Dental School List/WAMC

[DrRipStudwell]

Hey guys, I unfortunately did not make it into dental school last year and am reapplying this year. I think I screwed up by applying October 30th, so hopefully this year goes a little better. I plan on being a first day applicant, WAMC and any help on fixing my list?

State of residency: MI
cGPA and sGPA: 3.35c and 3.3s
DAT (AA/TS/PAT): 21/20/22
Shadowing: Around 300 hours shadowing dentists
Volunteering: Not too much volunteering, was a Red Cross member but did not do much with that and worked for a few political parties sparsely. Also helped in a few university conventions for kids.
Research: 1000 hours between a cancer lab and a pysch/bio lab.
Extracurricular: Currently working as a clinical research coordinator for my gap year.
Honors: Half my undergrad tuition paid by scholarship. co-author of an abstract.
LOR Type: Changing my LOR from last year. 4 strong ones from a top ranked endocrinologist, a cancer research doctor, a senator, and a psychology professor.

Misc info: I feel like I've got decent overall stats, however my GPA is absolutely under what it should be. I started my first year with a 2.9 and kind of just averaged a 3.5 randomly until it went to where it is.

Current school list, fully willing to change:
Midwest
Roseman
Tufts
University of Colorado
Howard
Meharry
U of M Ann Arbor(dream school, super duper hopeful here)
Mercy(wait listed me)
Kentucky
Lake Eerie

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[Mr.Smile12]

Hey guys, I unfortunately did not make it into dental school last year and am reapplying this year. I think I screwed up by applying October 30th, so hopefully this year goes a little better. I plan on being a first day applicant, WAMC and any help on fixing my list?

State of residency: MI
cGPA and sGPA: 3.35c and 3.3s
DAT (AA/TS/PAT): 21/20/22
Shadowing: Around 300 hours shadowing dentists
Volunteering: Not too much volunteering, was a Red Cross member but did not do much with that and worked for a few political parties sparsely. Also helped in a few university conventions for kids.
Research: 1000 hours between a cancer lab and a pysch/bio lab.
Extracurricular: Currently working as a clinical research coordinator for my gap year.
Honors: Half my undergrad tuition paid by scholarship. co-author of an abstract.
LOR Type: Changing my LOR from last year. 4 strong ones from a top ranked endocrinologist, a cancer research doctor, a senator, and a psychology professor.

Misc info: I feel like I've got decent overall stats, however my GPA is absolutely under what it should be. I started my first year with a 2.9 and kind of just averaged a 3.5 randomly until it went to where it is.

Current school list, fully willing to change:
Midwest
Roseman
Tufts
University of Colorado
Howard
Meharry
U of M Ann Arbor(dream school, super duper hopeful here)
Mercy(wait listed me)
Kentucky
Lake Eerie

I'll agree that you have a much better shot with UDM than UM. Might as well try for both in-states, but be realistic.

Your volunteering as listed is sparse.

Drop the character reference like your senator (probably killed your chances at many of the OOS schools on your list), and get professor letters in the biomedical sciences to fulfill professor letter requirements (also probably why your app was not well received). I'm not sure that your top-ranked endocrinologist's letter is going to help you get into dental school.

 

[artist2022]

^ Agree especially with the LORs - you should get one from a dentist as that is what you are going to dental school for. You will also need letters from science professors to count towards those requirements, and I'm not sure your psych letter will help too much or looked upon too favorably as compared to a bio/chem/physics letter.

School list wise, would add a few more schools, probably privates you'd see yourself attending. Would take Howard off unless you are a URM as that is an HBCU; same with Meharry.

 

[JustFlossy]

Hey!

I agree with what was stated already. Most schools ask for letters from dentists and bio/chem/physics professors. So I would definitely go with @artist2022 's and @Mr.Smile12 's advice on that. And check with the schools on your list to make sure you meet each of their letter requirements.
For example: If one school says your need letters from a dentist + a biology professor and another school says you need letters from a dentist + a chemistry professor, get the three letters: biology, chemistry, and a dentist. Cover all the bases.

Also, I noticed you have Howard and Meharry on your school list, but you also stated you don't have any volunteer or extracurricular experience, specifically in areas concerning underrepresented communities. Volunteering alone is something both Howard and Meharry are HUGE on, and they especially like to see that applicants have a passion for serving underserved populations as this is what they are founded upon being HBCUs. It might raise a flag for them with that missing from your application.

 

[DrRipStudwell]

My last year I had 2 research professors and 2 bio professors as my LOR, I suppose removing a research for a dentist will be the go to. A majority of my research was for lower privileged black communities. You guys think there’s a chance of acceptance? My gpa is really low compared to others and I do not think I’ll commit to this route after a masters. I think the main reason I was denied by everyone last year was applying so crazy late

 

[JustFlossy]

Conducting research directed towards underprivileged groups isn't the same as dedicating your time serving these underprivileged groups. It's about direct engagement at a personal level.

Besides that, I would definitely apply earlier and see where the cards fall. Your DAT is fine and your GPA isn't bad, but I think what might hold you back is the lack of community involvement.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

My last year I had 2 research professors and 2 bio professors as my LOR, I suppose removing a research for a dentist will be the go to. A majority of my research was for lower privileged black communities. You guys think there’s a chance of acceptance? My gpa is really low compared to others and I do not think I’ll commit to this route after a masters. I think the main reason I was denied by everyone last year was applying so crazy late

An early application can help, but check those LOR requirements. Some may want a dentist letter, but others don't. Unfortunately you cannot mix and match your four initial LOR's in ADEA AADSAS, so you have to select appropriately for the schools on your list.

Your GPA isn't so low that I would automatically recommend a SMP. It could help, but that depends on what your BCP GPA and biomedical course GPA are. I would say that some of the private schools with large class sizes might be decent targets, but no guarantees you'll get an offer.