Admissions don't spend more than 5 minutes looking over your aplication.

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ysp2918tx

ysp2918tx

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You know it if you have received rejections soon. They just glance on the first page, and if anything is lacking- GPA, DAT, shadowing hours, or things like marks in criminal record or IA, they don't bother turning over to the next page. It goes into the reject pile, make it sit there for a while as a courtesy, then notify the applicant. That's why if you don't have good specs you shouldn't bother applying to dental schools. This is not a joke process like nursing or pharmacy, unforunately.
 
ysp2918tx said:
You know it if you have received rejections soon. They just glance on the first page, and if anything is lacking- GPA, DAT, shadowing hours, or things like marks in criminal record or IA, they don't bother turning over to the next page. It goes into the reject pile, make it sit there for a while as a courtesy, then notify the applicant. That's why if you don't have good specs you shouldn't bother applying to dental schools. This is not a joke process like nursing or pharmacy, unforunately.
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I think you're making a generalization. There are plenty of posters on SDN who have gotten into dental school who had either a low GPA, a low DAT, or not a clean criminal record. I personally know a guy who goes to the Dental College of Georgia who had a DUI. It's true some schools don't look at your application but others scrutinize them so they don't waste their time.
 
wengerin said:
I think you're making a generalization. There are plenty of posters on SDN who have gotten into dental school who had either a low GPA, a low DAT, or not a clean criminal record. I personally know a guy who goes to the Dental College of Georgia who had a DUI. It's true some schools don't look at your application but others scrutinize them so they don't waste their time.
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LOL I even know dental schools that had admissions coordinators tell us people have gotten in with domestic violence on their records and as long as they aren't repetitive trends then its not that big of a deal. Obviously if you have a clean record like us its a plus.
 
ysp2918tx said:
You know it if you have received rejections soon. They just glance on the first page, and if anything is lacking- GPA, DAT, shadowing hours, or things like marks in criminal record or IA, they don't bother turning over to the next page. It goes into the reject pile, make it sit there for a while as a courtesy, then notify the applicant. That's why if you don't have good specs you shouldn't bother applying to dental schools. This is not a joke process like nursing or pharmacy, unforunately.
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Lol I didn't even know you were an adcom! Should the specs be like Prada? Then i'm good.
 
281.jpg
 
"Red flag" IA on my application and currently sitting on 3 interview invites.
 
wengerin said:
I think you're making a generalization. There are plenty of posters on SDN who have gotten into dental school who had either a low GPA, a low DAT, or not a clean criminal record. I personally know a guy who goes to the Dental College of Georgia who had a DUI. It's true some schools don't look at your application but others scrutinize them so they don't waste their time.
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Now everyone knows which school to avoid. Old habits don't go away.
 
Flemish said:
Yeah definitely don't apply to a school with a 100% board passing rate. People who have made mistakes go there.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
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No, avoid the graduates from that school. Who knows when your dentist from that school likes to sip on a vodka before he begins probing your mouth.
 
ysp2918tx said:
No, avoid the graduates from that school. Who knows when your dentist from that school likes to sip on a vodka before he begins probing your mouth.
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Obvious trolling aside, that would probably steady his hands. Haha


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
This is a legitimate concern, can't believe ya'll people defending this potential danger to patients. Old habits that involve especially alcohol and drugs never go away and will resurface.
 
ysp2918tx said:
This is a legitimate concern, can't believe ya'll people defending this potential danger to patients. Old habits that involve especially alcohol and drugs never go away and will resurface.
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Too late. You oversold it. Valiant effort, though.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
As long as it's a one time deal, you'd be surprised at what the adcoms will let slide. Now trolling on SDN, however, is a different story... Adcoms punish that one very heavily for even a first time offender.
 
At more than half of the schools, there's a sub 3.0 oGPA and sub 3.0 sGPA that gets in and there's also sub 18s that get in even more regularly. They don't just peek and go to the next app
 
People don't like it when they hear the truth.
 
ysp2918tx said:
People don't like it when they hear the truth.
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Truth? Give me a break.
Because you've gotten a few rejections you think "the system" is broken? So you're trying to tell us that there is not one single dental student who has made a mistake, failed a class, gotten in trouble, or had any other red flags? And if there are, that they will be terrible dentists after they graduate?
You are also implying that anyone who has ever gotten into any trouble regarding substance misuse will forever be some sort of addict? And if they are being chosen over you, that it's a school to avoid, as well as its grads? Wow. If this was such a "legitimate concern," I'm sure that the respective state licensing department would address it very seriously; especially considering they have to have DEA licensure as well.
So, time for self reflection. Think about if you are truly ready for the responsibility of dental school, or to be a a dentist. Not if you WANT to be a dentist, but if you are ready and mature enough.
Holistic review is generally how ADCOMS approach their job. So if you have a strong app, where is YOUR red flag? And if you dont, why are others with red flags getting accepted and you aren't? Instead of trying to fix what ever is wrong with the application, you're blaming admissions.
Your comments are judgemental and without merit. Honestly, you're kind of embarrassing yourself...
ysp2918tx said:
People don't like it when they hear the truth.
Click to expand...
 
There is absolutely a degree of truth to OP's remarks about the screening process. Dental schools have thousands of applications to sift through, and oftentimes that screening forces them to make very quick decisions about piles of applicants who are extremely qualified.

I think the general reality is that you must apply early. The longer you wait to apply and get your documents verified and secured in a portal, the more likely your "5 minute screening" occurs by adcoms. It goes without saying to apply early, but thousands of applicants still make the mistake of not doing this for whatever reason. Applying early at least siphons your pool size down to some appreciable amount and gives applicants who are just competitive a decent chance.
 
schmoob said:
Truth? Give me a break.
Because you've gotten a few rejections you think "the system" is broken? So you're trying to tell us that there is not one single dental student who has made a mistake, failed a class, gotten in trouble, or had any other red flags? And if there are, that they will be terrible dentists after they graduate?
You are also implying that anyone who has ever gotten into any trouble regarding substance misuse will forever be some sort of addict? And if they are being chosen over you, that it's a school to avoid, as well as its grads? Wow. If this was such a "legitimate concern," I'm sure that the respective state licensing department would address it very seriously; especially considering they have to have DEA licensure as well.
So, time for self reflection. Think about if you are truly ready for the responsibility of dental school, or to be a a dentist. Not if you WANT to be a dentist, but if you are ready and mature enough.
Holistic review is generally how ADCOMS approach their job. So if you have a strong app, where is YOUR red flag? And if you dont, why are others with red flags getting accepted and you aren't? Instead of trying to fix what ever is wrong with the application, you're blaming admissions.
Your comments are judgemental and without merit. Honestly, you're kind of embarrassing yourself...
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well said
 
It's a little weird how some people are calling this person a troll. Yes it's a little extreme, but do you think admissions spends a lot of time looking at the rest of someone's application when they don't meet the gpa or DAT requirements?
 
dyesht said:
It's a little weird how some people are calling this person a troll. Yes it's a little extreme, but do you think admissions spends a lot of time looking at the rest of someone's application when they don't meet the gpa or DAT requirements?
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Patterns are important. If the GPA is low because of a pattern of performance it's one thing. If it's low because of some isolated performance issue, but has a pattern of solid performance afterward, does that make them unqualified? If they make one mistake, learn from it, and move on to do good things to be a good student and a good person, does that make them unqualified or undeserving to become a dentist?
What were their barriers to performance? How did they do in spite of them? These are all things ADCOMS look at.
 
schmoob said:
Patterns are important. If the GPA is low because of a pattern of performance it's one thing. If it's low because of some isolated performance issue, but has a pattern of solid performance afterward, does that make them unqualified? If they make one mistake, learn from it, and move on to do good things to be a good student and a good person, does that make them unqualified or undeserving to become a dentist?
What were their barriers to performance? How did they do in spite of them? These are all things ADCOMS look at.
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This is true for someone with a low GPA and a high DAT. They will see the high DAT and question what happened with their GPA THEN they will go into their file and investigate. What I'm saying is if someone submits an application with low GPA and low DAT, ADCOMS will not waste their time going through the rest of their application trying to justify the low stats. Of course there are rare exceptions to this and we shouldn't be advocating them to provide false hope to predents with low GPA/DAT scores. It's done like this because of the high volume of applicants. ADCOMS don't have all the time in the world to go through each application regardless of GPA/DAT scores.
 
For what it's worth, in 2012, there was a 2.4sGPA and 2.6oGPA that got into a dental school here. Sure he was one of the select few around the nation but sometimes it's not just a "sub 3.0, toss and move on". He did have an excellent 24AA and 25TS.
 
OrphanageCaretaker said:
Damn, I didn't know there were so many Adcoms on a single thread.
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Well when you're a dental student, you interview predents like yourself and you interact with ADCOMS in the process. You get a feel of what they like, don't like and how they manage all the applicants. So you're correct that we aren't ADCOMS, but we sure know a lot more about the process of selecting students than you do.
 
2y4life said:
For what it's worth, in 2012, there was a 2.4sGPA and 2.6oGPA that got into a dental school here. Sure he was one of the select few around the nation but sometimes it's not just a "sub 3.0, toss and move on". He did have an excellent 24AA and 25TS.
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Yeah in that case it's most likely connections with the school.
 
dyesht said:
Well when you're a dental student, you interview predents like yourself and you interact with ADCOMS in the process. You get a feel of what they like, don't like and how they manage all the applicants. So you're correct that we aren't ADCOMS, but we sure know a lot more about the process of selecting students than you do.
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So what's the feel you have of what Adcoms like or don't like?
 
ysp2918tx said:
You know it if you have received rejections soon. They just glance on the first page, and if anything is lacking- GPA, DAT, shadowing hours, or things like marks in criminal record or IA, they don't bother turning over to the next page. It goes into the reject pile, make it sit there for a while as a courtesy, then notify the applicant. That's why if you don't have good specs you shouldn't bother applying to dental schools. This is not a joke process like nursing or pharmacy, unforunately.
Click to expand...
While nursing and pharmacy are easier, it's not impossible to get into dental school with lower stats than normal. My GPA is subpar (well to me it is) but I'm sitting on 2 interviews. I do think if someone has a sub 3.0 and a 18 that their chances are pretty bad and would agree with you there. Although, there are things such as being a URM, having an amazing story or just straight up having a lot of connections haha.
 
LuckBloodandSweat said:
While nursing and pharmacy are easier, it's not impossible to get into dental school with lower stats than normal. My GPA is subpar (well to me it is) but I'm sitting on 2 interviews. I do think if someone has a sub 3.0 and a 18 that their chances are pretty bad and would agree with you there. Although, there are things such as being a URM, having an amazing story or just straight up having a lot of connections haha.
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You have a killer DAT score, I'm sure you'll have no problem handling the work in D school
 
dyesht said:
This is true for someone with a low GPA and a high DAT. They will see the high DAT and question what happened with their GPA THEN they will go into their file and investigate. What I'm saying is if someone submits an application with low GPA and low DAT, ADCOMS will not waste their time going through the rest of their application trying to justify the low stats. Of course there are rare exceptions to this and we shouldn't be advocating them to provide false hope to predents with low GPA/DAT scores. It's done like this because of the high volume of applicants. ADCOMS don't have all the time in the world to go through each application regardless of GPA/DAT scores.
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I think this is very valid, but not necessarily the rule. It is true that there are MANY applications to go through so there is some bit of pre-screening involved, but even with a below average GPA and DAT, there may be something that sticks out as an indicator of potential success in school, so it gets investigated. And if ADCOMS want to know more, they invite the applicant and ask them about it.
Your scenario makes a lot of sense, and is common. But every school is different so they put more consideration into different aspects of the application. Every applicant is different as well because it can work the other way around. How about the high GPA and low DAT? This is a potential indicator of sustained academic performance. Especially if they took advanced courses. This means they can handle the workload. There can be any number of reasons they performed below average on the exam. And back in your scenario they may have a low GPA, but if they graduate, and spend 6 months doing NOTHING but preparing for the DAT (notice I said preparing instead of studying), then doing well on the exam is not as good of an indicator of success in dental school because that sort of time is just not there.
These are only a few scenarios out of an infinite number of possibilities. Overall, I do agree with you that out of the thousands of applications that are submitted every year, not every one of them is capable or ready (yet) to succeed in the curriculum.
dyesht said:
Yeah in that case it's most likely connections with the school.
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Presumptuous. You know nothing about the student except for those numbers. And like you said, that's a very high DAT so their application was likely investigated and the determination was made that the student would succeed.
 
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