CSU CSU Dentistry: Q&A and General Discussion

[Shinez]

5min drive to town by car A bus goes to town every hour or so from what I recall. Driving or getting a lift with someone is much easier.

So there is a bus now?

"Orange
There is no local bus service that travels between the town area of Orange and the Orange campus."

Transport - Student Services - Charles Sturt University

 

[Hutcherson]

So there is a bus now?

"Orange
There is no local bus service that travels between the town area of Orange and the Orange campus."

Transport - Student Services - Charles Sturt University

The bus did come in last year but I hardly see it. There is a bus timetable at the zebra crossing next to the Templers Mill Bar.

 

[ly91]

Hey hutcherson thank you so much for being so awesome ily

 

[mighty]

[offtopic]

Hey hutcherson thank you so much for being so awesome ily

Pretty sure I love @Hutcherson more. [/offtopic]

 

[ly91]

Nah ily hutch way more than u cookie <3

 

[mighty]

[offtopic]Oh please. Hutch and I go way back.

Stop being such a slacker, you're supposed to be paying attention in this psych lecture. [/offtopic]

 

[Hutcherson]

I love you ly and mighty <3.

 

[caitlinnoob]

Sorry to interrupt the love sesh,

But I was wondering if you had any tips to make an application stand out from the other 1000 or so?
Sorry if this has already been asked!

 

[godoftoast]

If you are a stand-out applicant then your application will stand-out. Just make sure to talk a buttload about your experiences and how they've shaped your desires/made you who you are/improved you in some way etc. Check proper spelling and grammar etc.

 

[mighty]

Just some general tips.

• Be original. Put a bit of yourself into your app, try and show some of your personality in it.
• Make sure your app flows; ensure you have good grammar.
• Do research, try and find out stuff about dentistry and show your passion for it in your app. Do some research about the uni too, make sure you have some good reasons for why you specifically want to study dentistry at CSU.
• Definitely do work experience, and as much of it as you can. You don't necessarily need to fill out all 5 spots for work exp - 2 is perfectly fine, and it's probably preferable to have done longer periods of work exp at fewer clinics than lots of short stints at many places. The reason I say this is because doing work exp at a place over a period of time means that they'll probably write a good reference for you (and it also makes it easier to ask for a reference). Perhaps you can try writing about work experience and what you learnt and why you liked it in your app.
• I know this is a bit of a no-brainer, but make sure you clearly answer the question/s. You're free to elaborate on the questions (I ended up having over 1000 words in mine), but make sure that everything you write is relevant to and responding to the questions in some way.
• Keep a semi-formal register: it's a letter, not a conversation.

So that's all off the top of my head for now, hope that helps. (If reminded) I'll try post up some more tips later.

 

[caitlinnoob]

Thank you both for your quick replies!
Both your answers were really helpful ^_^

• Definitely do work experience, and as much of it as you can. You don't necessarily need to fill out all 5 spots for work exp - 2 is perfectly fine, and it's probably preferable to have done longer periods of work exp at fewer clinics than lots of short stints at many places.

How long do you consider long?

 

[miss_universe]

Thank you both for your quick replies!
Both your answers were really helpful ^_^

[/LIST]

How long do you consider long?

As long as you can do. Its hard to find work experience so if you do, try and stay as long as possible. Usually work experience is one-two weeks though, so you might want to think of some more places to try and get some more.

 

[mighty]

How long do you consider long?

It's not absolutely necessary to do work exp for 'long' amounts of time so don't freak out if you can't, it just helps. as Muse said though, the longer you can do it the better. Maybe during hols you can do a week and if the surgery you work at does weekends perhaps you can ask if you can spend a few Saturdays/Sundays there during the school term as well. I know it's hard because you're busy with year 12 but try your best.

Also definitely try and get some rural work experience in. It'll look good on your app if you talk about rural work exp (and show your interest in rural health, something CSU wants to see) but more than that it's a really good experience and quite different from metropolitan dental surgeries. I only managed to get in a day of work exp at a rural clinic but I'm really glad I did it and it was definitely interesting to compare the differences between metro and rural practices.

 

[caitlinnoob]

Okay, thank you both for your answers, I have 5 days of 9am-3pm lined up for next week and have applied for work experience at my local hospital for next holidays as well. I'm visiting Orange to tour CSU (yet to be confirmed) next holidays also, and was thinking of visiting a local dental surgery there to at least have a look around.

Maybe during hols you can do a week and if the surgery you work at does weekends perhaps you can ask if you can spend a few Saturdays/Sundays there during the school term as well. I know it's hard because you're busy with year 12 but try your best.

That's a fantastic idea, I'll be sure to ask next week.
Thanks!

 

[mighty]

Okay, thank you both for your answers, I have 5 days of 9am-3pm lined up for next week and have applied for work experience at my local hospital for next holidays as well. I'm visiting Orange to tour CSU (yet to be confirmed) next holidays also, and was thinking of visiting a local dental surgery there to at least have a look around.

That sounds good! When you finish your work experience with them be sure to give them a letter or something to thank them for letting you spend time there. I'd advise you to keep trying to slot in some more work experience with them so they get to know you - (personally) I think that a good reference is a definite help for your app.

Re: visiting Orange, cool, depending on when your hols are myself or Hutch could still be around and we'd be happy to show you around I think you can also book a campus tour by calling up the uni.
Visiting a local surgery is a good idea; I spent a day at one of the surgeries the day before my interview. Still, if you can't visit CSU prior to your interview/sending off your app, don't stress (for all you lurkers). It might be nice to see the campus and such but it's certainly not essential ^_^.

 

[caitlinnoob]

That sounds good! When you finish your work experience with them be sure to give them a letter or something to thank them for letting you spend time there. I'd advise you to keep trying to slot in some more work experience with them so they get to know you - (personally) I think that a good reference is a definite help for your app.

Yep, I'll definitely send them a thank you letter, do you think it would be better to keep going back to the same surgery or to go to a different one for more experience?

I sent the uni one of the 'open day, every day' thingos through the website only a few days ago, so I haven't heard back yet. I thought it'd be a good idea to at least visit once before the interview (if I get one!), and because I'd have to stay overnight, it'd be worth visiting a surgery whilst I'm there. But I'll look more into that once I hear back from CSU.

This might be a bit petty but, how much do you think the interviewers would be looking at an applicants own teeth? I ask only because I've never had anything done to my teeth other than check-up/clean and was considering getting them whitened or even getting veneers if I get an interview. I have relatively sharp fangs and mostly all my front teeth still have slight ridges on the edge of them, like young kids have? So, I'm a bit self conscious of what they might think! Who'd want to go to a dentist with dodgey teeth?^_^

 

[miss_universe]

Go to different ones. You may get bored at the same place and want a change. And more clinics = different experiences.

The interviewers couldnt give a damn about your teeth lol. Waste of money to get bleaching done and why would anyone volunteer themselves for veneers?????
Sok, many people still have mammelons (ridges) on their teeth (me included). You will find a lot of dental students have dodgy teeth...until they start dentistry.

 

[Hutcherson]

Go to different ones. You may get bored at the same place and want a change. And more clinics = different experiences.

The interviewers couldnt give a damn about your teeth lol. Waste of money to get bleaching done and why would anyone volunteer themselves for veneers?????
Sok, many people still have mammelons (ridges) on their teeth (me included). You will find a lot of dental students have dodgy teeth...until they start dentistry.

*hi five to mammelons* I have them aswell.

 

[miss_universe]

*hi five to mammelons* I have them aswell.

*fist bump*

 

[mighty]

Yep, I'll definitely send them a thank you letter, do you think it would be better to keep going back to the same surgery or to go to a different one for more experience?

Personal choice I think. The only reason I'd opt to visit a surgery more than once (ie. over several weeks or something) is because I'd feel uncomfortable asking for a reference from them (which you need in your app) if I'd only spent 1-2 days there. I also feel that them knowing you better means that they might write a better/nicer reference for you. Having said that, definitely don't stick to one surgery and one surgery only. Try to go to at least 2 different ones.

I thought it'd be a good idea to at least visit once before the interview (if I get one!), and because I'd have to stay overnight, it'd be worth visiting a surgery whilst I'm there.

If you've got the time/money to visit/tour the uni before interviews go for it, but as I said earlier it's definitely not necessary. I don't think many (unless they were intra-uni transfers) people in my cohort did.

re: your own teeth, +1 to what muse said. Just as long as you appear neat and tidy and semi-professional they won't (at least consciously) judge you based on your appearance.