Hows the next few years looking??

[cdmOMR]

Well, it seems to me like this 2010 cycle seemed to be a pretty competetive cycle...I saw a lot of scarry stats on pre-dents.com. I was just wondering what you guys think the trend will be for the next few years? Will it be getting more competetive or is it going to flatten out (or become less competetive)? I guess its kinda of a hard thing to predict but just seein if there were any opinons out there.

Chris

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[tinman831]

Well, it seems to me like this 2010 cycle seemed to be a pretty competetive cycle...I saw a lot of scarry stats on pre-dents.com. I was just wondering what you guys think the trend will be for the next few years? Will it be getting more competetive or is it going to flatten out (or become less competetive)? I guess its kinda of a hard thing to predict but just seein if there were any opinons out there.

Chris

The current trend seems to show that competition is increasing every year and there is nothing yet to indicate that this will change any time soon. You can probably expect this years application cycle to be pretty competitive.

Oh yeah, and in your signature... shouldn't it be "refectories" and not "refractories"?

 

[benson_dds]

Well, it seems to me like this 2010 cycle seemed to be a pretty competetive cycle...I saw a lot of scarry stats on pre-dents.com. I was just wondering what you guys think the trend will be for the next few years? Will it be getting more competetive or is it going to flatten out (or become less competetive)? I guess its kinda of a hard thing to predict but just seein if there were any opinons out there.

Chris

Number of applicants has been almost doubling during the past 3 years and I think for the next couple years it will get worse and then it will drop as always. That's my prediction!

 

[Mackchops]

The first disclaimer anyone should read on sdn forums is that we do not represent a random sampling of the population. A lot of the people that post their stats are the over-zealous obsessive type (guilty as charged) who spend countless hours planning their application strategy just as they spent countless hours getting those over-inflated stats you see. Spending too much time on SDN will make you actually believe that a DAT of 20 across the board is just mediocre.

To actually answer your question, the trend in the number of applicants goes up and down through the years and we are currently heading up (pick your reason). Schools have closed (Georgetown, Northwestern) and new ones are rumored to be opening (Virginia, Arizona) but it's still not impossible to get in -- something just shy of half of last year's AADSAS apps were accepted somewhere I believe? I'll put all of my chips on a 50/50 shot at the world's most desirable career -- and I think a lot of other people are catching on to the benefits of dentistry as well.

And Tinman. For some reason I am unable to separate your comments from your avatar. I picture everything you write coming from the mouth of a party-hat-wearing pup -- it's just such a cute little dog. Just thought I had to share

Mack

 

[cdmOMR]

Good info here guys, keep the opinions coming. I myself agree that its going to get more competetive, maybe start to flatten out a little, but like Mackchops said it can vary from year to year for whatever reasons.

Oh yeah, and in your signature... shouldn't it be "refectories" and not "refractories"?

Im not sure...i just copied and pasted it from some website with House quotes. Ill check that later, but now Chem is on hand.

 

[DentistDevilDog]

And Tinman. For some reason I am unable to separate your comments from your avatar. I picture everything you write coming from the mouth of a party-hat-wearing pup -- it's just such a cute little dog. Just thought I had to share

Mack

Sp what do you think of the bear with a strap-on avatar?

 

[Mackchops]

I try not to. It hurts my head.

 

[syn_apse]

i don't see the competition cooling off in the next 2-3 cycles. why would it? the spots are limited, the applicant pool is growing in quantity and quality, unaccepted applicants reapply, and the baby-boomer dentists are retiring thus creating more demand in the field.

i think the underlying factor behind the rising competition is that many pre-health students are looking past the 'prestige' of being a physician and seeing the whole picture. medicine is an absolute mess today... managed care, health insurance, malpractice insurance, high stress, long hours, etc.

in dentistry, you're still helping people while performing surgeries. you can earn the same as some physicians (or more) without the mandatory residency, the 60-80 hour work week or the perpetual 'on-call' weekend. as a dentist in private practice, you own your own business and you control the balance between work and leisure and family

 

[melissamcg]

That is exactly why I am so excited to be a Dentist!!!

 

[cdmOMR]

Oh yeah, and in your signature... shouldn't it be "refectories" and not "refractories"?

I changed it...not sure which one is right, but Ill take your word for it.

 

[lovechild404]

even if the trend flattens out (which it wont for the next 3-4 cycles) it won't dip below the averages set by the applicants of the 2006 cycle.
basically the average applicant has a
3.3 Gpa, 3.2 sci
19 DAt
anything below that means you have below mediocre stats and you're not going to stand out.
that's the truth you guys. i'm not trying to scare you all. i know b/c i applied for 2006.
gluck, everyone!

 

[NoBraces]

In the intro lecture they gave us prior to our interviews at UMB the director of admissions said the stats of applicants rose this year and the trend seems to be in that direction. I can give you a PDF of a study on this trend if you PM me.

 

[maksidaa]

i think stats will continue to increase due to all the reasons that everyone has already stated, and i'm not sure they'll be going down anytime soon. likewise, stats of people on the pre-dent forum are going to look grander and grander. but at worse i think gpa's will peak at 3.6 or so (maybe 3.7) and DAT scores will probably stay in the 19's, maybe 20's. it's just my opinion, i could be way off. as long as a 20+ on the DAT is in the 90+ percentile, then DAT scores probably won't get too inflated. but grades aren't regulated on a national scale like the DAT so gpa's could sky rocket with all these smart kids with big SAT scores getting into college. high school students (and even elementary schools kids) are being taught to test now, whereas i don't think most of us went through that, we just picked it up on our own.