What we ignore about CAAPID?
“You will not get into school”
“You are too old for school”
“Drop the DDS, go for AEGD instead”
“Don’t tell them you are pregnant”
“You can’t get in without a master’s program
“You’re too late in the process”
“You’re TOEFL score is too low”
“You can’t share your weakness”
“You shouldn’t say that bribes are common back home”
Sounds familiar? …. Well, I hear it all the time.
What’s interesting is that these aren’t things that any dental school has mentioned, no credible source has mentioned, no admissions committee member has mentioned, and are not even available on a program website.
Who says these things?
Well, other applicants! How have they verified it?
Even more embarrassing — some of this bullshit is shared by other international dentists who are recently admitted to schools. They tend to envy applicants and wish they endure the same journey as they did.
The last group of people who share such misinformation is the counseling community — my competition. They pull off such Hitchen’s Razor statements (i.e. assertions made without the burden of proof) and scare applicants who trust them with their life. What’s interesting is, all the negative information I’ve heard from such sources happens to be from people who share the same home country.
Why shouldn’t I listen to this?
Dumb question — you might say, and I agree.
Yet, I want to explain why you shouldn't listen to such stereotypical declarations by people who have no proof.
Simple.
You are a healthcare professional applying to US schools. In your application essays and your interviews, you claim a variety of qualities and share your ambitions. You are highly likely to mention patient education — about how you care to teach patients on the importance of preventive care, educate them of the side-effects of a certain procedure, and quell their anxiety by clarifying facts for them.
You are a student of science and have been trained on the scientific methodology of seeking information. Science says that you will question every phenomenon you observe with a hypothesis of why it might be, and then test it by collecting data points that indicate with a sufficient tolerance of error, is true. This is otherwise known as a research study.
All the information you impart to patients is from past research studies that you have familiarised yourself with. As a dentist, you are both liable by law and responsible by heart to never share fake information with your patients. Patient education, therefore, has been entrusted with you, in the trust that you will share the right information.
Then, why be a hypocrite!
How can claim to provide fact-based information to your patients, and believe rumors about the admission process yourself?
How often do you ask your friends, your alumni, or even your counselors for evidence?
To prove something is true you need many data points, to prove something is false — you need just one! Then, why don’t you ask for at least anecdotal evidence that contradicts a popular belief?
Differentiate information from beliefs? Beliefs are held by their relevance emotionally, information is created from the validation of beliefs. You are a doctor, and you know that “validation” can’t happen with emotions.
Now, let me stop this rant.
Who should I listen to?
1.The most credible source of information is the admissions committee. These are the real people who sit across their PC, download your application and judge it for fit with their school’s expectations.
No surprise, but all of them are on Linkedin, have shared their official email IDs on the college website, and have their achievements mentioned in the public domain. Ping them by email of email or LinkedIn chat, compliment them and speak about your interests.
In my conversations with admissions committee members, 1 out of every 2 dental faculty responds to emails from strangers if they aren’t spamming.
2. Admissions Committees. Admissions offices are fighting for good quality dentists as much as you are competing for their seats. They initiate a plethora of events each year to become visible and attract the best talent.
It matters to them that they attract great talent, since you are a big cash cow, pay a lot for getting an education, serve high-quality dentistry to their patients and help them earn revenue from complex clinical procedures. Since you have been tapped from the cream of applicants who persevere competition, you are already well poised to become successful as alumni and contribute back to the school through branding, time, and donations.
Admissions Committees, therefore, spend time and money to institute year-round events to attract the best candidates. These could be webinars, 1:1 calls with current students, counseling sessions, and so on. Register and listen to them.
In case you don’t know where to start or you’ve missed a session, mail the admissions office, and 1 out of 2 times they will reply back, of course with some lag.
3. If you are in a real hurry for information, ask a counselor or current student of your school. There is just one big caveat here. Remember, that they can have either confirmation bias or recency bias. If you would blindly trust them without trusting that they have biases, you are in soup.
Another way to distill information from this group is to ask a clarifying question that contradicts their information. Ask them for proof to disprove their claim. Remember once again, that you need only a data point to disprove something, but a whole lot to claim something. This is why you prove you can never prove that the null hypothesis is right.
Finally, use reality distortion to your advantage
If someone says you can’t make it because you lack something. First, search if it is factual — is it on any website or mentioned by any admissions committee.
If it isn’t factual, then don’t believe it
Believe you’ll make it. Create your own placebo. This isn’t overconfidence. It is the birthplace of confidence.
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