College Name vs. GPA?

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Dental schools are college name-blinde? I mean do they focus on one's attending college name?

For example,
1. attended really competitive college (Harvard) and got 3.3 GPA
2. attended not that competitive college (U of Hawaii) and got 3.8 GPA

GPA or college name?

I think they are fairly college name blind. I am coming from a similar situation I went to one of the top 5 rated liberal arts schools supposedly known for getting students into grad/prof schools (and grade deflation may I add) and I only had two interviews. Luckily, I had pretty good DAT scores so I think that's ultimately what got me in. It seems that if you are coming from a public school/not as highly ranked private school with a better GPA you've got more of a shot than a private school with a great rank like Harvard and a mediocre GPA. That's just my personal opinion and I'm a little bitter.

Despite the college names, I think 0.5 difference in GPA is a big gap.

Maybe those two hypothetical students would have been more comparable if the GPA difference was more like 0.2~0.3, but that's just my guess.

Also, I think dental schools consider how hard you worked in your given educational environment.

GPA...it doesn't hardly matter where you went to school. Which IMO is ridiculous.

Meh, my sci. gpa is poo and my overall is "just ok" but I ended up getting accepted at all of the schools I interviewed (check my predents). If any of my interviewers brought up Penn, they made it seem like they were impressed. My grades were never a topic of discussion, besides the C+ I had in genetics.

That said... there are a lot more factors than GPA and school name, though, and I think my extracurriculars were something that really helped me. The only school I didn't hear from was my own alma mater... so either I'm low on their list for whatever reason or they just don't know what to do with me. *shrugs* I withdrew for many reasons, mostly because I really liked SB and that even if Penn decided to interview and accept me, it would take a lot of convincing on their part to get me to change my mind.

Originally Posted by wigglytooth

Meh, my sci. gpa is poo and my overall is "just ok" but I ended up getting accepted at all of the schools I interviewed (check my predents). If any of my interviewers brought up Penn, they made it seem like they were impressed. My grades were never a topic of discussion, besides the C+ I had in genetics.

That said... there are a lot more factors than GPA and school name, though, and I think my extracurriculars were something that really helped me. The only school I didn't hear from was my own alma mater... so either I'm low on their list for whatever reason or they just don't know what to do with me. *shrugs* I withdrew for many reasons, mostly because I really liked SB and that even if Penn decided to interview and accept me, it would take a lot of convincing on their part to get me to change my mind.

Your GPA's are at about average for dental school acceptance. I think you're underrating your own GPA.

during one of my interviews, the interviewer almost flat out said the name of the school didn't make a difference and basically implied i should have gone to an easier school to get a better GPA....

could be a unique situation to that school and to that interviewer who was definitely a complete ass but i would say i dont think that certain schools get as much recognition for their difficulty as they should.

Well, you did really well on your DAT so I am sure adcoms love you at first sight!!

Originally Posted by wigglytooth

Meh, my sci. gpa is poo and my overall is "just ok" but I ended up getting accepted at all of the schools I interviewed (check my predents). If any of my interviewers brought up Penn, they made it seem like they were impressed. My grades were never a topic of discussion, besides the C+ I had in genetics.

That said... there are a lot more factors than GPA and school name, though, and I think my extracurriculars were something that really helped me. The only school I didn't hear from was my own alma mater... so either I'm low on their list for whatever reason or they just don't know what to do with me. *shrugs* I withdrew for many reasons, mostly because I really liked SB and that even if Penn decided to interview and accept me, it would take a lot of convincing on their part to get me to change my mind.

Originally Posted by Smills91

Your GPA's are at about average for dental school acceptance. I think you're underrating your own GPA.

2005 entering class
Enrollee Mean Science GPA 3.41
52% of enrollees below the mean
Enrollee Mean Total GPA 3.49
50% of enrollees below the mean
http://www.adea.org/webdocs/AADSAS/DentistryUpdate.pdf

So my total is about average, but my sci really isn't. Thanks, though

Thanks super as well for the ego boost

Originally Posted by tryin2bepatient

during one of my interviews, the interviewer almost flat out said the name of the school didn't make a difference and basically implied i should have gone to an easier school to get a better GPA....

could be a unique situation to that school and to that interviewer who was definitely a complete ass but i would say i dont think that certain schools get as much recognition for their difficulty as they should.

a.c. = admissions committee

But one time I read an article that "The one secret of dental admission is that committees think GPA 3.7 at Ivy league and GPA 3.7 at (neh....) school are different. In this case, a.c. finally chose the former because they think ivy league student who got 2300 SAT score and top 10% are significantly different from neh... school student who got 1600 SAT score."

According to that article, it only seems like a.c. just consider school name actually....(SAT doesn't matter for grad. school..)

Um... then...Only Ivy leagues are ? What level of schools will a.c. think ?



In addition, "GPA×DAT×School conversion factor"
what does school conversion factor imply?


It implies, for instance,
1-50 ranking schools from U.S. News? = 10
50-100 ranking schools from U.S. News? = 9

somethin' like that?

None of it really matters considering you have the DAT to level things out. If you have a 3.0 at Harvard with a 23 AA compared against a 3.9 from Bumtown State U with a 16, I think most adcoms ae going to be able to figure out the situation at hand without much prodding.

Yes, Yes, Yes, they are totally college-name Blind, I'm from UCLA with a 3.40 total and 3.2 Sci, and 20/21/22 AA/TS/PAT and last year I didn't get in, and this year I'm still waiting, but i know some stupide people from very low level colleges have gotten in with lower DAT scores but 3.6 or 3.7, I am upset, but what can you do.

all student bodies are not the same, however most schools give ~20% As. people are getting the grades and you dental schools dont want to hear that you struggle compared to elite competition. Dschool will be tougher, and your student body will be smarter.

it sucks

Originally Posted by mashimlro

a.c. = admissions committee

But one time I read an article that "The one secret of dental admission is that committees think GPA 3.7 at Ivy league and GPA 3.7 at (neh....) school are different. In this case, a.c. finally chose the former because they think ivy league student who got 2300 SAT score and top 10% are significantly different from neh... school student who got 1600 SAT score."

According to that article, it only seems like a.c. just consider school name actually....(SAT doesn't matter for grad. school..)

Um... then...Only Ivy leagues are ? What level of schools will a.c. think ?



In addition, "GPA×DAT×School conversion factor"
what does school conversion factor imply?


It implies, for instance,
1-50 ranking schools from U.S. News? = 10
50-100 ranking schools from U.S. News? = 9

somethin' like that?

Why'd you even ask the question when you already knew the answer? Some schools care. Others don't. MCG doesn't, and that may matter to you.

I'll add my bit. It is a numbers game. The adcoms will just look at the GPA and gloss over the name of the college. The moral of the story, regardless of which college you go it is imperative to excel academically. The DAT will differentiate the an A from one college and individual from another college and another individual. Bottom line your GPA and DAT better be competitive. A 3.2 with 18/18 DAT won't be as compelling even from an ivy than a 3.7 with 20/20 from an obscure college or a state school.

Originally Posted by mashimlro

Dental schools are college name-blinde? I mean do they focus on one's attending college name?

For example,
1. attended really competitive college (Harvard) and got 3.3 GPA
2. attended not that competitive college (U of Hawaii) and got 3.8 GPA

GPA or college name?

It really doesn't matter. If you do well at UH, there will be nothing holding you back. I would say a 3.8 at UH is certainly a better position to be in. If you get those GPAs at either school, you should be able to do well on the DAT, which is what really counts.