- Joined
- Feb 3, 2020
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For those who are applying to dental schools, I would like to say congrats! The application cycle is going to be super long, and hopefully for this cycle, you will have chances to go to different campuses for interviews 
. I applied to 18 dental schools and got 4 acceptance offers, with 7 interview invites. And I will be sharing my journey with all of you!
I started working on my ADEA AADSAS application starting on 5/12/2020 and submitted the application on 6/16/2020. I recommend you to start working on your application ASAP because:
1) It takes a long time to send and verify transcripts
2) You need to gather 3-4 recommendation letters (Sci professors, dentist, research PI, Non-Sci Prof, etc) and have to ask them to be uploaded to AADSAS
3) You need to answer short answer questions on each dental school you picked to apply to (some are like secondaries)
4) If you get any score lower than 17 (any section) on your DAT, you will need to retake it
5) Meet with others to double check your personal statement
My DAT score was 18AA and 18TS, and this was extremely devastating for me. I took DAT during the peak of COVID, and within this time, school workload/assignments increased due to the classes being transitioned to online. Of course, I have no excuses because I know that I should have studied harder. Also, I have been reading SDN posts about Low DAT score, and how not a lot of students get accepted to dental schools. *PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS AND LOSE HOPE* To be honest, I ALMOST DID NOT apply to dental schools because I wanted to retake the DAT but, I was supported by my family, friends, profs to apply. Even before I know it, I already chose the dental schools that I really like, completed my application and submitted them. Like they said, the HARDEST part of this journey is to get one acceptance letter from a dental school, and we can worry about everything else later on.
For few months, I continued to shadow dentists, work, volunteers, etc so I can update my application/ hours when available. I worked on my SECONDARIES (know that, for some schools, you need to go to their official school website to work on the secondaries. They will not send you any email). Just like that, I received my first interview invite on 9/10/20 from WesternU, as well as my first rejection. My advice to you is, reach out to current dental students (I cannot thank them enough for everything they have done to help me do well in my interviews) and ask them questions! Use SDN for past interview questions and practice for your interview with friends/family. FYI, all the interviewers were super friendly and nice! After WesternU, I got interview invites from UMBSOD (My #1 choice), USC, MOSDOH, Roseman, OHSU, and RSDM.
WAITING PERIOD OFFICIALLY STARTS HERE since no one heard back from schools until December 15! I will always remember 12/15 as I cried after checking my email at 7am to see acceptance offers from dental schools!
Dental schools will look at your application holistically so if dat score is low, you can strengthen your EC and GPA (don't forget Personal Statement!). Get along with professors who will write LORs My professors and dentist let me read the LORs before they uploaded them.
DAT Score: 18 AA 18 TS (20 RC 17 BIO 17 GCHEM 20 OCHEM 19 QR 19 PAT).
GPA: Overall 3.88 SCI 3.86
EC: When I do EC, I am very committed and do them for a long time.
2 research labs (1 yr/ 2.5 yrs)
CHEM teacher assistant (2.5 yrs)
OCHEM/CHEM grader (2.5 yrs)
non-certified dental assistant (1 yr)
shadowing (1 yr)
STEM Tutoring (8 yrs)
Student assistant at lab (2.5 yrs)
Volunteer at optometry clinic (1 yr)
PHHS club member (2 yrs)
Justice at University (0.5 yr)
Non-profit organization officer (9 yrs)
Bio Peer mentor (0.5 yr)
Volunteer at Hospital (1 yr)
Good luck on your application cycle and feel free to share your experience as well!
. I applied to 18 dental schools and got 4 acceptance offers, with 7 interview invites. And I will be sharing my journey with all of you!I started working on my ADEA AADSAS application starting on 5/12/2020 and submitted the application on 6/16/2020. I recommend you to start working on your application ASAP because:
1) It takes a long time to send and verify transcripts
2) You need to gather 3-4 recommendation letters (Sci professors, dentist, research PI, Non-Sci Prof, etc) and have to ask them to be uploaded to AADSAS
3) You need to answer short answer questions on each dental school you picked to apply to (some are like secondaries)
4) If you get any score lower than 17 (any section) on your DAT, you will need to retake it
5) Meet with others to double check your personal statement
My DAT score was 18AA and 18TS, and this was extremely devastating for me. I took DAT during the peak of COVID, and within this time, school workload/assignments increased due to the classes being transitioned to online. Of course, I have no excuses because I know that I should have studied harder. Also, I have been reading SDN posts about Low DAT score, and how not a lot of students get accepted to dental schools. *PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS AND LOSE HOPE* To be honest, I ALMOST DID NOT apply to dental schools because I wanted to retake the DAT but, I was supported by my family, friends, profs to apply. Even before I know it, I already chose the dental schools that I really like, completed my application and submitted them. Like they said, the HARDEST part of this journey is to get one acceptance letter from a dental school, and we can worry about everything else later on.
For few months, I continued to shadow dentists, work, volunteers, etc so I can update my application/ hours when available. I worked on my SECONDARIES (know that, for some schools, you need to go to their official school website to work on the secondaries. They will not send you any email). Just like that, I received my first interview invite on 9/10/20 from WesternU, as well as my first rejection. My advice to you is, reach out to current dental students (I cannot thank them enough for everything they have done to help me do well in my interviews) and ask them questions! Use SDN for past interview questions and practice for your interview with friends/family. FYI, all the interviewers were super friendly and nice! After WesternU, I got interview invites from UMBSOD (My #1 choice), USC, MOSDOH, Roseman, OHSU, and RSDM.
WAITING PERIOD OFFICIALLY STARTS HERE since no one heard back from schools until December 15! I will always remember 12/15 as I cried after checking my email at 7am to see acceptance offers from dental schools!
Dental schools will look at your application holistically so if dat score is low, you can strengthen your EC and GPA (don't forget Personal Statement!). Get along with professors who will write LORs
My professors and dentist let me read the LORs before they uploaded them.DAT Score: 18 AA 18 TS (20 RC 17 BIO 17 GCHEM 20 OCHEM 19 QR 19 PAT).
GPA: Overall 3.88 SCI 3.86
EC: When I do EC, I am very committed and do them for a long time.
2 research labs (1 yr/ 2.5 yrs)
CHEM teacher assistant (2.5 yrs)
OCHEM/CHEM grader (2.5 yrs)
non-certified dental assistant (1 yr)
shadowing (1 yr)
STEM Tutoring (8 yrs)
Student assistant at lab (2.5 yrs)
Volunteer at optometry clinic (1 yr)
PHHS club member (2 yrs)
Justice at University (0.5 yr)
Non-profit organization officer (9 yrs)
Bio Peer mentor (0.5 yr)
Volunteer at Hospital (1 yr)
Good luck on your application cycle and feel free to share your experience as well!
