Decision Day 2023 advice

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Mr.Smile12

Mr.Smile12

Admissions advisor
Staff member
Lifetime Donor
Verified Member
10+ Year Member
Faculty
Verified Expert
Gold Donor
Joined
Oct 14, 2011
Messages
26,362
Reaction score
19,381
The countdown has begun to Decision Day! Here's what I posted last year!
Members don't see this ad.
 
December is nigh, and the countdown is on!

Good luck to those who have to study for exams. The top priority is to ace them and keep your grades up.

December 15 is Dental Decision Day, so those who have interviewed since AUGUST will finally get an answer to your prayers if you get an offer

Of course rejections and waitlists can come at any time, including just prior to D-Day.

Please ask your questions in this thread and search old threads around this time last year.

At this time, confirm:

Voice-mail greeting is professional

Online presence and accounts

Spam checks

Portal checks

USPS Informed Delivery

FedEx and UPS delivery monitoring

Create a new account for invitations to GroupMe or similar group chat rooms

On December 15, plan your notification strategy. We appreciate you letting us know on the forums on real time, but understand that phone calls take time. Portal notices should be quick, and emails might come over 15 minutes to avoid getting labeled junk (which you should check anyway).

People like to report that calls come in some alphabetical order, but there are usually a lot of people making calls. Calls can be made to scholarship recipients only, while others call from closest to farthest geographically. Weigh these reports in context, but enjoy the calls once you get them.

Understand the area codes where calls could come from among the schools you interviewed at. Most schools should use their office phones so caller ID should reflect this. However some may opt to call you from a personal phone or a burner number. It is okay to let the calls go to voice-mail, and if they encourage you to call back, return the call. Usually your caller ID should show a verified number mark.

Tell your friends and family to not call or message you all day. Turn off your app notifications.

You can live without your phone for a few hours if you need to take an exam.

No one should be video calling you, but it could happen later.

Ask family for deposit money for Christmas or whatever winter holiday you celebrate. It's due January 15.

Add more if I'm missing anything. I know we should remind everyone about AADSAS status updates...
 
Last edited:
Members don't see this ad :)
do not ask "what are your stats?", "what time zone are you in?" "what does your last name start with?" or anything like that
dental school admissions acceptances do not work like that
ignore the noise, relax, and trust the process...
 
macsak said:
do not ask "what are your stats?", "what time zone are you in?" "what does your last name start with?" or anything like that
dental school admissions acceptances do not work like that
ignore the noise, relax, and trust the process...
Click to expand...
oh, and there is no such thing as a "soft rejection"...
 
It mentions "advanced notifications" for scholarships in the article. Is this implying that some schools inform students about scholarship status before decision day?
 
MountainLad said:
It mentions "advanced notifications" for scholarships in the article. Is this implying that some schools inform students about scholarship status before decision day?
Click to expand...
Not before unless by chance the school sends a physical packet to you mentioning a scholarship and you get the packet early. I do warrn that some schools don't think scholarship offers are subject to Traffic Rules, so you have a shorter deadline to accept the scholarship than you have time to decide to accept the offer. Unless that has changed in the Traffic Rules.

I have not heard of schools using scholarships as a virtue signal well before Decision Day. That would violate the intent of the Traffic Rules.

What we want you to know is that you may get a phone call where you could be notified of a scholarship during the call. These calls can occur on December 15 or very soon thereafter in this wave of offers. Make sure your voice-mail greeting is professional.
 
Last edited:
Members don't see this ad :)
Do they wait until 8 AM in your time zone before sending emails or do they just come throughout the day? Is the portal updated at midnight? Just curious.
 
futuredentistsomeday said:
Do they wait until 8 AM in your time zone before sending emails or do they just come throughout the day? Is the portal updated at midnight? Just curious.
Click to expand...
It depends on a lot of things.

Some admissions management systems will send emails out as scheduled by the admissions office. So it can come at midnight ET or PT or AK/HI time. We don't want to trip spam algorithms so magic won't happen immediately at the stroke of the hour.

Calls can happen when the admissions team is open and ready. Note that we learned how to do remote calls during the pandemic (actually Google phone was around for a few years before, I think). Some can even do robocalls, though that would surprise me.

Many application software programs can do text messaging.

Basically the answer is, be ready. For anything.

Read the article.
 
Mr.Smile12 said:
It depends on a lot of things.

Some admissions management systems will send emails out as scheduled by the admissions office. So it can come at midnight ET or PT or AK/HI time. We don't want to trip spam algorithms so magic won't happen immediately at the stroke of the hour.

Calls can happen when the admissions team is open and ready. Note that we learned how to do remote calls during the pandemic (actually Google phone was around for a few years before, I think). Some can even do robocalls, though that would surprise me.

Many application software programs can do text messaging.

Basically the answer is, be ready. For anything.

Read the article.
Click to expand...
Thank you! First time applying so the process is all new. Your experience is invaluable!!
 
Report your decision IN THE SCHOOL-SPECIFIC THREAD (so we can have a reference for next year's applicants). You are also welcome to post a reply here too.
Forgive me if there is already a template for this.

1) Offer (#) or other decision (WL/R)
2) Medium (can be more than one): package, email, text message, portal message, AADSAS status update, phone call (who?), other (like a video message)*
3) Time of (first) notification/s (approximate HH:MM, time zone)
4) Did you send a follow-up note? (Who got them? Mail/email/portal message?)
5) Scholarship offer (and how much)?
6) Re-confirm demographics (IS/OOS, M/F/X, URM/ORM/Mx, SED, non-trad, FG/LI/DACA, etc.)
7) Re-confirm stats (application uGPA, application pb/gGPA, BCP; DATs; Casper Q)
8) Re-confirm timeline: Submission, Interview date
9) Other follow-up instructions?

* Phone calls or notices can be done in alphabetical order (not necessarily starting at A), time zone, or only to scholarship recipients. Don't get too worked up about the order, and there usually isn't just one person making calls.

Anything else, team?

We can also create a thread (Reply and add your name) as receiving an offer, WL, or R... we have less than 24 hours to do this. 🙂
 
Any advice for post December interviews if I receive an acceptance tonight? Had two interviews, but received an invite for January today. Interesting timing to say the least.
 
NavyBlueSuit said:
Any advice for post December interviews if I receive an acceptance tonight? Had two interviews, but received an invite for January today. Interesting timing to say the least.
Click to expand...
it really depends on your budget, how much you liked the 2 you interviewed at, and how much FOMO you have...
 
If you get an offer, feel free to use this! (Then pick the cheapest!)

20231009_134254_0000.png
 
Can applicant expect calls between Dec 15th and Jan 15th? For example, if someone declines an offer, will that school go to the next person on the waitlist immediately or wait until the next "wave" on Jan 15th to offer that seat?
 
msddsmd98 said:
Can applicant expect calls between Dec 15th and Jan 15th? For example, if someone declines an offer, will that school go to the next person on the waitlist immediately or wait until the next "wave" on Jan 15th to offer that seat?
Click to expand...
it depends on the school and how many decline that cycle...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Mr.Smile12
2024 Decision Day reminders/countdown thread
Replies
13
Views
3K
Anthony Isaac
Anthony Isaac
A
Going into decision day (from a current dental student)
Replies
0
Views
928
alswjd
A
M
to those with decision day acceptances and post december interview invites
Replies
1
Views
1K
macsak
M
E
SDN Article: Dental School Decision Day: Your Guide
Replies
1
Views
2K
Big Time Hoosier
Big Time Hoosier
Mr.Smile12
  • Locked
Decision Day 2022
2
Replies
84
Views
12K
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
Top