Anyone not accepted their first year???

[billiken10]

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I am an alternate at three universities for the class of 2008: Creighton Univ., Univ. of Illinois-Chicago, and Southern Illinois Univ.. It is my understanding that alternates or wait-listed applicants are rarely accepted. This being the case, I am trying to figure out what I need to do to earn an acceptance for the class of 2009. I am planning on taking a couple more biology courses at a university this summer. What else should I do? If I'm not admitted this year, am I out of luck for ever being accepted? Any suggestions or comments would help out a ton because I'm really disappointed!

John Foley
[email protected]

 

[The Musketeer]

Hey Billiken, there are several factors that have resulted in the situation that you are in now. One might be that you have applied late in the application cycle and many of the spots have already been taken up and you are forced to compete with people who might have a better status than you. You should try to apply as early as possible because this is a BIG factor in your chance to get in.

Another situation to look at are your GPA and DAT scores, are they at or around the average accepted GPA/DAT posted by respective schools? Since you have been granted interviews with these schools, then I think you have good enough academic scores. You might try to improve your GPA during your summer studies because schools always look for applicants with higher GPA.

Another factor are your interviews, maybe you did not perform well enough, or convince them that you are what they are looking for in a dental student. What you have to do is to express that your desire to become a dentist are driven by various sources that you have experience in your life....you have to express everything you want to tell them at the interview, and hold nothing back because it is your last chance to show yourself to them.

Well this is all I can thing of now, however, don't give up on the possibility of getting accepted now because most schools still accept people from the alternate list until the start of orientation (and that's couple months away), anything is possible!

P.S: I also suggest that you should prepare for the 2005 cycle now and apply as early as possible! You should improve on your applicant essay and get several more LOR from different professors.

Good Luck

 

[Mo007]

I am an alternate at three universities for the class of 2008: Creighton Univ., Univ. of Illinois-Chicago, and Southern Illinois Univ.. It is my understanding that alternates or wait-listed applicants are rarely accepted. This being the case, I am trying to figure out what I need to do to earn an acceptance for the class of 2009. I am planning on taking a couple more biology courses at a university this summer. What else should I do? If I'm not admitted this year, am I out of luck for ever being accepted? Any suggestions or comments would help out a ton because I'm really disappointed!

John Foley
[email protected]

Mr. Musketeer is right!

I am also re-applying due to a change of career focus from Pharmacy, but I improved my stats (GPA/DAT) considerably by taking upper Bio classes (Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Immunology etc..).

billiken10: What are your stats?

 

[billiken10]

I applied during the first week of June last year. I thought I did rather well in my interviews. Both my parents are dentists in the Chicago area and I have several uncles who are dentists, as well. I believe what hurt me most is my science GPA. I have played baseball for four years and I know that hurt me academically. My stats are:

DAT: 19/21
Science GPA: 2.90
GPA: 3.27

I am planning on taking Human Anat. and Physiology, and Genetics this summer to try and boost my science GPA. I was also a non-science major in undergraduate studies (another mistake I think). I know how hard dental school is but I definitely feel that I am more than capable. I just need to get my foot in the door. I am going to call all three schools this week and try and get a better feel for where I stand and what I can do to improve my chances for next year. I guess that's all I can really do.

Do you know anyone who had to apply more than once? Has that year off hurt them in school? Thanks for replying!

John

 

[ToothMonkey]

You should definitely call the schools that rejected/waitlisted you. Most will be more than happy to tell you which areas of your application need improvement for next year.

Also, Musketeer's advice on applying EARLY is spot on. It really is like adding points to your GPA & DAT without any effort whatsoever.

Please tell us more about yourself. Not just the academic numbers...also fill us in on the "soft" side of your application: volunteerism, extracurricular activities (esp. related to manual dexterity), shadowing, etc. The more information you give out, the better the advice you'll receive.

 

[ToothMonkey]

Improving your GPA can't hurt, but you should know that I had better academic stats than you (including a 3.7+ Science GPA) and was still rejected from UIC. So don't immediately assume that any particular flaw was to blame...you have the right idea calling each school to be sure.

Now good luck getting through to anyone helpful in the UIC administration. Ask for Larry, Curly or Moe.

BTW, being a non-science major is a complete non-factor. Don't sweat it.

 

[billiken10]

I am a member of my university's service fraternity, so I have to volunteer quite a bit for that. I have shadowed multiple times with several dentists, oral surgeons, and orthodontists (including 22 years hanging around my Dad's office!). As far as manual dexterity goes, I have excellent manual dexterity. I am an amateur artist and I am a pitcher for the baseball team.

I have had similar difficulties reaching admissions people at several schools. I guess they are pretty busy! What are the best schools to apply to if they're out of your state?

Thanks for the advice!

John

 

[Aurora]

! What are the best schools to apply to if they're out of your state?

You have a better chance of getting into private schools that are out of state. If you wouldn't mind paying the extra tuition I would definately apply to some private schools this year. Anychance the adcom people felt like you were going to be a dentist just because your parents, and other relatives were? I think you really need to show them that it's what you are passionate about and not just doing it because that's whats expected of you or it's the thing you are most comfortable doing...well...just my thoughts. It just seems like with your DAT scores and GPA and applying early you should have gotten in somewhere.

Good luck
Aurora

 

[ToothMonkey]

What are the best schools to apply to if they're out of your state?

Buy the ADEA Guide to Dental Schools. It costs ~$35 last time I checked, and includes TONS of great info about all the schools. Among other things it will tell you exactly what proportion of each school's class is from out-of-state. It's really a great book and well worth the cost.

How are your letters of recommendation? Three excellent recommendations from science professors that would definitely help demonstrate your ability to handle the science courses in dental school. If you don't have enough LOR's from science profs, or question the quality of the letters you do have, then don't forget to put special effort into getting to know your new instructors this summer. In my situation, I felt like one of my non-science recs was "stale" because it had been a few years since I last saw the professor in question, so I took a community college course largely in order to get a fresh top-notch letter.

 

[HuyetKiem]

What are the best schools to apply to if they're out of your state?

Case western, NYU, Nova, Indiana.

 

[dprice121]

Do you know what rank you are at Creighton??? I am #2 on the alternate list at the University of Washington. If I get in there, then that's where I'm going and a spot will open up at Creighton. A lot of reshuffling will be going on in the next few weeks/months so a spot just might open up for you at one of those 3 schools. Good luck!!!

 

[Thaxil]

How many schools did you apply to? IF it was three then that was the biggest problem with our 2004 application. You must have looked good to the adcoms to have invited you to interviews. It is strange that you have been placed as alternate after all the interviews. Maybe you did not impress them much during the interview. You need to make should you are giving the right impression which is pretty tricky sometimes. Your stats are not bad at all; mine is much worst but I also applied to many private schools.

 

[billiken10]

I applied to 11 schools and was only offered an interview at UIC. I scheduled my own interview with SIUE and should have with Creighton, too, but failed to do so. I have been calling around and everyone tells me that my science scores are a little low and that my letters were pretty good. I am planning on taking more upper division bio to pull that up, but I can't find any universities in Illinois offering Anatomy, Physio, or Microbiology so I will have to wait until the fall to enroll somewhere.

I am planning on reapplying the first week of June to get a good headstart. What else should I do? My stats are okay and I thought I had a real good shot of being accepted. I am going to see about getting better letters of recommendation although it will be tough to get a good letter from teachers I haven't seen in over a year.

What is this thread about second time applicants having a harder time getting in? Is there any real fact to that? Or is that the case only at some schools?

Congratulations to everyone who has been accepted, btw. I am so excited to become a dentist that I can't even explain it to you. But now I am more anxious than anything. I want to do whatever I can to make sure that I get in the second time around.

Thanks for all the advice! I'm glad there are sites like this for people with common stresses to swap info.

Thanks again!

John

 

[hopefulgirl]

Hi John,

applying early is an excellent idea. If you can take couple summer courses just to bring up your overall GPA, that would a great (liberal arts courses). Otherwise, for sure take more science courses this fall. I think your DAT is fine.

If you are applying again, they like to see improvement!!! They WANT to see, that your Science GPA and Overall GPA has gone up! Also, re-write your personal statement.

I don't think second time applicants have a harder time to get in. This was definitely not the case for me. As long as you follow the right path, you can't go wrong!

Good luck.