A Sub 3.0 Success Story

[Slueman33]

UPDATE: the original title of this thread was "I am not getting interviews this cycle, am I?" Original text below. This is for the underdogs out there. PM if you need any help. This is my first app cycle.

So its october, not a single interview, 19 schools applied in July. All of them were the lowest stat schools, and all my in-states. 1 rejection, radio silence from the rest

stats:
2.91cgpa, 2.9sgpa
21AA/21TS one attempt
1k+ research hours w/ conference/poster + pub pending
120 shadowing hrs, 1 GP
150 volunteering hrs
pres/founder of prehealth club
pres/founder of predental club
TA for 2 semester for physical chem I and II
low gpa is ~215 cr. hrs so its a turnaround story with last 90 undergrad credit hrs being a 3.9 in all upper lvl science with labs
currently in an SMP, 1.5months of first semester left, expecting a 3.8 (all science courses)
ORM (south asian - pakistani)/male/mid 20s/IL resident
No family connections to dentistry whatsoever, first generation college student
Strong LORs (hopefully)/strong PS


Where should I be framing my mindset? The adjacent dental school I'm doing the SMP at hasn't given me an interview, neither has any school.
Really feeling beat, and almost as if all the work I'm doing up to this point is absolutely worthless.

Getting hard to continuously grind my butt off in this SMP without a single school showing me love

Is there any hope for this cycle? Or do I need to just expect R's from all 19 schools, and apply next cycle when the SMP is actually done.

UPDATE dec 2022: Sem.1 SMP complete. 3.67 gpa. turns out an SMP is extremely difficult! exhilirating and rewarding - but man have I been kept busy! I also began to volunteer intermittently at a local Feed My Starving Children location. Still no interviews.

UPDATE early jan 2023: First interview invite received! (ASDOH) This thread is turning into my blog/journey sorta thing, and ill continue to update it in-case anyone with a similar story is keeping up.

UPDATE early jan 2023: Second interview invite in a week! (West Virginia University) Absolutley wild and unexpected. Everything started feeling different once I actually decided to email them with updates and show interest. Hopefully more to come, but I am so happy with these regardless. I truly hope it works out in my favor, but nothing is guaranteed.

UPDATE late jan 2023: third interview invite! (UIC) My in-state public school came through and showed some love. The kicker being I had less than 24 hours to prepare. It was not nearly as fun as interview 1 but so dang grateful. All I can say I hope I can report back with a real life acceptance. These are still post dec interviews after all, so I must also be realistic.

UPDATE late jan 2023: wait listed at ASDOH

UPDATE late jan 2023 fourth interview invite received from Boston University, great birthday gift!

UPDATE late jan 2023 my FIFTH!!! interview invite received from Tufts University

UPDATE early feb 2023 ACCEPTED INTO BOSTON UNIVERSITY!!!!

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[macsak]

So its october, not a single interview, 19 schools applied in July. All of them were the lowest stat schools, and all my in-states. 1 rejection, radio silence from the rest

stats:
2.91cgpa, 2.9sgpa
21AA/21TS one attempt
1k+ research hours w/ conference/poster + pub pending
120 shadowing hrs, 1 GP
150 volunteering hrs
pres/founder of prehealth club
pres/founder of predental club
TA for 2 semester for physical chem I and II
low gpa is ~215 cr. hrs so its a turnaround story with last 90 undergrad credit hrs being a 3.9 in all upper lvl science with labs
currently in an SMP, 1.5months of first semester left, expecting a 3.8 (all science courses)
ORM/male/mid 20s
Strong LOR/strong PS

Where should I be framing my mindset? The dental school I'm doing the SMP at hasn't given me an interview, neither has any school.
Really feeling beat, and almost as if all the work I'm doing up to this point is absolutely worthless.
Getting hard to continuously grind my ass off in this SMP without a single school showing me love

Is there any hope for this cycle? Or do I need to just expect R's from all 19 schools, and apply next cycle when the SMP is actually done.

trust the process...

 

[DS2027]

So its october, not a single interview, 19 schools applied in July. All of them were the lowest stat schools, and all my in-states. 1 rejection, radio silence from the rest

stats:
2.91cgpa, 2.9sgpa
21AA/21TS one attempt
1k+ research hours w/ conference/poster + pub pending
120 shadowing hrs, 1 GP
150 volunteering hrs
pres/founder of prehealth club
pres/founder of predental club
TA for 2 semester for physical chem I and II
low gpa is ~215 cr. hrs so its a turnaround story with last 90 undergrad credit hrs being a 3.9 in all upper lvl science with labs
currently in an SMP, 1.5months of first semester left, expecting a 3.8 (all science courses)
ORM/male/mid 20s
Strong LOR/strong PS

Where should I be framing my mindset? The dental school I'm doing the SMP at hasn't given me an interview, neither has any school.
Really feeling beat, and almost as if all the work I'm doing up to this point is absolutely worthless.
Getting hard to continuously grind my ass off in this SMP without a single school showing me love

Is there any hope for this cycle? Or do I need to just expect R's from all 19 schools, and apply next cycle when the SMP is actually done.

Even with that GPA there are many schools that will accept it, I assume you checked their GPA cutoffs so just be patient and hopefully it’ll all work out. Schools are still sending out invites. Roseman said it could take until spring to hear something so that goes to show it could just take time. You were smart to apply to a lot of schools, Good luck!!

 

[kavitykween]

Trust the process. I had very similar stats as you and got into all the schools I interviewed at, all of which interviewed me post-December! I empathize with the waiting game, it really sucks. But just try and be patient, keep yourself busy, and those interviews will come.

 

[DentTen2804]

So its october, not a single interview, 19 schools applied in July. All of them were the lowest stat schools, and all my in-states. 1 rejection, radio silence from the rest

stats:
2.91cgpa, 2.9sgpa
21AA/21TS one attempt
1k+ research hours w/ conference/poster + pub pending
120 shadowing hrs, 1 GP
150 volunteering hrs
pres/founder of prehealth club
pres/founder of predental club
TA for 2 semester for physical chem I and II
low gpa is ~215 cr. hrs so its a turnaround story with last 90 undergrad credit hrs being a 3.9 in all upper lvl science with labs
currently in an SMP, 1.5months of first semester left, expecting a 3.8 (all science courses)
ORM/male/mid 20s
Strong LOR/strong PS

Where should I be framing my mindset? The dental school I'm doing the SMP at hasn't given me an interview, neither has any school.
Really feeling beat, and almost as if all the work I'm doing up to this point is absolutely worthless.
Getting hard to continuously grind my ass off in this SMP without a single school showing me love

Is there any hope for this cycle? Or do I need to just expect R's from all 19 schools, and apply next cycle when the SMP is actually done.

where have you applied to?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Here's the issue: You started an SMP when you applied. What was your grade trend?

Are there linkages to schools you want to attend? You won't get any interviews with your undergrad GPA until your SMP grades come through.

 

[doc toothache]

The 215 semester credits are enough for 3 batchelor degrees. If, as you claim, you have your last 3 years (90 cr) with a 3.9, it is not exactly clear why you chose to enroll in an SMP.

 

[futuredentist?123]

Stay strong! MY GPA and DAT are lower than yours and I have 2 interviews! You never know what will happen.

 

[throwawayacc2]

Stay strong! MY GPA and DAT are lower than yours and I have 2 interviews! You never know what will happen.

what schools are they, if I may ask?

Edit: I ask because I too don't have any interview requests with slightly better numbers than OP but much less extracurricular hours.

 

[futuredentist?123]

what schools are they, if I may ask?

Edit: I ask because I too don't have any interview requests with slightly better numbers than OP but much less extracurricular hours.

KCU and Roseman

 

[Slueman33]

Trust the process. I had very similar stats as you and got into all the schools I interviewed at, all of which interviewed me post-December! I empathize with the waiting game, it really sucks. But just try and be patient, keep yourself busy, and those interviews will come.

Thank you! I have been really busy with my SMP, but this single comment has been my sliver of hope getting me by.

I hope I get similar outcomes, probably will not, but I have strong spirits and try my best to keep my head held up high.

 

[Slueman33]

Stay strong! MY GPA and DAT are lower than yours and I have 2 interviews! You never know what will happen.

May I ask other stats? Age/Gender/Ethnicity/Professional experiences/Time of application completion?

Thanks for the kind words!

 

[Slueman33]

The 215 semester credits are enough for 3 batchelor degrees. If, as you claim, you have your last 3 years (90 cr) with a 3.9, it is not exactly clear why you chose to enroll in an SMP.

Because I imagine sometime in the distant future someone will stumble onto this thread and think WTF, Ill just go ahead and lay it out here: (folks this is absolutley what you dont want to do, but is what ends up happening when you dont apply yourself from the start)

Those 213 credit hours were taken from after I graduated highschool in 2014-2022. From 2014-2017 I began at a university and was aimlessly taking courses in healthcare management, and transitioning into pre-health somewhere towards the end. Which meant I was also fulfulling some BS gen eds and university credit reqs. Really, really terrible math and science foundations lead me to having to take many courses over again. In fact, in order to enroll into general chemistry I for example, I needed to take college algebra and an intro chemistry course since I couldn't test into it. Guess what? Couldn't test into college algebra/trig either, and thus had to start from math 101. But then I had poor work ethic in math 101, and needed some retakes there too. Quickly you can imagine the snowball effect of poor work ethic paired with poor foundations: 2014-2017 was just a bunch of pointless credits at the end of the day.

Then 2017-2018 leave original university and go to CC, and was getting more serious about pre-health; where some progress was made, but really it was only at this point i began taking the actual premed/predent/prepharm pre-reqs. Yup few retakes were needed here.

2019 I discovered dentistry --> patient experience via shadowing --> true, tangible inspiration/motivation/etc. --> and the rest was history: from 2019-2022 fresh start at a different university I began actually working towards a degree in chemistry (biochem concentration) and because I had transferred out from CC into a new university, needed few more degree specific gen.eds + new uni reqs. so credits were taken there too, but really from 2019-2022 I would say 90% of those 90 cr. hrs. was upper level sciences such as P Chem, molecular bio, inorganic chem, and various other chem/bio courses. This is where the 3.9 comes from, and this is where I learned to become a man. Not only was I in 15+ cr hrs per semester in 2019-2022, I was starting clubs, doing research, TA'ing for pchem, and a bunch of other stuff.

I hadn't had a second to breathe since 2019 started, then right after graduating in spring 2022 (summa cum laude according to my university lol) I applied in july for the current cycle. Decided I'd go back and do research meanwhile again. Publication still pending.

Summer began to close, no interviews and went straight into a rigorous SMP. Although I truly felt breathless from 2019-2022, the SMP has been quite a different beast altogether. Truly next level grind, but the preceding years absolutley have prepared me. Nonetheless, its been a learning curve at the SMP; so I was able to finish first semester with a 3.6-3.7. Only one person in our cohort got the 4.0, and the average sem 1 gpa was a 3.51.

The first sem gpa is a result of all A's and a single B in gross anatomy. I will absolutley kill it in second semester for the 4.0, but gross anatomy man, that just was something out of this world.

Oh yeah, no interviews as of December 2022, but no rejections either. Thats pretty surprising because I know plenty of trad pre-dents with higher GPAs getting rejected from the schools I applied to. Not sure what to take away from this, but im sure being an ORM isnt helping much either.

Nonetheless, we fight on!

 

[Slueman33]

Here's the issue: You started an SMP when you applied. What was your grade trend?

Are there linkages to schools you want to attend? You won't get any interviews with your undergrad GPA until your SMP grades come through.

Absolute uptrend.

From 2014-2017: 2.2 GPA ---> absolutley irrelevant academics, meandering academics, poor work ethic and retaking pointless courses. a big fat IDK over here.

2017-2018 --> pre-reqs truly began : from 2.2-->2.4 gpa. still faced adversity here due to poor foundations.

2019-2022 --> breakout period. Stacking courseloads, all upper level sci's, serious extracurricular involvement: 2.4--> 2.9 (which is from the final 90 cr. hrs' being a 3.91 gpa)

3.6-3.70 in first semester SMP. Keeping exact number hidden for now, but PM me if you are curious. Only one person in our cohort got the 4.0, and the average sem 1 gpa was a 3.51.) SMP has been killer in terms of rigor but I am learning more than ever on how to manage a ridiculous workload. Huge learning curve for me in gross anatomy. Fully expect to walk away with a stellar second semester performance. Why? Because I want it! Thats why!

No interviews as of yet. As soon as I updated AADSAS, I received a secondary from West Virginia University. Which is honestly really surprising because its already december, im OOS, and their 5th percentile gpa and average gpa is fairly high. that and the fact that they have a 8% interview rate from OOS apps, mind boggling. But i have family ties to WV so this may be the reason.

Either way, held head up high!

 

[Slueman33]

where have you applied to?

Tufts
BU
ASDOH
roseman
WesternU
UNLV
MwIL
UIC
Touro
rutgers
MOSDOH
Lecom
SIU
UDM (told me to apply to a summer enrichment program - but I dont think that means anything)
LSU (only school I didnt receive a secondary from)
WVU (gave me a december secondary after updating sem 1 SMP grades)
Nova (only hard rejection received)
MWAz (rejection, then reopened my app after I told them I said I started an SMP, said they'll reconsider after SMP grades are in)
UK (before you ask, no, the top quartile CASPER probably does nothing meaningful for you)

radio silence from rest

 

[princeafrica]

Tufts
BU
ASDOH
roseman
WesternU
UNLV
MwIL
UIC
Touro
rutgers
MOSDOH
Lecom
SIU
UDM (told me to apply to a summer enrichment program - but I dont think that means anything)
LSU (only school I didnt receive a secondary from)
WVU (gave me a december secondary after updating sem 1 SMP grades)
Nova (only hard rejection received)
MWAz (rejection, then reopened my app after I told them I said I started an SMP, said they'll reconsider after SMP grades are in)
UK (before you ask, no, the top quartile CASPER probably does nothing meaningful for you)

radio silence from rest

If I were you...I would send a letter of interest to each one of these schools tomorrow 12/26. Mention half the stuff you just said above (3.9 gpa...your SMP GPA (attach an official transcript from the SMP) )

It may or may not help but that's what I would personally do.
Many of the schools you have listed are filling their classes well into February so they might take another look at your app to help fill their class

 

[Slueman33]

If I were you...I would send a letter of interest to each one of these schools tomorrow 12/26. Mention half the stuff you just said above (3.9 gpa...your SMP GPA (attach an official transcript from the SMP) )

It may or may not help but that's what I would personally do.
Many of the schools you have listed are filling their classes well into February so they might take another look at your app to help fill their class

Thank you so much for the advice. I am working on them now.

It's crazy. I am passionate about my academics, my volunteering and research. I passionately wrote my personal statement, and I studied for the DAT without complain. I went through the first semester of my SMP with my best foot forward, and I am excited to do it all over again in the spring, with even more enthusiasm. I kept in touch with the GP I shadowed, and I constantly draw back on those experiences to sustain my energy in this process.

However, for the life of me, I cannot "network" and reach out to schools without breaking down in sheer anxiety. I think its because of the opaque, unwritten rules about this whole process.

Some say "don't bug them, if they want you, they'll let you know". Others say "honestly I got an interview invite hours after simply reaching out saying I really want it".

This back and forth has paralyzed me, and I just do not know how to properly go about it. This is so important to me, that I do not want to make the wrong move. I know this is another obstacle to overcome, but its been months and I am just watching the cycle pass me by, without any progress in relieving my anxiety with ad comms.

To be honest, I feel stuck here. Part of me wants to accept the cycle was never going to yield me anything in the first place, given past mistakes and being an ORM male doesn't quite help. Yet the other part of me inherently knows thats all BS, and with every ounce of my will, that I do I deserve a shot.

Sorry, this holiday season, I have been releasing all my supressed feelings of sadness and anxiety; and SDN is apparently my only outlet here.

I appreciate everyone chiming in with advice. It does mean alot!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

However, for the life of me, I cannot "network" and reach out to schools without breaking down in sheer anxiety. I think its because of the opaque, unwritten rules about this whole process.

Some say "don't bug them, if they want you, they'll let you know". Others say "honestly I got an interview invite hours after simply reaching out saying I really want it".

There is a lot of advice on networking so you'll find some advice that meshes best with your personality. I find it useless to suggest that you "be" more confident or more extroverted. I tend to look forward about learning about someone else and their story. What you describe is not networking... it is application etiquette and timing. (Read "While you are waiting" SDN article.)

Networking is (sometimes) about establishing relationships and exchanging information in a trustworthy way. This is how you find out about the unwritten rules whether sending a letter of interest is worth the effort (for example).

In the end, you have to believe in yourself before others can believe in you. Trust that you have presented your best application (if indeed you have). Without that trust, you can't get any patients to trust you when you become a student dentist in clinic or a resident or a professional. Making mistakes is how you learn, and accepting this is a significant step in your own maturity.

 

[Slueman33]

There is a lot of advice on networking so you'll find some advice that meshes best with your personality. I find it useless to suggest that you "be" more confident or more extroverted. I tend to look forward about learning about someone else and their story. What you describe is not networking... it is application etiquette and timing. (Read "While you are waiting" SDN article.)

Networking is (sometimes) about establishing relationships and exchanging information in a trustworthy way. This is how you find out about the unwritten rules whether sending a letter of interest is worth the effort (for example).

In the end, you have to believe in yourself before others can believe in you. Trust that you have presented your best application (if indeed you have). Without that trust, you can't get any patients to trust you when you become a student dentist in clinic or a resident or a professional. Making mistakes is how you learn, and accepting this is a significant step in your own maturity.

Hi there,

Thanks so much for all of your words. Yesterday, I received my first interview invite! Truly an amazing feeling. Whether the interview works out and translates to an offer or not is one thing. It is post-dec after all, and the only viable option is about one week from now, giving me not much time to prep On the other hand, this is a milestone in my efforts. Exactly what I needed at this point in the game to keep my spirits up!

On another note- I found the SDN article you mentioned to be extremely helpful. The networking advice is super useful, and honestly its gonna just continue to be a work in progress. My biggest issue is conveying all of my background, whilst keeping it short and easy to read. There is just too much to my story i dont wanna leave out, but I totally agree that just simply trusting yourself is super important!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Hi there,

Thanks so much for all of your words. Yesterday, I received my first interview invite! Truly an amazing feeling. Whether the interview works out and translates to an offer or not is one thing. It is post-dec after all, and the only viable option is about one week from now, giving me not much time to prep On the other hand, this is a milestone in my efforts. Exactly what I needed at this point in the game to keep my spirits up!

On another note- I found the SDN article you mentioned to be extremely helpful. The networking advice is super useful, and honestly its gonna just continue to be a work in progress. My biggest issue is conveying all of my background, whilst keeping it short and easy to read. There is just too much to my story i dont wanna leave out, but I totally agree that just simply trusting yourself is super important!

Congratulations! Good luck to you!

Hopefully you have some interview prep help if you are at a university and can access the care service center.

Otherwise, one tip from me is to find a way to prioritize the elements of your answers. When we ask you to Tell Us About You, we really don't want to know EVERYTHING about you. What is the most important thing you can say to make a connection with others? This comes with practice.

 

[futuredentist?123]

May I ask other stats? Age/Gender/Ethnicity/Professional experiences/Time of application completion?

Thanks for the kind words!

24, female, asian. I have a lot of shadowing and dental related volunteering but no dental related professional experience. I also have a masters. I finished my application around august.

 

[postbac3195]

Hi there,

Thanks so much for all of your words. Yesterday, I received my first interview invite! Truly an amazing feeling. Whether the interview works out and translates to an offer or not is one thing. It is post-dec after all, and the only viable option is about one week from now, giving me not much time to prep On the other hand, this is a milestone in my efforts. Exactly what I needed at this point in the game to keep my spirits up!

On another note- I found the SDN article you mentioned to be extremely helpful. The networking advice is super useful, and honestly its gonna just continue to be a work in progress. My biggest issue is conveying all of my background, whilst keeping it short and easy to read. There is just too much to my story i dont wanna leave out, but I totally agree that just simply trusting yourself is super important!

Where did you get the interview!!!???

 

[Slueman33]

Where did you get the interview!!!???

PM me if you want to know.

Really thankful, I would love to attend either of these programs!

 

[Slueman33]

Trust the process. I had very similar stats as you and got into all the schools I interviewed at, all of which interviewed me post-December! I empathize with the waiting game, it really sucks. But just try and be patient, keep yourself busy, and those interviews will come.

You know since I made this post, and you left your comment, ive been thinking about it ALOT over the time since.

I kept feeling like "i truly hope shes right" but when it just doesnt come, its so demoralizing, but like you say, TRUST THE PROCESS.

Powerful words of advice that I am SO thankful you left me with. Hopefully my interviews pan out in my favor, as I am so grateful they are giving me the chance to introduce myself.

How was your post-december interview experience in both terms of timeline, offers/rejections, and overall satisfaction with where you ended up? Thank you KAVITYKWEEEEN

 

[kavitykween]

You know since I made this post, and you left your comment, ive been thinking about it ALOT over the time since.

I kept feeling like "i truly hope shes right" but when it just doesnt come, its so demoralizing, but like you say, TRUST THE PROCESS.

Powerful words of advice that I am SO thankful you left me with. Hopefully my interviews pan out in my favor, as I am so grateful they are giving me the chance to introduce myself.

How was your post-december interview experience in both terms of timeline, offers/rejections, and overall satisfaction with where you ended up? Thank you KAVITYKWEEEEN

Congrats on the invites! In terms of interview experience, all the schools I interviewed with were pretty relaxed and conversational. I would say just prepare for the general questions (i.e why dentistry, why this school, tell me about yourself) and you should be set. I may also suggest doing your research about the school and what they offer, because most of the time they'll have time at the end for you to ask questions about their program. Overall, I ended up getting into all the schools I interviewed at and chose my #2 due to financial reasons and I am currently very content with my choice! Feel free to dm me if you have any other questions and best of luck with your interviews

 

[100% DentStud 27]

So its october, not a single interview, 19 schools applied in July. All of them were the lowest stat schools, and all my in-states. 1 rejection, radio silence from the rest

stats:
2.91cgpa, 2.9sgpa
21AA/21TS one attempt
1k+ research hours w/ conference/poster + pub pending
120 shadowing hrs, 1 GP
150 volunteering hrs
pres/founder of prehealth club
pres/founder of predental club
TA for 2 semester for physical chem I and II
low gpa is ~215 cr. hrs so its a turnaround story with last 90 undergrad credit hrs being a 3.9 in all upper lvl science with labs
currently in an SMP, 1.5months of first semester left, expecting a 3.8 (all science courses)
ORM/male/mid 20s/IL resident
Strong LORs (hopefully)/strong PS
Currently enrolled in UIC College of Medicine SMP (medical physiology)

Where should I be framing my mindset? The adjacent dental school I'm doing the SMP at hasn't given me an interview, neither has any school.
Really feeling beat, and almost as if all the work I'm doing up to this point is absolutely worthless.

Getting hard to continuously grind my ass off in this SMP without a single school showing me love

Is there any hope for this cycle? Or do I need to just expect R's from all 19 schools, and apply next cycle when the SMP is actually done.

UPDATE dec 2022: Sem.1 SMP GPA: 3.66 in 18 cr.hrs (All A's and a B in gross anatomy --> obviously shooting for a 4.0 semester 2.. turns out an SMP is extremely difficult! exhilirating and rewarding - but man have I been kept busy! 😆 ) I also began to volunteer intermittently at a local Feed My Starving Children location in Chicagoland area. Still no interviews.

UPDATE early jan 2023: First interview invite received! This thread is turning into my blog/journey sorta thing, and ill continue to update it in-case anyone with a similar story is keeping up.

UPDATE early jan 2023: Second interview invite in a week! Absolutley wild and unexpected. Everything started feeling different once I actually decided to email them with updates and show interest. Hopefully more to come, but I am so happy with these regardless. I truly hope it works out in my favor, but nothing is guaranteed.

Just saw your post today and after reading through it, I am so happy for you. I always love a good underdog-success story. Can I ask what schools you were invited to? Also, how are you preparing for your interviews? Keep up the good work, and let me know of your progress!

 

[throwawayacc2]

UPDATE dec 2022: Sem.1 SMP GPA: 3.66 in 18 cr.hrs (All A's and a B in gross anatomy --> obviously shooting for a 4.0 semester 2.. turns out an SMP is extremely difficult! exhilirating and rewarding - but man have I been kept busy! 😆 ) I also began to volunteer intermittently at a local Feed My Starving Children location in Chicagoland area. Still no interviews.

I'm thinking of switching to an SMP myself. How would you gauge it to underegrad or masters? What did you change in your habits to handle it.

 

[Ryxndek]

I'm thinking of switching to an SMP myself. How would you gauge it to underegrad or masters? What did you change in your habits to handle it.

Budding in here. SMP is going to be difficult, more than undergrad and either at or harder than a masters. It’s a special masters program. Some SMPs you take the same courses as medical students, often at the same time. So the classes can be tough. It’s a big risk/reward. If you do well it can pay off very well but if you struggle it will be difficult to try and get into dental/medical schools as they may think you cannot handle the rigor.

 

[Slueman33]

Budding in here. SMP is going to be difficult, more than undergrad and either at or harder than a masters. It’s a special masters program. Some SMPs you take the same courses as medical students, often at the same time. So the classes can be tough. It’s a big risk/reward. If you do well it can pay off very well but if you struggle it will be difficult to try and get into dental/medical schools as they may think you cannot handle the rigor.

As OP and someone currently in the trenches of an SMP I fully attest to this. this comment is the most important thing to grasp if you are on the fence about an SMP.

 

[Slueman33]

Just saw your post today and after reading through it, I am so happy for you. I always love a good underdog-success story. Can I ask what schools you were invited to? Also, how are you preparing for your interviews? Keep up the good work, and let me know of your progress!

PM me if you are curious about which schools!

For prep- this site honestly lol. Has all you need I feel. I did a mock interview with my SMP director, who also happens to be an admissions director for the college of medicine. This helped me the most, but not everyone will be lucky enough for such a supportive figure. Unless you are doing an SMP too, then take advantage of it! Thank you so much for the good luck, I need it!

 

[Slueman33]

I did it y'all. Boston U took a chance on me, and I am beyond grateful. First application cycle, 2.91 AADSAS undergraduate GPA. Today, the hard work paid off.

 

[Ryxndek]

I did it y'all. Boston U took a chance on me, and I am beyond grateful. First application cycle, 2.91 AADSAS undergraduate GPA. Today, the hard work paid off.

Congrats!

 

[bitewing5053]

I did it y'all. Boston U took a chance on me, and I am beyond grateful. First application cycle, 2.91 AADSAS undergraduate GPA. Today, the hard work paid off.

So so happy for you

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I said: "You won't get any interviews with your undergrad GPA until your SMP grades come through."

Cheers to you! Let's see if another A pops up, but if not, you're going to be a dentist (if you keep working hard).

 

[Slueman33]

I said: "You won't get any interviews with your undergrad GPA until your SMP grades come through."

Cheers to you! Let's see if another A pops up, but if not, you're going to be a dentist (if you keep working hard).

Hahaha! For sure, you were spot on the money all through-out, and I didn't doubt your perspective! In fact, since I began my foray into the world of SDN, I definitely feel that you consistently speak the truth on here, even if some do not like what they have to hear. I know there have been numerous times where I have read your posts thinking "ughhh what a buzzkill". Takes alot of work to graduate from the pre-dent stage, but its so worth it.

Thank you so much for helping everyone out constantly, and offering your valuable input! I hope you keep at it!

Finally, yest, I agree, would love to see another A, especially from my public in-state school where I am doing my SMP at. However, I acknowledge the fact that public in-states have WAY less turnover, and you are truly fighting for the leftovers