high DAT - high GPA - good app - no acceptance?

[Fat_Man]

Just wondering how many of us there are out there with DAT scores in the 20s, GPA's above 3.7, and overall good applications but who haven't received any acceptances as of yet . . .

I'm also wondering about interviews. It seems that if you didn't get your application in by June/July this year then you get the short end of the stick as far as interviews go. My application was sent in mid Sept., I have had 3 interviews out of the 12 schools applied to, but haven't been rejected from any of the others yet. Are schools even offering interviews any more? Are they just waiting till later to reject me?

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[vaio]

thats what i'd like to know as well? are spots filled up already? how late will this process really go?? is it fair to say that ~80% of spots are filled before the start of next year? i have a 3.6, with 20/19 dat, and only have 3 interviews with one for the alternate list, and I applied a little late (early september) as well.. i have gotten 2 rejections, and heard absolutely nothing from the others (12-13 applied)... i called LLU yesterday, and to my surprise they said that they haven't had a lot of ppl come in for interviews yet and there really slow on the whole admission process this year? <-is that even true !!!
i'm going crazy here with the mailbox,,,AAGHH!!!

 

[hokiedds]

No acceptances, 1 interview and that wasn't even at my state school. My application was complete and received by the schools in August. I don't have a degree either so that might be part of the problem. Thats one thing that puzzles me...why are schools so keen on only accepting students with degrees? I feel that I've taken plenty of difficult classes and I haven't gotten a B since my first semester of college...I've scored well on the DAT and gotten plenty of experience as a dental assistant...what else can I possibly do to prove how committed I am to being a dentist and that I can handle the workload in dental school? I guess I've just resigned myself to the fact that I wasted alot of money this cycle applying only to have to do it again next year. Oh well, I suppose there are greater tragedies in life than having an extra year with no responsibilities and plenty of time to do whatever I want.

 

[Mustt Mustt]

I think applying early is the key becasue schools like CASE, NOVA, may be Indiana etc. go on first come first serve base. So what they do is if they like an applicant in the earlier they invite them to interviews and accept them because there is not guarantee that better applicant would come around in march or later etc. This is how one school personnel explained to me. Most schools want the best students they can find so they accept all the students they think are good earlier. So, if you apply late, you will get accepted to a Dental school later but may be not to your first choice and you have to wait untill all those people decline who have multiple acceptances. I feel for you guys but I understand where school are coming from. My friend last year got accpted in May or something and he would have been accepted on Dec 1st if he had applied earlier. You guys with good stats have a chance.

 

[U2Me2]

A lot of people apply early. A LOT of people don't. The acceptance threads and postings show that some schools fill mailboxes on Dec 1. A LOT of schools don't.

There are many postings with observations consistant with vaio's LLU comment, covering many different schools.

If you applied only to schools that seem to have sent out a lot of acceptances in the past two weeks, there may be reason to worry. Personally I think there's a lot of open seats, and I think most schools don't treat the process as a sprint. There are many months left to do their work, and I think many schools use the time available.

Many early birds have multiple acceptances, so even those schools that rush to get done will have openings over the next month.

Hang in there.

 

[beredsox2]

I wouldn't worry guys. Each school has reasons for what they do. The schools that seem to be sending out more acceptances than others do so because they either a) have a large class size, b) have trouble with earlybird applicants using them as a second or third choice, c) really costly, or d) in a place people don't want to go. Then there are those schools that take their sweet time. They do that either because they are a) understaffed compared to some of the other schools (such as Detroit-Mercy) or b) are extremely picky about who they interview. Whichever way a school goes about filling their class, they all still finish filling their class in the spring. As long as you get an interview, you have a chance. Just think of it like that. No reason to be discouraged. It's only December!

 

[Hot pickle baby]

Just wondering how many of us there are out there with DAT scores in the 20s, GPA's above 3.7, and overall good applications but who haven't received any acceptances as of yet . . .

I'm also wondering about interviews. It seems that if you didn't get your application in by June/July this year then you get the short end of the stick as far as interviews go. My application was sent in mid Sept., I have had 3 interviews out of the 12 schools applied to, but haven't been rejected from any of the others yet. Are schools even offering interviews any more? Are they just waiting till later to reject me?

Contrary to popular belief, a candidate with below stats that applied in early may is MUCH better off than a candidate who has excellent credentials that applys late December. I am proof.

You gotta look at it this way, these professors dont get paid extra to do all this extra work, so why stretch their misery out for 7 months each year. These people are quick to select their classes these days.

I would say that most all schools are full now. However, there are going to be people that do not accept these positions so hang in there!

Also, the admission committes may not be meeting until after Christmas at this point so hang in there my man.

 

[hockeydentist]

Contrary to popular belief, a candidate with below stats that applied in early may is MUCH better off than a candidate who has excellent credentials that applys late December. I am proof.

You gotta look at it this way, these professors dont get paid extra to do all this extra work, so why stretch their misery out for 7 months each year. These people are quick to select their classes these days.

I would say that most all schools are full now. However, there are going to be people that do not accept these positions so hang in there!

Also, the admission committes may not be meeting until after Christmas at this point so hang in there my man.

Pickle give yourself some credit man. you were good enough to get accepted. You did all the right things! #1 you got your application in as early as possible. Half the battle right there.

HD

 

[syn_apse]

I would say that most all schools are full now.

i disagree

 

[maksidaa]

i don't think most schools are full either. i think they sent out a percentage of the possible acceptances to people they liked and are wating to see how many of those are going to commit or not. at this point we're probably not waiting on the schools but rather the people on this web site who haven;t decided where they want to go. a guy i interviewed with said that a month into interviews the adcom would all sit down and start selecting people that they wanted to select and by december they would have a pretty good idea of who they would send letters to. however, he said they would fill the class as they went along through the spring. also, one of the adcom people from UAB came to UGA and told us by mid-october they had unofficially accepted 17 or 18 people. they wouldn't know of course until some time in december, but if you do the math then by the end of november they would have accepted maybe 40 people with a class size of almost 60.

 

[Fat_Man]

Well, I got another interview invite this morning via phone. Guess I just need to be patient . . .

 

[Hot pickle baby]

Pickle give yourself some credit man. you were good enough to get accepted. You did all the right things! #1 you got your application in as early as possible. Half the battle right there.

HD

Yea your right!

plus I certainly wanted it more than these kids who are applying in December.

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING.

 

[Hot pickle baby]

i disagree

I disagree with your disagreement.

 

[Dutchboy]

Yea your right!

plus I certainly wanted it more than these kids who are applying in December.

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING.

And the award for the most vain person on SDN goes to........Hot Pickle Baby!!

Speech! Speech! Speech!

 

[USAF_Dentman]

Ok, so here is a hypothetical situation that correlates with this thread (BTW ITS about my situation)...


Say a student has a 3.6+ GPA (from Big Ten school), 20 AA DAT, half way decent LORs, volunteering/shadowing AND applies early (in MAY)..

BUT

I suck at interviews..(I have totally messed up every job interview) I gets real nervous, crackly voice and forget what i should say and usually say something stupid/dumb...

Have anyone like this been rejected from all schools they apply and not get in to any????

I will apply to about a dozen schools and am worried that the interview is what will kill my chances>>

 

[Dutchboy]

Ok, so here is a hypothetical situation that correlates with this thread (BTW ITS about my situation)...


Say a student has a 3.6+ GPA (from Big Ten school), 20 AA DAT, half way decent LORs, volunteering/shadowing AND applies early (in MAY)..

BUT

I suck at interviews..(I have totally messed up every job interview) I gets real nervous, crackly voice and forget what i should say and usually say something stupid/dumb...

Have anyone like this been rejected from all schools they apply and not get in to any????

I will apply to about a dozen schools and am worried that the interview is what will kill my chances>>

Your problem is in your attitude. If you have the mind set that you suck at interviewing and are going to say something dumb, guess what, you probably will. You need to be more confident, you are a great applicant and should have that attitude. My first interview I had for dental school didn't go quite that well. I was nervous, and at one point my voice even cracked. But I learned that there is nothing to be afraid of. Your interviews are going to be way laid back(unless you apply to Arizona), and just try to talk to them like you are talking to a friend(unless you drop a ton of profanity when talking to your friends like I am known to do at times). People always talk about having answers ready for the common questions you are going to hear in the interview. I tried this in my first interview and sounded like a dumb ass! If you just answer the questions on the spot they come across as more honest and more conversational.

 

[Fat_Man]

What you need to do is practice. Find somebody who has interviewed before and ask them to do a mock interview with you. Do it over and over again till you are comfortable then move on to someeone else. Ask them to help you get better. Most schools have interview workshops and stuff also.

 

[syn_apse]

interview tips:

- relax and be yourself, really*

- keep it short, don't ramble or try to sound smart

- listen to what your interviewer says, don't just think about what you'll say next

- know yourself and what makes you unique, stress it, but not repetitively


* most important thing to remember

 

[JessicaSimpson]

I suck at interviews..(I have totally messed up every job interview) I gets real nervous, crackly voice and forget what i should say and usually say something stupid/dumb...

What the others said, and, as a very, very last resort, pop a pill. Something anti-anxiety. If you can't get your hands on those, try nyquil or similar. But test it out beforehand so you know you won't be a zombie.

 

[Rezdawg]

pop a pill.

Go with Inderal, or a substitute like IC Propranolol. 20 mg should do the trick.

 

[Fat_Man]

Back to my original question please . . .