3.5 GPA, 24 AA - No Interviews Yet???

[itsyaboi]

Hi all,

Here we are in October and I'm beginning to get very nervous about my complete lack of interviews. I honestly thought I would have at least one by now, and seeing all the people in the stickied thread who have 8 interviews and such is making me feel pretty worried.

I'll repost my stats below and you can judge whether there's something in there that is preventing me from getting an interview. Could it have been something in the written parts of my application? Or is it just a fluke and I can expect to hear from someone soon?

age: 23
overall gpa: 3.5
science gpa: 3.4
undergrad attended: UMDCP
DAT score: 24 AA, 24 TS (24 BIO, 23 GC, 26 OC), 24 PAT, 21 QR, 25 RC
extracurriculars: 2 years tutoring, 2 years research (no publications), fairly small amount of volunteering (maybe 60 hours, and unfortunately it wasn't dental- or health-related), president of a science-related school club ~2 years
shadowing hours: ~100 hrs spread across specialties and general
letters of rec: Committee letter from UMD health office, committee letter from undergrad program (teachers, basically), letter from general dentist I shadowed for ~4 months, letter from supervisor at paid research position ~1 year
state of residence: MD
Schools applied to: MD, UConn, VCU, Temple, CWRU, Rutgers, and Pitt
AADSAS submitted: 7/26
Application complete: 8/23 (had to wait for committee packet of applications to be sent in from umd prehealth office)

Eager to hear what you all have to say about this situation!

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[Nephalem]

I think it is still a little early to panic, you have a great DAT score and your gpa is on par with average (ish). I applied to TEMPLE, rutgers and pitt, non of which have gotten back to me yet either, my app for these was complete early-mid august but im a Canadian so take it as it is. I don't see a major flaw in your app, perhaps low on the volunteering aspect. I would say your submission date is the reason, im sure you will get interviews but probably looking at post December ones. Just to note, Temple only recently started giving out interview invites.

 

[ncide]

Send a letter of interest and update the admissions with what you've done since you've submitted your app.

 

[Life of Pablo]

These threads have seemed to be popping up fairly often lately. All I can say is, we are the guinea pigs this cycle because it's the first year that applications are electronic. Schools receive thousands of applications around the same time instead of in batches. Due to the high volume, when schools view your application can be random and it may vary person to person. You seem to have an overall strong application, so I would just sit tight. Interviews may be just around the corner for you.

 

[MLC45]

I agree the numbers look pretty solid. The only thing I've been told by admission board is they like to see around 200 hours of volunteer work dental or non dental (doesn't matter), but a lack in that area isn't something to really worry about. I would give it time. I've only heard from one school so I understand what you're feeling. Good Luck!

 

[Sweet_Tooth]

Most of the people you're talking about had their applications complete earlier in the cycle, as early as July or even June, while your's was complete end of August; it's been just barely over a month since your app was in! I'm not sure how representative my own experience is but I submitted end of June and heard back from schools end of August so I would estimate it takes them 1-2 months to fully review your app and decide to interview you? And you also only applied to only 7 schools, obviously the people who are getting 8 interviews would have applied to at least 10 schools, I'm guessing. Hang in there, you have great stats overall, I am sure you should be able to snag some interviews, if not pre-December dates then at least post-December ones!

 

[Michael_Scott]

have you taken an exam like the MCAT before ?

 

[itsyaboi]

have you taken an exam like the MCAT before ?

No I haven't. Why would that matter? Like it would make admissions question my commitment to dentistry? I haven't anyway.

Still no interviews. At what point are all the pre-December interview spots gone, particularly at Maryland? Is it possible that they already are?

 

[Dasaniii]

No I haven't. Why would that matter? Like it would make admissions question my commitment to dentistry? I haven't anyway.

Still no interviews. At what point are all the pre-December interview spots gone, particularly at Maryland? Is it possible that they already are?

Maryland has given out all the pre-december interviews. I think you have a good chance for post-december intetviews though!

 

[spdental]

Before applying did you look at all of the statistics in the ADEA 2018 Application Book?

A lot of schools don't accept a large percent out of state or only accept students in certain demographics. Prior to applying I went through all of the schools and ensured that I applied to ones that were accepting students that fit my criteria. If I were you I would double check the schools you applied to in the ADSAS book and make sure that you are in within the student they normally except (NOT just GPA and DAT).

 

[redhotchiligochu]

If anything, it's likely your personal statement. Your stats and EC's are above average, so it boils down to how badly you want to pursue dentistry. I even flubbed an interview so badly that they forced me to leave after 5 min, but they still gave me an acceptance Dec 2.

I was laughed at because of my GPA and DAT but in the end I had the luxury of choosing between 3 schools that wanted me....

 

[Brazilfan]

If anything, it's likely your personal statement. Your stats and EC's are above average, so it boils down to how badly you want to pursue dentistry. I even flubbed an interview so badly that they forced me to leave after 5 min, but they still gave me an acceptance Dec 2.

I was laughed at because of my GPA and DAT but in the end I had the luxury of choosing between 3 schools that wanted me....

Which school did you get in on Dec 2?

 

[itsyaboi]

If anything, it's likely your personal statement. Your stats and EC's are above average, so it boils down to how badly you want to pursue dentistry. I even flubbed an interview so badly that they forced me to leave after 5 min, but they still gave me an acceptance Dec 2.

I was laughed at because of my GPA and DAT but in the end I had the luxury of choosing between 3 schools that wanted me....

So what you're saying is that you showed passion in your personal statement and that made up for less-than-stellar stats? As far as my personal statement goes, I think it's a solid piece of writing but maybe I missed out on some level of emotional appeal? Is that the kind of thing that sways admissions officers?

 

[FeralisExtremum]

I even flubbed an interview so badly that they forced me to leave after 5 min

Please tell us more about this experience.

 

[Tim_Whatley]

Which school did you get in on Dec 2?

Please tell us more about this experience.

I, too, am curious about the rest of this story.

 

[Lo1996]

.

 

[Michael_Scott]

No I haven't. Why would that matter? Like it would make admissions question my commitment to dentistry? I haven't anyway.

Still no interviews. At what point are all the pre-December interview spots gone, particularly at Maryland? Is it possible that they already are?

Yes because most pre-meds jump to dentistry after taking MCAT and dental schools hold this against them. But since you have not taken it, only thing I can even think of is your application was a bit late and perhaps your personal statement was not great.

 

[redhotchiligochu]

So what you're saying is that you showed passion in your personal statement and that made up for less-than-stellar stats? As far as my personal statement goes, I think it's a solid piece of writing but maybe I missed out on some level of emotional appeal? Is that the kind of thing that sways admissions officers?

Everyone thinks their writing is solid when in reality it's not. Applicants tend to play it safe when it comes to personal statements but IMO you need to swing for the fences. If you didn't get an early rejection or trigger someone along the way, then your personal statement wasn't provocative enough.

I know my advice won't sit well with many, but frankly, this is what worked for me. There are too many cookie cutter applicants and trust me, adcoms don't want to read the same "I want to be a dentist because" or "I was inspired by my orthodontist since I was 12" type essays that applicants consider "solid" but simply boring.

 

[MLC45]

Everyone thinks their writing is solid when in reality it's not. Applicants tend to play it safe when it comes to personal statements but IMO you need to swing for the fences. If you didn't get an early rejection or trigger someone along the way, then your personal statement wasn't provocative enough.

I know my advice won't sit well with many, but frankly, this is what worked for me. There are too many cookie cutter applicants and trust me, adcoms don't want to read the same "I want to be a dentist because" or "I was inspired by my orthodontist since I was 12" type essays that applicants consider "solid" but simply boring.

You’re right about the personal statement. Last year I thought I wrote a pretty good statement. After I didn’t get in I spoke with the Assistant Dean of Admissions and what I could do to improve my application. He said my personal statement wasn’t that good. He said he get’s so many applications that have a ton of “Fluff and Crap” in them. He said he doesn’t want to hear how someone’s little brother had lots of dental needs and they realized dentistry was now their calling.

 

[FanOfCostco]

Does everything think because they have good stats they automatically get an interview?? It's not all about the numbers people.

 

[laundry]

I'd call up every school right bout now and inquire...

P.S. Please "Like" this... I haven't been on this for a long time and need to change some stuff in the profile, but there is this new crap about like ratio to posts....

 

[.-.]

Hi all,

Here we are in October and I'm beginning to get very nervous about my complete lack of interviews. I honestly thought I would have at least one by now, and seeing all the people in the stickied thread who have 8 interviews and such is making me feel pretty worried.

I'll repost my stats below and you can judge whether there's something in there that is preventing me from getting an interview. Could it have been something in the written parts of my application? Or is it just a fluke and I can expect to hear from someone soon?

age: 23
overall gpa: 3.5
science gpa: 3.4
undergrad attended: UMDCP
DAT score: 24 AA, 24 TS (24 BIO, 23 GC, 26 OC), 24 PAT, 21 QR, 25 RC
extracurriculars: 2 years tutoring, 2 years research (no publications), fairly small amount of volunteering (maybe 60 hours, and unfortunately it wasn't dental- or health-related), president of a science-related school club ~2 years
shadowing hours: ~100 hrs spread across specialties and general
letters of rec: Committee letter from UMD health office, committee letter from undergrad program (teachers, basically), letter from general dentist I shadowed for ~4 months, letter from supervisor at paid research position ~1 year
state of residence: MD
Schools applied to: MD, UConn, VCU, Temple, CWRU, Rutgers, and Pitt
AADSAS submitted: 7/26
Application complete: 8/23 (had to wait for committee packet of applications to be sent in from umd prehealth office)

Eager to hear what you all have to say about this situation!

Have you heard back from any of them yet??

 

[itsyaboi]

Have you heard back from any of them yet??

Yep! Just got my first interview invite from Maryland a couple days ago. That's it for now, I may start calling schools up though.

Everyone thinks their writing is solid when in reality it's not. Applicants tend to play it safe when it comes to personal statements but IMO you need to swing for the fences. If you didn't get an early rejection or trigger someone along the way, then your personal statement wasn't provocative enough.

You know, you're totally right. At this point, I'm feeling like I played it way too safe on my personal statement. Which is a bit of shame, because I'm not a dry, stuffy type of person at all... I guess I got swept up in the whole decorum and seriousness of applications. I even had some ideas for more interesting statement types, but then I canned those and went for a more serious essay, which I'm now regretting. Hopefully I can show my personality a little better on interview day at Maryland.

Is there anything else for me to do about it at this point, for the schools that I haven't heard from yet?

 

[Medin2017]

There's always post-December interviews, which if you're invited for, you have a fairly high chance of being admitted.

Dentistry seems to be full of serious, stiff, study-all-day types and IMO dentistry needs less of that, and I think adcoms do realize this, at least the competent ones.

I'd say dentistry is full of the not study at all types and could use less of them. We don't need classes full of kids who only party. Or kids who think they know business because they minored in it or read dental town and think they're gonna be the next rockefeller of dentistry

 

[Heyfuturedds]

Yep! Just got my first interview invite from Maryland a couple days ago. That's it for now, I may start calling schools up though.



You know, you're totally right. At this point, I'm feeling like I played it way too safe on my personal statement. Which is a bit of shame, because I'm not a dry, stuffy type of person at all... I guess I got swept up in the whole decorum and seriousness of applications. I even had some ideas for more interesting statement types, but then I canned those and went for a more serious essay, which I'm now regretting. Hopefully I can show my personality a little better on interview day at Maryland.

Is there anything else for me to do about it at this point, for the schools that I haven't heard from yet?

As a person who also went to UMD, I know we get our personal statements reviewed, so if your response wasn't "This personal statement is perfect!", then you should taken their advice and changed something about it. But, as of right now all you can do is just kill it at the Maryland interview and maybe update the other schools to show you're still interested (adding things to your aadsas application or calling/emailing them). Good luck!

 

[itsyaboi]

There's always post-December interviews, which if you're invited for, you have a fairly high chance of being admitted.

What makes you say this? I was under the impression that after December, more applicants are interviewing for fewer spots?

As a person who also went to UMD, I know we get our personal statements reviewed, so if your response wasn't "This personal statement is perfect!", then you should taken their advice and changed something about it. But, as of right now all you can do is just kill it at the Maryland interview and maybe update the other schools to show you're still interested (adding things to your aadsas application or calling/emailing them). Good luck!

Thanks for the advice! And my advisor actually said that my personal statement was good and suggested a handful of minor changes, all of which I implemented before submitting my app. I guess hindsight is 50/50, but at this point in time I'm wishing I had written something a bit less pedestrian.

 

[Iroh]

What makes you say this? I was under the impression that after December, more applicants are interviewing for fewer spots?



Thanks for the advice! And my advisor actually said that my personal statement was good and suggested a handful of minor changes, all of which I implemented before submitting my app. I guess hindsight is 50/50, but at this point in time I'm wishing I had written something a bit less pedestrian.

I believe it's because post dec interview spots they are trying to fill their spots. They want to bring in the select few to fill their classes. Less to pick from, more rush to fill their classes in fear of having the last 100 potential applicants all say No thank you.

 

[tommygunners]

I'm starting to feel the same way, especially with some invites being given out for other people who submitted after mine. I've been invited to 3 thus far, so not as dire as you, but I feel like I have some schools that should be in.

 

[LuckBloodandSweat]

How do you apply to so few schools?! Every time someone asks this question I see that they apply to less than 10 schools. Idc if you have a 4.0 and a 26 you're playing a dangerous game if you apply to so few -_-.