How competitive is getting into Dental school?

[luckyzero]

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thought you guys (and girls) would know the answer to this one 😀

 

[Bickle]

Hmm.. that really is hard to gauge. Put it this way, if it was easy to get into dental school, there would be no need for message boards such as this one!

Good luck

 

[ecdoesit]

put it this way.
this year supposes to have the highest number of applicants.
this is against the applicants since the school can pick us.

 

[jack604]

I sent my application to AADSAS in mid july and my AADSAS # was already 4600... guess there are lots of applicants this yr...

 

[Bickle]

Originally posted by jack604
I sent my application to AADSAS in mid july and my AADSAS # was already 4600... guess there are lots of applicants this yr...

I also sent my app in mid july (16th). My number is 1840, I guess July is a log jam when it comes to applying to AADSAS

 

[Barry20]

How do you find out what your AADSAS # is? When I try to call, it always says they are too busy and that I should call back later or email them. I sent my app in about 3 weeks ago. How long does it take to hear from AADSAS?

Thanks

 

[Bickle]

Originally posted by NicolasPorter
How do you find out what your AADSAS # is? When I try to call, it always says they are too busy and that I should call back later or email them. I sent my app in about 3 weeks ago. How long does it take to hear from AADSAS?

Thanks

I emailed them and asked how far along the process I was. They sent me a message back stating:

My aadsas #
Reference letters recieved so far
Transcripts recieved

I cant remember their email address, but if you call them, the recording will tell you their email address.

I also tried to talk to them on the phone, but no luck, so I just email them instead.

 

[blankguy]

Originally posted by ecdoesit
put it this way.
this year supposes to have the highest number of applicants.
this is against the applicants since the school can pick us.

I suppose it won't be that much different next year.🙄

I'm hoping that this won't last any longer and slacken within the next 2 or 3 years.😳

 

[aphistis]

Originally posted by blankguy
I'm hoping that this won't last any longer and slacken within the next 2 or 3 years.😳

I wouldn't count on that. Dentistry is looking more and more appealing to a lot of people, and schools and the ADA are keeping a relatively tight rein on the number of newbies entering the profession. Maybe that'll change as the decreasing dentist/population ratio becomes more pronounced over the next 10-15 years, but I wouldn't hold your breath in the short term.

 

[Barry20]

Thanks dentaldream. I will try to contact them and see what happens. Has anyone mentioned how horrible this process is? 😕

 

[scandalouslj]

Well it alll depends on what school you are talking about. Some schools like Tennesee only got 500 applicants when I applied and accepted 100. Indiana got somewhere between 1000-1200 applicants and accepts around 100 also. Upenn got over 1500 applicants and ended up having a class of 115 this year.

 

[ItsGavinC]

As of yesterday, Friday, Arizona has over 680 applicants, for 54 spots. They are estimating near 3,000 applications, but I think AADSAS is sort of at a bottleneck and hasn't sent out the bulk of applications.

The previous post where the AADSAS# jumped from 1840 to 4600 (2760 spots!) in a matter of a week or two confirms this.

So, competition can be VERY stiff.

 

[blankguy]

I'm suspecting if this keeps up they may just use a cutoff(GPA and DAT) to eliminate some candidates instead of poring through their applications.😡

 

[ItsGavinC]

Originally posted by blankguy
I'm suspecting if this keeps up they may just use a cutoff(GPA and DAT) to eliminate some candidates instead of poring through their applications.😡

Most schools already do. I experienced this first-hand last year.

 

[PERFECT3434]

its amazing how AADSAS #'s could jump so fast. i sent my app on the 1st day and was in 100-150 range. my friend sent his two afew days later and was in 600-650 range.

you never know. the sooner the better and yep there is gonna be a lot of competition and i think most schools now are gonna look at DAT and GPA.

i know Ohio State does. they didn't even wait for my DAT and flat out rejected me based on my GPA. Maryland rejected me for my GPA eventhough i met or had slightly higher DAT's than their avg's.

 

[blankguy]

How do they handle Graduate GPA?

 

[ItsGavinC]

Originally posted by PERFECT3434
its amazing how AADSAS #'s could jump so fast. i sent my app on the 1st day and was in 100-150 range. my friend sent his two afew days later and was in 600-650 range.

you never know. the sooner the better and yep there is gonna be a lot of competition and i think most schools now are gonna look at DAT and GPA.

i know Ohio State does. they didn't even wait for my DAT and flat out rejected me based on my GPA. Maryland rejected me for my GPA eventhough i met or had slightly higher DAT's than their avg's.

I had similar experiences last year -- rejected before even receiving secondaries.

 

[arns51]

Is it even possible for the AADSAS number to go from 1840 to 4600 within a week? I applied in late June and my number is around 1200. It makes sense that the number would be reaching close to 2000 by mid July (which I believe is higher than mid July of last year). Anybody else have a number higher than 4600?

 

[Percocet]

It's interesting that I applied Aug 11th of last year and was #2840. This year is probably the culmination of the people who went back to school after the dot com bust and the economy tanked. We might be back to 1970's levels.
Good Luck to All...

Perc--

 

[blankguy]

I just talked to an admission person at BU dental. She reported that last year(or application cycle as people put it on this board) they received 2100, but the year before it was 2500. So it has actually gone down for BU dental. Also the average GPA was 3.2
I'm not clear if its for the applicant pool or people that have been accepted. They like to see 19 across the board for DAT. Her words were" we would like to see 19 on all sections..." I asked her if this meant for consideration and she said yes. 😕

What do you guys and gals think of this?

 

[scandalouslj]

We just had orientation and for Upenn they already have 600 applications for about 100 spots. For our class the avg GPA was 3.55 and the sci GPA was 3.45 for a class of 108.

 

[blankguy]

What is the average DAT score in your class? Could it be the fact that Upenn has such high statistics that are scaring people from applying?

 

[KDBuff]

Whoever replied that their aadsas # was 4600 has to be way off. I submitted my application July 28, and my # was 2406. So it looks like the numbers may be a bit up, but aren't terribly higher than last year as of now.

 

[scandalouslj]

Sorry im not sure about the avg DAT, but I know last year it was straight 19, 20's on everything. I dont think that that many people are afraid of applying considering they already have 600 applications and its only august. A majority of people dont submit addsas until oct. I do know cost might be a big factor in people not applying, as it is a very expensive private school (but not the most). But it is def worth it. Becuase we are paying for things many other schools dont have, such as dent sims ( we were drilling on teeth the first day! Most schools dont start until jan) Kegs in the courtyard on fridays to mingle with the professors, and much much more.

 

[FMLizard]

Dental school cannot be a knee jerk reaction, as it is a career for life, more or less. It has to be a choice made not because of today's economic meltdown, but for the long term.

Also, websites such as SDN have made it more than clear to a ton of applicants that it is important to apply early. Thus, I would imagine that more people are applying earlier in the cycle, skewing the numbers in a front-loaded manner. After all, what is the first thing people tell you to do on your app, besides doing well on the DAT?

Apps should rise slightly during the downturn, but the serious commitment that dentistry requires will keep it from being a deluge.