“Behind the Scenes” of GSDM Admissions Cycle: How GSDM Student Admissions Ambassadors Help Personalize the Admission Process
From taking the DAT to answering countless essay questions, applying to dental school can be overwhelming. At GSDM, one way the school helps prospective students navigate the admissions process is through the GSDM student admissions ambassador program. This program gives prospective students an opportunity to connect with current DMD and DMD AS students during pre-dental club meetings and Q&A sessions, and at Admissions Showcases. GSDM student admissions ambassadors have gone through the application cycle themselves and now can share guidance and advice on GSDM and its admissions process.
For the fifth installment of our ongoing “Behind the Scenes” series, we spoke with two student admissions ambassadors, Elias Hilaire DMD 25 and Mary Kyuregyan DMD AS 25 about their unique admissions journeys and their work with the student admissions ambassador program.
Elias Hilaire DMD 25
Hilaire said he never thought he would live in Boston. Now, with roughly seven months to go before he graduates from GSDM, he can’t imagine being anywhere else.
Hilaire applied to GSDM based on a friend’s suggestion and the fact that several alumni from his post-baccalaureate program had attended the school.
“From my research, I could see that GSDM was very heavily community service–based as compared to a lot of other schools,” Hilaire said. “I felt like that fit my personality and my background and that was one of the main reasons why I ended up deciding to apply.”
He said “yes” to GSDM without even stepping foot in Boston. (Hilaire applied to dental school during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which GSDM conducted its admission process virtually.) Hilaire felt confident in his decision, despite the lack of any in-person visits, thanks to his positive interactions with GSDM faculty and staff during his virtual interview and subsequent conversations with the student admissions ambassadors.
“I got a really good vibe from everyone whom I interacted with at the school,” Hilaire said. “I felt like the interview was different from my other interviews in the sense that it was like they wanted me to come. I felt welcome.”
After Hilaire made his own dental school decision, he realized that he wanted to help others throughout their respective dental school application journeys. In April 2021, he launched a YouTube channel, Student Doctor Eli, on which he posts informational sit-down videos, live study sessions, and dental school/residency vlogs, in the hopes of giving prospective dental students a real vision of what dental school is like. (To learn more, read our previous article on his social media endeavors.)
Hilaire knew he didn’t want to be only a face on a screen. When GSDM Admissions reached out to him about becoming an ambassador, he thought this was a perfect opportunity. Now, he can connect directly with prospective students and answer their questions one-on-one as they contemplate this life-changing decision.
According to Hilaire, student admissions ambassadors are responsible for hosting virtual question-and-answer sessions with prospective students and pre-dental undergraduate student organizations. Each ambassador can set up their sessions in any fashion they want; Hilaire lets students ask their initial questions and builds a conversation around that.
Ambassadors are also responsible for attending GSDM Admissions Showcase days, which happen in-person around once a month during the admissions cycle, typically starting in October, and to applicants who have been accepted to GSDM or selected for an interview. Admissions Showcases were an innovation that grew out of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Hilaire thinks seeing the school and interacting with potential colleagues in person can influence someone’s dental school decision.
“It’s really important that we get to host these Admissions Showcase days and give people an opportunity to come see the school before making a decision,” Hilaire said. “I wasn’t one of those people that had that opportunity given the circumstances of my application cycle, but I do see the importance of it now because I’ve seen both sides of it.”
Without his own experience with student admissions ambassadors, Hilaire might not have chosen GSDM. He said it’s a joy to pay it forward to the next generation.
“Choosing a dental school is a huge commitment and you really want to make sure you’re choosing an environment that you’re going enjoy for the next four years,” Hilaire said. “It’s important to get to know the students at the school. Getting to know the faculty is great, but you want to know who you’re going to be surrounded by and what the culture is like at the school, how collaborative it is, and you can’t really get those answers unless you’re talking to a student at the school.”
Mary Kyuregyan DMD AS 25
Kyuregyan knows firsthand the challenges faced by internationally educated dentists who want to practice in the U.S. Now, in her new role as a DMD Advanced Standing admissions ambassador, she’s dedicated to guiding others through the process.
After completing her initial dental education in Russia, Kyuregyan relocated to Boston nine years ago to reunite with her family. She said GSDM was the only U.S. dental school she was interested in attending because of her appreciation of the school’s state-of-the-art digital dentistry training and diverse student body.
Kyuregyan applied several times before she was accepted, partly, she said, because she didn’t understand the complexities and nuances of the U.S. dental education admissions system.
“I was looking into dental schools while I was still in a dental school back in Russia, and I always had my eye on Boston University,” Kyuregyan said. “Once I moved here, I started preparing and I applied multiple times. I think the reason why it took me so long to get accepted was because I didn’t have anyone to guide me on the way to apply. What are the things that are important to have in your CV, resume [or] a personal statement? I didn’t know all of this.”
Before Kyuregyan was accepted to GSDM, she attended a GSDM Admissions Showcase with a long list of inquiries, ranging from what resources were available for parenting students (as she was pregnant at the time) to how to send her translated diploma to the school. She said the GSDM Admissions staff and student admissions ambassadors made her feel at ease and thoroughly answered her questions. Kyurregyan found the experience so helpful that she knew she wanted to be an admissions ambassador herself.
“I did so many things by myself and I never had guidance when I was doing my application,” Kyuregyan said. “I had so many questions and there was this one student that I met. He helped me on my way through afterwards, but I wish I had met him before. So, I always wanted to help other students and give it back to people as much as I can.”
During her first showcase, which took place on Sunday, September 22, Kyuregyan led school tours and answered as many questions as possible from attending applicants. She said it’s been great to connect with students to whom she so closely relates.
“I tried to answer all the questions people were asking because I know how overwhelmed they are,” Kyuregyan said. “Everyone had so many questions and I just remembered [that] I had the same exact questions.”
She hopes she is as helpful to the prospective incoming students as her admissions ambassadors were to her.
“It’s important because there’s so many other things that you have to worry about,” she said. “If someone can answer the simple questions for them just to make it easier for them, it’s already a big help.”