Is my postman playing games with me?

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burnintime

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Guys, I'm dying on the vine here. I check my mailbox every day and get only dissapointment after dissapointment. Nothing. The only thing I have going for me is an interview with Temple, but its not until the beginning of February. I got my app in sometime in August, a little late, took the DAT in mid september, did well. I feel like i'm being cheated.
here's my stats:
overall gpa: 3.44
science gpa: 3.2 (a bit low, i know)
DAT: aa:24 pat:21 overallscience:24 reading:25 quant:19 bio:28 genchem:23
ochem:23

I felt so confident, but with every day that nothing comes, I get more and more worried. If you have any words of wisdom, please share.
I am waiting to hear from Marquette, UOP, UCLA, UCSF, USC, UNLV, OHSU, Penn, and I already got rejected from Ohio and Case.

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Did you commit a felony or something? You have great stats and should get at least one acceptance.
 
no felonys yet, but if nothing comes I might be driven to it!!!
 
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Your DAT is really really good, but it seems that GPA is holding a lot of people back this year. It makes sense since the DAT is only a 4 hour test which you can selectively study for, where your GPA is a 4/5 year long evaluation of your performance. From what I can tell, it will only get worse too. My prediction is that by the 2007 application cycle, you will need at least a 3.5 GPA to have a good chance of getting in.
 
I really hope then that I can at least get under the wire. someone posted a thread and said that he had under a 3.0 science and he still got in. Plus one of the reasons why the gpa is low is because of classes I took before I even had an academic direction just some math classes I got C's in back in 2000
 
burnintime said:
Guys, I'm dying on the vine here. I check my mailbox every day and get only dissapointment after dissapointment. Nothing. The only thing I have going for me is an interview with Temple, but its not until the beginning of February. I got my app in sometime in August, a little late, took the DAT in mid september, did well. I feel like i'm being cheated.
here's my stats:
overall gpa: 3.44
science gpa: 3.2 (a bit low, i know)
DAT: aa:24 pat:21 overallscience:24 reading:25 quant:19 bio:28 genchem:23
ochem:23

I felt so confident, but with every day that nothing comes, I get more and more worried. If you have any words of wisdom, please share.
I am waiting to hear from Marquette, UOP, UCLA, UCSF, USC, UNLV, OHSU, Penn, and I already got rejected from Ohio and Case.

I am sure you will get in. I got accepted to 2 out of the 3 schools I applied to and my GPA is exactly like yours. My DAT is a bit lower though. I got accepted to my First choice, UNiv of Maryland. You can tell from my :D :D :D :D :D :D . Hehe, but I am sure you will get into your first choice beyond a doubt. 24 AA, holy ****.

Take care,
Rich
 
Richnator said:
I am sure you will get in. I got accepted to 2 out of the 3 schools I applied to and my GPA is exactly like yours. My DAT is a bit lower though. I got accepted to my First choice, UNiv of Maryland. You can tell from my :D :D :D :D :D :D . Hehe, but I am sure you will get into your first choice beyond a doubt. 24 AA, holy ****.

Take care,
Rich

So when did you get everything in? i figure that if i had submitted all my stuff by june 1 then there would probably be no waiting right now. i'm sure you probably submitted earlier than I did.
 
burnintime said:
So when did you get everything in? i figure that if i had submitted all my stuff by june 1 then there would probably be no waiting right now. i'm sure you probably submitted earlier than I did.
Submitted August. Received September 19th. I called all 3 schools to make sure they were reviewing my application. So, maybe that helped. Plus I went to two receptions for the school of my first choice, so the admissions know my face.

Take care,
Rich
 
burnintime said:
Guys, I'm dying on the vine here. I check my mailbox every day and get only dissapointment after dissapointment. Nothing. The only thing I have going for me is an interview with Temple, but its not until the beginning of February. I got my app in sometime in August, a little late, took the DAT in mid september, did well. I feel like i'm being cheated.
here's my stats:
overall gpa: 3.44
science gpa: 3.2 (a bit low, i know)
DAT: aa:24 pat:21 overallscience:24 reading:25 quant:19 bio:28 genchem:23
ochem:23

I felt so confident, but with every day that nothing comes, I get more and more worried. If you have any words of wisdom, please share.
I am waiting to hear from Marquette, UOP, UCLA, UCSF, USC, UNLV, OHSU, Penn, and I already got rejected from Ohio and Case.

WoW... those are GREAT stats. I personally think you don't have anything to worry about. bio 28 :clap: amazing. From these threads, I've seen so many people, who have worse stats than you, got accepted. Hang in there. Best of luck to you burnintime :luck: .
 
swtxxxang3l said:
WoW... those are GREAT stats. I personally think you don't have anything to worry about. bio 28 :clap: amazing. From these threads, I've seen so many people, who have worse stats than you, got accepted. Hang in there. Best of luck to you burnintime :luck: .

Thanks for your confidence, I guess there's not much more I can do than just wait. :love:
 
i feel your pain:

3.56 GPA, 20/19/19 dat ..... haven't heard much yet from schools :( hopefully in the coming month
 
burnintime said:
Guys, I'm dying on the vine here. I check my mailbox every day and get only dissapointment after dissapointment. Nothing. The only thing I have going for me is an interview with Temple, but its not until the beginning of February. I got my app in sometime in August, a little late, took the DAT in mid september, did well. I feel like i'm being cheated.
here's my stats:
overall gpa: 3.44
science gpa: 3.2 (a bit low, i know)
DAT: aa:24 pat:21 overallscience:24 reading:25 quant:19 bio:28 genchem:23
ochem:23

I felt so confident, but with every day that nothing comes, I get more and more worried. If you have any words of wisdom, please share.
I am waiting to hear from Marquette, UOP, UCLA, UCSF, USC, UNLV, OHSU, Penn, and I already got rejected from Ohio and Case.

Your DAT scores are top notch, but your GPA is above average. I think you will stand a good chance of getting at least one acceptance.

However,I find that admission process seems to be so random and is not solely based on just GPA and DAT scores. They look at whether you are a well rounded applicant as well (personal statement, extracurricular activities, life experience, research skills, good people skills....etc.). Hence, there are those with sub 3.0 gpa that will be viewed as better candidates and have already been accepted into dental school at this stage.

Just curious, what extracurricular activities do you have?
 
Do you have extracurricular activities? Your DAT scores are awesome... and your gpa is fine~ I wouldn't get too worried if I were you, although I know it's easier said than done. But just to make sure that the schools didn't forget about you, send them an email letting them know that your file has been complete for months and that you have been waiting anxiously to hear from them~ Hope you hear from them soon!
 
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Fat_Man said:
Your DAT is really really good, but it seems that GPA is holding a lot of people back this year. It makes sense since the DAT is only a 4 hour test which you can selectively study for, where your GPA is a 4/5 year long evaluation of your performance. From what I can tell, it will only get worse too. My prediction is that by the 2007 application cycle, you will need at least a 3.5 GPA to have a good chance of getting in.

GPA is important but it is not the only thing. I would like to disagree with you on the 3.5 GPA needed by 2007. I believe that if you have got a good all around application 3.0-3.2 should be a good GPA to get you multiple acceptances. I think applying early is the key for people with GPA on the low side. I think GPA is on the rise but as much as you make it sound. 3.3 will be a competitive GPA for atleast few years.
 
burnintime said:
Guys, I'm dying on the vine here. I check my mailbox every day and get only dissapointment after dissapointment. Nothing. The only thing I have going for me is an interview with Temple, but its not until the beginning of February. I got my app in sometime in August, a little late, took the DAT in mid september, did well. I feel like i'm being cheated.
here's my stats:
overall gpa: 3.44
science gpa: 3.2 (a bit low, i know)
DAT: aa:24 pat:21 overallscience:24 reading:25 quant:19 bio:28 genchem:23
ochem:23

I felt so confident, but with every day that nothing comes, I get more and more worried. If you have any words of wisdom, please share.
I am waiting to hear from Marquette, UOP, UCLA, UCSF, USC, UNLV, OHSU, Penn, and I already got rejected from Ohio and Case.


Well, you have got the good GPA(little on the low side) but your DAT is kick ass so no worries there. I think the main reason of not getting any interviews are your choice of schools. All the schools in cali are hard to get into with your kind of stats(you applied late I think for UOP) because of huge population of cali hence many more applicants. Penn likes high GPA and OHSU is pretty hard to get into becasue of all those west coast applicants. You were late for CASE becasue they filled up all their interview spots by september. Ohio state, not a friendly school for out of staters. I think if you had applied to some private east coase schools you would have had a lot better shot of getting in. I don't think is your stats at all. You can get into dental school but you have got to apply early and to schools that you have a really good chance of getting in. Good luck.
 
you have AWESOME stats. Don't worry. But still keep your fingers crossed, just in case.

The only thing I think may have kept you on the wait is your september DAT. Once you take it, your scores take about a few weeks to get to the schools, and by October...they're swamped w/ new applications...so there may have been a slight delay in that.

BuT BY the time they open up your DAT scores...you're going into the *ACCEPTed* pile for sure. WoW!!! Amazing scores. :wow: :thumbup:

I hope that your mailman gets tired of playing games soon. :D
 
Fat_Man said:
Your DAT is really really good, but it seems that GPA is holding a lot of people back this year. It makes sense since the DAT is only a 4 hour test which you can selectively study for, where your GPA is a 4/5 year long evaluation of your performance. From what I can tell, it will only get worse too. My prediction is that by the 2007 application cycle, you will need at least a 3.5 GPA to have a good chance of getting in.

So many people keep putting so much weight on their GPA. Yeah, I know it's important and all, but what the heck!!!

The DAT is meant as a leveler because there is such disparity between colleges. I have many friends that have like 4.0's at a smaller college not far from mine and when they transfer they get blown away by the curriculum at a real school. It's sickening to hear these kids talking about their 98.9% in their chem classes. Professors have at these schools have told me themselves that if they gave them the same tests that were given at more competitive schools they'd all fail.

Anyway, Dentals school know this, but they can't evaluate everybody's school or program. Just look at the stats, the DAT is a much better indicator of first year performance and board score for d-students than their undergrad GPA. Not to knock those of you with real programs who have killed themselves to be in a good position to apply for school. But everyone who babies their GPA and than rips on those who got good DAT score as simply cramming are full of it. GPA doesn't prove anything, it is just another indicator.
 
E. coli said:
Your DAT scores are top notch, but your GPA is above average. I think you will stand a good chance of getting at least one acceptance.

However,I find that admission process seems to be so random and is not solely based on just GPA and DAT scores. They look at whether you are a well rounded applicant as well (personal statement, extracurricular activities, life experience, research skills, good people skills....etc.). Hence, there are those with sub 3.0 gpa that will be viewed as better candidates and have already been accepted into dental school at this stage.

Just curious, what extracurricular activities do you have?

You are very right about extracurricular activities. It seems that if dental schools wanted to choose applicants just on gpa or dat scores, it would be way too difficult. it seems to me that adcoms use awards/ex.acts to level the field. I served a Mormon mission and am a fluent Russian speaker, I participated in an adopt a grandparent program, but I never tried to run for school president or anything. I haven't done any research or won any awesome awards. If I don't get in this round i'll definitely concentrate on those places where I am lacking. Maybe i'll look for a cool internship.
 
Lefty7 said:
So many people keep putting so much weight on their GPA. Yeah, I know it's important and all, but what the heck!!!

The DAT is meant as a leveler because there is such disparity between colleges. I have many friends that have like 4.0's at a smaller college not far from mine and when they transfer they get blown away by the curriculum at a real school. It's sickening to hear these kids talking about their 98.9% in their chem classes. Professors have at these schools have told me themselves that if they gave them the same tests that were given at more competitive schools they'd all fail.

Anyway, Dentals school know this, but they can't evaluate everybody's school or program. Just look at the stats, the DAT is a much better indicator of first year performance and board score for d-students than their undergrad GPA. Not to knock those of you with real programs who have killed themselves to be in a good position to apply for school. But everyone who babies their GPA and than rips on those who got good DAT score as simply cramming are full of it. GPA doesn't prove anything, it is just another indicator.

This whole DAT indicating GPA business is not that easy to deal with. You can be a good student and just happened to have a bad day when you took DAT, you do bad on the test. That is the reason why GPA is favored by many schools. However, I beleive that if you got OK GPA and competitive DAT then you will get interviews/acceptances no matter what. Each school is different and not only that each program in the school is different. You can just go to one competitive school but have the easy department, you can have a pretty high GPA. I think the whole application matters at some schools while at some schools decisions are based totally on GPA/DAT. I am the prime example of this thing. I went to what people would think an easy CC but had a bad GPA there and took all my pre-req there. However, I transferred to so called hard school University of Michigan and have done really well with 3.8ish GPA there. Most of the classes I took are upper level Chem, BIo and other classes such as Anatomy, Physiology, Micro, Biochem etc. In my personal statement I tried to explain that my so called average grades reflect the hard classes I took and I had DAT to prove that with solid grades at Michigan. I applied to 14 schools, 9 interviews receieved and have 3 acceptances so far and expect atleast one more. So if you have a bad GPA from hard classes you can try to explain. So the schools who have accepted me looked at my whole application, because if they didn't I would have no chance of getting in. So have a strong application and you will get in. Don't worry about the things you have no control over.
 
burnintime said:
Guys, I'm dying on the vine here. I check my mailbox every day and get only dissapointment after dissapointment. Nothing. The only thing I have going for me is an interview with Temple, but its not until the beginning of February. I got my app in sometime in August, a little late, took the DAT in mid september, did well. I feel like i'm being cheated.
here's my stats:
overall gpa: 3.44
science gpa: 3.2 (a bit low, i know)
DAT: aa:24 pat:21 overallscience:24 reading:25 quant:19 bio:28 genchem:23
ochem:23

I felt so confident, but with every day that nothing comes, I get more and more worried. If you have any words of wisdom, please share.
I am waiting to hear from Marquette, UOP, UCLA, UCSF, USC, UNLV, OHSU, Penn, and I already got rejected from Ohio and Case.


I have horrible stats and got all C's this semester but I applied in May and took the dat in June and got in.

Maybe you should have concentrated more towards actually gettin into dental school rather than padding your GPA and DAT.

Point is, you waited too long.

Good luck w/ Temple, I thought it was N A S T Y.
 
Mustt Mustt said:
This whole DAT indicating GPA business is not that easy to deal with. You can be a good student and just happened to have a bad day when you took DAT, you do bad on the test. That is the reason why GPA is favored by many schools. However, I beleive that if you got OK GPA and competitive DAT then you will get interviews/acceptances no matter what. Each school is different and not only that each program in the school is different. You can just go to one competitive school but have the easy department, you can have a pretty high GPA. I think the whole application matters at some schools while at some schools decisions are based totally on GPA/DAT. I am the prime example of this thing. I went to what people would think an easy CC but had a bad GPA there and took all my pre-req there. However, I transferred to so called hard school University of Michigan and have done really well with 3.8ish GPA there. Most of the classes I took are upper level Chem, BIo and other classes such as Anatomy, Physiology, Micro, Biochem etc. In my personal statement I tried to explain that my so called average grades reflect the hard classes I took and I had DAT to prove that with solid grades at Michigan. I applied to 14 schools, 9 interviews receieved and have 3 acceptances so far and expect atleast one more. So if you have a bad GPA from hard classes you can try to explain. So the schools who have accepted me looked at my whole application, because if they didn't I would have no chance of getting in. So have a strong application and you will get in. Don't worry about the things you have no control over.

Yeah, I think you've got a good point. And congrats for turning things around.
I don't know why I even care about anybody else. The application system isn't perfect, but those who really worked themselves in undergrad are going to be that much more prepared for their first years of dental school anyway.

I really feel for the OPer. This whole waiting game would so much less nerve racking if us applicants had some way of knowing how we rank at schools. Of course that is never going to happen, but it could really save on the plane ticket and hotel costs...
 
POST NYU STATS
Ladyxjc or neone who has gotten into nyu or knows someone that goes there send your stats! im gettin anxious and im within their ranges and exceed some of them but they are one of my top picks.

thanks!!!
 
The postman came through with a letter from a dental school! I went to the mailbox with high hopes. There is was, a letter from UPenn! In all honesty I couldn't get too excited because it was only a legal sized letter and I figured that if a school is sending good news, they would probably send it in a big envelope with some brochures or something. Well, my suspicions weren't too far off. Those adcoms sure are good at making a guy feel better about being rejected! The best part is when they wish you luck at going to another dental school and doing super well, showing them that they screwed up by not picking you. Pieces of crap. Merry Christmas from UPenn.
 
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