How many applications is excessive?

[jeanniebluebird]

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I am a predental post-bacc student and I just finished speaking to my pre-MED advisor. She suggested that for dental, 10 schools is plenty. I was thinking of applying to at least 15! Is this tooo much? I am not concerned about the money or the extra work that i have to put in. I wonder if the admissions commitees somehow know what other schools you are applying to and judge you negatively if you apply to too many schools.

I just dont want to be too conservative and then not get in somewhere.

 

[pbure]

I am a predental post-bacc student and I just finished speaking to my pre-MED advisor. She suggested that for dental, 10 schools is plenty. I was thinking of applying to at least 15, if not 25! Is this tooo much? I am not concerned about the money or the extra work that i have to put in. I wonder if the admissions commitees somehow know what other schools you are applying to and judge you negatively if you apply to too many schools.

My undergrad GPA was 3.35, majored in math. My post bacc GPA is 4.0 but i havent pulled over a 17 on my Practice DAT's yet. ( planning on taking the exam in August.)I just dont want to be too conservative and then not get in somewhere.

ya 25 is too much. i'd cap it at around 15..no more than that. make sure you choose the right 15 tho..thats important.

 

[syn_apse]

if you're poor and qualified, 5 is good

 

[drengineer]

Well my question is that do the adcoms have a way of finding out how many other schools and what other schools you have applied to?

 

[festac]

Well my question is that do the adcoms have a way of finding out how many other schools and what other schools you have applied to?

No! I was always asked what other schools I applied to.

 

[DB#1]

Now I don't know if you realize this, but 25 schools is a lot of work, trust I speak from experience, it's like a full time job for 2 months, sending fees, photos, secondary essays, etc.

I would say peak at 20 and probably end up seriously considering about 10.

The adcoms have no way of knowing how many or which schools you applied to. Out of the 4 interviews that I attended, only one asked about this. I only told him the schools that I was seriously considering (7-8), and he wasn't suprised or anything.

 

[Generallee]

Well my question is that do the adcoms have a way of finding out how many other schools and what other schools you have applied to?

I don't know, but I have an inkling that they do....because on my application when you click on "designations', I read the following:

"Your designated institutions have instant access to your entire application on-line including your AADSAS GPAs. Part of this service, AADSAS sends a printed copy of your application via UPS to all of your designated schools, which may take up to 2 weeks in the mail."

 

[Sprgrover]

Well my question is that do the adcoms have a way of finding out how many other schools and what other schools you have applied to?

I doubt adcoms really care how many schools you apply to and if you end up applying to 10 or 15 schools you'll hardly be alone. I suggest that you apply to as many that you can afford and to those that you feel you have a good chance at and are genuinely interested in. Best of luck!

 

[SunnyD0119]

i applied to 29.....you can take some away later and just not submit the stuff and ask for your app to be withdrawn...i figure this b/c i havent taken teh DAT yet...when i get my scores i'll take it down a couple of schools
but just in case i want my app to be reviewed early in any situation so i designated any i was thinking about

 

[hockeydentist]

i applied to 29.....you can take some away later and just not submit the stuff and ask for your app to be withdrawn...i figure this b/c i havent taken teh DAT yet...when i get my scores i'll take it down a couple of schools
but just in case i want my app to be reviewed early in any situation so i designated any i was thinking about

Is this on mommy and daddys bill! I say stick with 10 solid choices. Key is picking the right schools.

HD

 

[v&andy_yankee]

I am a predental post-bacc student and I just finished speaking to my pre-MED advisor. She suggested that for dental, 10 schools is plenty. I was thinking of applying to at least 15, if not 25! Is this tooo much? I am not concerned about the money or the extra work that i have to put in. I wonder if the admissions commitees somehow know what other schools you are applying to and judge you negatively if you apply to too many schools.

My undergrad GPA was 3.35, majored in math. My post bacc GPA is 4.0 but i havent pulled over a 17 on my Practice DAT's yet. ( planning on taking the exam in August.)I just dont want to be too conservative and then not get in somewhere.

15, 25 is way too much. remember that you have to pay the AADSAS AND the dental school for applying--the average is probably around $120 per school for the entire application. and then if you do interviews--it'll be around $500 per interview.

if you do your research on the schools (even if your DAT isn't too hot) you should be able to narrow your choices down to 6-8. that is all you really need to apply to--2-3 safeties, 2-3 middles, and 2 reaches. dental schools don't operate that randomly, if your GPA and DAT scores fit the profile of their incoming classes, you're good to go. there isn't a reason for you to apply to 15 just because you're paranoid that they will reject you for no reason (because they won't!).

 

[jeanniebluebird]

Thanks to everyone for your help. I will definitely cut my list down.

 

[DB#1]

I don't know, but I have an inkling that they do....because on my application when you click on "designations', I read the following:

"Your designated institutions have instant access to your entire application on-line including your AADSAS GPAs. Part of this service, AADSAS sends a printed copy of your application via UPS to all of your designated schools, which may take up to 2 weeks in the mail."

The statement is true, however, I have seen the sheet that the adcoms get from AADSAS (one of my interviewers let me take a quick look at it 😎 ). It has everything, but the box where all the schools that the applicants had applied is empty.

 

[onetoothleft]

It is good at this point to be considering 25 schools. I think you will need to narrow this down after you take the DAT. Depending on how you do compared to the average matriculant of each school you will be able to narrow your choices quite a bit. Great GPA to start with though!

 

[ISU_Steve]

When you get called for an interview by a school and think to yourself, "I don't remember applying to BU.....", then you know you've applied to too many schools.

 

[adamlc18]

The statement is true, however, I have seen the sheet that the adcoms get from AADSAS (one of my interviewers let me take a quick look at it 😎 ). It has everything, but the box where all the schools that the applicants had applied is empty.

The first school I interviewed at specifically asked about other programs I had applied to by name, and I hadn't mentioned where else I applied so I am not sure how they knew. But it doesn't matter if they know where else you are applying. They expect you to apply to other places as well. Just tell them why you like their school and what makes it stand out from the other places you applied.