Ideal Applicant for OMFS Panel Q&A

[Typical Average Student]

I will have the chance to talk to a panel of oral surgeons here at my school (UT-Houston) about what an ideal applicant looks like and am compiling a list of questions that y'all may have.
Please feel free to comment them below and I will be sure to ask them. I will have the answers by Jan 23rd.

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[Member 6236]

Can you how much extracurriculars matter and WHAT types of EC's do they like to see? For example, would they prefer to see things like leadership positions in an OMFS club or volunteering for things like Give Kids A Smile?

Also how necessary is research for our application? I am sure many people are wondering about that.

 

[Steins;Gate]

As Member 6236 asked, how valuable is OMFS related research for the application?

 

[Expert]

I will have the chance to talk to a panel of oral surgeons here at my school (UT-Houston) about what an ideal applicant looks like and am compiling a list of questions that y'all may have.
Please feel free to comment them below and I will be sure to ask them. I will have the answers by Jan 23rd.

For those applicants who don't have the highest rank (not in top 10, or 15, but in top 1/3, or something like that) can an extremely high CBSE score make up for that? I'm especially curious to know what they think about this. Thanks a lot!

 

[hopefuldentist123]

How differently do they view students that are at state schools with class rank and letter grades vs. those at institutions like ivies with P/F and no class rank? For instance, would a student at an ivy be more looked upon than a student ranked in the 25th percentile of their state dental school?

 

[Racquetball3r]

I would like to know a few common things they feel would prevent an applicant from being accepted in spite of an otherwise high class rank and CBSE.

Also what helped them keep their motivation through long years of school and residency

 

[discensdentibus]

when comparing applicants from same school/class, what is more important? CBSE or GPA? ex: Student 1: 3.95 and 75 CBSE vs student 2 : 3.90 and 80 CBSE. At what point does a difference in grades or CBSE become too small to put one person ahead of another and require a more holistic consideration? Or inversely, when would a difference in GPA/CBSE between two students become large enough that other application factors (EC, letters, research) would not be enough to fill the gap?

Also, is messaging current residents and looking at curriculum breakdown the best way to assess the strength of a program?

 

[yappy]

when comparing applicants from same school/class, what is more important? CBSE or GPA? ex: Student 1: 3.95 and 75 CBSE vs student 2 : 3.90 and 80 CBSE. At what point does a difference in grades or CBSE become too small to put one person ahead of another and require a more holistic consideration? Or inversely, when would a difference in GPA/CBSE between two students become large enough that other application factors (EC, letters, research) would not be enough to fill the gap?

Also, is messaging current residents and looking at curriculum breakdown the best way to assess the strength of a program?

Both would receive multiple offers from residency programs. What carries more weight with programs: CBSE or GPA? Is that what you're getting at?

 

[discensdentibus]

Both would receive multiple offers from residency programs. What carries more weight with programs: CBSE or GPA? Is that what you're getting at?

Inter-dental school CBSE makes sense.. As it is hard to compare GPA against applicants from varied school. However, within a dental school, what carries more weight CBSE vs GPA and at what point would the one carrying less weight beat out the one that carried more weight? EX: student gets 74 on cbse and 3.7; student 2 from same school gets a 71, or even 70 on cbse but has a 3.8 GPA

 

[alDente]

Inter-dental school CBSE makes sense.. As it is hard to compare GPA against applicants from varied school. However, within a dental school, what carries more weight CBSE vs GPA and at what point would the one carrying less weight beat out the one that carried more weight? EX: student gets 74 on cbse and 3.7; student 2 from same school gets a 71, or even 70 on cbse but has a 3.8 GPA

Programs have hard cutoffs for gpa/cbse for interviews but they will not rank applicants based on gpa or cbse. They value how well you will fit in with the residents and your personality more than your stats during your interview.

 

[Typical Average Student]

Can you how much extracurriculars matter and WHAT types of EC's do they like to see? For example, would they prefer to see things like leadership positions in an OMFS club or volunteering for things like Give Kids A Smile?
Also how necessary is research for our application? I am sure many people are wondering about that.

As Member 6236 asked, how valuable is OMFS related research for the application?

Research is not necessarily required but if you do not have it, you should be able to make up for the lack with other extracurriculars. Of course you should be able to talk about your research/volunteering/organizations. Another thing is research is interesting in that it presents the candidate in a different way, especially in terms of how they think. Which is something you should consider.

For those applicants who don't have the highest rank (not in top 10, or 15, but in top 1/3, or something like that) can an extremely high CBSE score make up for that? I'm especially curious to know what they think about this. Thanks a lot!

Of course students are evaluated on their characteristic traits, ethics being the most important. Though you should note that students with a high rank (top 10) but a less than 65 CBSE will end up with 2-3 interviews. Students with a high CBSE (75+) but not as high rank will typically have 10+ interviews.

I would like to know a few common things they feel would prevent an applicant from being accepted in spite of an otherwise high class rank and CBSE.
Also what helped them keep their motivation through long years of school and residency

One thing that was particularly surprising to me was that if you are planning on applying to a 6 year program, if you have an undergraduate GPA of less than 3.3 or 3.2, you will have a very hard time getting in. They seem to have a cut off undergrad GPA when looking for candidates. So, undergrad GPA matters! Who knew! ***
Also, an obvious thing is criminal records, particularly repeat offenses.

 

[786783]

Research is not necessarily required but if you do not have it, you should be able to make up for the lack with other extracurriculars. Of course you should be able to talk about your research/volunteering/organizations. Another thing is research is interesting in that it presents the candidate in a different way, especially in terms of how they think. Which is something you should consider.


Of course students are evaluated on their characteristic traits, ethics being the most important. Though you should note that students with a high rank (top 10) but a less than 65 CBSE will end up with 2-3 interviews. Students with a high CBSE (75+) but not as high rank will typically have 10+ interviews.


One thing that was particularly surprising to me was that if you are planning on applying to a 6 year program, if you have an undergraduate GPA of less than 3.3 or 3.2, you will have a very hard time getting in. They seem to have a cut off undergrad GPA when looking for candidates. So, undergrad GPA matters! Who knew! ***

I wonder if any dental student with killer grades and CBSE goes back to undergrad to pull up GPA to a reasonable number, or to meet the cutoff values. I personally know people who have seriously considered this. It's somewhat ridiculous.

 

[Puff-]

I wonder if any dental student with killer grades and CBSE goes back to undergrad to pull up GPA to a reasonable number, or to meet the cutoff values. I personally know people who have seriously considered this. It's somewhat ridiculous.

No chance.