Applying to Only In-State Schools

[AZDent]

Ok, so I'm only applying to the 2 schools within AZ, ASDOH & Midwestern. I'm a little nervous, but this is mainly because of my husbands recent promotion to GM of Best Buy. Graduated from ASU, 3.7 cumulative, took a year off, working full time, taking DAT in August, lots of research, LOTS of shadowing, and average volunteer experience...Anyone feeling my pain? Do I have a shot?

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[Simiam]

Just rock the DAT and it will ease some tension.

 

[rose786]

^ Agreed.

 

[Quattro DMD]

Ok, so I'm only applying to the 2 schools within AZ, ASDOH & Midwestern. I'm a little nervous, but this is mainly because of my husbands recent promotion to GM of Best Buy. Graduated from ASU, 3.7 cumulative, took a year off, working full time, taking DAT in August, lots of research, LOTS of shadowing, and average volunteer experience...Anyone feeling my pain? Do I have a shot?

They're both private schools so they aren't going to give preference for AZ residents. Depending on your DAT you may have a shot at Midwestern, but ASDOH is toss up (depending on your volunteer work).

 

[OhioStBuckteeth]

I took pretty much the same exact route you did, had a 3.7 GPA, got a 20 on the DAT, and applied only to Ohio State and got in no problem. I'd say you have more than a shot. Nail the DAT and be well prepared for the interviews.

 

[PooyaH]

Ok, so I'm only applying to the 2 schools within AZ, ASDOH & Midwestern. I'm a little nervous, but this is mainly because of my husbands recent promotion to GM of Best Buy. Graduated from ASU, 3.7 cumulative, took a year off, working full time, taking DAT in August, lots of research, LOTS of shadowing, and average volunteer experience...Anyone feeling my pain? Do I have a shot?

I'm not sure about Midwestern, but for ASDOH you need lots of volunteer hours! Believe it or not, they care more about community hours than gpa!

 

[blankguy]

I'm not sure about Midwestern, but for ASDOH you need lots of volunteer hours! Believe it or not, they care more about community hours than gpa!

Yeah, and ASDOH supplementary application has a couple of essays so better get that as soon as you can.

 

[srb711]

I toured ASDOH and Midwestern this past Friday and got a good feel for both schools. They both seem to be focused on the whole applicant, so gpa and dat are not the only factors they look at... and they both are big on community service. The dean at Midwestern was the original dean at ASDOH and he brought over a lot of faculty with him, so it seemed their admissions criteria are very similar.

 

[PooyaH]

I toured ASDOH and Midwestern this past Friday and got a good feel for both schools. They both seem to be focused on the whole applicant, so gpa and dat are not the only factors they look at... and they both are big on community service. The dean at Midwestern was the original dean at ASDOH and he brought over a lot of faculty with him, so it seemed their admissions criteria are very similar.

Indeed!!!

 

[Andrew324]

How many shadowing hours do you have?

 

[Quattro DMD]

I toured ASDOH and Midwestern this past Friday and got a good feel for both schools. They both seem to be focused on the whole applicant, so gpa and dat are not the only factors they look at... and they both are big on community service. The dean at Midwestern was the original dean at ASDOH and he brought over a lot of faculty with him, so it seemed their admissions criteria are very similar.

The dean at Midwestern wasn't the original dean at ASDOH, that's Dr. Dillenberg....and he's still the dean. But quite a bit of the staff that started ASDOH is at Midwestern now. I recognized at least 4 people at Midwestern that I saw from ASDOH. They also may be similar in the their selection criteria but I get the impression that Midwestern places a little more emphasis on grades than ASDOH does (hence why my 4.0 20+ DAT friend got into Midwestern but was waitlisted at ASDOH). Midwestern also isn't doing the modules like ASDOH, but they are going to do similar community health center rotations during the fourth year.

 

[srb711]

The dean at Midwestern wasn't the original dean at ASDOH, that's Dr. Dillenberg....and he's still the dean. But quite a bit of the staff that started ASDOH is at Midwestern now. I recognized at least 4 people at Midwestern that I saw from ASDOH. They also may be similar in the their selection criteria but I get the impression that Midwestern places a little more emphasis on grades than ASDOH does (hence why my 4.0 20+ DAT friend got into Midwestern but was waitlisted at ASDOH). Midwestern also isn't doing the modules like ASDOH, but they are going to do similar community health center rotations during the fourth year.

sorry, I meant "associate dean." We met Dr. Dillenberg this weekend during our ASDOH tour, as well as Dr. Simonsen during our tour at Midwestern. It just seemed that their criteria was similar because he kept going on about the "whole individual" and also about how important it is to get recommendations from people other than science professors (unless they know you really well). And like you said, Midwestern is not doing modules like ASDOH, but they're doing what they consider to be an innovative approach and thus not traditional. But I agree, Midwestern's matriculating class has a higher gpa/DAT average, so that speaks for itself.

 

[Quattro DMD]

sorry, I meant "associate dean." We met Dr. Dillenberg this weekend during our ASDOH tour, as well as Dr. Simonsen during our tour at Midwestern. It just seemed that their criteria was similar because he kept going on about the "whole individual" and also about how important it is to get recommendations from people other than science professors (unless they know you really well). And like you said, Midwestern is not doing modules like ASDOH, but they're doing what they consider to be an innovative approach and thus not traditional. But I agree, Midwestern's matriculating class has a higher gpa/DAT average, so that speaks for itself.

How does the dental building look? I haven't been there since december and they were still building it.

 

[kdawg]

How does the dental building look? I haven't been there since december and they were still building it.

Amazing...and that's not from a biased point of view. I was down there 2 weeks ago and the outside appears to be about finished. The building is the biggest on campus and much bigger than many other schools' I interviewed at. So big, that I really wonder if we will only get a portion of it. It is beautiful though, and I can't wait to see what they'll put inside it!

 

[kdawg]

To the OP:

ASDOH & MWU are two of those schools that are hard to figure out. I was a reapplicant and interviewed at ASDOH twice. Both times I received very positive feedback during and after the interview, just to be waitlisted and ultimately rejected. MWU is so new that I don't think that they even really know exactly what they're looking for...it will take a few classes to cycle through before they fine-tune their admissions process.

But, I think that the comments posted are generally true about both schools interested in the overall quality of the applicant with an emphasis in their volunteer work (dental-related preferred). I got the impression that MWU is looking for leaders who will help them make a name for themselves. Both schools definitely have great facilities and are the two newest kids on the block.

With your GPA, research, and shadowing you are on the right track. You definitely need to beef up your volunteer work, but try hard to make it dental-related. In fact, I would recommend trying to find a program where you are able to volunteer placing sealants on elementary kids. I have done this over the past year or so and found it to be great experience...not to mention I used the director to write me a letter of recommendation. Plus, Dr. Simonsen (MWU) is recognized for his work in sealants.

Truthfully, I wouldn't count on anything. Like I said, these schools seem somewhat random in their selection, and being private they can afford to be. Your AZ residence status probably won't help you too much, other than the possibility of touring and potentially meeting the faculty and admissions committees. And if you're limiting yourself to these (or any private) schools you can expect to accrue a hefty financial aid bill. Then again, your hubby is GM of Best Buy...money ain't a thang, right? Good luck, and maybe I'll see you around MWU.