Chances/Advice

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anderson2993

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Hey there,

So as you can tell by the title, I am looking at advice and your guys’ opinion on my chances at acceptance this upcoming cycle. So a little background:
I completed undergrad at OSU with a really really subpar oGPA and sGPA (~2.65ish) due to some personal issues I completely bombed senior year and it dragged my GPA down significantly; I kind of gave up on dental after that and decided to work for a while so I found a job at a medical lab company working in Quality Assurance for about 6 months... Hated my life and became extremely motivated to do whatever it took to get back on track with dentistry and figured one of the only options I had was to get my MS and hope for outstanding grades before applying to dental school. I am done with my academic classes for my MS in Microbiology and Immunology and am about to start my research thesis (focusing on systemic diseases and how they tie into the oral microbiome). I have a 4.0 GPA and have 3 amazing LORs (2 from both directors of the MS program I am in). I have shadowing experience and some extracurriculars but volunteer time is definitely my weak point. My first round of DAT (2017) I scored: 20AA 20 Bio 20 GC 19 OC 19 PAT 19 QR 22 RC. I just took the DAT again in March and got the following scores: 22AA 21 Bio 22GC 20 OC 21 PAT 21 QR 24 RC. I am hoping to get into OSU, but I will be applying to most of the schools in the Midwest.

If you took the time to read this and respond, thanks in advance, all criticisms and advice are welcome.

Thanks,

Bryce

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Well done with your MS! That's amazing. And good job with your DAT retake as well! I think your masters will help immensely and I think you have a good shot at OSU/Case and other midwestern schools. If things open up this summer, be sure to continue volunteering and shadowing, and update your application with this info. Otherwise, just make sure you have a strong PS and I think this cycle should go well for you :) well done :thumbup:
 
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Well done with your MS! That's amazing. And good job with your DAT retake as well! I think your masters will help immensely and I think you have a good shot at OSU/Case and other midwestern schools. If things open up this summer, be sure to continue volunteering and shadowing, and update your application with this info. Otherwise, just make sure you have a strong PS and I think this cycle should go well for you :) well done :thumbup:
Thank you! I am pretty excited to apply in a couple weeks :)
 
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Specific information about your dental experience? Just confirming you have required or expected hours and variety of experience. Also community service?

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Hi there,

I have shadowing experience with my family dentist (over 80 hours) and my orthodontist (around 50 hours). I don’t really have much community service other than volunteering for a pediatric dental clinic (KidSmiles) while I was in my undergrad at OSU (about 40 hours total) and volunteering at a local thrift store for my fiancée’s grandmother (over 100 hours). Also , I was an undergraduate teaching assistant for Microbiology labs at OSU (2 semesters) and now I’m a Graduate Teaching Assistant for the Microbiology labs at my current school (2 semesters and will be doing so next year as well).

Bryce

Thanks,

Bryce
 
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Anyone else have any input or advice?

Thanks in advance,

Bryce
 
Just wanted to bring this thread up again and see if anyone else had advice on which schools to apply to. My oGPA for Undergrad (as stated above) is around 2.6, my MS gpa is 4.0 (but my combined GPA for both is still under 3 since I had so many credits from undergrad). I’ve reached out to a few adcoms at various schools to see if my application would be thrown out right away due to my low UG gpa, and I’ve gotten mixed feedback (MUSC said that a high MS gpa and DAT show the committee that I could handle the rigor of their curriculum, while OSU says their minimum cutoff is 3.5 for the last 45 credit hours).

Thanks in advance!
 
Great performance on your MS, can I ask where you attended? Best of luck applying this cycle!
 
good job improving your application! Must've been tough. All there's left to do is apply and shine in interviews! Good luck!!
 
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Hi everyone,

Just to post an update now that I have just submitted the application! Please leave some feedback, if you have any, on my final school list below:

1. Ohio State University (IS)
2. Case Western Reserve University (IS)
3. University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center
4. Indiana University
5. University of Illinois at Chicago
6. Medical University of South Carolina
7. Roseman
8. LECOM
9. University of Florida
10. University of Pittsburgh

Fingers crossed!
 
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Hi everyone,

Just to post an update now that I have just submitted the application! Please leave some feedback, if you have any, on my final school list below:

1. Ohio State University (IS)
2. Case Western Reserve University (IS)
3. University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center
4. Indiana University
5. University of Illinois at Chicago
6. Medical University is South Caroline
7. Roseman
8. LECOM
9. University of Florida
10. University of Pittsburgh

Fingers crossed!
I think UIC and MUSC are semi-OOS unfriendly but I'm not too sure. I would check this to see: Dental School Statistics. I know UF is very OOS unfriendly so I think that one might've been a waste :/ but who knows. The rest look fine, but maybe add 2-3 more depending on how UIC/MUSC/UF look?
 
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