Chance me please & thank you!

[YGMNY152]

sGPA: 3.67
cGPA: 3.42 (Ouch!)
DAT: 21 Composite
Major: Biology Education
EC's: 6 months as a high school biology teacher, president of biology club, honor council representative, newspaper columnist
Research: published in field of education, traveled to Indonesia through a state grant and conducted research there
Volunteering: Volunteered 400 hrs at pediatric hospital, shadowed general dentist for 100 hrs
Honors/Awards: Awarded Fulbright, currently an NIH Post-bacc IRTA Fellow, graduated Cum Laude


I'm probably applying in July....too late? What do y'all think of my overall chances?

Planning on applying to (8) Schools

1. Howard University College of Dentistry
2. University of Maryland School of Dentistry
3. University of Pennsylvania College of Dentistry
4. New York University College of Dentistry
5. Harvard School of Dental Medicine
6. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Dentistry
7. University of Washington School of Dentistry
8. Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry

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[YGMNY152]

Good god, people and their unnecessary "chance" threads. Yeah, you're good. July is still early. Start working on your interviewing skills if needed.

I'd go in further on this post about how unnecessary this particular chance thread is, but I won't.

No please do. Honestly, I feel like my sGPA is really low. To be a bit more clear, I entered University knowing I wanted to be a science teacher (I had a wonderful MS Life Science teacher who really inspired me). I chased after this for (3) years before realizing that I wanted something that challenged me intellectually, so I decided to pursue dentistry, as my uncle is a dentist, and I saw he enjoyed his career, and liked shadowing him.

I have been pre-dent for like 3 months now, during which I signed up for and took my DAT. I have 0 knowledge about pre-dental admissions beyond that.

 

[I want to go to there]

No chance at Harvard and unless you are black, no chance at Howard. Penn may be tough as well with your DAT score and GPA. Coin flip at NYU. I don't know about the others.

 

[portlandstateofmind]

UW will probably not take you unless you are a Washington resident or WICHE.

 

[YGMNY152]

UW will probably not take you unless you are a Washington resident or WICHE.

I am a Virginia Resident, any ideas of what schools I should shoot for? I'll remove Harvard & UW.

 

[portlandstateofmind]

Since you just got on the preDent path you should spend a little time searching through SDN, lots of old posts with people asking the same questions. As far as schools, besides reading up a bit, you need to get the ADA guide to dental school admissions. For any school you might want to attend look at their class statistics, how many instate and how many out of state applicants apply and are accepted. Many people also look at schools with larger classes to fill. There is no reason to apply to a state school that almost never takes people from OOS or out of the region if you are not a top-tier candidate unless something about your application jives with their mission, like research focused schools if you have research. You are just throwing away money applying to some of these places. Other people have already done the research, talk to other preDents/dental students at your school who applied before, they should be able to provide guidance as well. It should take you long to figure out the 12-15 schools you have the best shot at.

 

[BrazilianRider]

No chance at Harvard and unless you are black, no chance at Howard. Penn may be tough as well with your DAT score and GPA. Coin flip at NYU. I don't know about the others.

Coin flip at NYU? I'd say damn good chance at NYU and decent chance at Penn.

 

[I want to go to there]

Coin flip at NYU? I'd say damn good chance at NYU and decent chance at Penn.

A lot of people with better stat than him get waitlisted or never get interview invite from NYU. Not sure how they pick people. He will need higher DAT and GPA to have decent chance at Penn.

 

[BrazilianRider]

A lot of people with better stat than him get waitlisted or never get interview invite from NYU. Not sure how they pick people. He will need higher DAT and GPA to have decent chance at Penn.

You're right about Penn. I flipped his oGPA and sGPA for some reason. And NYU is a crap shoot but he has good enough stats for them IMO.

 

[MahiMahi]

Ditto the comments on reading previous chance threads, and Howard/Harvard/Washington. I think you should also take some time to evaluate the schools based on what you want to get out of them, and what they do best. Some of these schools are extraordinarily different.

Your stats are competitive and you July is not too late at all to apply.

 

[bodmon]

Im sorry to hijack, but is second week of august too late to apply to those who have commented about this? (this is when il be writing my DAT, I plan to submit my application in June)

 

[ultimateballer07]

A lot of people with better stat than him get waitlisted or never get interview invite from NYU. Not sure how they pick people. He will need higher DAT and GPA to have decent chance at Penn.

@YGMNY152 dont listen to this. You need to apply with confidence. Drop harvard. But your DAT and research experience are in line with the Penn profile; even though your GPA is lower that is one aspect of the application and they won't deny you an interview for that reason alone. you have a good shot at NYU as well. It's not a "coin toss"... Just apply early

 

[I want to go to there]

Im sorry to hijack, but is second week of august too late to apply to those who have commented about this? (this is when il be writing my DAT, I plan to submit my application in June)

It takes like 2 weeks to a month for your DAT score to be updated, so it will be a bit late. However, it's not too late that you won't be considered and it's still a lot better than taking the DAT before you are ready and getting a lower score.

@YGMNY152 dont listen to this. You need to apply with confidence. Drop harvard. But your DAT and research experience are in line with the Penn profile; even though your GPA is lower that is one aspect of the application and they won't deny you an interview for that reason alone. you have a good shot at NYU as well. It's not a "coin toss"... Just apply early

He's applying to only 8 schools. He should only be applying to schools that he really likes and he has very good shot of getting in. He wants realistic evaluation of his chances, not pointless encouragements.

 

[ultimateballer07]

@I want to go to there ... yes it's important to have safety schools but he can have some reach schools as well that he's ambitious for.

 

[I want to go to there]

@I want to go to there ... yes it's important to have safety schools but he can have some reach schools as well that he's ambitious for.

So, you previously thought that he will get an interview at Penn and now you think that it's an ambitious choice for him? Applying to schools he likes that he has a good shot in is not the same as applying to safety schools. It's just being smart about applying, especially if he's applying to less than 10 schools. Safety schools are schools that you are applying because you think that you will get in but not particularly because you want to attend.

 

[ultimateballer07]

You gotta give this a rest bud. Let him apply. You shouldn't care so much. His DAT is in line with Penn's average (21). You're not the Chance Guru of SDN. Yeah it's good to be encouraging, but don't authoritatively tell him where he can and can't get in. No more arguing.

 

[I want to go to there]

You gotta give this a rest bud. Let him apply. You shouldn't care so much. His DAT is in line with Penn's average (21). You're not the Chance Guru of SDN. Yeah it's good to be encouraging, but don't authoritatively tell him where he can and can't get in. No more arguing.

You aren't the chance guru of SDN, so don't tell OP not to listen to my assessment of his chances. My issue is with you saying the advice I gave was bad just so you can be "encouraging". Just write what you think his chances are and move on.