Interview invitations

[jlv1014]

I am a Minnesota resident and was invited for an interview at Minnesota School of Dentistry via email on 8/10/2023. I interviewed on 9/7 (the first day of interviews), but have not heard back from any of the OOS schools that I applied to yet. Should I be worried?


Date of submission: 6/14
Overall GPA: 3.97
Science GPA: 3.93
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: 3.9
DAT score (include AA and all sections): I19AA/18 PAT/18 QR/19 RC/21 BIO/18 GEN CHEM/18 OCHEM/19 TOTAL SCIENCE
State of Residence: Minnesota, USA

Major: Biology
Minority? No
Reapplicant? No

Shadowing Experience: 100+
Volunteering Experience: 39 hours volunteering working with people w/ disabilities, currently volunteering as an assistant collegiate track and field coach
Employment: 1.5 years (current) as an unlicensed dental assistant
Research: 3 different research experiences from STEM classes in college
Other Extracurriculars: Collegiate track and field (4 years)
Relevant Honors or Awards: Academic all conference, Dean's list, All conference for long jump
School list:
University of Minnesota
University of Michigan
University of Iowa (I was deferred)
University of Chicago-Illinois
University of Nebraska
Creighton University
Roseman University (Utah)
University of Colorado

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[Ryxndek]

Possible Reason is you applied to only two private schools - Creighton, Roseman.

The rest of the schools, while they meet your regional demographics, are fairly selective with their OOS invitations and your DAT most likely falls below to average for all of them. Which could be the reason why.

Hopefully your interview with Minnesota went well! All it takes is one to get in. Try to stay positive.

You haven’t filled a full WAMC template out so I can only go off what you have listed here. You could edit your post to fit the template and I can give you a better idea. But again, you do have one interview so that does say something. But I do think you possibly applied to too many public schools. I would have liked to see more privates given your DAT score.

 

[jlv1014]

Possible Reason is you applied to only two private schools - Creighton, Roseman.

The rest of the schools, while they meet your regional demographics, are fairly selective with their OOS invitations and your DAT most likely falls below to average for all of them. Which could be the reason why.

Hopefully your interview with Minnesota went well! All it takes is one to get in. Try to stay positive.

You haven’t filled a full WAMC template out so I can only go off what you have listed here. You could edit your post to fit the template and I can give you a better idea. But again, you do have one interview so that does say something. But I do think you possibly applied to too many public schools. I would have liked to see more privates given your DAT score.

I updated everything! Thank you!

 

[Ryxndek]

So I think what you have was enough for Minnesota, but I don't think it was really enough for other schools. Your mission doesn't quite fit for Creighton as they're very service orientated and you don't have a ton of service. Unsure about Roseman, but they're fairly far away, and with the change to a 3-year curriculum, unsure how that will affect admissions if it makes it more competitive. I'd imagine so as it isn't crazy expensive yet like UoP.

Having research helped you out, and being a college athlete certainly would have piqued the school's interest. But I think you were lacking some EC's so your application might have felt "light" to some schools.

But again, I think you picked the right geographical areas for schools, but I think you prioritized too many public schools and with your DAT score, some more privates like Marquette, MW-IL, & Case Western instead of Michigan, Nebraska, and Colorado would have had different results.

But like I said, you got one interview and all it truly takes is one. So keep your head up! It's possible you may hear back later on in the cycle. You never know what schools are looking for, and your app might fill a niche within a class that a school is trying to build as they sift through applicants.

Good luck this cycle, maybe I'll see you during your orientation next summer at UMN!

 

[jlv1014]

So I think what you have was enough for Minnesota, but I don't think it was really enough for other schools. Your mission doesn't quite fit for Creighton as they're very service orientated and you don't have a ton of service. Unsure about Roseman, but they're fairly far away, and with the change to a 3-year curriculum, unsure how that will affect admissions if it makes it more competitive. I'd imagine so as it isn't crazy expensive yet like UoP.

Having research helped you out, and being a college athlete certainly would have piqued the school's interest. But I think you were lacking some EC's so your application might have felt "light" to some schools.

But again, I think you picked the right geographical areas for schools, but I think you prioritized too many public schools and with your DAT score, some more privates like Marquette, MW-IL, & Case Western instead of Michigan, Nebraska, and Colorado would have had different results.

But like I said, you got one interview and all it truly takes is one. So keep your head up! It's possible you may hear back later on in the cycle. You never know what schools are looking for, and your app might fill a niche within a class that a school is trying to build as they sift through applicants.

Good luck this cycle, maybe I'll see you during your orientation next summer at UMN!

I didn’t take Human Anatomy which is why I couldn’t apply to some of the private schools you listed because that was a requirement. I didn’t have the greatest academic advisors throughout school unfortunately.

 

[jlv1014]

So I think what you have was enough for Minnesota, but I don't think it was really enough for other schools. Your mission doesn't quite fit for Creighton as they're very service orientated and you don't have a ton of service. Unsure about Roseman, but they're fairly far away, and with the change to a 3-year curriculum, unsure how that will affect admissions if it makes it more competitive. I'd imagine so as it isn't crazy expensive yet like UoP.

Having research helped you out, and being a college athlete certainly would have piqued the school's interest. But I think you were lacking some EC's so your application might have felt "light" to some schools.

But again, I think you picked the right geographical areas for schools, but I think you prioritized too many public schools and with your DAT score, some more privates like Marquette, MW-IL, & Case Western instead of Michigan, Nebraska, and Colorado would have had different results.

But like I said, you got one interview and all it truly takes is one. So keep your head up! It's possible you may hear back later on in the cycle. You never know what schools are looking for, and your app might fill a niche within a class that a school is trying to build as they sift through applicants.

Good luck this cycle, maybe I'll see you during your orientation next summer at UMN!

I also have a lot of connections to the U! I currently work with or have worked in the past with at least 5 U of Minnesota School of Dentistry faculty members so fingers crossed that helps!?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I also have a lot of connections to the U! I currently work with or have worked in the past with at least 5 U of Minnesota School of Dentistry faculty members so fingers crossed that helps!?

Being a state resident plus those interactions certainly help a little.

If you have to reapply:
1) Your volunteering experience is light. I know being a coach may be personally meaningful (considering your athletics background), but something that is more "traditional" like food distribution, housing rehabilitation, job/tax preparation services, or shelter volunteering would fit the bill much better. Show you can get out of your comfort zone more.

2) What you do post-graduation is going to be important because you would have more time. I'd presume you would still work in a dental office, so doing the volunteering (above) is critical.

3) Not sure what your fine manual dexterity activity is.

I agree if you had added privates like Marquette, Detroit Mercy, and CWRU, you might have gotten a little more attention. You may get some attention post-December, but we'll see. Good luck with this cycle!