Applicants now a days applying to 15+ schools

[lollipop999]

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It seems like even for a person like me with pretty good numbers that i found myself all nervous and applied to 15+ schools. my cousin who is a dentist applied to one school like 15 years ago... Do you think that there are a ton of new applicants or is there a mix of new applicants and everyone just applying to a ton of schools.

Like, theres some ppl with AA 26 and 27 that have like 8-10 interviews already and they cant go to 10 schools. I think it just slows down the process significantly

 

[Cymbidium]

I think there's a snowball effect with the applicants. I think every year more and more people apply - so every cycle more and more people don't get in. All of those people who don't get in keep re-applying so the re-applicant pool is getting bigger and bigger which is a significant part of the reason why every year the number of applicants grows.

I can't even imagine trying th get in 3 years from now. You're going to need a masters degree, a 4.0, 25+ DAT and 1,000 hrs. shadowing to even be considered at that point!

 

[StayinNCali]

A lot of people won't know which school they want for a while yet (mostly post-interviews), others are unrealistically scared that they won't get into any school even with great stats. Then there are people like myself who would only send acceptance letters to 3 of their schools but didn't want to seem overly confident so they added on schools like Indiana and Maryland just for diversity. I think another major reason for this phenom is that more people apply to AADSAS before taking the DAT's and, pre-DAT's: nobody has any confidence so they apply to tons of schools as safety school but would never even interview there now that they are happy with their DAT scores.

 

[soyungil]

In my opinion it is worth it to apply to a lot. Last year I applied to 15, a little late in August. I got 3 interviews, 2 of which were after dec 1st. I did not get in. I was so upset after last year that this time I applied to 20 in may and it paid off. I have 7 interviews all before november. My application is a little stronger this year, so that may be why I got more interviews, but notheless it was worth it to do 20 applications. 7 interviews pretty much guarantees that I get in somewhere, unless I just really suck at interviewing.

 

[SspeedyS]

geeze... I only applied to 3... Do I really have a chance?

 

[small]

I think with a little bit of research many of us can avoid having to apply to a ton of schools. With that said, knowing your DAT scores BEFORE you send out your applications makes a big difference! I had originally planned to apply to about 7-8 schools. I ended up taking the DAT before I submitted my application. Happy with my scores, I only applied to four.

 

[lollipop999]

I agree with you totally. If i would have had my DAT scores I would have cut out some schools. If would have saved me a ton of money.

 

[xtractime]

I think there's a snowball effect with the applicants. I think every year more and more people apply - so every cycle more and more people don't get in. All of those people who don't get in keep re-applying so the re-applicant pool is getting bigger and bigger which is a significant part of the reason why every year the number of applicants grows.

I can't even imagine trying th get in 3 years from now. You're going to need a masters degree, a 4.0, 25+ DAT and 1,000 hrs. shadowing to even be considered at that point!

when i interviewed.....there were 12 people for that day. i spoke to 8 of them and 5 of them were re-applicants. 4 were in a graduate program. i think that "time" has already come. if you have a student with a masters in a science area compared to an undergrad who just took the the pre-reqs....who wouldn't take the grad student?

 

[barami0113]

when i interviewed.....there were 12 people for that day. i spoke to 8 of them and 5 of them were re-applicants. 4 were in a graduate program. i think that "time" has already come. if you have a student with a masters in a science area compared to an undergrad who just took the the pre-reqs....who wouldn't take the grad student?

If the grad student has 3.9 undergrad GPA without postbac, I will definitely take him/her.
But, if the grad student has 3.0 undergrad GPA, I will have to think about it.
I may favor undergrad student with 3.9 GPA.

 

[blankguy]

It was suggested to me that I apply to 10+ schools by a dental faculty member.

 

[PDizzle]

The trend is definitely more is better!! There is no such thing as a safety school and you just never know how the adcoms choose. Sure you pay more for more apps but how costly is it to not be a dentist for another year?...

..Answer: Bout $100,000 or more!

I'm gonna go with, "Better safe than sorry" on this one.

When I shadowed in an endo office they asked me where I was applying to. I rattled off the merely 8 schools I applied to and they responded, "Oh, you're going for a shotgun approach, huh?".

LOL. If they only knew how it has changed since their time.

 

[lollipop999]

so true... the guys i worked for think I can just pick wherever I want to go. I wish we had some stats from the early 80's. It would be kinda interesting

 

[jeezy]

something i heard from an adcom

~33% of applicants are reapplicants. that doesnt mean that they favor people who keep applying, but the competativeness is increasing and you have to admit that some of your flaws may take a year to work on. taking that extra time makes you look more mature and committed, but it is not an advantage. that is why traditional applicant = junior going on senior.. not someone doing a BMS/postbac

applying to 15 schools is a lot. do some homework and spend that extra $$ on a platinum grill

 

[lollipop999]

wow 33% seems like a high number. I agree with you on this issue hands down. The traditional applicant i feel is better than these older people who have had bad undergrad years and are trying to cover it up. I would think dental schools would want a young fresh group of students who are ready to conquer.. just my opinion

 

[blankguy]

wow 33% seems like a high number. I agree with you on this issue hands down. The traditional applicant i feel is better than these older people who have had bad undergrad years and are trying to cover it up. I would think dental schools would want a young fresh group of students who are ready to conquer.. just my opinion

That is going to vary from school to school. Also sometimes older people can turn out to be better than the traditional applicants. They've faced adversity that the traditional applicant has not and have conquered it. Individuals like that are wiser and far more mature than the traditional applicant.

Schools like Harvard are generally not going to cut you some slack if you have a blemish academically.