I remember checking out columbia's website when I first started the whole dental school application. I was pretty naive then, and was so impressed and frightened by the whole "ivy league" thing and columbia's stellar reputation in general. I remember thinking to myself: 'sweet lord could I get into this school?!' Turns out, getting accepted into columbia isn't that big of a deal. You could have a pretty crappy GPA (ala 3.1/3.2) and still get accepted if your DAT scores are somewhat high (ala AA22). And is it really that hard to get a AA22 on the DAT? No, in my opinion. *flame shields on*
I do agree. For me, last year (2004) I had taken the DAT in September, after not really having studied science for a number of years, and decided that I was going to hold off on applications until the 2005 cycle and gain clinical experience in an office for a year. But after persuasion by my friends in the profession, I decided, even though it was dangerously late, to apply for dental school. I got done with my AADSAS application at the end of Nov., which means that it didn't even get to the schools until late December/early January. I'm 28 by the way, and graduated college in 1999. My GPA was 3.2 sci, and 3.1 total (not really so impressive by Columbia standards, or perhaps any at all). But what I did have as a sparkle of hope were my DAT's, 22/23/18. Even though it was insanely late, (and I don't know many people who'd dare take chances on sending an app. in Jan), I applied to 7 schools, and got interviews with all of them. UMDNJ, Temple, Columbia, Boston, Case, NYU,... and even though I didn't send in my application fee for Stony Brook, they called me up personally and told me that the committee reviewed my application and said that if I sent the application fee, then they'd arrange a quick date for an interview.
I'm not saying this to show how great I am. I'm certainly not. I just came to the realization that since the DAT's is an exam that EVERY candidate takes, it really is a significant bench mark to rate students as opposed to schools where the level of difficulty of gaining A's varies from school to school. The DAT could go a long way for those who don't have alot to cling onto. I thought it was an impossibility for me 8 months ago, but I'm glad to say that I'll be entering Dental school in September.
The Columbia interview was pretty serious in my experience. After the interview, all of us candidates grouped together in the common conference room, outside of the Columbia restaurant (where they conduct the interviews on the 4th floor of the dental building) and everyone was really happy and some ended pretty quick. It seemed that alot of people had a very comfortable interview. I didn't really know how to take this,... where most interviewers had friendly faces, and I even heard giggles of laughter from a number of other interview-tables, my interviewer just had a serious face and asked specific questions regarding my file... work experience, grades, recommendations etc... and just glared at me waiting for answers. And I did not get asked the general questions like "why dentistry?" or "do you want to specialize?" or "what do you do with your hands?" At that moment I had a flashback to my UMDNJ interview where I had the same exerience.... and that was my first interview. The guy talked to me saying things in a way that told me,"Don't be surprized if we don't accept you". So having learned from that hot-seat experience, I came back at all this interviewer's questions very calmly and friendly and tried to present an amicable repoire,.. and before I knew it, the cold atmosphere warmed considerably, and we were even laughing at some things too. At the end, the interviewer gave me some of his own personal advice about things I should really do before entering Columbia in the fall. hmmmmm......
As far as UMDNJ, I ended up gaining my acceptance letter from them after all.
So for those of you out there who don't think that your GPA's can cut it, it most certainly isn't the end. You have a second chance through your DAT's, and as "delicious" pointed out,... and I agree.... it really isn't that difficult... for those who approach it with an earnest goal.
sorry for making this too long.