With maximum creativity, research as indicated, priority attention, and as many drafts as needed,
Dr Robert Edinger with Son David
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Provide any additional information about your background that can help clarify your disadvantaged student status. Enter an explanation. Please limit your answer in this field to 4,500 characters.
You are also asked to provide a brief description of your childhood residence. Please limit your answer to 250 characters.
It would be an honor for me to assist you with making these two essays as eloquent and effective as possible. This might well prove to be a very smart investment on your part. It would probably also be wise if you should decide to use my service for your Disadvantaged Student Essay, that you also use my service to edit and enhance your Personal Statement, so that the writing styles of the two documents are in conformity.
The challenges that I faced growing up in the urban slums of Vietnam, as the daughter of low-income (even by Vietnamese standards) parents, in my opinion, qualify me as a disadvantaged applicant. My parents endured many sacrifices, including hunger, just so that I could receive a rudimentary, public education while we were still in Vietnam. My mother would clean fish until her hands bled, while my father would cut fish in the same plant, his hands so sore that he could barely hold his chopsticks for the evening meal. All of my achievements today are directly due to their unwavering insistence on making sacrifices for my education.
Not long after coming to the USA and continuing to struggle to house and feed ourselves, with me doing all of the translation, my father left us. This at a time when multiple members of our extended family had been diagnosed with cancer back in Vietnam and we struggled to send what little we could back home for their treatment. We lived in a cramped and humid, run-down apartment located on the wrong side of the tracks and set aside what we could for my tuition. For years, my mother worked seven days a week at a local Vietnamese nail shop, coming home with very little and smelling of acetone every night; at least it was preferable to flaying fish.
My mother inspired a similar work ethic in me. At first, I took various jobs to lessen the burden of my educational costs; however, when my mother found out she tried her best to prevent me from doing anything but devoting myself 24/7 to my studies. She spoke frequently about sacrifice, reality, and hope. She told me that it was my job to study, and hers to pay the bills.
My determination has never wavered to work as hard as possible to achieve my goals, by being an exceptional student. Our limited resources have taught me how to be creative about managing time as well as money. Our difficulties have also helped to make me an empathetic person, most important to being a good dentist.
When I was ten, I often stared at the roof of our family home in Vietnam, a large assortment of dry coconut leaves covering one room that served as a living, kitchen, and bedroom. For me, luxurious moments consisted of a couple of candle sticks that my mother would bring home so that I could study into the night. Books were the most precious material thing in my environment as a child. When I got a new (used) book, I slept with it. Many of my girlfriends dropped out of school in time, forced to care for younger siblings, help in the rice fields, or haul the latest catch to the market. I was fortunate to both stay in school, and help my family by selling snacks to tourists.
Almost all of the tourists that came to where we lived were friendly people and many took the time to talk to me a little bit and teach me some new words in English. I learned quite a bit over the course of several years as a small child selling treats in the street; and this made the transition much easier when we came to America and I enrolled in the fifth grade, the only Vietnamese student in an ESL track. My favorite spot was the library. My world lit up like a video game when I realized that I would now be able to check out any book that I wanted and bring it home with me. My first selection was a Vietnamese-English Dictionary because I was determined to earn my way into the general classroom and study alongside native speakers. I was very proud that the only Vietnamese student in my classroom was the only one to later go on and sit in the regular high school English class.
The free lunch brought my group of friends together in high school; we shared everything, from outdated A.P textbooks to a TI-83 graphing calculator. Throughout my four years in high school, I have seen friends get arrested, pregnant, drop out of school, and some familiar faces just simply disappeared forever. Only one quarter of my freshman class made it to their senior year of high school. The strong connection I have with my community, however, has given me the courage and personal determination to further my education. I am heading toward a professional school - Dentistry – and will someday not only earn my own way but also work to uplift my community and care for the underserved who most need my help. My struggles have prepared me to assist the underserved, in particular, to empathize and show compassion for the most vulnerable members of our society. Despite my disadvantaged status, I consider myself most fortunate.
The American Dental Education Association also allows you to apply to dental school as a disadvantaged student. In addition to answering a series of questions from a pull down menu, you are also allowed to submit a special essay that builds a case for your disadvantaged status. For many students from backgrounds with limited family resources, providing this information is an extremely smart thing to do, as it might greatly reduce the expenses that you will occur in dental school.
Both medical and dental schools appreciate the fact that some applicants have overcome obstacles on the path to their goals. You are welcome to provide any information and describe any background experiences that may have put you at an educational, social, or economic disadvantage as you prepare to apply. Dental and Medical schools actively seek to identify applicants who come from disadvantaged backgrounds. If you feel that you are disadvantaged, by all means you should apply.