Acceptance rates on Predents...

[MacPreDent]

---

Members don't see this ad.

SO having only 1 interview coming up I am a bit nervous about my chances of actually getting accepted this cycle. I was under the impression that most people get maybe 3 interviews and 1 acceptance. But on predents the acceptance rate of people who got an interview seems very high, mostly above 50% with BU being around 75%...
So what's up... I understand it may be a bit elevated due to the keeners on predents but is it close to the real rate??

 

[New2Philly]

It depends on the school. Some schools interview a lot of applicants, and accept a few, and some interview relatively less. It also depends if the school is an in or out of state. I interviewed at Buffalo last cycle, and they told us that in-state applicants will have precedent, and I was wait-listed. I don't know if my state of residence made a big difference or not, but it was a contributing factor.

When I was interviewing I figured I had approx a 20% chance (most of schools I interviewed at there was a roughly 5:1 ratio of interviewed:acceptance), and with more interviews that probability is additive.

I wouldn't try to get any statistically significant information from predents. You don't know who is telling the truth, and I think that the vast majority of the users of predents are just trying to show off.

Some advice: Be prepared for your interview. Do a mock one with your pre-health advisor at school, or anyone. Think about how you will answer the hard questions: "why do you want to be a dentist?". weaknesses?, strengths?, leadership ability, and examples?, what do you think the hardest part of dental school will be?
Good luck

 

[jmt1984]

Do not base it on the self-reported information on predents.

Search for the threads that doc toothache put together based on the recent ADEA data from the schools.

 

[John Durian]

You know what I was thinking, and this could be based on completely false logic here. But it seems that every single school gets about an average of 3500 applicants this cycle. Each of the schools I interviewed at has shown statistics, and seem to give out about 350-400 interviews and accept about 70-80 students. I just assumed that most of the schools are interviewing the same 400 people, and that if you interview at 3+ schools, then you'll likely get in somewhere... what do you guys think? Of course, it's not going to be the EXACT same 400 people (maybe 300 same, 100 different for each school due to differences in selection factors).

 

[ElMeroGuero]

The statistical probability of getting accepted isn't just class size/ # of interviews. Rate of attrition at every school varies (number of students accepted to those who actually attend). In speaking with a friend who is familiar with a large private school, most of those schools have to send anywhere from 1.5 to 4 times as many acceptances as they have seats because they are not usually most students first choice (based solely on cost) whereas a school like UCSF that is usually a California resident's first or second choice may only need to send out 100 acceptances to fill their 88 spots. So if a school interviews 700 people for 100 spots that doesn't mean that you have a 1 in 7 chance at all, it may be as high as 4 out of 7. The rate of attrition is something most schools don't like to divulge, especially if it is really high so it's hard to get that number but it is generally related to the number of students they interview. If a school interviews 700 people that's not because they like spending so much time interviewing but more because they know a lot of the people that they accept won't end up attending.

 

[UKdreams]

El is right about that. Each school has statisticians that calculate how many acceptances they should send. Just because they have 70 seats doesn't mean only 70 acceptances will be sent out. I am from Kentucky so based on some spreadsheets I have seen on here, getting an interview for both schools is about 140/200 applicants. Then, the total number that the schools accept is about 80. So when you look at it that way, UK and UofL could send out about 60 acceptances for ~40 spots knowing that many students will go to the other school. For out of state, I am sure that the acceptances are almost double their seats for not as "popular" schools.

 

[wantVCUdental]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=563195

this is 2007 data, admission to dental school has gotten more competitive over the years, so i would think the # of interviewed might have gone up. ANd the interview:accept ratio probably gone up to.