Because applications are expensive.
In the time I was rejected I obtained more volunteer hours, retook my DAT, and finishing up a masters. No, it wasn't a shocker. I've already retaken the DAT from 19 to 20, plus 20 is fine to indicate I'm more than my freshman GPA.
sorry but this is redundant. Providing volunteer services to lower-income individuals, as long as it is professionally productive, is still a volunteer service.
You're wrong, employment without pay is also known as "slavery"- seeing how I choose when to come in and when to leave, and I was there on my own volition it was most definitely volunteer work as opposed to the prior. Don't gatekeep whats volunteer work and whats not.
I've only really begin to pump in more hours altogether because I was in undergrad for 3 years with half of that under covid, and even then I was trying to scrape as many hours as possible while being a full time student.
except its not the same stuff. I've been busting my ass getting good grades in my masters course to show a positive trend since a personal issue in 2019-2020. My upward trend is very impressive. From my discussion with Colorado they were very impressed and pleased with everything, they just wished I had more dental office hours as opposed to my pantry hours.
Alright. If you believe that you are right, I nor anyone else can give you any advice that will stick to you. You do you.
I worked as a pre-health and dental advisory in a college for almost a decade, sending hundreds to med and dental schools. I know what I am talking about. I understand what schools seek for and how they interpret applications. Sadly, no school gives two s**t about what you think about their process nor what you believe.
Yes, applications are expensive. Do you want to go to dental school or not? These initial application fees are expensive? How do you plan to survive the costs in dental school? Have you looked into ADEA FAP? All of these should be considered as an investment. MAYBE, had you applied to more, you could have saved yourself a year or two. If you still think they're not worth it, I genuinely think you should drop all your doing and think of another career path.
You retook your DAT for a mere 1 point to a 20, and YOU think it's sufficient enough? You know you are a non-competitive applicant, yet you try to convince yourself to be "fine." Clearly, being rejected two cycles, without interviews, has already shown that it is not "fine."
"Working" as a DA in PRIVATE OFFICES, or a "low-income" dental clinic (whatever the hell that means), whether for a pay or not, is NOT a volunteer service. Are dentists working there voluntarily? All materials provided by donations? Patients, with insurance or not, NOT paying for any service? If not, IT IS NOT A VOLUNTEER SERVICE. It's shadowing at best. It goes under WORK EXPERIENCE in your CE/application. I don't care what YOU believe. Schools don't care what YOU believe.
You didn't bust your ass hard enough. Sorry, it is what it is. If every school you applied to found your stats or "trend" impressive, we wouldn't be having this conversation.
Acquired CPR and first aid certifications, reading self-improvement books, learning to code, and looking to apply to a new office to volunteer or work in.
You sound like one of my friends who is never improving himself in his field, does all the random crap, complains why he's not being hired, and stays in the same damn puddle. For 20 years. Earning 25 dollars an hour. With the exception of CPR certification, which by the way, only takes 1-2 hours in-person session, none of what you listed helps with your application. EVERYONE is "looking" to do something. Are you seriously telling me that this is all the extra stuff you did in 1-2 years of time while you were rejected? Oh, and trust me, you weren't the only one who has gone through the COVID times as a full time student.
As others have said: make yourself competitive. Show significant improvements. I see none of those. Why would schools even consider you as a NON-competitive applicant? They already get hundreds to thousands of competitive applicants. Is your plan to be at the bottom of the pool?
Your step one is understanding your reality. Get out of delusion. You sought for an advice and you've gotten them. Your stats are terrible. You are an average applicant at best. Your GPA is mediocre. Your improvements/trends are from B/B- in undergrad to B+ in masters. When people do masters to outweigh their terrible undergrad GPA, they're usually 3.8+. Get a grip. You didn't bust your ass off. The majority of students who actually bust their asses off would laugh at this. Show your competitiveness with a much higher DAT, 23+. Get out there and work.
Sorry if I sounded harsh. You need a wake up call. Also, I think you were either too stubborn in your ways in college or your pre-health advisor was terrible. Or both.
I am done. Good luck to you.
