If you read my last blog and happened to click on the ADEA link, you will notice the pop-up page call “ADEA CAAPID Directory”. We all know that ADEA stands for American Dental Education Association. So what does CAAPID stand for?
According to ADEA website, CAAPID is “Centralized Application for Advanced Placement for International Dentists”. This is where you can have a general idea about the advanced standing programs (ASP) across the country (please read my last blog if you wonder what ASP is) as well as applying to ones.
From the main page “ADEA CAAPID Directory”, you will see a list of every U.S Dental School offering the ASP with a link to each school for more specific detail like class size, contact info, length of program, etc and of course the school’s website. From there, with a lot of hard work to satisfy all their requirements, you will come back to CAAPID one more time to finally apply to your dream school(s). It’s very unlikely that anyone of us will apply to only one school. These programs are so competitive that some people will apply to 20 schools to increase their chance. So instead of going to 20 websites, sending paperwork to 20 different schools, and pissing off your reference persons for also sending their letters to 20 schools, you apply through CAAPID. CAAPID has a standardized set of paperwork that you have to complete and if any school requires more information, they will describe specifically and you will have to submit those extra paper directly to the school.
I don’t remember the exact number but I think I paid about $30 for each copy of the NBDE score and $20 for TOEFL, so I would spend about $1000 just to send those score reports to 20 schools. Don’t get me wrong, applying through CAAPID is costly too because you will have to pay to CAAPID itself depending on how many school you apply through them (I think I paid a bit more than $1000 to apply to three schools). Well the thing is you pay only $50 to send NBDE/TOEFL report to CAAPID and they will distribute it to 20 schools. Less money- and time-consuming. After you complete the CAAPID application, each school will now have access to your info and review your application. If you are required to submit one or more things, schools will contact you directly and from now on you will submit to them only.
Honestly, the whole process was a bit scary for me. I kept paying money without knowing where it would lead to. Mostly I felt guilty toward my mom for spending her credit card. I was working part-time in my home country back then to spend time for studying so I didn’t earn that much considering the difference in currency between Vietnam and America. And although my mom was working here in the U.S at that time, she didn’t earn much either. That to say, it takes a lot of courage and probably blind-belief to pursue this dream. I get you, friends! Good luck to all the brave warriors out there.