The only thing that matters is that they fufill the school's requirements. Half the time I don't even think they read the things anyway.
"This student got an A in my class, I think they will be a good _______ (fill in the blank)".
"This student did research in my lab, I think they will be a good ________ (fill in the blank)".
"This guy came and shadowed me at my dental practice, just like 20 other kids this summer".
You get the point, the letter are probably not all that different, and boring anyway. If a school asks for two letters from science professors, just be sure to fulfill that requirement. At interviews I literally had people just go through my personal statement right there on the spot, I could tell it was the first time they were reading it. Mostly they just see your GPA and DAT, and then from there they try to see if they will like you as a person or not. Your personal statement just kind of serves as a conversation tool in the interviews. I didn't have a single person comment on a letter of recommendation from what I recall. (Well my personal statement basically covered what the letter writers wrote about, so I guess it can be tough to say).
Yeah LORs are just a joke, a hoop you have to jump through in order to get into your professional school of choice. Don't sweat it
It's only important if a school requires it. Some schools do, some don't. Find out where you want to apply, then see what letters that school requires. If it's not required, I don't think I would find it exceptionally useful. What is a dentist to say? "This kid followed me around for a few days". I don't think those letters are all that helpful into providing insight into who you are. A letter from an employer or from someone who knows you better who probably be a lot more valuable.
Dunno, man...some of the things you wrote here really irks me.
From what I've read, you seem to heavily downplay the role of LORs/PSs to nothing more than a mere requirement for our applications and is necessary just for the sake of it (or a conversation tool, etc). Yes, they are certainly mandatory requirements that may seem more than a hassle than anything, but I beg to differ on the importance it plays in our applications when deciding who gets in or not.
DAT scores and GPAs are certainly important when considering a prospective applicant, but how can that alone allow a dental school admission committee to know the applicant's personality from these numbers alone? What happens if 15/15 kids all have almost similar DAT/GPA scores? That's where LORs and PS (and extracurriculars) play a major role, and thus allows the school is able to screen for potential interviewees that could fit their school's program. Furthermore, GPA/DAT isn't always everything, as I've seen applicants with ~16 DAT scores and sub 2.7 GPA get into dental school according to the ADEA guide.
Now here's where I think you're wrong...
You mentioned that LORs are usually the same "blah, blah, blah..." across the line for most applicants, right? Now, I must admit, to a certain extent that is probably true, but however think about it this way. Who is to blame for this? The student or the professor/dentist? If the applicant does the minimum (goes to professor's office once or twice during the semester and maybe does well in class), then sure he or she's going to get a generic LOR without a doubt. But what if you do more (like meet with the professor weekly, attend after class study sessions, actively participate in class, etc), you obviously will stand out more and maybe their LOR will stand out as well. From my experience, most professors want to help their students, and will try their best to do so (with a LOR for example if you asked for one), but can only make it worthwhile if you make your time with them worthwhile. Just to put it out there, the ADCOM dean of the school I'll be attending even told us interviewees that they have even turned down applicants SOLELY because of LORs because the LORs for those applicants said awful things about the applicant (probably students who was completely oblivious about their impression that the teacher had about them).
As for dentist LORs, I agree. If you shadow a dentist, and ask them for a LOR, then I get it. The LOR will probably be a generic one. Not sure why some schools specifically want a dentist LOR, because unless you worked for them or get to know them very well they aren't gonna get to know you personally.
Also, I definitely agree with you when choosing who gets to do your LOR, 1) make sure it meets the school's requirements and 2) make sure the letter would be "good."
Again, I just wanted to say that everything that's required for our AADSAS application plays an important role and in the end it's actually a complete/overall/comprehensive application that would only help define how well-rounded an applicant truly is.
