Anyone out there getting any love from UNC??!!

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HermeytheElf said:
Every school is political to some degree, but from what I hear, you are correct...UNC is one of the worst offenders. But hey, that's their prerogative...nowhere is it written that the applicants with the highest stats are the ones who have to be admitted. It's their school and they can take whoever they want. They don't seem to have a problem churning out high quality dentists , they have an excellent specialization rate, and they continue to attract the best students from across the country so who are we to argue with the way they are doing things?
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We're not, but when they tell qualified people like uncw to reapply and give them false hopes by saying they base it all on that magic formula, well, that's just bs. I had a classmate apply for 3 years w/ superb stats and it took him that long to get in.

As you said, it's their choice (really, it's the states choice, you want state funding you are going to do what the state needs/tells you to do). I just don't like when they say they use that formula because although it may be used in some cases, in others it's based on other 'things'.
 
capisce? said:
We're not, but when they tell qualified people like uncw to reapply and give them false hopes by saying they base it all on that magic formula, well, that's just bs. I had a classmate apply for 3 years w/ superb stats and it took him that long to get in.

As you said, it's their choice (really, it's the states choice, you want state funding you are going to do what the state needs/tells you to do). I just don't like when they say they use that formula because although it may be used in some cases, in others it's based on other 'things'.
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I agree-it really is a lot of politics that I haven't seen or heard of elsewhere. Also, its a numbers game. Mr. Luten was brought in for the specific purpose of bringing diversity to the dental school. While diversity is a GREAT thing- I think that sometimes its not always the best applicants that get in anymore. I know they also weigh where the applicant is going to practice after graduation into their decision, especially since the state is having a huge problem with lack of dentists in certain areas. I know that people lie and say that they are all going to move to the mountains or eastern nc, but I have a feeling that the ADCOMs can tell who is telling the truth.

On another note; did anybody else who applied to UNC apply to VCU?
Also, does anybody know what the out of state percentage at MUSC is? I really like the school but I heard it was near to impossible to get in out of state. Thanks
 
I also applied to VCU which is where I really want to go. UNC is just my second choice.
 
pearlywhite said:
I agree-it really is a lot of politics that I haven't seen or heard of elsewhere. Also, its a numbers game. Mr. Luten was brought in for the specific purpose of bringing diversity to the dental school. While diversity is a GREAT thing- I think that sometimes its not always the best applicants that get in anymore. I know they also weigh where the applicant is going to practice after graduation into their decision, especially since the state is having a huge problem with lack of dentists in certain areas. I know that people lie and say that they are all going to move to the mountains or eastern nc, but I have a feeling that the ADCOMs can tell who is telling the truth.

On another note; did anybody else who applied to UNC apply to VCU?
Also, does anybody know what the out of state percentage at MUSC is? I really like the school but I heard it was near to impossible to get in out of state. Thanks
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If underqualified minorities (or anyone for that matter) were allowed admission and they actually went to the areas that are underserved, it would be an awesome thing. The reality is they gain admission with subpar stats and go to the same urban places to practice as everyone else. I don't understand why this is not studied and taken into account to see if the very basis for admitting students with lower stats even holds water. As far as NC, there are a lot of very underserved rural areas. Admitting students who grew up in those areas usually results in them going back home to serve their community. That is a great thing!
 
I have to say that I have met dentists in my area that have come back to serve their community so I don't think all of these people are lying about where they want to practice just so they can get into UNC. That's a really big deal where I'm from (Robeson County) and the surrounding areas. This also applies to doctors and optometrists who leave to train but then come back. I think the best part is that these returning doctors give the people in the area the belief that they can achieve the same kind of goals or even go beyond that. Of course you are going to get some doctors that are going to be drawn to the cities but I think there are also a good number that want to go back to where they come from to serve their community. Just by looking at the UNC website you can see they make sure plenty of counties are repersented otherwise they would all come out of the same few ones.



I guess many of you have also read that ECU is planning on opening a dental school in the near future and I bet their school will be geared toward training doctors that will stay in NC and serve their communities. Their medical school pretty much only accepts NC residents and I think the dental school is going to have a similiar policy. I'm not saying that UNC should admit anyone from those areas (there has to be some kind of standard!) but it's a great opportunity for some people.



PS - When I was growing up I didn't know that Indians were actually from India! I thought they were all from my community, haha. 😀
 
laelialudisia said:
you know i have 1 more thing to say on this issue b/c it really does "burn my cookies" 😡

there is now some indication of why unc accepts 20 out-of-state applicants in a class of 80 when NC is ranked at like 47th in the nation for the # of dentists per capita. out-of-staters are being used to pull up the stats and off-set the people who are getting in with low stats due to political influences or what-have-you.

NC is underserved; we need more dentists, and our own, qualified, in-state applicants are being turned away and forced to go out-of-state and many probably don't/won't return.
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not entirely correct. several of the out of staters are those with the low stats. then, there are guys like jpollei and gtuck who are the studs who make everyone else look good.
 
laelialudisia said:
more power to ECU for getting permission to move forward with a dental school. Obviously, others in this state are aware that qualified applicants are being turned away at an alarming rate.

from what i have heard, ECU will only be accepting in-state applicants and it will be a small class.
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ECU and Carolina's dental school will almost be one in the same. The prelim plan has the potential for many of unc instructors also teaching out at the academic building proposed in greenville. Carolina is already understaffed, there will have to be split resources at some point due to staffing issues.
 
when i talked to Dr. Guckes he told me they dont have enough facilities to accomodate an increase in class size...but one thing they are going to do is take fewer out of stater (12) and more in staters (69)😀
 
UNCWDentist said:
when i talked to Dr. Guckes he told me they dont have enough facilities to accomodate an increase in class size...but one thing they are going to do is take fewer out of stater (12) and more in staters (69)😀
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UNC is bringing the class size up a little each year, so by the time the 1st years now graduate they are aiming to be up to around 100. The ECU school would be a great thing, and they are planning for 2010- but I doubt they will have anything by then because of the faculty shortage. There are not enough dentists that serve as faculty across the U.S and so I have a hard time believing that they are going to be able to recruit a whole new staff at ECU in 3 years. I know that ECU is asking the UNC prof. to be on faculty there as well, but unfortunately I can't imagine a whole lot of them are going to agree to that because not only is UNC understaffed but some prof. do not like the idea of a competing dental school.

I wonder if all graduate schools are this political?
 
UNCWDentist said:
yeah I know, I wish I would have asked that but i did not want to be to invasive. Your given an interview by a student(very casual)...and 2 by prof's or researchers so you know the student interview is more for questions so i'd say the 2 prof interviews probably weigh around 19% apiece lol and yes they are probably very subjective to what they assign points for.😕
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lol...i agree! I don't think they assign points for each question like jeopardy. In their minds, they already have a picture of who they want to be in their class. By answering their questions wisely and honestly, maybe you'll fit in their picture frame. I see a lot of kids with amazing stats and they did not make it; it's not because they are not capable of attending unc dental school but because they are not the type that the committee is looking for.
 
laelialudisia said:
btw, i have heard that unc is increasing the class size by several seats this cycle and then by 40 seats the following year, bringing the class up to 120 --- has anyone else heard this?
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They don't have the facilities to do it. They would like to but it would require a new building and they aren't building it as of yet so not likely to happen for a while.

The school is already short staffed enough. Adding more students isn't going to help.
 
capisce? said:
So UNCWDentist, how would you feel if you knew people get admitted into UNC with 15 DATs and 2.6s? Why don't you ask Dr. Guckes about that and post his answer. There's a lot more that goes on behind closed doors than you realize.
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after reading through your posts (on this thread and others) it seems that you may have "inside" knowledge on what goes on at unc (residency @ unc?). so, what would you suggest for those of us who are nc residents w/o serious connections within the school to help improve our chances (besides 30's on the dat, a 4.0 gpa, luck and prayer 🙄 )?

is acceptance @ unc largely a crap shot if you are not from an underserved county and are not a minority despite having good/great numbers?
 
im with L.L. on that note...because I have worked my butt off for the past 5 years doing a BS in Bio and BA in Chem (and if they granted a business minor i'd have that as well lol).
I applied for a research job through Thomas Luten but did not get it so there went my inside connection so now is it just sheer blind luck?
 
laelialudisia said:
is acceptance @ unc largely a crap shot if you are not from an underserved county and are not a minority despite having good/great numbers?
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not a crap shot at all. I know a person who was working with me, and this person is caucasian from upper middle class. Her GPA is right there, but her dat is not that impressive, she tried to take it twice but it stays the same; however, she got in on December. Remember the rule 30-30-40. I believe she got it back with her interview because she got a great personality and she is very outgoing.
 
xxxTheDonxxx said:
not a crap shot at all. I know a person who was working with me, and this person is caucasian from upper middle class. Her GPA is right there, but her dat is not that impressive, she tried to take it twice but it stays the same; however, she got in on December. Remember the rule 30-30-40. I believe she got it back with her interview because she got a great personality and she is very outgoing.
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did she have any connections within the school? (please say,"no", 😀 , then i will feel there is hope left for me getting into unc)
 
Someone with the Sept. 16th interview date should post how it went. Any new information from the school this year? 12out-state/69in-state? Im sure this will all be covered in information session at the school.
As far as an in-school connection I thought I had one being the vp of the dental club and talking with dr. guckes on a reg. basis ( i even made a trip up to have a personal meeting) ...we will see how it works out this year I just can't wait for the interview as I hope I am in November close to the Adcom meeting where we get "nominated" and "voted" on.
I want to re-schedule my interview at Nova (dec. 14???) just in case that is the only one I have before UNC this year because last year I had 2 warm-ups at SUNY and Louisville and they really helped to prepare me for UNC. 😎
 
Hi everyone!

I received confirmation of my interview in the mail today. Does anyone know whether we ought to mail off the two forms we need to sign, or just bring them with us on the day of the interview?

Also, anyone else going to the informal reception the night before? 🙂
 
Hey SRW26
So it looks like you got some ridiculous DAT scores AA=25 TS=29w/ a ridiculous undergrad gpa = 4.12, and last year you had interviews at Harvard, UNC, and UConn, so I'm confused. Did you not get accepted last year w/ those stats? Did your interviews go horribly? This was all listed on the predents webpage under your screenname. That just doesn't make sense to me.
 
trickybenny said:
...last year you had interviews at Harvard, UNC, and UConn, so I'm confused. Did you not get accepted last year w/ those stats? Did your interviews go horribly? This was all listed on the predents webpage under your screenname. That just doesn't make sense to me.
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Those are interviews for this year, in the upcoming weeks 🙂 Predents.com doesn't sort between cycles yet.
 
is there anyone on here with a sept. 16th interview date who is not a unc graduate or an out-of-state applicant?

--- in other words, has anyone been invited to this interview who has graduated from another NC school OTHER THAN UNC??!!
 
Does UNC want a copy of our transcripts along with our application and supplemental? I checked their website and it didn't mention it, but most schools want one.
 
HermeytheElf said:
Does UNC want a copy of our transcripts along with our application and supplemental? I checked their website and it didn't mention it, but most schools want one.
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no, they don't. i have only had 1 school specifically request copies of my official transcripts. i called unc to make sure that my app. was complete several weeks ago and they confirmed that it was, and i never sent them official transcripts; they use aadsas (thank goodness!!)
 
Is anybody bringing a guest-family/friends/husband/wife to the thing on Friday night, or to the interview on Saturday?
 
Im going at it alone. Flying out from Las Vegas cost me about 300 already cant take the wife on our tight budget.
 
ecuajedi said:
Im going at it alone. Flying out from Las Vegas cost me about 300 already cant take the wife on our tight budget.
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i know...these travel expenses are REALLY starting to add up!!!! i can't imagine being a person who applied to like 10 or 15+ schools 😱
 
just want to say, "GOOD LUCK," to everyone heading to UNC this weekend to interview :luck: :luck: :luck:

i hope you have time to look around chapel hill (great college town) 😀 !!!

and, my fingers are crossed for myself and my fellow in-staters waiting on invites to go out to graduates of other NC schools 🙂
 
I second that! Good Luck!

One other note: I would put $20 on the fact that at that interview date at least 1/3 will be from BYU or such. That's how it was last year at the first interview date. And man do they have the interview skills down pat...that's what every interviewer told me.."they are schooled on how to interview properly and it starts to get a little like a "cookie-cutter"....that's what all 3 interviewers told me...so Just Be Yourself and You will be fine 😀
 
pearlywhite said:
Is anybody bringing a guest-family/friends/husband/wife to the thing on Friday night, or to the interview on Saturday?
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I went to an interview at unc last year. People brought friends/family etc to both the Friday night and Saturday interview. There were more relations there on the actual interview day than friday night; but, it is up to you. The friday night thing is totally informal. They serve you pizza in the hallway. It is a chance to mingle around with all the other interviewes. Also a few of the student interviewers might be there to talk to as well.
 
munch22 said:
I went to an interview at unc last year. People brought friends/family etc to both the Friday night and Saturday interview. There were more relations there on the actual interview day than friday night; but, it is up to you. The friday night thing is totally informal. They serve you pizza in the hallway. It is a chance to mingle around with all the other interviewes. Also a few of the student interviewers might be there to talk to as well.
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1st: are there any of the profs and or interviewers at the friday night deal?

2nd: what is up with applicants bringing family/spouse/whoever to their interview on saturday 😱 (even if i were married, which i am not, i would still not bring my spouse to my interview)??? i would feel weird bringing anyone to the friday night thing and wouldn't dream of bringing someone saturday.

maybe it's just me 😳
 
laelialudisia said:
1st: are there any of the profs and or interviewers at the friday night deal?

2nd: what is up with applicants bringing family/spouse/whoever to their interview on saturday 😱 (even if i were married, which i am not, i would still not bring my spouse to my interview)??? i would feel weird bringing anyone to the friday night thing and wouldn't dream of bringing someone saturday.

maybe it's just me 😳
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I was told that people on the ADCOM committee aren't allowed to go on Friday night, and that it would just be students and very laid back.
At least for me, I think applicants bring other people along on the interview process because dental school is going to be a HUGE part of the interviewee's life for the next four years. I would like my family/spouse/partner-in-crime to understand why I picked the school that I am at and basically, what exactly is occupying all of my time!!!!
 
for those who just interviewed @ UNC, any overall impressions and feedback??!!! 😀

thanks.
 
laelialudisia said:
for those who just interviewed @ UNC, any overall impressions and feedback??!!! 😀

thanks.
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I am definately glad to have one interview under my belt! I still kind of wish that I would have had an interview to practice on before UNC's however I am glad that my first interview was done at a school where I felt comfortable, instead of one that was 1000 miles away from my home. The friday night thing was great in my opinion, it gave everybody a chance to mingle so that Saturday morning we all had familer faces to look at. I really enjoyed getting a chance to talk to students in such a laid back manor as well. My interviews were pretty relaxed, they definately asked me the normal "why do you want to be a dentist" questions, but I didn't feel like I was being quizzed. My hardest interview was from a doctor in the UNC school of medicine, not a DDS- she was extremely nice but more "interviewee" than the others. I also spent one of my interview talking mostly about hiking trips that I had done recently and not about dentistry because that is just where the conversation took us. I didn't meet a single mormon that I know of, there were 4-5 people there who brought their spouses to the interviews and I met applicants from all over the states. In terms of the in-state students there were only 5-6 that I actually know were from UNC (although there could have been more),
2-3 from State and at least 1 that I know of from UNCW.
One of the funnier things about interviews is meeting people from SDN in person and attaching a face with a name with a screenname. I thought that part was really cool! Anyways, Dr. Guckes gave his usual "pick UNC" speech and that really summed up my day. Anybody else with comments?!
 
thanks for the feedback. it is interesting that it does sound like they did in fact only bring in the out-of-staters and unc and state grads (with the 1 exception of the uncw person 😕 ) and since they allot the most seats for unc and state that would make sense.

i guess it does make me think that they are in fact interviewing competing seats at once. was there any weird competitiveness tension friday night or saturday? how did you feel good coming out of the interview?

i think i will also get a kick off of putting sdn faces with names, very amusing!!! 😀
 
UNC is an unbelievable school..interviews were great...buildings and faculty are great..in state tuition after first year is not a bad thing too...just don't act like a robot and just talk like a regular person
 
laelialudisia said:
thanks for the feedback. it is interesting that it does sound like they did in fact only bring in the out-of-staters and unc and state grads (with the 1 exception of the uncw person 😕 ) and since they allot the most seats for unc and state that would make sense.

i guess it does make me think that they are in fact interviewing competing seats at once. was there any weird competitiveness tension friday night or saturday? how did you feel good coming out of the interview?

i think i will also get a kick off of putting sdn faces with names, very amusing!!! 😀
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I didn't feel any competitiveness! maybe I am just obilivous but I really had a blast; I enjoyed meeting other applicants and most everybody was chatting away during breaks and on the tour. Everybody I met was good natured and mostly relaxed.

About not acting like a robot: One of my interviewers actually told me that he "just wanted to make sure that I was a walking, talking, breathing, human being and that is what the interviews are for."
They have your application and a lot of the time it speaks for itself, so just be yourself and you'll have plenty to talk about. They just want to attach a personality to the paper application.
 
I'm hoping I can fill that Wake Technical Community College spot for next year.
 
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