ADEA Virtual School Fair ... anyone else going?

[CleverThought]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

The virtual fair is tomorrow. Anyone else doing it? I'm not sure what to really expect!

 

[acoburn73]

The virtual fair is tomorrow. Anyone else doing it? I'm not sure what to really expect!

Yep, I'll be asking a few questions related mainly to class schedule, structure, and acceptance criteria related to older, non-traditional students. I have a good list of schools I will be applying to in the summer of 2014, so I am hoping to get a head start on information gathering. I want to make sure the school I choose wants a person like me to be their alumnus.

 

[JAWSSS]

Yep, I'll be asking a few questions related mainly to class schedule, structure, and acceptance criteria related to older, non-traditional students. I have a good list of schools I will be applying to in the summer of 2014, so I am hoping to get a head start on information gathering. I want to make sure the school I choose wants a person like me to be their alumnus.

I would focus on getting interviews before you plan for your multiple acceptances.

 

[acoburn73]

I would focus on getting interviews before you plan for your multiple acceptances.

Thanks, pal, but I'll get interviews. I've been through this process before, most likely when you were in elementary school still trying to figure out how to add 23+41. If you have anything better to say than this, please feel free. Otherwise, spare me (and others) with your snark responses.

FYI, I was accepted but declined the offer in 1998 due to personal circumstances. I am now 40-years old and am making a career change from Bioengineering to dentistry, as I've been longing to do this since the mid-90s, and have reached my goal of Principal Engineer sooner than I had thought. As a result, I will be re-taking the DAT and applying in 2014. I plan on getting multiple interviews and most definitely an acceptance. You may call this "cocky", but I call it more of highly optimistic. Since you don't know me from a hole in a wall, I'd probably say your comment is well off the mark, not to mention well out of line.


Back on topic - the fair is apparently having serious bandwidth issues - they've just crashed only 20-minutes in.

 

[free99]

Back on topic - the fair is apparently having serious bandwidth issues - they've just crashed only 20-minutes in.

Yep - it's down for me too. Didn't see any representatives in the chat windows, either.

 

[IsaacYankem]

Yeah, the fair has crashed for me too. Guess I'll check back later in the evening when they figure their stuff out.

 

[Paperclipz]

The website kept crashing on me too until I switched to Firefox and no glitches there. Hopefully it works out for you guys!

 

[acoburn73]

The website kept crashing on me too until I switched to Firefox and no glitches there. Hopefully it works out for you guys!

A rep at one of the schools said they were having server problems, and apparently it's OK now. I'm finally chatting and asking questions without an issue (Google Chrome).

 

[JAWSSS]

Thanks, pal, but I'll get interviews. I've been through this process before, most likely when you were in elementary school still trying to figure out how to add 23+41. If you have anything better to say than this, please feel free. Otherwise, spare me (and others) with your snark responses.

FYI, I was accepted but declined the offer in 1998 due to personal circumstances. I am now 40-years old and am making a career change from Bioengineering to dentistry, as I've been longing to do this since the mid-90s, and have reached my goal of Principal Engineer sooner than I had thought. As a result, I will be re-taking the DAT and applying in 2014. I plan on getting multiple interviews and most definitely an acceptance. You may call this "cocky", but I call it more of highly optimistic. Since you don't know me from a hole in a wall, I'd probably say your comment is well off the mark, not to mention well out of line.


Back on topic - the fair is apparently having serious bandwidth issues - they've just crashed only 20-minutes in.

Don't mean to offend you... But, getting accepted to dental school in 1998 is not comparable to getting accepted in 2014... I'm sure your "optimism" will shine through in the interviews and you are sure to get tons of acceptances. Best of luck.

 

[aznboi89x]

its eaasier to get in during the 90s than it is now

 

[Glimmer1991]

Okay, guys, acoburn is getting in. He's highly motivated, very smart, and has real-world experience. That topic is settled.

Anyhow, did anyone gather anything useful from this? I had no idea it was happening.

 

[JAWSSS]

its easier to get in during the 90s than it is now

👍

And Glimmer, the fair was just an opportunity to start considering what schools you are interested in. If it is anything like last year, they will have one or two more days.

 

[Glimmer1991]

I'm there now. Kind of... anticlimactic. 🙂

 

[free99]

Anyhow, did anyone gather anything useful from this? I had no idea it was happening.

I thought it was great, I'm definitely returning tomorrow. I didn't check out the presentations, but I found all the representatives to be prompt and thorough with their responses. On several occasions I had one on one conversations with the representatives and they were all very reassuring. It's great to ask questions to someone credible, rather than asking people on here to speculate.

 

[acoburn73]

Don't mean to offend you... But, getting accepted to dental school in 1998 is not comparable to getting accepted in 2014... I'm sure your "optimism" will shine through in the interviews and you are sure to get tons of acceptances. Best of luck.

All I need is one acceptance. I have strong belief that I will get one.

 

[acoburn73]

Okay, guys, acoburn is getting in. He's highly motivated, very smart, and has real-world experience. That topic is settled.

Anyhow, did anyone gather anything useful from this? I had no idea it was happening.

Actually, it was a bunch of the same canned responses we hear around here that's passed on from ADCOMs to SDN'ers. And in some cases, many of them just pasted the same response to people "please call to schedule an appointment so we can discuss further!".

I was at work today and full of meetings, so I didn't get to spend as much time on there as I'd have liked, so perhaps others can provide more in-depth experiences.

 

[acoburn73]

its eaasier to get in during the 90s than it is now

How do you know this? Seriously? We didn't have SDN and electronic practice tests, so we took the DAT straight raw with no advice. Also, there were no forums to browse and ask for advice on interviewing, school styles, school ADCOM personalities, or what to even expect in an interview. You just went in and hoped for the best.

I'd like to see someone provide empirical evidence proving it is "harder" now than in the 90s. One could make an argument that because of forums like SDN and more test prep materials available than ever before, DAT scores are sky-high and thus increases competition. However, I'm not sure this equates to being "harder" now as opposed to the 1990s.

 

[mid]

http://www.adea.org/publications/li...ntalSchoolApplicantsandEnrollees20102011.aspx

 

[Glimmer1991]

I did get one piece of useful information--that you really don't need to have a meeting with someone on the admissions committee prior to applying if you have a competitive application.

 

[JAWSSS]

http://www.adea.org/publications/li...ntalSchoolApplicantsandEnrollees20102011.aspx

These stats say it all. Less applicants are getting accepted to schools (in 2011 compared to 2000) when 4,000 more applied. This is true regardless of the mass availability of test prep tools.

BUT! One acceptance is all it takes.

 

[free99]

Actually, it was a bunch of the same canned responses we hear around here that's passed on from ADCOMs to SDN'ers. And in some cases, many of them just pasted the same response to people "please call to schedule an appointment so we can discuss further!".

This wasn't at all my experience. I got a lot of personalized suggestions and feedback on my application.

 

[acoburn73]

This wasn't at all my experience. I got a lot of personalized suggestions and feedback on my application.

I was only on there for about an hour after dealing with the chat server issue, and the experience I had was the above (with 4 schools directly, and 3 others while just watching their responses to others). I will be back on today and hope to get a better vibe. I have a massive spreadsheet of schools I'm interested in, where most info is coming from the 2013 ADEA guide, but I want to augment the info with answers from the school reps directly. Hopefully today I'll get more direct answers and not as many "call us on that" or the types of responses I regularly read on SDN.

Again, everyone will have a different experience depending on what you're looking to get out of it.

 

[free99]

I was only on there for about an hour after dealing with the chat server issue, and the experience I had was the above (with 4 schools directly, and 3 others while just watching their responses to others). I will be back on today and hope to get a better vibe. I have a massive spreadsheet of schools I'm interested in, where most info is coming from the 2013 ADEA guide, but I want to augment the info with answers from the school reps directly. Hopefully today I'll get more direct answers and not as many "call us on that" or the types of responses I regularly read on SDN.

Again, everyone will have a different experience depending on what you're looking to get out of it.

I found when the representatives were chatting in the group window I got cookie cutter answers. Much of the questions being asked in the public forum by the hoard were akin to a "what are my chances" thread on here, and obviously representatives can only comment on that to a point. More often than not, they responded with averages and blanket statements like "we look for a well-rounded applicant" or "we take examine every section of an application carefully." That might alleviate some pre-application nerves for some, but you're right, I don't see much value in it. When I would engage them (or vice versa) in the private chat, however, they responded with more candor. It might be nice to have chat transcripts from schools we're interested in so I could later sift through them and sort the valuable information from the filler. Anyway, I hope you can get the answers you're looking for today.

 

[Glimmer1991]

What I really want to ask is, "Do you think I could get a scholarship to your school?" I would totally seem like a douche, though! Hah! Oh well. I just really don't want to pay 400k for my education.

 

[LaFleur]

Oh I totally didn't know this was going on these days! I should've gone...don't know if I'll have time today, but I'll try to make some...

Can anyone recommend how much time I should try to make? Is 15-30 min acceptable if I wanna talk to 2-3 schools or should I plan on an hour?

 

[LaFleur]

What I really want to ask is, "Do you think I could get a scholarship to your school?" I would totally seem like a douche, though! Hah! Oh well. I just really don't want to pay 400k for my education.

You won't have to if you have a state school. 👍

Unfortunately, I don't have that luxury. 👎

 

[free99]

What I really want to ask is, "Do you think I could get a scholarship to your school?" I would totally seem like a douche, though! Hah! Oh well. I just really don't want to pay 400k for my education.

If I remember correctly, its a good thing you have ECU and UNC. 😉 But I don't think it would be out of line to ask specifics on who generally receives scholarship x or y. I bet they keep statistics on the recipients GPA/DAT and could give you some general information on who'd be competitive for the reward.

Oh I totally didn't know this was going on these days! I should've gone...don't know if I'll have time today, but I'll try to make some...

Can anyone recommend how much time I should try to make? Is 15-30 min acceptable if I wanna talk to 2-3 schools or should I plan on an hour?

15-30 minutes should be plenty if you just want to shoot a few questions to the school representatives. I received answers within a few minutes of asking.

 

[LaFleur]

If I remember correctly, its a good thing you have ECU and UNC. 😉 But I don't think it would be out of line to ask specifics on who generally receives scholarship x or y. I bet they keep statistics on the recipients GPA/DAT and could give you some general information on who'd be competitive for the reward.

Oh wow, you're lucky you have two in-state schools, Glimmer! Agreed on the asking about stats for scholarships bit.

15-30 minutes should be plenty if you just want to shoot a few questions to the school representatives. I received answers within a few minutes of asking.

Thanks so much, free99!

 

[LaFleur]

15-30 minutes should be plenty if you just want to shoot a few questions to the school representatives. I received answers within a few minutes of asking.

Free99, is it bad to ask questions specific to my application? It's not "omg my GPA is X.XX and my DAT is XX will I get in?" but other stuff I really want to know that is specific to me...

 

[Glimmer1991]

Yes, I agree I am very lucky! I just have to get in, though!

Update: I just found out Columbia doesn't give merit scholarships. Uhp! Not applying!

 

[MedDevil]

Yes, I agree I am very lucky! I just have to get in, though!

Update: I just found out Columbia doesn't give merit scholarships. Uhp! Not applying!

🙁 I remember a few years ago people on here said they gave out one or two half-tuition scholarships per class, but I'm guessing that's gone now.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

You can still access the fair if you register so you can download all the brochures and materials each school leaves for prospective applicants. The materials should be up for another few weeks.

 

[Glimmer1991]

UConn also doesn't offer merit scholarships. They do, however, let OOS students change their residency to in-state after the first year.

Also, UoP has a limited number of deans scholarships.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I found when the representatives were chatting in the group window I got cookie cutter answers. Much of the questions being asked in the public forum by the hoard were akin to a "what are my chances" thread on here, and obviously representatives can only comment on that to a point. More often than not, they responded with averages and blanket statements like "we look for a well-rounded applicant" or "we take examine every section of an application carefully." That might alleviate some pre-application nerves for some, but you're right, I don't see much value in it. When I would engage them (or vice versa) in the private chat, however, they responded with more candor. It might be nice to have chat transcripts from schools we're interested in so I could later sift through them and sort the valuable information from the filler. Anyway, I hope you can get the answers you're looking for today.

On the Case brochures section are two items that spell out what we look for. Needless to say, people aren't viewing them before asking us the "what are my chances" questions.