Help with narrowing down dental school list

[MadTalker505]

Hey guys, I just finished taking my DAT and am planning on submitting my application before the end of June or into early July. I have updated my post to fit into the given template. I hope this paints a clearer picture of who I am as an applicant. I would appreciate any help in narrowing my school list. Thanks in advance! My stats are:

Date of submission: End of June/Early July
Overall GPA: 3.94
Science GPA: 3.92
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: 3.90
DAT score (include AA and all sections): 23AA/22TS/18PAT
(21 QR, 25 RC, 21 Bio, 24 gen Chem, 24 ochem)
State of Residence: California

Major: Biochemistry (department honors program)
Minor: N/A
Minority? No
Reapplicant? No
Nontrad? No

Shadowing Experience: 240 hours with one general dentist. When staff members were out or busy I would sometimes step in and do some minor (unpaid) assisting.
Volunteering Experience: 75 hours total.
60 of these hours were as a member of my church's worship team. This involved assisting in the musical component of the weekly church services where I served as the keyboardist. We would meet an additional time each week to plan the set for each service and rehearse.
15 of these hours were as an English tutor helping students from Mongolia with their written and verbal English skills. Tutors like myself were responsible for constructing lesson plans and running the tutoring sessions. After the sessions ended my "student" would occasionally reach out to me for help with essays they were working on for scholarships and other things but I am not counting these interactions in the overall hour count.
Additionally, through my involvement in Alpha Chi Sigma (my school's professional chemistry fraternity), I have participated in other volunteer activities like our hosting of the ACS barbeque for our school's chemistry department and science fairs around our local community. My role as the current vice president also requires me to plan and host at least one philanthropy event for this upcoming semester. This is not counted under my volunteer hours however because I placed my involved in Alpha Chi Sigma as one of my extracurriculars despite the volunteer aspect.
Employment:
1080 hours working in the pro-shop of my local golf course. During my time there I was responsible completing transactions for customers, managing the pro-shop (towards the middle of my shifts after my superiors left, making me responsible for "managing" the golf course), helping the outside crew when needed, as well as regripping golf clubs in the proper manner which is something I mentioned in the manual dexterity section of my application.
168 hours as a Physics Teaching Assistant at my university. My role here is to help the students in my sections and resolve any questions or concerns. In addition I am the primary grader of the work they turn in.
48 hours as a cashier at sizzler. I would take customer orders and resolve customer complaints similar to my job at the golf course.
Research: 225 hours of interdisciplinary microbiological and chemistry based research. I am currently working on my own project involving structural elucidation of a GLP produced by the bacteria we are studying. This project is what will eventually become the foundation for my undergraduate thesis that I have to write and give a presentation on as part of the honors portion of my Biochemistry degree. We also plan on publishing these findings.
Other Extracurriculars: Current VMA (VP) of my schools Alpha Chi Sigma fraternity and the former chapter reporter (secretary) that kept things up to date between our chapter and the national chapter.
Relevant Honors or Awards: Membership in my school's chapter of the Phi Kappa Phi honor society and I have made my school's Dean's list every semester.
LOR type and strength: 3 Individual LOR total. One from my Organic chemistry professor (strong), one from my dentist (strong), and one from my general chemistry professor who is also my faculty advisor and research advisor (strong).
Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags:
I am a certified BLS (basic life support) provider. Some of the hobbies that I listed under the manual dexterity section were my experience as a golfer (both work experience and my high school golf team, playing the sport and club regripping etc.), my skill as a piano (high school jazz band) and guitar player (songwriting and playing in general), and my experience in both Jiu-jitsu and Tae kwon do.
No red flags.
School list:

1. AT Still (Az and Missouri)
2. USC
3. UCLA
4. UCSF
5. UOP Dugoni
6. Western U
7. UNC
8. Pitt
9. UPenn
10. University of Kentucky
11. UTHSC
12. MUSC
13. Midwestern AZ
14. VCU
15. OHSU
16. KC university (Missouri)
17. University of Colorado

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[macsak]

Hey guys, I just finished taking my DAT and am planning on submitting my application before the end of June. I would appreciate any help in narrowing my school list. I’m not sure how heavily weighed the PAT is. Thanks in advance! My stats are:

California resident
DAT: 23AA/22TS/18PAT
(21 QR, 25 RC, 21 Bio, 24 gen Chem, 24 ochem)
cGPA: 3.94
sGPA: 3.92

Shadowing: 240 hrs, Research: 225 hrs, Work experience: 1100+ hours, volunteer: 75 hrs
Current VP of my schools professional chemistry fraternity, CPR certified

School list:
1. AT Still (Az and Missouri)
2. USC
3. UCLA
4. UCSF
5. UOP Dugoni
6. Western U
7. UNC
8. Pitt
9. UPenn
10. University of Kentucky
11. UTHSC
12. MUSC
13. Midwestern AZ
14. VCU
15. OHSU
16. KC university (Missouri)
17. University of Colorado

how did you choose your list?

 

[Ryxndek]

how did you choose your list?

Agreed. Can definitely narrow this list down and toss some schools out.

 

[MadTalker505]

how did you choose your list?

I did it primarily based on locations that I would like to live if accepted to dental school there. I also know people from my university (ca residents) that were accepted to OHSU, UPenn etc. I tried to add a mix of more competitive and less competitive schools (to make sure I get in somewhere this cycle) because I didn’t know the outcome of my DAT at the time. If I can afford to be picky I’d like to eliminate some of the more expensive ones I’m just not sure if that PAT score will weigh me down.

 

[macsak]

I did it primarily based on locations that I would like to live if accepted to dental school there. I also know people from my university (ca residents) that were accepted to OHSU, UPenn etc. I tried to add a mix of more competitive and less competitive schools (to make sure I get in somewhere this cycle) because I didn’t know the outcome of my DAT at the time. If I can afford to be picky I’d like to eliminate some of the more expensive ones I’m just not sure if that PAT score will weigh me down.

lol 18 PAT will not be an issue
please fill out a full WAMC template...

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I am missing relevant information about what makes you "cool" to be with as a student or apprentice to a dentist-preceptor. Why should my school interview you? Dental school admissions is not a transactional process.

 

[MadTalker505]

lol 18 PAT will not be an issue
please fill out a full WAMC template..

I just edited the original post, I hope this paints a clear picture of who I am as an applicant. Thanks again!

 

[MadTalker505]

I am missing relevant information about what makes you "cool" to be with as a student or apprentice to a dentist-preceptor. Why should my school interview you? Dental school admissions is not a transactional process

Oh, I never thought about it that way, I think I got a bit too caught up in all the stat heavily elements of my application. I appreciate the insight! I edited my original post to include some more detail into my experiences and other hobbies that I am involved in. (Including what I wrote under the manual dexterity portion). I hope that gives more insight into who I am as a complete applicant!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Okay... I'm not sure how impressive your community service volunteering is. You are involved with campus activities, but being around marginalized populations is not obvious from your descriptions. Virtual tutoring for children in a different country is not going to be the same as working with local children whose parents are wary of bringing their children to the dentist due to costs.

Most dental school clinics will work with individuals without any secure way to pay for dental care, and I'm not sure there will be significant overlap with those you have worked with in your customer service positions. That may be something that makes your application not be as strong for programs like Midwestern or AT Still Arizona, which will have a strong core value of serving underserved indigenous or rural communities (because it is Arizona). The schools placed in highly urban centers like U of Pacific or UCSF also have a strong community service component. I say this from impressions from visiting all of the schools and knowing their service/curricular outreach. You should apply to your in-states, but the schools are very different. (You could try Loma Linda if your faith identity is that critical.)

Now I think you'll get attention with interviews. Just make sure you practice and expand your mind to opportunities of providing charitable dental care..

 

[MadTalker505]

Okay... I'm not sure how impressive your community service volunteering is. You are involved with campus activities, but being around marginalized populations is not obvious from your descriptions. Virtual tutoring for children in a different country is not going to be the same as working with local children whose parents are wary of bringing their children to the dentist due to costs.

Most dental school clinics will work with individuals without any secure way to pay for dental care, and I'm not sure there will be significant overlap with those you have worked with in your customer service positions. That may be something that makes your application not be as strong for programs like Midwestern or AT Still Arizona, which will have a strong core value of serving underserved indigenous or rural communities (because it is Arizona). The schools placed in highly urban centers like U of Pacific or UCSF also have a strong community service component. I say this from impressions from visiting all of the schools and knowing their service/curricular outreach. You should apply to your in-states, but the schools are very different. (You could try Loma Linda if your faith identity is that critical.)

Now I think you'll get attention with interviews. Just make sure you practice and expand your mind to opportunities of providing charitable dental care..

I appreciate the insight, looking at it now community service in that regard is definitely a weaker point in my app (because of the demographic you mentioned) despite me having some. I’ll definitely look into more dental related/underserved volunteer opportunities. Thanks!