third time applier, no interview yet

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predentmah

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This cycle is the third time that I have applied to dental school. I have retaken the DAT 3 times and my last score was 21. overall GPA: 3.5, sGPA: 3.3. my application was complete by sep 26. I have applied to 11 school and got rejected to one. Do I still have a chance for this cycle or it too late now? what should I be doing now? should I apply to masters?
thanks in advance
 
predentmah said:
This cycle is the third time that I have applied to dental school. I have retaken the DAT 3 times and my last score was 21. overall GPA: 3.5, sGPA: 3.3. my application was complete by sep 26. I have applied to 11 school and got rejected to one. Do I still have a chance for this cycle or it too late now? what should I be doing now? should I apply to masters?
thanks in advance
Click to expand...

i was just accepted to Temple this morning..idk which schools you applied to? but there is still a chance you may get interview invites

even if you apply to a masters program..will you try another application cycle for dental or no?
 
Well according to many, you also applied late since it was late september without great stats, so that might have hurt your cause too. We can only speculate.
 
predentmah said:
This cycle is the third time that I have applied to dental school. I have retaken the DAT 3 times and my last score was 21. overall GPA: 3.5, sGPA: 3.3. my application was complete by sep 26. I have applied to 11 school and got rejected to one. Do I still have a chance for this cycle or it too late now? what should I be doing now? should I apply to masters?
thanks in advance
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Interesting. How many/which schools did you apply to? Are there any "red flags" on your application? Criminal record? Do you have the requisite shadowing hours? Volunteering? Work experience?

The late application may be a factor, but the fact that you've applied three times with no intereviews and a 3.5/3.3 21 is surprising. Tell us more about your application, if you wouldn't mind.
 
I have 80 hours of shadowing+volunteering, 40 hours of volunteering at hospital, 20 hour research experience, the only red flag i can think of is that two of my letter of recommendation is from professors that i had 2 years ago. I applied to 11 school, university of michigan, Detroit mercy, Boston, pennsylvnia, pittsburgh, creighton, NYU, temple, tuft, marquette, Maryland..
 
predentmah said:
I have 80 hours of shadowing+volunteering, 40 hours of volunteering at hospital, 20 hour research experience, the only red flag i can think of is that two of my letter of recommendation is from professors that i had 2 years ago. I applied to 11 school, university of michigan, Detroit mercy, Boston, pennsylvnia, pittsburgh, creighton, NYU, temple, tuft, marquette, Maryland..
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You have only accumulated 80 hours shadowing and 40 hours of volunteering over 3 years of trying to get into dental school?

I think that might be a huge weakness in your application.
 
shootingstar7 said:
You have only accumulated 80 hours shadowing and 40 hours of volunteering over 3 years of trying to get into dental school?

I think that might be a huge weakness in your application.
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This, for sure. If you don't get in the first time around, you should be taking significant steps to better your application. I applaud your improvements on your DAT, but you need to supplement that with other experiences. A year is a long time to improve yourself on paper, let alone three years.
 
free99 said:
This, for sure. If you don't get in the first time around, you should be taking significant steps to better your application. I applaud your improvements on your DAT, but you need to supplement that with other experiences. A year is a long time to improve yourself on paper, let alone three years.
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i didn't know i have to keep shadowing, i thought that many hours would be enough. I tried improving my application by retaking the DAT and doing research and volunteering at a hospital. so till the next cycle, what do you think I should do? I'm going to apply for masters, volunteer more and possibly do a research. I also took 3 science course last semester and i got A in all of them. is there anything else you think I should do?
 
I brought up my DAT from 17 to 21, i honestly thought that would get me in 🙁
 
predentmah said:
i didn't know i have to keep shadowing, i thought that many hours would be enough. I tried improving my application by retaking the DAT and doing research and volunteering at a hospital. so till the next cycle, what do you think I should do? I'm going to apply for masters, volunteer more and possibly do a research. I also took 3 science course last semester and i got A in all of them. is there anything else you think I should do?
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I, along with everyone else, can only speculate as to why you didn't receive interviews. Your best bet is calling the schools and attempting to speak to an admissions officer. Only then will you have the word "straight from the horse's mouth."

I do have some general observations, from which you can take what you will.

1. apply earlier this cycle (ie, in June, first or second batch)
2. get some fresh LoRs from professors who's class you recently took. Three year old letters are probably quite stale
3. sharpen your personal statement - many folks on here are kind enough to donate their time and read it for you and provide constructive criticism.
4. apply to more schools - ie, 20+
5. Applying three years in a row shows determination in and of itself, but absolutely beef up your shadowing ... I read someone's experience on here where they were told by an admissions officer that most applicants had >150 hrs of shadowing. that's excessive IMO, but if you want to compete in the game, you've got to keep up.

Hope this helps.
 
You need more community service hours I think.
 
You need at least 100 hrs of volunteering, IMO; I have nearly 200 myself and it didn't take that long to accumulate. Go do Habitat for Humanity; I got 8 hr. every day I volunteered, after 3 weeks I got 100🙂
 
if i knew you need that many shadowing hours, i would have definitely done it. i did all the hard stuff and its so depressing to not get accepted just bc of that!
 
I really don't think the volunteering hours are what is keeping you out.

I think the only problem you have is that you applied sooooo late. I am familiar with about half the schools you applied to, and most of them were nearly done handing out interviews by the time they could have reviewed your application. Continue to get some volunteering and take a class or two if you can, but mostly just apply the first week of June next cycle.

Out of curiosity, why did you apply so late knowing it was your third time? Were you waiting to get your DAT redone or what?
 
This is a depressing thread!! it's making me cry:cry::wtf:
I will be applying for third time too next cycle with lower stats
 
That's really strange, have you checked to make sure everything in your application was completed correctly? I had similar stats, applied in mid-Sept., and received multiple interviews. I would call up each school to ask if everything has been completed, or if there is anything missing from your file. Also, have you made improvements from applying in previous cycles?
 
clriebari said:
I will be applying for third time too next cycle with lower stats
12a2.jpg
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Great. now is two of us crying for predenmah 🙁..
I really think you didn't get interviews YET because your application was sent out late. maybe you still have a chance and if no interviews just work on something NOW to improve your application for June and send it EARLY
 
free99 said:
I, along with everyone else, can only speculate as to why you didn't receive interviews. Your best bet is calling the schools and attempting to speak to an admissions officer. Only then will you have the word "straight from the horse's mouth."

I do have some general observations, from which you can take what you will.

1. apply earlier this cycle (ie, in June, first or second batch)
2. get some fresh LoRs from professors who's class you recently took. Three year old letters are probably quite stale
3. sharpen your personal statement - many folks on here are kind enough to donate their time and read it for you and provide constructive criticism.
4. apply to more schools - ie, 20+
5. Applying three years in a row shows determination in and of itself, but absolutely beef up your shadowing ... I read someone's experience on here where they were told by an admissions officer that most applicants had >150 hrs of shadowing. that's excessive IMO, but if you want to compete in the game, you've got to keep up.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

This, +1.

I also applied twice within 3 years. My GPA and DAT are more or less the same 3.39 oGPA, 3.41sGPA with 21AA. First time around, I received 1 interview but was rejected. But this was to be expected as I applied immediately after I took my DAT with no dental experience whatsoever. So I took a year off to strengthen my apps. I took 2 more upper div science courses (microbiology and human anatomy). I also received 3 new letter of recommendations that I knew were strong. I had 0 shadowing hours but got it up to 175hrs in a community dental clinic. Shadowed a general dentist, orthodontist, and an oral surgeon for 40, 15, and 15 hours respectively. I took dental x-ray, CPR, OSHA courses even though my community clinic did not require them. This cycle, I received 11 interview invites. 5 acceptances so far and 4 waitlists and 1 rejection (turned down 1 post dec interview inv.). I'm just trying to put things in perspective here.

With that said, I have to agree with some other posts that you need much more predental/extracurricular work. I've done research myself during undergrad and quite frankly, I would not even mention I did research if I only put in 20 hours. Even if you meant 200hr, it's not really significant imho.

For shadowing, I would shadow a general dentist for ~40hours. But I would also try to find a community dental clinic to volunteer in. Schools like NYU and (I think)UMich REQUIRES students to have at last 100+ hours of dental clinic experience.

Also definitely apply to more schools. Both you and I have mediocre GPA and DAT score. I think you should apply to more schools like Western, MOSDOH, Midwestern, and Nova even if they are relatively new. They might not have been around as long as some of the schools you listed but they are all great schools in their own rights.

Lastly, get some serious help on your personal statement. I spent about 2 months writing mine. I had mine looked over by my university career center counselor multiple times.

Good luck and don't hesitate to PM me if you need anymore insights.
 
autoclavemonkey said:
This, +1.

I also applied twice within 3 years. My GPA and DAT are more or less the same 3.39 oGPA, 3.41sGPA with 21AA. First time around, I received 1 interview but was rejected. But this was to be expected as I applied immediately after I took my DAT with no dental experience whatsoever. So I took a year off to strengthen my apps. I took 2 more upper div science courses (microbiology and human anatomy). I also received 3 new letter of recommendations that I knew were strong. I had 0 shadowing hours but got it up to 175hrs in a community dental clinic. Shadowed a general dentist, orthodontist, and an oral surgeon for 40, 15, and 15 hours respectively. I took dental x-ray, CPR, OSHA courses even though my community clinic did not require them. This cycle, I received 11 interview invites. 5 acceptances so far and 4 waitlists and 1 rejection (turned down 1 post dec interview inv.). I'm just trying to put things in perspective here.

With that said, I have to agree with some other posts that you need much more predental/extracurricular work. I've done research myself during undergrad and quite frankly, I would not even mention I did research if I only put in 20 hours. Even if you meant 200hr, it's not really significant imho.

For shadowing, I would shadow a general dentist for ~40hours. But I would also try to find a community dental clinic to volunteer in. Schools like NYU and (I think)UMich REQUIRES students to have at last 100+ hours of dental clinic experience.

Also definitely apply to more schools. Both you and I have mediocre GPA and DAT score. I think you should apply to more schools like Western, MOSDOH, Midwestern, and Nova even if they are relatively new. They might not have been around as long as some of the schools you listed but they are all great schools in their own rights.

Lastly, get some serious help on your personal statement. I spent about 2 months writing mine. I had mine looked over by my university career center counselor multiple times.

Good luck and don't hesitate to PM me if you need anymore insights.
Click to expand...

This was very helpful, thanks 🙂
 
sacapuntas said:
I really don't think the volunteering hours are what is keeping you out.

I think the only problem you have is that you applied sooooo late. I am familiar with about half the schools you applied to, and most of them were nearly done handing out interviews by the time they could have reviewed your application. Continue to get some volunteering and take a class or two if you can, but mostly just apply the first week of June next cycle.

Out of curiosity, why did you apply so late knowing it was your third time? Were you waiting to get your DAT redone or what?
Click to expand...

yes, i was waiting to retake my DAT, I was planning to retake it much earlier but i ended up studying new materials and it took time. i did apply to my home school in June, but my application was completed by sep 26.
 
predentmah said:
yes, i was waiting to retake my DAT, I was planning to retake it much earlier but i ended up studying new materials and it took time. i did apply to my home school in June, but my application was completed by sep 26.
Click to expand...

Why so long to complete application ?

What.a bummer !
 
Contact all the schools now! Call them tomorrow morning and ask what the status of your application is and if they need anything else from you (I didn't know one school was missing an LOR from a supervisor...). Keep in touch with all of the schools, it'll help for this cycle and the next in case you need to reapply. Ask them if there's anything else you can do at this point to be considered a competitive candidate for their incoming class of 2013. Good luck, man, I really hope you get in!
 
Ok 3 times and you haven't met with any of the admissions people to ask how to improve your application?

Let me be blunt...those sort of decisions...may be why you haven't received an acceptance.
 
Sandstorm said:
Ok 3 times and you haven't met with any of the admissions people to ask how to improve your application?

Let me be blunt...those sort of decisions...may be why you haven't received an acceptance.
Click to expand...

I have, they just told me to retake my dat n score much higher, which i did, i went from 17 to 21!
 
You guys can correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought you could apply and not have new DAT scores to submit right away after the application. All the schools would be awaiting your new schools, as long as you indicated you were going to retake the DAT on the designated date.
 
Dent4GA said:
You guys can correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought you could apply and not have new DAT scores to submit right away after the application. All the schools would be awaiting your new schools, as long as you indicated you were going to retake the DAT on the designated date.
Click to expand...
Sometimes you don't know how good you can do on DAT retake ???? probably Op didn't want to apply before knowing his/her new DAT scores...
 
Dent4GA said:
You guys can correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought you could apply and not have new DAT scores to submit right away after the application. All the schools would be awaiting your new schools, as long as you indicated you were going to retake the DAT on the designated date.
Click to expand...

You are right. But many schools will not touch your app until your new scores are in, which would defeat the purpose of submitting early.
 
I would recommend a 1 year masters program at this point. You've pushed so far; can't give up now. They payoff is around the corner; I'm sure of it.

Be more proactive next cycle and reach out to the schools and maintain a rapport. Let them know your name so that when they see your application they recognized it. Showing genuine interest really, really helps.
Good luck.
 
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