AADSAS isn't bad if you follow directions... so give it a try

[ItsAnotherOne]

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My advice to everyone applying is to read everything on the AADSAS website. Read all of the FAQs, all of the supplemental materials, etc. This will answer a lot of your questions. AADSAS is not as bad as people make it sound, and I actually never had a problem getting a hold of them on the phone when I had questions.

Everyone always asks if something will work (like sending something that is not supposed to be sent before something else). Do yourself a favor and follow directions. It is safer in the long run. Why the heck wouldn't someone use a transcript matching form? It can't hurt, and you are supposed to. Why not use a LOR matching form? You are supposed to.

I didn't apply early. I just followed directions and everything turned out just fine, so y'all should give it a try.

 

[INFNITE]

actually, AADSAS sucks because it's rather pointless. We pay extra fee to an organization that does nothing but organize your applications that gets sent to the different schools. It takes two months for them to process the applications, which gives late applicants a significant disadvantage. The only reason why AADSAS may actually be useful is because AADSAS standardizes GPA calculation between candidates, but why should we have to pay several hundred bucks just to get that done?

 

[jlo26]

AADSAS is the worse organization that actually charges you for their services. They lost my letters, calculated a wrong GPA, and didn't send out my app to all schools until I kept on calling.

 

[dexadental]

AADSAS is pretty bad...and it looks like things haven't changed.

 

[Kremlar]

AADSAS is pretty bad...and it looks like things haven't changed.

Yeah, I don't think you'll find too many fans of AADSAS on here... a $1000 for some photocopies is pretty insane. It's a useless service. I'd rather do it myself, save a few hundred bucks and know my papers will get sent properly and timely. And you can get a hold of them now on the phone, it's early, wait till they get more backed up.

 

[HuyetKiem]

From: Rick Valachovic, ADEA Executive Director
Anne Wells, ADEA Associate Executive Director for Application Services

Re: Dental school applications through AADSAS so far this year

We all know that the Millennial Generation is competitive and follows rules closely. They seem to be taking this message to heart: “Apply to dental school early”.

This is an update on the numbers of applicants to dental school for matriculation in 2007. We opened the AADSAS 2007 website on May 15th. In less than three weeks, 6,650 applicants have begun their applications online, and 1,050 have submitted their applications online. This compares to 5,786 applicants who had begun their applications and 645 who had submitted their applications at the same time last year.

Remember that the TOTAL number of AADSAS applicants was only 6,378 for the entire 2001 cycle! We have already experienced a 67% increase in applicants between the 2001 and 2006 cycles, and expect to see a further increase in this 2007 cycle.
.

😱

 

[I'mFillingFine]

👍 👍 👍 to reading directions before posting a question!!! I'm always a huge supporter of trying to get answers first. Well-said.

As for AADSAS, I appreciated it being there. Given, they didn't lose anything of mine so I didn't see their dark side. But especially for those applying to 15 schools - first of all, it is SUCH a pain to fill out individual applications that differ only a small amount in its questions so that you can't just copy and paste.

Second, the rate of errors goes up a huge amount when you're sending out individual applications since you can't devote the editing time to each one what you would give to a single application. (Just think of all the "oh crap I put an extra comma" posts in that case!).

Third, when each person fills out each different application for a school, the adcom has to trudge through different interpritations, errors made by undergrad schools, people not following directions, etc. etc. With a standardized form they can invest their energy into evaluating candidates.

When ANY system goes wrong people are bound to be upset, so AADSAS certainly won't be well-received by all. But I think we might be taking some of its graces for granted.....anyone watch their friends apply to 10 grad schools and get everything confused?

 

[lifeisgood]

I have to agree with the OP & the above. While I think AADSAS is incompetent much of the time. I personally would not want to fill out 10 applications, even 5, to various schools. It's a necessary evil. 😡

 

[INFNITE]

😱

do they have numbers on the total applicants for last year's cycle?

 

[Kremlar]

I have to agree with the OP & the above. While I think AADSAS is incompetent much of the time. I personally would not want to fill out 10 applications, even 5, to various schools. It's a necessary evil. 😡

I guess it's whichever you consider the lesser of two evils, doing the paperwork yourself and giving your time or giving your money and having to wait for weeks. Personally, i'd rather handle the paperwork myself, atleast I know it will be done right, but thats a matter of opinion...

 

[ItsAnotherOne]

I guess I was making a couple points in my original post, but my bottom line is:

We have to use AADSAS, so don't make things difficult, and do what they tell you to do. This will increase the chances of avoiding any horror stories with the system. Why people always make it difficult for themselves by not reading the material available and sticking to it is beyond me.

 

[whiskeysour]

I guess I was making a couple points in my original post, but my bottom line is:

We have to use AADSAS, so don't make things difficult, and do what they tell you to do. This will increase the chances of avoiding any horror stories with the system. Why people always make it difficult for themselves by not reading the material available and sticking to it is beyond me.

👍 agreed.

although i think the services provided by AADSAS are way overpriced, AADSAS simplifies the process.

the (in)competency of applicants can be judged by the threads started on SDN. i would have to say that ~50% of threads are related to application stuff that can easily be answered by AADSAS instructions. people decide to go against the grain and submit stuff w/o appropriate forms 👎 and include psychology as a science course 😕 WHY????

 

[I'mFillingFine]

👍 agreed.

although i think the services provided by AADSAS are way overpriced, AADSAS simplifies the process.

the (in)competency of applicants can be judged by the threads started on SDN. i would have to say that ~50% of threads are related to application stuff that can easily be answered by AADSAS instructions. people decide to go against the grain and submit stuff w/o appropriate forms 👎 and include psychology as a science course 😕 WHY????

Lack of motivation, lack of research, and lack of energy. It's much easier to start a friend than have to page through a site.....we can bitch and moan, but it's still going to happen.

 

[1992Corolla]

there are the occasional mishaps of aadsas losing someones stuff, BUT the majority of the time it is an applicant who screwed it up...just do what aadsas says, send all stuff by priority/tracked mail and you'll be fine.

 

[SuperTrooper]

My advice to everyone applying is to read everything on the AADSAS website. Read all of the FAQs, all of the supplemental materials, etc. This will answer a lot of your questions. AADSAS is not as bad as people make it sound, and I actually never had a problem getting a hold of them on the phone when I had questions.

Everyone always asks if something will work (like sending something that is not supposed to be sent before something else). Do yourself a favor and follow directions. It is safer in the long run. Why the heck wouldn't someone use a transcript matching form? It can't hurt, and you are supposed to. Why not use a LOR matching form? You are supposed to.

I didn't apply early. I just followed directions and everything turned out just fine, so y'all should give it a try.

Hmm...i'm going to disagree with you on this. True, a lot of answers to questions posted on SDN can be found on the AADSAS website, but often these answers aren't very satisfying. With something as important as your application, you'd think they'd make it a little clearer and give more examples of how people would fill things out.

It's really hard filling out that form if you don't have any friends that have done it before. Also, my undergraduate school has a really weird grading system, and I tried so f'n hard to figure out how to fill out that GPA form, hours, etc. I spoke to so many administrators at my school, and nobody could help me (apparently nobody goes to dental school from my college). And I did call AADSAS and they were totally useless. By the end of it all, I just filled it out as best I could, and submitted it cause it was getting pretty late.

I think my advice to applicants is to just do your best, being honest, and submit it early. Looking back at my application I totally messed up in the conversion of grades and hours, probably to my benefit of a higher gpa, but nobody ever called me on it. But it wasn't deliberate, and they had all my transcripts, so whatever... 🙄