighting your activities and accomplishments.
•  Previous DAT scores, if applicable.

April

• Register for the DAT. Information regarding the DAT may be found at the American Dental Association (ADA) site: http://www.ada.org/dat.aspx
• Prepare for and take the DAT. Take the DAT earlier if preferred, but do not delay past June in order to have scores submitted to the schools early in the cycle.
• Schedule your HSAC mock interview. Committee meetings must begin soon after Spring Break and continue throughout April. All meetings should take place before May. Meetings will not be planned during finals or Senior Week.

May/June

• AADSAS opens in late May / early June!
• Submit your application on the first day the application is available.
• A few schools request that secondary applications be submitted at the same time as the primary application. Otherwise, wait until you are contacted by each individual school. They will have instructions for your secondary application at that time.

• Retake the DAT if needed.
• Complete secondary applications. (Note: a few schools request that secondary applications be submitted at the same time as the primary application.)
• Submit addresses of all the schools that require a secondary application to HSAC. Follow the procedure listed on the “Submitting Addresses” page. At this time, HSAC will send the committee letter of recommendation to your schools.

• Continue submitting secondaries.
• Don’t forget to notify HSAC every time you need a committee letter sent!
• Check up with each school about 2 weeks after you send the secondary application to make sure that your file is complete.
• Interviews begin at dental schools.
• Schools notify applicants of acceptances beginning December 1 and continue until the class is full. Stay in contact with schools you are waitlisted at.
• Update HSAC with all acceptances/rejections for our records.