Feel Free to Ask

[Baker2010]

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Hey guys,
I am a first year D1 at UCSF. I just went through the admissions process last year like you guys are doing right now and wanted to let you know that you guys can feel free to ask me any questions you may have about admissions. During the admissions process, I had a lot of interviews and acceptances so I hope I can give you some good information about somethings you guys may be unsure about. I think its better for you guys to hear information from someone whose been through it successfully than rather other predents speculating. Anyways, feel free to contact me, and goodluck. I know Dec 1st can't come soon enough but you'll be fine!! Remember to work hard and play hard!

P.S. I have gotten a lot of private messages about this. I would prefer that questions that are general be posted here so that others can see too because if one person has the question then I'm sure more people do. Therefore more people can learn/ get feedback and it prevents me from repeating answers. Although, if the questions are personal like they are about your specific app including things like GPA, DAT, etc that you don't want to share with all of SDN, thats totally understandable and feel free to PM me. No probs! 🙂

 

[toothbugger]

what was your reason for entering dentistry? everytime i tell adcoms mine, they don't seem convinced or excited. I wonder if it's the way i'm saying it.

 

[Baker2010]

what was your reason for entering dentistry? everytime i tell adcoms mine, they don't seem convinced or excited. I wonder if it's the way i'm saying it.

My reason for entering dentistry isn't too exciting. I simply never considered dentistry not once during undergrad. After I graduated and worked in research for a couple years, I did some shadowing and talked with dentist and found that what dentist do correlates very well with my skills and i just let it flow from there.
Honestly, adcoms aren't looking for some amazing story similar to a lot of medical students come with about some life changing experience involving medicine that affected their lives or someone they cared very much about and therefore they want to pursue medicine as a result.
They are genuinely looking for something real. I'll tell you, a lot of kids exaggerate or w/e to make it more interesting and try too hard and it just comes off as fake and they get rejected even though they may have great stats.
During the interview, you are being asses for two main things: how sociable you are and if you seem like a person who doesn't easily become stressed because at the end of the day, they want people who can socialize well with patients and endure the stress of dentistry. Dental school can be unbelievably stressful if you don't have the right personality for it

 

[Severed Lips]

I'm having a hard time making judgements about certain dental school. I don't feel like the interview is enough to determine if a school is somewhere you would want to go. How do you make the most of an interview in terms of finding out if it is a school you like to attend?
Once Dec. 1st arrives and granted one gets multiple acceptances how do you decide b/w schools?
Besides tuition price (duh) and location...I'm talking -- how do you find out which school will make you the best dentist and provide future opportunities for success?

 

[Baker2010]

I'm having a hard time making judgements about certain dental school. I don't feel like the interview is enough to determine if a school is somewhere you would want to go. How do you make the most of an interview in terms of finding out if it is a school you like to attend?
Once Dec. 1st arrives and granted one gets multiple acceptances how do you decide b/w schools?
Besides tuition price (duh) and location...I'm talking -- how do you find out which school will make you the best dentist and provide future opportunities for success?

Hey thats a very good/ tough question.
When I would interview at schools, oftentimes, in advance, I would contact the school and have them put me in contact with some of the students there. I would plan to meet with the students when I would go to interview at the school.
I would then go to my interview, see how I felt about it, and then I would have some questions prepared for the students so that I got the best picture of how life is at the school.
In addition, for some schools, I contact alumni so that I had an idea of where the school was then vs now (current students).
I personally feel that talking with the students is the best idea your going to get about whats really going on within the school.
The people who typically volunteer for helping with interviews are the ones who are going to tell you that everything is great because thats what they are instructed to do. So I wouldn't ask them.
Regarding deciding between schools, I got into several and I picked the one where I felt I would be the most happy and the cheapest. Honestly, above prestige or whatever have you, really consider how happy you will be because dental school is very trying and if your not around a group of people that you can rely on and go through the trenches together with, or have a bunch of mean professors, your going to hate dental school/ life. Also, don't let cost fool you. Go to a cheap dental school. Don't say, oh this school is 200K and decent but the good school is 400K and i feel I will be happier at the 400K school.
When you get into dental school, you will have lectures on how to control your debt and its a much bigger problem than what people like to think. A lot of people have this idea that dentist make bank so the debt really isn't an issue. I'm telling, interest and the increasing cost of tuition is ridiculous.
Anyways, in terms of the best school that would make you a great dentist/ opportunities. For a great dentist- I think any school will prepare you well (although I would avoid USC if you could). In terms of opportunities- that is really up to you in terms of your work ethic and standing out amongst your class. Anyone can go to a school, great or decent and excel tremendously, get great letters of accomodation and go on to specialize or whatever you would like to do. I do think in some ways schools like Penn, UCSF, Columbia, UCLA, Harvard give you an advantage over some other schools but at the same time, if your in the bottom 10% of your class at a very competitive school like Penn, I think that is much worse than being in the top 20% at a lesser well known school.
Let me know if you have anymore questions!

 

[Gomsemari]

thank you so much for your considerate responses and for helping us out 😀

 

[toothbugger]

My reason for entering dentistry isn't too exciting. I simply never considered dentistry not once during undergrad. After I graduated and worked in research for a couple years, I did some shadowing and talked with dentist and found that what dentist do correlates very well with my skills and i just let it flow from there.
Honestly, adcoms aren't looking for some amazing story similar to a lot of medical students come with about some life changing experience involving medicine that affected their lives or someone they cared very much about and therefore they want to pursue medicine as a result.
They are genuinely looking for something real. I'll tell you, a lot of kids exaggerate or w/e to make it more interesting and try too hard and it just comes off as fake and they get rejected even though they may have great stats.
During the interview, you are being asses for two main things: how sociable you are and if you seem like a person who doesn't easily become stressed because at the end of the day, they want people who can socialize well with patients and endure the stress of dentistry. Dental school can be unbelievably stressful if you don't have the right personality for it

Hi thanks for answering. I find it amazing how similar our reasons are for entering dentistry. I didn't consider it in undergrad as well and realized it was a good fit during my research years in grad school. Thanks for answering!

 

[deleted475515]

Hey! thank you very much for taking the time to answer questions! I guess my question is kind of broad but I was wondering, from the view of someone who has now become acquainted and observed an entire body of "excepted" students, if gpa and dat are the top deciders in being admitted, or do extracurricular activities actually have as much of an impact on acceptance as rumor has it?

I have a pretty low gpa but have done a slight bit of extracurricular stuff like, volunteering at an orphanage in kenya for the length of a school year, several other dental related mission trips, and I have even volunteered in my local community. I have had two interviews for the coming up year but sometimes I feel that my stats are so low that I should start considering other career options.

I went to a private university all 4 years and received a B.S. in Bio. My aadsas overall gpa is a 3.39, BCP is a 3.13, and overall science is 3.1. I don't know if it makes a difference but one of the reasons they're so low (at least the science) is because my freshman year I got a C+ in both semesters of GBio, C+ in Precal, and then my junior year, both semesters I received B-'s in Physics... Then due to being young and dumb I ended up with B's and B+'s in most of the rest of my sciences.

My Junior year, I took the year off and went to Kenya for the year. (which was awesome). When I returned, my senior year, I had a whole new meaning of life and I could honestly tell myself that I wanted to do dentistry for the love of helping others! My motivation to study was at a personal high and that first semester I finished with an average science gpa of 3.55 (biochem, evolutionary biology, ecology, intro to biology research, and bio seminar) second semester wasn't quite as good but not due to lack of trying! I took cell and molecular bio (which kicked my butt, B-), histology, and ecotoxicology (which partially is what screwed me because even though it was a 3 credit class, crazy amounts of research hours were required!!!! which probably consumed 15 hours a week intoxicating fruit flies with DDT). But any way I finished with a 3.3 science for that semester.

So I guess my basic question is, where is the line drawn between making up for a mediocre past or realistically realizing that I should consider other options? Im not even in an extreme rush to get into dental school and would still choose the dental route even if I new that I wouldn't get in until 3-4 future rounds of applying. But at the same time, I don't want to end up in 4 or even 5 years and 50+ thousand more dollars in school costs deciding that I have to find a new career because I couldn't get in!

Any advice/ recommendations as to what I should do to increase my chances of acceptance, or as to how seriously I should consider career back up plans would be greatly appreciated! O yeah I also took the dat and didn't do great. I scored a 19 science average, 19 RC, 20 PAT with an 18 AA because I did very poorly on the QR (15)!!! I'm actually studying to take it again because im certain I could do quite a bit better!

One thing that did surprise me though, (im not sure if it was a good or bad idea, but I decided to not bring up my mediocre stats unless the interviewers brought them up too me first) but gpa or dat scores were never even mentioned once! I just assumed that they were being nice. but I honestly don't know!

another concern! It almost seems like I gave myself a personal disadvantage for going the Bio route because now it will take many more credits of A's to raise my "mediocre" gpa since my science credits are in the 70's and I feel with the same effort I could have ended up with a much higher science GPA if I had taken 1 or maybe 2 science classes each year instead of 3-4 (which I did every semester except for freshman year).

anyway any expert advice/recommendations would be more appreciated than you will ever know! and
thanks again for your help to us pre dents!!!

 

[toothbugger]

Hey! thank you very much for taking the time to answer questions! I guess my question is kind of broad but I was wondering, from the view of someone who has now become acquainted and observed an entire body of "excepted" students, if gpa and dat are the top deciders in being admitted, or do extracurricular activities actually have as much of an impact on acceptance as rumor has it?

I have a pretty low gpa but have done a slight bit of extracurricular stuff like, volunteering at an orphanage in kenya for the length of a school year, several other dental related mission trips, and I have even volunteered in my local community. I have had two interviews for the coming up year but sometimes I feel that my stats are so low that I should start considering other career options.

I went to a private university all 4 years and received a B.S. in Bio. My aadsas overall gpa is a 3.39, BCP is a 3.13, and overall science is 3.1. I don't know if it makes a difference but one of the reasons they're so low (at least the science) is because my freshman year I got a C+ in both semesters of GBio, C+ in Precal, and then my junior year, both semesters I received B-'s in Physics... Then due to being young and dumb I ended up with B's and B+'s in most of the rest of my sciences.

My Junior year, I took the year off and went to Kenya for the year. (which was awesome). When I returned, my senior year, I had a whole new meaning of life and I could honestly tell myself that I wanted to do dentistry for the love of helping others! My motivation to study was at a personal high and that first semester I finished with an average science gpa of 3.55 (biochem, evolutionary biology, ecology, intro to biology research, and bio seminar) second semester wasn't quite as good but not due to lack of trying! I took cell and molecular bio (which kicked my butt, B-), histology, and ecotoxicology (which partially is what screwed me because even though it was a 3 credit class, crazy amounts of research hours were required!!!! which probably consumed 15 hours a week intoxicating fruit flies with DDT). But any way I finished with a 3.3 science for that semester.

So I guess my basic question is, where is the line drawn between making up for a mediocre past or realistically realizing that I should consider other options? Im not even in an extreme rush to get into dental school and would still choose the dental route even if I new that I wouldn't get in until 3-4 future rounds of applying. But at the same time, I don't want to end up in 4 or even 5 years and 50+ thousand more dollars in school costs deciding that I have to find a new career because I couldn't get in!

Any advice/ recommendations as to what I should do to increase my chances of acceptance, or as to how seriously I should consider career back up plans would be greatly appreciated! O yeah I also took the dat and didn't do great. I scored a 19 science average, 19 RC, 20 PAT with an 18 AA because I did very poorly on the QR (15)!!! I'm actually studying to take it again because im certain I could do quite a bit better!

One thing that did surprise me though, (im not sure if it was a good or bad idea, but I decided to not bring up my mediocre stats unless the interviewers brought them up too me first) but gpa or dat scores were never even mentioned once! I just assumed that they were being nice. but I honestly don't know!

another concern! It almost seems like I gave myself a personal disadvantage for going the Bio route because now it will take many more credits of A's to raise my "mediocre" gpa since my science credits are in the 70's and I feel with the same effort I could have ended up with a much higher science GPA if I had taken 1 or maybe 2 science classes each year instead of 3-4 (which I did every semester except for freshman year).

anyway any expert advice/recommendations would be more appreciated than you will ever know! and
thanks again for your help to us pre dents!!!

Hey I know i'm not OP but here's my 2 cents. If you had nothing going for you why would you have 2 pre-December interview invites! There are multiple forums on SDN of applicants venting about no interviews. I get the feeling that if most schools invite you for an interview before Dec. 1 they are seriously considering you as a candidate. So you must have other factors that make you a competitive candidate even tho your gpa is lower than others.

 

[Baker2010]

Hey Friend,
theres a lot in your message lol
1. GPA and DAT are very important but unlike a lot of people believe, have a very high gpa and/or DAT is NOT the key to getting into the school of your choice. Its the entire package. For example, I know people who have had similar GPA/ DAT's as me and didn't even receive interviews to some of the same schools that I got interviewed at and accepted to and the same thing in reverse. Basically, each school is looking forward good stats with a combination of uniqueness. Like many of the people in my class don't have 3.8+ and 22+ DAT but they are some of the most amazing people you will ever meet. Some of the things they have done in the past/ their hobbies are very admirable, and their personalities are such that, if you met them without knowing their stats, you would want to give them a seat in your class.
2. In terms of what you should do. Right now, I would not consider another path because dentistry is a great profession and you can certainly get in somewhere. You already have two interview and like you said, they didn't say anything about your grades. The thing is, if a school is interviewing you, they WANT to accept you. Its just up to you to give them the extra confidence that they are making the right decision. They don't interview people that they do not think can handle the curriculum because if they accept people who can't handle the work and they flunk out then the school loses hundres of thousands of dollars. Anyways, stick to what you are doing, and ACE the hell out of your interviews. When it came time to interviews, I would read every single interview question I could get my hands on, write down notes about how to respond, I even recorded myself at times to ensure that my responses didn't sound/ look rehearsed ( even though some of them were).
3. If for w/e reason you didn't get in this year, I would strongly suggest a 1 year post bac program. I see your concern about how difficult it could be to raise a gpa if you have taken a bunch of credits already but the key point here is the upward curve. For example, student A: is applying to dental school with a 3.5 gpa and they have gotten around 3.4-3.6 range consistently each semester that averaged out to 3.5, that is not nearly as impressive as student B: who got a 2.9 gpa the first year and then later averaged in some increasing gpa's like 3.4, 3.7, 3.8 and then lets say it averages out to a 3.4gpa, which is lower than applicant A's gpa. An adcom would pick applicant B because 1. it shows the person can handle adversity 2. Towards they end, they did better than applicant A.
Also, the adversity part is crucial because even in dental school, a lot of kids come in who are stellar students all their life, they get A's on everything, and score well on standardized exams but then dental school knocks them on their ass and they do less than average and have no idea on how to adapt because they have never had to along their way to dental school because what they did always has worked. Applicant B knows how to change what they are doing if its not working. (I will vouche for this, that in my class at UCSF, its not necessarily the people with the highest incoming stats who are doing the best in the class)
4. I hope I answered your question well. I'm kinda rushing since I have two midterms tomorrow lol. but if you have any further questions, I'll be sure to respond with more attention soon!

 

[komondor]

Hey thanks for doing this!

I got interviewed at UCSF and it is one of my top choices - I'm curious about why you choose UCSF specifically. Secondly, has UCSF lived up to your expectations, and what about it surprised you (both positively and negatively)?

 

[deleted475515]

I hope I answered your question well. I'm kinda rushing since I have two midterms tomorrow lol. but if you have any further questions, I'll be sure to respond with more attention soon!

Hey thanks a lot for your answer! that did clear things up! My preconceived stereotype was that extracurricular activities and "being well rounded" would only keep one from not being written off completely instead of actually being advantageous.(im sure every dental school out there has a stack of applications 2-3x available spots with higher gpa's than mine!)

But It does give a glimmer of hope to hear that, that's not necessarily the case, from a current dental student! Thanks for the advice! I will def look into some post bach's if I don't make it!

 

[mmmsteakdinners]

Question:

I have been blessed with 8 interviews, attending 5, and can see myself at 4 of those schools.

I have not been rejected or interviewed from 10 other schools, but no info from them yet. Some of these schools have sent out rejections.

Being in an early batch, is not being rejected from a school that has sent out rejections a good thing? Should I expect to get 7 rejections dec 3? Or do some schools just never answer you throughout the process?

Thanks!

 

[ccm5166]

Hey Friend,
theres a lot in your message lol
1. GPA and DAT are very important but unlike a lot of people believe, have a very high gpa and/or DAT is NOT the key to getting into the school of your choice. Its the entire package. For example, I know people who have had similar GPA/ DAT's as me and didn't even receive interviews to some of the same schools that I got interviewed at and accepted to and the same thing in reverse. Basically, each school is looking forward good stats with a combination of uniqueness. Like many of the people in my class don't have 3.8+ and 22+ DAT but they are some of the most amazing people you will ever meet. Some of the things they have done in the past/ their hobbies are very admirable, and their personalities are such that, if you met them without knowing their stats, you would want to give them a seat in your class.
2. In terms of what you should do. Right now, I would not consider another path because dentistry is a great profession and you can certainly get in somewhere. You already have two interview and like you said, they didn't say anything about your grades. The thing is, if a school is interviewing you, they WANT to accept you. Its just up to you to give them the extra confidence that they are making the right decision. They don't interview people that they do not think can handle the curriculum because if they accept people who can't handle the work and they flunk out then the school loses hundres of thousands of dollars. Anyways, stick to what you are doing, and ACE the hell out of your interviews. When it came time to interviews, I would read every single interview question I could get my hands on, write down notes about how to respond, I even recorded myself at times to ensure that my responses didn't sound/ look rehearsed ( even though some of them were).
3. If for w/e reason you didn't get in this year, I would strongly suggest a 1 year post bac program. I see your concern about how difficult it could be to raise a gpa if you have taken a bunch of credits already but the key point here is the upward curve. For example, student A: is applying to dental school with a 3.5 gpa and they have gotten around 3.4-3.6 range consistently each semester that averaged out to 3.5, that is not nearly as impressive as student B: who got a 2.9 gpa the first year and then later averaged in some increasing gpa's like 3.4, 3.7, 3.8 and then lets say it averages out to a 3.4gpa, which is lower than applicant A's gpa. An adcom would pick applicant B because 1. it shows the person can handle adversity 2. Towards they end, they did better than applicant A.
Also, the adversity part is crucial because even in dental school, a lot of kids come in who are stellar students all their life, they get A's on everything, and score well on standardized exams but then dental school knocks them on their ass and they do less than average and have no idea on how to adapt because they have never had to along their way to dental school because what they did always has worked. Applicant B knows how to change what they are doing if its not working. (I will vouche for this, that in my class at UCSF, its not necessarily the people with the highest incoming stats who are doing the best in the class)
4. I hope I answered your question well. I'm kinda rushing since I have two midterms tomorrow lol. but if you have any further questions, I'll be sure to respond with more attention soon!

you seem like a great writer, can you help me write my personal essay?

i will be writting essay for the third time since i am a reapplicant and not sure what to write 🙁

 

[Member902507]

Hey Baker2010,

Thank you for taking out the time to do this, and I hope you aced your two midterms today! Your advice for the other questions has been great!

My question is regarding initial acceptances...what if I do get accepted to certain schools on Dec 3rd, do I still have to go through and complete the planned courses I had in my AADSAS application? I was initially planning on taking a lot of NON-prerequisite science courses this year in case I didn't get into a dental school this cycle, but I'm not sure what the policy would be if I decided to not take them...also, how important is it to get solid A's in those classes if I were to take them? Or would it be okay to just pass?

Looking forward to your response/advice. Thanks! Good luck with school 🙂

 

[xximjohnxx]

As a D1 going through their first year of dental school. This is very broad, but what are some things you wish you had known/wish you had done ahead of time prior to matriculating into your class? (dental or non-dental related)

Also. What are some qualities that stand out amongst those who do well in their first year?

Thanks!

 

[UCSFx2017]

Hey thanks for doing this!

I got interviewed at UCSF and it is one of my top choices - I'm curious about why you choose UCSF specifically. Secondly, has UCSF lived up to your expectations, and what about it surprised you (both positively and negatively)?

I'd also like to know why you chose UCSF. It's my first choice because of its research availability and track record. Reputable faculty. P/F. Location. Willingness to adapt curriculum for the changing climate of dentistry.

 

[Baker2010]

Hey thanks for doing this!

I got interviewed at UCSF and it is one of my top choices - I'm curious about why you choose UCSF specifically. Secondly, has UCSF lived up to your expectations, and what about it surprised you (both positively and negatively)?

1. I choose UCSF because it has a great reputation, its in San Francisco which is the type of city where I felt I would be happiest at, the students level of happiness that I talked to in comparision to students at other schools, and provided that you work hard, UCSF will be you in a great position to do whatever you want to do when you graduate.
2. UCSF has actually exceeded my expectations. The thing that surprised me the most is how hard they work you during your first year. Your first quarter which is where I am now, is your hardest quarter of all your four years. For example, within this week, I have 5 midterms, 3 quizzes, and a lot of class time. The best advice I can give you in terms of doing this is to take anatomy. Anatomy is like 80% of your work here your first quarter. The things that suprised me negatively are in the simulation lab. I feel its that they show you once and then you have to teach yourself. Theres certainly not enough instructors in your sim lab. I think its usually 1 per every 14 students which makes things tough because when you are doing a procedure, there are multiple steps that you have to get checked off before you can go to the next. Now, if there is only 1 instructor per every 14 people then it can be 1/2 hour before the instructor gives you feedback telling you whether you can go on to the next step or that no, you have to do more. Now you have multiple steps here that they have to do this for. So you can see how long something like this takes. Its very frustration. The word is to just learn from upperclassmen on your own time. Since they make D2 year very laid back at initally, you can certainly find people to come in and help ( I think UCSF set it up that way intentionally)

 

[Baker2010]

Question:

I have been blessed with 8 interviews, attending 5, and can see myself at 4 of those schools.

I have not been rejected or interviewed from 10 other schools, but no info from them yet. Some of these schools have sent out rejections.

Being in an early batch, is not being rejected from a school that has sent out rejections a good thing? Should I expect to get 7 rejections dec 3? Or do some schools just never answer you throughout the process?

Thanks!

If you have 8 interview already, your going to get in. Unless you are terrible at interviewing. I think by october I had 8 and got into all of them.
Regarding the rest of the ones you haven't heard back from, I would say to just wait because they are going through tons of application and if you already have this many interviews, I'm sure some of the will also offer you interviews. They also play the game of seeing who accepts their offers and then from there going back through the pile. So I wouldn't coun't anything out until april ish.

 

[Baker2010]

you seem like a great writer, can you help me write my personal essay?

i will be writting essay for the third time since i am a reapplicant and not sure what to write 🙁

Sure. I will be more available this Thanksgiving break which starts this upcoming Wednesday. I will be able to look over then. Feel free to send it to me whenever and I'll have it back to you within a 4-5 days.

 

[Baker2010]

Hey Baker2010,

Thank you for taking out the time to do this, and I hope you aced your two midterms today! Your advice for the other questions has been great!

My question is regarding initial acceptances...what if I do get accepted to certain schools on Dec 3rd, do I still have to go through and complete the planned courses I had in my AADSAS application? I was initially planning on taking a lot of NON-prerequisite science courses this year in case I didn't get into a dental school this cycle, but I'm not sure what the policy would be if I decided to not take them...also, how important is it to get solid A's in those classes if I were to take them? Or would it be okay to just pass?

Looking forward to your response/advice. Thanks! Good luck with school 🙂

Hey Thanks!!
Regarding your nonprerequisite courses. I don't think you have to take them. If they were prerequisites, I would. At the same time, give one or two schools a call just to make sure they don't act weird and them I'm sure you will be able to apply that to other schools. Good luck this cycle!

 

[Baker2010]

As a D1 going through their first year of dental school. This is very broad, but what are some things you wish you had known/wish you had done ahead of time prior to matriculating into your class? (dental or non-dental related)

Also. What are some qualities that stand out amongst those who do well in their first year?

Thanks!

I can tell you specifically about what I wish I knew before coming to UCSF.
Take Anatomy. Anatomy will take up almost all your time and leave not much for other classes.
Now, the people who do the best, they have taken Anatomy already and so instead of learning 100% new material, its more like 30% and that allows for people to study more for other classes.
Also even though UCSF is P/F its actually hard to pass for a lot of people. FYI
So do that and you will be ahead of the game 🙂

 

[Baker2010]

I'd also like to know why you chose UCSF. It's my first choice because of its research availability and track record. Reputable faculty. P/F. Location. Willingness to adapt curriculum for the changing climate of dentistry.

Hey buddy,
I answered this one a few mins ago above! 🙂

 

[UCSFx2017]

Hey buddy,
I answered this one a few mins ago above! 🙂

Thanks!

 

[Sal427]

Hey, thanks for taking the time to do this! I haven't taken an anatomy class yet, but in dental school do you have to know the whole body or is it more focused on head/neck?

Thanks!

 

[Baker2010]

Hey, thanks for taking the time to do this! I haven't taken an anatomy class yet, but in dental school do you have to know the whole body or is it more focused on head/neck?

Thanks!

From the chest up for the most part.
Don't worry about the rest. Head and Neck is enough, Trust me lol

 

[UCSFx2017]

Did you or most other people get a large amount of "free money" (i.e. grants) from financial aid at UCSF?

 

[dantemac]

If anyone wants to ask a Penn D1 any questions, feel free to message or post. I'll try to check this when I can

 

[Baker2010]

Did you or most other people get a large amount of "free money" (i.e. grants) from financial aid at UCSF?

I known several people here who have gotten 50K over 4 years so that helps.
They have some smaller ones of a few grand but thats all I don't. I don't really ask others about their financial deal to give a better idea of what the funding is like.

 

[RSalha17]

Hey guys,
I am a first year D1 at UCSF. I just went through the admissions process last year like you guys are doing right now and wanted to let you know that you guys can feel free to ask me any questions you may have about admissions. During the admissions process, I had a lot of interviews and acceptances so I hope I can give you some good information about somethings you guys may be unsure about. I think its better for you guys to hear information from someone whose been through it successfully than rather other predents speculating. Anyways, feel free to contact me, and goodluck. I know Dec 1st can't come soon enough but you'll be fine!! Remember to work hard and play hard!

P.S. I have gotten a lot of private messages about this. I would prefer that questions that are general be posted here so that others can see too because if one person has the question then I'm sure more people do. Therefore more people can learn/ get feedback and it prevents me from repeating answers. Although, if the questions are personal like they are about your specific app including things like GPA, DAT, etc that you don't want to share with all of SDN, thats totally understandable and feel free to PM me. No probs! 🙂

What other schools did you get offers from, and why did you choose UCSF? I just got an interview with UCSF and I am really excited! It is definitely one of my top choices

 

[Baker2010]

What other schools did you get offers from, and why did you choose UCSF? I just got an interview with UCSF and I am really excited! It is definitely one of my top choices

A few of the schools I got into were Temple, Tufts, BU, NYU, Penn, UCSF and a few others and I turned down some interviews because I heard back from the ones I was interested in on Dec 1st. I listed most of my reasons for UCSF in an above post.
Overall though, I would like to state that, pick a school that is a good combination of price and general happiness. I can't emphasize that enough.
School is getting more and more expensive every year. For example, several of those schools I mentioned above are 400K+.
I know when I was pre dent and people where talking about the importance of cost and at that time I didn't really think it was that big of a deal because "dentist make bank". Well, nowadays its not as profitable as it was before. Even like 15 years ago, no one was paying anywhere close to the prices we are paying now. Also, now with the crazy high interest rates around 7.9% and the removal of a lot of the subsidized loans. If you go to a school such as Tufts thats 400K from the start. By time you graduate, that interest already accrued a bunch since they removed a lot of the subsidized loans and raised interest rates. Imagine how much more accrue's over the 15- 20 years you repay that over, you do the math.
Anyways,
makes sure you explore everything thats important to you in addition with the things I mentioned in this post and the one before it. Also, make sure you talk to current students before making any decision! Good luck!

 

[RSalha17]

A few of the schools I got into were Temple, Tufts, BU, NYU, Penn, UCSF and a few others and I turned down some interviews because I heard back from the ones I was interested in on Dec 1st. I listed most of my reasons for UCSF in an above post.
Overall though, I would like to state that, pick a school that is a good combination of price and general happiness. I can't emphasize that enough.
School is getting more and more expensive every year. For example, several of those schools I mentioned above are 400K+.
I know when I was pre dent and people where talking about the importance of cost and at that time I didn't really think it was that big of a deal because "dentist make bank". Well, nowadays its not as profitable as it was before. Even like 15 years ago, no one was paying anywhere close to the prices we are paying now. Also, now with the crazy high interest rates around 7.9% and the removal of a lot of the subsidized loans. If you go to a school such as Tufts thats 400K from the start. By time you graduate, that interest already accrued a bunch since they removed a lot of the subsidized loans and raised interest rates. Imagine how much more accrue's over the 15- 20 years you repay that over, you do the math.
Anyways,
makes sure you explore everything thats important to you in addition with the things I mentioned in this post and the one before it. Also, make sure you talk to current students before making any decision! Good luck!

I appreciate that, all those are really good points thank you, but I am planning on doing either army or air force hpsp scholarship so luckily I don't have to really worry about the cost of tuition when choosing a school. As for talking to students, I feel that is a very good idea in getting an idea about not only the school, but how they like the city they are living in. I think that San Francisco is a great city and I feel like it would be a great place to live and transition to from seattle, because I have heard they are similar cities. Also, I have to get an acceptance before I can even worry about where I will go, so this is all just speculation anyway.

Do you like living in San Fran? And also how did you find a living situation? Do you live close to the school or far away? And how do you get to school every day? Bus or bike or car? What is the weather like in san fran? haha sorry for the 20 questions just curious about the city too, because I feel like you have to not only like the school but be happy about what city you are living in as well.

 

[UCSFx2017]

A few of the schools I got into were Temple, Tufts, BU, NYU, Penn, UCSF and a few others and I turned down some interviews because I heard back from the ones I was interested in on Dec 1st. I listed most of my reasons for UCSF in an above post.
Overall though, I would like to state that, pick a school that is a good combination of price and general happiness. I can't emphasize that enough.
School is getting more and more expensive every year. For example, several of those schools I mentioned above are 400K+.
I know when I was pre dent and people where talking about the importance of cost and at that time I didn't really think it was that big of a deal because "dentist make bank". Well, nowadays its not as profitable as it was before. Even like 15 years ago, no one was paying anywhere close to the prices we are paying now. Also, now with the crazy high interest rates around 7.9% and the removal of a lot of the subsidized loans. If you go to a school such as Tufts thats 400K from the start. By time you graduate, that interest already accrued a bunch since they removed a lot of the subsidized loans and raised interest rates. Imagine how much more accrue's over the 15- 20 years you repay that over, you do the math.
Anyways,
makes sure you explore everything thats important to you in addition with the things I mentioned in this post and the one before it. Also, make sure you talk to current students before making any decision! Good luck!

What state residency did you have? Was it California?

 

[DoWork91]

Hey thats a very good/ tough question.
When I would interview at schools, oftentimes, in advance, I would contact the school and have them put me in contact with some of the students there. I would plan to meet with the students when I would go to interview at the school.
I would then go to my interview, see how I felt about it, and then I would have some questions prepared for the students so that I got the best picture of how life is at the school.
In addition, for some schools, I contact alumni so that I had an idea of where the school was then vs now (current students).
I personally feel that talking with the students is the best idea your going to get about whats really going on within the school.
The people who typically volunteer for helping with interviews are the ones who are going to tell you that everything is great because thats what they are instructed to do. So I wouldn't ask them.
Regarding deciding between schools, I got into several and I picked the one where I felt I would be the most happy and the cheapest. Honestly, above prestige or whatever have you, really consider how happy you will be because dental school is very trying and if your not around a group of people that you can rely on and go through the trenches together with, or have a bunch of mean professors, your going to hate dental school/ life. Also, don't let cost fool you. Go to a cheap dental school. Don't say, oh this school is 200K and decent but the good school is 400K and i feel I will be happier at the 400K school.
When you get into dental school, you will have lectures on how to control your debt and its a much bigger problem than what people like to think. A lot of people have this idea that dentist make bank so the debt really isn't an issue. I'm telling, interest and the increasing cost of tuition is ridiculous.
Anyways, in terms of the best school that would make you a great dentist/ opportunities. For a great dentist- I think any school will prepare you well (although I would avoid USC if you could). In terms of opportunities- that is really up to you in terms of your work ethic and standing out amongst your class. Anyone can go to a school, great or decent and excel tremendously, get great letters of accomodation and go on to specialize or whatever you would like to do. I do think in some ways schools like Penn, UCSF, Columbia, UCLA, Harvard give you an advantage over some other schools but at the same time, if your in the bottom 10% of your class at a very competitive school like Penn, I think that is much worse than being in the top 20% at a lesser well known school.
Let me know if you have anymore questions!

Hey! I first want to say thanks for answering all our questions. I have a question about something you said in an earlier post. Exactly what advantage do you think going to schools like Penn, UCSF, Columbia, UCLA, or Harvard give you? I've heard such mixed reviews about this, in this forum and outside. I've met several practicing dentists (specialists and GPs) tell me that where you go to school matters zero in dentistry and I've read on this thread that name-brand does matter. What advantage do you think these schools give you exactly?

 

[UCSFx2017]

Hey! I first want to say thanks for answering all our questions. I have a question about something you said in an earlier post. Exactly what advantage do you think going to schools like Penn, UCSF, Columbia, UCLA, or Harvard give you? I've heard such mixed reviews about this, in this forum and outside. I've met several practicing dentists (specialists and GPs) tell me that where you go to school matters zero in dentistry and I've read on this thread that name-brand does matter. What advantage do you think these schools give you exactly?

Going to a state doesn't limit you. Those "name brand" schools have the consistency of attracting some of the most qualified applicants who are expected to do well regardless of what school they would've gone to. If you concentrate all those over-achieving students into a few institutions, it can appear as if a causal relationship of high specialization rate exists due to the school's curriculum, location, and staff. The school does play a small role but it is largely on the student's part that decides if he/she is admitted into a specialty program.

 

[Baker2010]

Hey! I first want to say thanks for answering all our questions. I have a question about something you said in an earlier post. Exactly what advantage do you think going to schools like Penn, UCSF, Columbia, UCLA, or Harvard give you? I've heard such mixed reviews about this, in this forum and outside. I've met several practicing dentists (specialists and GPs) tell me that where you go to school matters zero in dentistry and I've read on this thread that name-brand does matter. What advantage do you think these schools give you exactly?

I think UCSFx2016 summed it up very well.
Also, I woud like to add networking to the list. When you go to schools such as the ones mentioned above, the faculty/ professors, etc you are working with are high up people. By building relationships and networking with those people can help a lot in terms of what you want to do after dental school. Some people say the name doesn't matter at all, I personally don't feel that way. I feel as though the name doesn't stand alone but if you utilize it right, it can certainly be advantageous. For example, lets say you are applying to a specialty program. If you do a lot of networking and end up with a LOR from the dean of Columbia. I think that carries a lot more weight than lets say the dean of dean of Louisville.
Like I said, going to a "name brand" school isn't going to stand on its own but I believe that it can only help you and its up to the individual to make the most out of it

 

[Baker2010]

What state residency did you have? Was it California?

Nope, I'm from the east coast

 

[deleted475515]

Hey Friend,
theres a lot in your message lol
1. GPA and DAT are very important but unlike a lot of people believe, have a very high gpa and/or DAT is NOT the key to getting into the school of your choice. Its the entire package. For example, I know people who have had similar GPA/ DAT's as me and didn't even receive interviews to some of the same schools that I got interviewed at and accepted to and the same thing in reverse. Basically, each school is looking forward good stats with a combination of uniqueness. Like many of the people in my class don't have 3.8+ and 22+ DAT but they are some of the most amazing people you will ever meet. Some of the things they have done in the past/ their hobbies are very admirable, and their personalities are such that, if you met them without knowing their stats, you would want to give them a seat in your class.
2. In terms of what you should do. Right now, I would not consider another path because dentistry is a great profession and you can certainly get in somewhere. You already have two interview and like you said, they didn't say anything about your grades. The thing is, if a school is interviewing you, they WANT to accept you. Its just up to you to give them the extra confidence that they are making the right decision. They don't interview people that they do not think can handle the curriculum because if they accept people who can't handle the work and they flunk out then the school loses hundres of thousands of dollars. Anyways, stick to what you are doing, and ACE the hell out of your interviews. When it came time to interviews, I would read every single interview question I could get my hands on, write down notes about how to respond, I even recorded myself at times to ensure that my responses didn't sound/ look rehearsed ( even though some of them were).
3. If for w/e reason you didn't get in this year, I would strongly suggest a 1 year post bac program. I see your concern about how difficult it could be to raise a gpa if you have taken a bunch of credits already but the key point here is the upward curve. For example, student A: is applying to dental school with a 3.5 gpa and they have gotten around 3.4-3.6 range consistently each semester that averaged out to 3.5, that is not nearly as impressive as student B: who got a 2.9 gpa the first year and then later averaged in some increasing gpa's like 3.4, 3.7, 3.8 and then lets say it averages out to a 3.4gpa, which is lower than applicant A's gpa. An adcom would pick applicant B because 1. it shows the person can handle adversity 2. Towards they end, they did better than applicant A.
Also, the adversity part is crucial because even in dental school, a lot of kids come in who are stellar students all their life, they get A's on everything, and score well on standardized exams but then dental school knocks them on their ass and they do less than average and have no idea on how to adapt because they have never had to along their way to dental school because what they did always has worked. Applicant B knows how to change what they are doing if its not working. (I will vouche for this, that in my class at UCSF, its not necessarily the people with the highest incoming stats who are doing the best in the class)
4. I hope I answered your question well. I'm kinda rushing since I have two midterms tomorrow lol. but if you have any further questions, I'll be sure to respond with more attention soon!

Hey baker thanks for your previous advice! I'm actually pretty stoked because I just recently gained acceptance with my lower than average stats to one of the schools I applied to! I was wondering if you had any advice as to how I should prepare for the crazy difficult load (since I have around 7 months of idle time). Would it be more beneficial to take some more upper devision sciences? or take my local dentist up on an offer to learn some waxing techniques? The last thing I want to do is flunk out lol so I feel like some preparing could never be a bad thing I just want to do something that will help the most.