What to improve for next year just in case? Please help..

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basketball_grey

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Hello everyone,

So this cycle (my first time I applied) I applied to 9 schools. So far I have had one pre-December interview and one post December interview coming up shortly. Have heard nothing else from any of the other schools as of yet. My stats are as follows:

Science GPA: 3.59 Total GPA: 3.66 DAT: 21 AA, 22 TS, lowest score is a 16 in QR
100 volunteer hours at time of application, 64 shadowing hours at time of application (continuing to do both though weekly), also work as a microbiologist which I think gives me a unique non-trad advantage

I feel like my scores and stats are on track for accepted applicants but having received so few interviews so far I am pretending as if I am not getting in the cycle and preparing for the next one. My question is what can I do to improve for next cycle? Just get more shadowing hours and volunteer hours and call it good? I applied 8/21/15 so I don't know if that has to do with how it has gone with me so far. Would you guys recommend just improving those two areas (shadowing and volunteering hours) and applying day one? Just want to know so I can get a head start. Thanks!

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Our stats are pretty much identical, and I have had four pre-December interviews. I don't think that your experiences or numbers are the problem here. Do you have any other interesting selling points on your application? For me, my work experiences, athletic involvement, and academic volunteering really added several dimensions to my application.
 
When did you apply? I feel like maybe the fact that I applied in August had to do something with it. I have volunteered at three places: Hospital, Boys and Girls Club, and the library (still continuing here). I felt like my job as microbiologist added another dimension to it since it is a scientific field and requires manual dexterity skills. What advice would you have to improve it?
 
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I applied pretty early (in the first few batches). The first ten batches are reportedly on the same playing field. However, I'm sure that being early helped my application. Although your experiences definitely sound rewarding and positive, I would see if you could find some additional volunteering that is related to dentistry more directly.
 
Not sure what is on your personal statement but maybe it didn't catch the eye of the committee? Maybe get more/better letters of recommendations? These will help a lot but as far as your stats, they are fairly solid, you and I have roughly the same stats. Only difference I feel is significant is that I have 9x as many shadowing hours, I feel like less than 100 shadowing hours is iffy but it shouldn't make or break you. You should obtain an RDA certificate and take some more upper level bio classes.

Overall, I don't really see anything wrong, maybe you applied to some really difficult schools to get into. Which schools did you apply to?
 
So you recommend taking more classes even after the fact that my GPA is on the higher end and I have my bachelors? I work (as a microbiologist) so it would be a little challenging to go back and take more classes but I guess I could if I had to. How long does it take to get an RDA certificate and how does one go about doing that?

Schools I applied to are as follows: Marquette, Oklahoma, Case Western, Creighton, UMKC (my in state), MOSDOH, Louisville, both Midwesterns, LECOM, Western, and Arizona. I had an interview at Oklahoma already and one at Midwestern AZ in december,

I am just honestly confused about where to go from this point...I know I need to improve it somehow but besides getting more hours not sure what else...

If I went back to school to take more classes or back to get my RDA cert I would most likely have to quit my job to accomodate it.
 
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Your stats are fine, but your volunteer (100) and shadowing (64) hours are the lowest I've ever heard from an applicant. Admission Reps tell me they like seeing volunteering done over an extended period of time.

EDIT: your application in August is considered to still be early by many dental schools, according to Case Western.
 
I thought the average shadowing hour and volunteers for dental school applicants was around 100 hours each? I worked all through college so I didn't have a lot of time to volunteer through the 4 years.
 
As far as UMKC goes, make sure that in addition to building up the number of shadowing and volunteering hours that you branch out and shadow a number of different dentists and do a number of different volunteer activities.

After being rejected by them last year I contacted them. They like to see 5 different volunteer activities over the last 4 years (I think the number of shadowing experiences has a similar requirement). I had a large number of hours (200+) but most of those were at one place and some of my hours were old. I was also advised to enter stop dates for my activities even if they were ongoing (in my case to show that an activity that I started 4+ years ago didn't only occur 4+ years ago) I looked around and picked up some different volunteer activities in my community and interviewed this year.

You may have a different small problem with your application that you haven't even thought of. I had no idea that my volunteer hours were an issue. Contact schools if you don't make it in this cycle, it really helps.

I also reworked my personal statement quite a bit so I think that may have helped as well.

Good Luck to you!
 
So you recommend taking more classes even after the fact that my GPA is on the higher end and I have my bachelors? I work (as a microbiologist) so it would be a little challenging to go back and take more classes but I guess I could if I had to. How long does it take to get an RDA certificate and how does one go about doing that?

Schools I applied to are as follows: Marquette, Oklahoma, Case Western, Creighton, UMKC (my in state), MOSDOH, Louisville, both Midwesterns, LECOM, Western, and Arizona. I had an interview at Oklahoma already and one at Midwestern AZ in december,

I am just honestly confused about where to go from this point...I know I need to improve it somehow but besides getting more hours not sure what else...

If I went back to school to take more classes or back to get my RDA cert I would most likely have to quit my job to accomodate it.

Your GPA is not on the higher end; ADCOMs like to see that you are diligent in your studies by taking a full-time course load (or near to) by doing a post-bacc or masters even if that means you've graduated. There are many people, including myself, who work full-time and are taking full-time course load, although it's difficult to do, schools like to see that you are able to manage your time wisely.

My RDA certificate took about 3 weeks to complete, it was online through UTSA.

The schools you applied to seem very reasonable, I think you should be expecting at least a few more interviews.
here are many people, including myself, who work full-time and are taking full-time course loa
 
If I intend on doing a post bacc do I need to sign up for some type of program or just take upper level bio courses like you mentioned? Also what about online masters programs? Are they looked at the same as normal masters programs? If you are accepted before finishing your masters program do you just drop it? Thanks again everyone for your help!
 
I was trying to find an online RDA course similar to the one that you used through UTSA for Missouri but I am not having any luck :(. Would it matter if i got it through UTSA?
 
I wouldn't necessarily say you should obtain an RDA certificate. Do you even have the time to become a dental assistant in addition to working full-time as a microbiologist? Plenty of people get accepted into dental school without becoming a DA. In some cases, you don't even need to be certified; you can receive on-the-job training. I was lucky enough to meet a nice dentist who was willing to take me under her wing and help me out to gain experience. She hired me after I shadowed her for a few weeks and I didn't have to have certification. If you really want to be a DA, there's another option.

Honestly, your stats seem fine to me. I don't see the need to do a Master's or post-bacc for you. Sure, your volunteering/shadowing hours may seem on the lower end compared to SDN standards, but you need to remind yourself that SDN isn't representative of every applicant. Besides, volunteering and shadowing hours are easier aspects of the application to fix. Just do more when you can find the time. I'm sure admissions would be understanding that you couldn't volunteer much during undergrad because you had to finance yourself in addition to taking a full courseload of school work.

Just have patience :) There's still hope for pre-December* interviews.

Edit: Whoops, I meant post-December lol
 
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