How to be accepted to UCLA dental school?

[helprosie]

UCLA is the main dental school I want to go to. If you were accepted to UCLA, can you please give me some advice? Like what was your overall GPA, science GPA, major, DAT scores, and if you had any work experience or shadowing hours. My major is business administration and I start my first year of college this fall at GA Tech.


Since I will be considered out-of-state, how can I set myself apart from the rest? What can I do to really impress UCLA and make myself worthy enough?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[pikachurro]

https://www.dentistry.ucla.edu/learning/interviews-selection-factors

 

[whitepapertree]

You're at a disadvantage already with being out of state. However, if you can keep pristine grades you should be fine. Business Administration will mean you will need a lot of outside of your major courses, probably forcing you into summer sessions or an extra semester (or two) in order to get a solid amount of prerequisites and science fundamental courses. Of course, as you won't have many science courses so you'll need to do WELL in these courses as your sGPA will be very fluid with each course you take.

 

[BeaverLover]

Oh man look @ their class of 2018 stats page, CRAZY

 

[helprosie]

You're at a disadvantage already with being out of state. However, if you can keep pristine grades you should be fine. Business Administration will mean you will need a lot of outside of your major courses, probably forcing you into summer sessions or an extra semester (or two) in order to get a solid amount of prerequisites and science fundamental courses. Of course, as you won't have many science courses so you'll need to do WELL in these courses as your sGPA will be very fluid with each course you take.

I hate how being out of state gives me a disadvantage since there's only one dental school in my state and it's not like they have unlimited seats for everyone applying in-state. I am going to do summer classes. Thanks for the reply!

 

[whitepapertree]

I hate how being out of state gives me a disadvantage since there's only one dental school in my state and it's not like they have unlimited seats for everyone applying in-state. I am going to do summer classes. Thanks for the reply!

The biggest issue with being out of state is when you're trying to get into Californian schools (UCSF, UCLA). Particularly UCLA where in-state is averaging 23 DAT and 3.9's or whatever, you need to really stand out as OOS somehow.

 

[nonociceptors]

I hate how being out of state gives me a disadvantage since there's only one dental school in my state and it's not like they have unlimited seats for everyone applying in-state. I am going to do summer classes. Thanks for the reply!

You have to recognize that CA's population is almost 4x greater than that of GA and there are probably more than 4x as many CA students applying to dental schools. So while your state has one school, you're not getting the short end of the stick with regard to an acceptance to dental school. But if you were just talking about getting into UCLA in particular, idk what to say. It's a public state school and CA residents are in the same boat as you when applying to OOS publics...

 

[Doctor Asnan]

I wanted to apply here too. OOS, 3.90/3.85 sci with 21/21/18 DAT. Honestly just think I'd be throwing money away applying anywhere in Cali.

 

[BYU4you]

I wanted to apply here too. OOS, 3.90/3.85 sci with 21/21/18 DAT. Honestly just think I'd be throwing money away applying anywhere in Cali.

Except the fact that 3 of the 5 are private...?

 

[Doctor Asnan]

Except the fact that 3 of the 5 are private...?

Yea but still there are alot of people in Cali that want to go to dental school so they get ALOT of application. Also, Cali is not the best place to live/ work as a dentist. Saturated and high cost of liviing

 

[OSUkid]

California is a terrible state, the flat houses, the weather, the people, just everything. I am a New York kinda guy.

 

[ajj70]

You have to recognize that CA's population is almost 4x greater than that of GA and there are probably more than 4x as many CA students applying to dental schools. So while your state has one school, you're not getting the short end of the stick with regard to an acceptance to dental school. But if you were just talking about getting into UCLA in particular, idk what to say. It's a public state school and CA residents are in the same boat as you when applying to OOS publics...

Oddly enough, UCS does not have the most applications though. Last year they had 1266 fewer applications than NYU did. Boston, Tufts and Temple also had more applications.

 

[nonociceptors]

Oddly enough, UCS does not have the most applications though. Last year they had 1266 fewer applications than NYU did. Boston, Tufts and Temple also had more applications.

Well that's exactly what I'd expect. NYU, Boston, tufts, and temple are private schools which people from any state are equally likely to get accepted into = more apps

 

[crankymonkey]

Temple is now public institution. Idk how does that affect their admission preferences.

 

[DentalLonghorn2014]

UCLA is the main dental school I want to go to. If you were accepted to UCLA, can you please give me some advice? Like what was your overall GPA, science GPA, major, DAT scores, and if you had any work experience or shadowing hours. My major is business administration and I start my first year of college this fall at GA Tech.


Since I will be considered out-of-state, how can I set myself apart from the rest? What can I do to really impress UCLA and make myself worthy enough?

Truthfully, there really is no "magic number" to get you into a certain school. Besides the things you mentioned, schools look for certain qualities found in interviews. What are they? No one really knows besides adcoms. A high DAT/GPA helps your chances but is in NO way a guarantee. I strongly advise you to apply to other schools as well when the time comes, friend.