What to do post-December?

[firenzy07]

For those of us who may of had interviews but so far have not been accepted, what is your plan? Personally, I am freaking out a little because I just found out that my state school UW has denied my application via AADSAS (no email yet) after I was rejected from Oklahoma Dec 1 and told to call back in January from UNLV. I've gotten a couple of "on hold/continued review" emails too...

If you are a reapplicant who got accepted this go around, what did you do for the next cycle? Although I hope I will get post-Dec interviews, I am preparing for the worst.

Interviewed: OU, UW, UNLV
Rejected: OU, UW
sGPA, oGPA: 3.22, 3.31
DAT (AA/TS/PAT/RC): 23/21/21/28/nothing below 19

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[Daneosaurus]

C'mon, UNLV!!!

 

[customx]

Your DAT looks good, but the GPA could use a little work. You may want to call the schools and find out where your application was lacking. You could try to take some upper division science courses, practice your interview skills, or start a 1 year masters. How do you think you did at the UW interview?

 

[Hannah Banana]

If I don't get in and have to wait a year (argggh please don't let this happen!), I would work more ~30 hrs a week (right now 20) to save up for my bank, volunteer at least two days a week, shadow dentists two days a week, and spend some time to do my hobbies such as travelling and painting. It would be a great time to improve myself and my application while still being able to make money and enjoy life. Not too bad. I guess we have to be able to adapt to changes and who knows what beautiful things are waiting ahead. Not everybody takes the same route to dentistry and that makes our stories unique.

 

[firenzy07]

What are your guys' stats? I think your decisions post-dec are dependent on how strong your stats are. Since my undergrad GPA isn't great, one option I am considering is academic (i.e. go back to school and take more classes through masters program). I've been working at a private practice for about 2 months now as a sterilization tech/dental assistant. If I go back to school I'll have to probably give that job up .

 

[Hannah Banana]

What are your guys' stats? I think your decisions post-dec are dependent on how strong your stats are. Since my undergrad GPA isn't great, one option I am considering is academic (i.e. go back to school and take more classes through masters program). I've been working at a general practice for about 2 months now as a sterilization tech/dental assistant. If I go back to school I'll have to probably give that job up .

My GPA is average 3.5. DAT is a little low AA/PAT 18/19 so I might need to retake.

 

[virajpatel]

For those of us who may of had interviews but so far have not been accepted, what is your plan? Personally, I am freaking out a little because I just found out that my state school UW has denied my application via AADSAS (no email yet) after I was rejected from Oklahoma Dec 1 and told to call back in January from UNLV. I've gotten a couple of "on hold/continued review" emails too...

If you are a reapplicant who got accepted this go around, what did you do for the next cycle? Although I hope I will get post-Dec interviews, I am preparing for the worst.

Interviewed: OU, UW, UNLV
Rejected: OU, UW
sGPA, oGPA: 3.22, 3.31
DAT (AA/TS/PAT/RC): 23/21/21/28/nothing below 19

Its so strange, I talked to an adcom recently and she told me to get my GPA up to a 3.0 since I am under that and said my 22 DAT would be enough to get me into dental school but I come on SDN and see so many people either waitlisted or flat out rejected with stats much better than that. It's strange that she would tell me such a thing when I clearly see all these candidates who have must better stats getting rejected. And bear in mind I shadow this lady so it's not as if we just had a casual conversation, she knows me as a person and a student and still made that recommendation. I'm so confused. efff D-school admissions

 

[Greyangel6]

I see that your DAT is very nice. But I'm the kind of person that have a few backup plans for everything before I start it. Not too late for you to start now though.

Your GPA could use some improving, take a few impressive upper division science courses like Histology, Dissection Techniques, etc. and do well in them so that you can both boost your application and have some interesting things to talk about during your interviews, or do Post-bacs.

Increase shadowing, make it a goal to shadow as many specialties as you can (does not have to be the one you are interested in because you never know if you might like it until you shadow)

Increase extracurriculars, and along the way look for people that could possibly write better recommendation letters

That's all the tips I know that has helped my friend, who was in similar situation, got into Howard with 3.2 GPA and 19DAT. Hope it helps you.

 

[dauntless123]

You can still get rejected with high stats. You have to remember that the interview can make or break you. If they see that you would make a really weird dentist and people would feel uncomfortable around you, they won't accept you. That's why I see people on here get rejected with great science GPA and high DAT scores.

 

[firenzy07]

dauntless what would you suggest? I know I can improve on my extracurriculars (that's what I'm working on right now), which will give me more things to talk about, but if I go back to take classes, I'll have to give up at least my job. I'm thinking about asking my employer (who's a dentist) to write me an extra letter of rec to send to schools right now. Would that be a good idea?

 

[syeh3]

Do mAsters that's my plan! Lol

 

[hopefuldentistry]

@hannah_hoac and @firenzy07 how many schools did you guys apply to if you don't mind me asking? If you don't get in this cycle (which hopefully won't happen) then maybe work and save up so you can apply to more schools next cycle? Also, it goes without saying, apply early next cycle (although you might of applied early this cycle also).

 

[FOX_ONE]

nail this semester

 

[dauntless123]

dauntless what would you suggest? I know I can improve on my extracurriculars (that's what I'm working on right now), which will give me more things to talk about, but if I go back to take classes, I'll have to give up at least my job. I'm thinking about asking my employer (who's a dentist) to right me an extra letter of rec to send to schools right now. Would that be a good idea?

Hey firenzy07, yeah your GPA is the thing that is preventing you from getting into dental school. What you need to do is call back the dental schools. You can still get in I believe. If you call, they would review your application and maybe consider you. They might put you higher on the waitlist or accept you if they still have seats. But, this is best case scenario. Worst case scenario, I would try and get that GPA up by going back to school and getting a master's or just taking upper level science classes. Lots of dental schools do a thing where they filter out anybody who has a GPA lower than say 3.4 science GPA. They don't have that kind of time to look at all those applications. So, they put you through a filter. To not get filtered out, you need to improve your GPA. Also, they don't want to accept applicants with low GPA because they know that you might not be able to handle the dental school curriculum. If you can't handle undergrad, they know you won't be able to handle dental school. So, your gonna have to go back to school to prove to them you want it. That's why GPA weighs just as heavy as DAT.That's my advice. Good luck!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I wrote this generic advice piece for many of you.

 

[doc toothache]

I wrote this generic advice piece for many of you.

Well done and very "generic".

 

[distressstudent]

Same boat as you, OP. : (

 

[sskater]

I really think that it might not be your GPA or DAT holding you back.
I have very similar GPA stats with you and a lower DAT but got accepted to several schools.
Doing more outreach and extracurriculars might give you the thing you need to stand out from other applicants

Also work on your interview skills, but really doing a lot of outreach can make you very good at interviews naturally! I know my EC's really helped me feel comfortable talking with new people.

 

[firenzy07]

I really think that it might not be your GPA or DAT holding you back.
I have very similar GPA stats with you and a lower DAT but got accepted to several schools.
Doing more outreach and extracurriculars might give you the thing you need to stand out from other applicants

Also work on your interview skills, but really doing a lot of outreach can make you very good at interviews naturally! I know my EC's really helped me feel comfortable talking with new people.

What kind of EC's did you do? I talked with the schools and it seems like this is the best way to remedy getting better at interviewing

 

[sskater]

What kind of EC's did you do? I talked with the schools and it seems like this is the best way to remedy getting better at interviewing

So it is a long application cycle and I have hope that you will hear back from at least one school! BUT
If worst comes to worst, you'll want to get more involved

For my extracurriculars, I am a student-athlete, I work in a research lab, hold a position in my pre-dental club, and am a registered dental assistant. Due to that, I have extensive experience in various dental clinics.

I think it really good place to start is to contact your local dental school (if there is one in the area) and ask if you can go in and actually talk to the dean or faculty there about your application. If not, I would call them and ask if there are any volunteering opportunities that you can be involved in, mobile clinics, community health day, etc. Through involvement with the dental school, you might be able to help/observe dental students, talk to faculty, and also get a good sense of whether you would want to attend that school. This would be a very proactive approach that can only help your application. Good luck!

 

[firenzy07]

So it is a long application cycle and I have hope that you will hear back from at least one school! BUT
If worst comes to worst, you'll want to get more involved

For my extracurriculars, I am a student-athlete, I work in a research lab, hold a position in my pre-dental club, and am a registered dental assistant. Due to that, I have extensive experience in various dental clinics.

I think it really good place to start is to contact your local dental school (if there is one in the area) and ask if you can go in and actually talk to the dean or faculty there about your application. If not, I would call them and ask if there are any volunteering opportunities that you can be involved in, mobile clinics, community health day, etc. Through involvement with the dental school, you might be able to help/observe dental students, talk to faculty, and also get a good sense of whether you would want to attend that school. This would be a very proactive approach that can only help your application. Good luck!

I talked to the assistant dean of UW and from what she told me, I think you're right. My interviewers were not as concerned about my academics as they were my interview. Staying involved and doing more outreach seems like the best way to improve my interviewing skills and help me stand out among the pool. Plus I can get some nice letter of recs for the next cycle if necessary. Thanks for the advice!

 

[firenzy07]

If I were to take classes as a nonmatriculated student, what upper division science courses would be helpful?

 

[firenzy07]

bump

 

[firenzy07]

If anybody else would like to share some advice, I'd deeply appreciate it

One thing I should mention is that I did have an uptrending GPA the three quarters before I graduated.