My list of schools

[water88]

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I was wondering if you guys could just look at this list of schools and see if I should add any others.

Stats:
GPA: 3.62
DAT: 21/22
Top 25 school (although that probably makes no difference)
weak EC's except for a few years of research (no pubs) and shadowing
decent LOR's (received solid A's in their classes, although I didn't know the professors very well)

Schools: BU, Case, Columbia, Harvard, NYU, Temple, Tufts, Buffalo, UCLA, UCSF, UMD, Michigan, Penn, USC, UofP.

I'm Out of state for the Cali schools, so should I even bother?

 

[Zubnaya Feya]

i was wondering if you guys could just look at this list of schools and see if i should add any others.

Stats:
Gpa: 3.62
dat: 21/22
top 25 school (although that probably makes no difference)
weak ec's except for a few years of research (no pubs) and shadowing
decent lor's (received solid a's in their classes, although i didn't know the professors very well)

schools: Bu, case, columbia, harvard, nyu, temple, tufts, buffalo, ucla, ucsf, umd, michigan, penn, usc, uofp.

I'm out of state for the cali schools, so should i even bother?

unlv? Uw?

 

[NyCzPeter]

What state are you from?

Anyhow, looks like you got all the corners covered. With your stats, I don't think you need to apply to so many schools, unless of course you're really interested in every one of them.

 

[somethinpositiv]

Stats:
GPA: 3.62
DAT: 21/22
a few years of research
Out of state for the Cali schools

Schools:
BU
Case
Columbia
NYU
Temple
Tufts
Buffalo
UCSF
UMD
Michigan
Penn
USC
UofP

I would remove Harvard and UCLA. I don't think you have the stats for Harvard (very few do) but if it is your dream school #1 choice than go for it. UCLA has a small class that is heavily biased towards California residents, it may be a waste of money to apply there.

For the other Cali schools, UoP and USC take a decent amount of people for out of state and their In-State bias is much less pronounced than UCLA; the same is true for UCSF and your research will be really attractive to UCSF.

Other schools you could look into are Pitt and Nova. You really shouldn't apply to more than 10 schools, unless, like Peter says, you are interested in all of them.

 

[water88]

Schools:
BU
Case
Columbia
NYU
Temple
Tufts
Buffalo
UCSF
UMD
Michigan
Penn
USC
UofP

I would remove Harvard and UCLA. I don't think you have the stats for Harvard (very few do) but if it is your dream school #1 choice than go for it. UCLA has a small class that is heavily biased towards California residents, it may be a waste of money to apply there.

For the other Cali schools, UoP and USC take a decent amount of people for out of state and their In-State bias is much less pronounced than UCLA; the same is true for UCSF and your research will be really attractive to UCSF.

Other schools you could look into are Pitt and Nova. You really shouldn't apply to more than 10 schools, unless, like Peter says, you are interested in all of them.

Thanks for the advice. I will probably drop UCLA but maybe keep Harvard (just for kicks). I forget about Pitt, I will probably add them as well.

To the poster above who suggested UDubb: Is it worth applying OOS? Predents shows 45/10 IS/OOS.

 

[somethinpositiv]

Thanks for the advice. I will probably drop UCLA and UCSF, but maybe keep Harvard (just for kicks).

Your chances are actually decent for UCSF, but up to you 😉

 

[water88]

Your chances are actually decent for UCSF, but up to you 😉

haha yeah I actually didn't mean to say UCSF, I edited my post. Thanks for your advice!

 

[sajjy]

Thanks for the advice. I will probably drop UCLA but maybe keep Harvard (just for kicks). I forget about Pitt, I will probably add them as well.

To the poster above who suggested UDubb: Is it worth applying OOS? Predents shows 45/10 IS/OOS.

Do not even bother applying to UPitt, strong instate bias and received straight out rejection in January. Definitely keep Harvard there. I had the same feeling last year and thought it will be a waste of money. And i am heading to Harvard this fall.

 

[somethinpositiv]

Do not even bother applying to UPitt, strong instate bias and received straight out rejection in January. Definitely keep Harvard there. I had the same feeling last year and thought it will be a waste of money. And i am heading to Harvard this fall.

What? UPitt saves 50%-60% of it's seats for Out-of-State. That's not bad, there's only 11 other schools that accept a higher percentage of Out-of-State. Just because you are bitter at Pitt doesn't mean the OP shouldn't apply there. I got into Pitt, and my stats are similar yet lower than the OP's, and I'm Out-of-State. There could be any number of reasons that Pitt rejected you and Harvard accepted you Sajjy, and an "instate bias" is not one of them.

 

[sajjy]

What? UPitt saves 50%-60% of it's seats for Out-of-State. That's not bad, there's only 11 other schools that accept a higher percentage of Out-of-State. Just because you are bitter at Pitt doesn't mean the OP shouldn't apply there. I got into Pitt, and my stats are similar yet lower than the OP's, and I'm Out-of-State. There could be any number of reasons that Pitt rejected you and Harvard accepted you Sajjy, and an "instate bias" is not one of them.

Well i applied to 10 schools with 8 interview invites and 2 rejections. One of them being UPitt. May be they knew they are not my top choice compared to my stats.

 

[a1pha]

True. It could be so-called "Tufts Syndrome." What were your stats? I assume they were much higher than mine or the OP's. Congrats on Harvard by the way.

Ehhh I think it just shows how random ds admissions can be, but I dunno about Tufts Syndrome. Tufts was one of the schools with somewhat lower stats that WAS interested in me early in the cycle (well, early for me). When I look some of the schools I got interviews at versus a few that outright rejected me, it's actually pretty amusing. It goes to show that there's no such thing as certainty in admissions.

 

[Zubnaya Feya]

Thanks for the advice. I will probably drop UCLA but maybe keep Harvard (just for kicks). I forget about Pitt, I will probably add them as well.

To the poster above who suggested UDubb: Is it worth applying OOS? Predents shows 45/10 IS/OOS.

UW is hard to get in if you are out-of-state but I think your stats make you competitive enough. Also, UW is a great school.

 

[PSU SHC 414]

Since you're applying to a number of schools on the East coast, I'd also add UConn and UNC. UofTexas (SA) is also a great school. Do your research on them before applying, though, b/c although all have reputations of being among the best in dentistry, the approach to the training that each provides is pretty different in various respects.

They're all notorious for being very difficult to get into as an OOS (<15 seats are allotted for OOS students, even less for UT), but depending on how well you interview, you could have a legitimate shot. Don't know how your "weak ECs" will play into this, but you never know.

Like someone else already said, since your stats are pretty solid, I think you should narrow down your list unless you really want to piss away that much money. I'd toss out NYU (don't know why anyone in their right mind, with a choice, would ever want to pay an astronomical tuition to be in a class of 250+ people), and USC (I've heard pretty bad things about this school and tuition isn't exactly cheap there).

Good luck!

 

[sajjy]

Since you're applying to a number of schools on the East coast, I'd also add UConn and UNC. UofTexas (SA) is also a great school. Do your research on them before applying, though, b/c although all have reputations of being among the best in dentistry, the approach to the training that each provides is pretty different in various respects.

They're all notorious for being very difficult to get into as an OOS (<15 seats are allotted for OOS students, even less for UT), but depending on how well you interview, you could have a legitimate shot. Don't know how your "weak ECs" will play into this, but you never know.

Like someone else already said, since your stats are pretty solid, I think you should narrow down your list unless you really want to piss away that much money. I'd toss out NYU (don't know why anyone in their right mind, with a choice, would ever want to pay an astronomical tuition to be in a class of 250+ people), and USC (I've heard pretty bad things about this school and tuition isn't exactly cheap there).

Good luck!

I would also discourage UConn, unless OP really wants to go to UConn. Every year with the increasing number of applicants, number of CT residents are also going up. And they really are In-State biased. This year 27/40 are from CT.

 

[somethinpositiv]

Since you're applying to a number of schools on the East coast, I'd also add UConn and UNC. UofTexas (SA) is also a great school. Do your research on them before applying, though, b/c although all have reputations of being among the best in dentistry, the approach to the training that each provides is pretty different in various respects.

They're all notorious for being very difficult to get into as an OOS (<15 seats are allotted for OOS students, even less for UT), but depending on how well you interview, you could have a legitimate shot. Don't know how your "weak ECs" will play into this, but you never know.

Like someone else already said, since your stats are pretty solid, I think you should narrow down your list unless you really want to piss away that much money. I'd toss out NYU (don't know why anyone in their right mind, with a choice, would ever want to pay an astronomical tuition to be in a class of 250+ people), and USC (I've heard pretty bad things about this school and tuition isn't exactly cheap there).

Good luck!

You've recommended the OP to apply to schools he has little chance to get into, and would probably go to one of the other schools he has applied to over these even if he got in. You yourself admit that they are notoriously hard to get into for Out-of-State. Then, you say to narrow down the list of schools, after adding 3 schools that are "notorious for being very difficult to get into as an OOS"lol, all of this put together equals a reduced chance of getting into dental school for the OP. I'm not saying that your advice is wrong, and that mine is right, but OP really think about all of things said, don't just take one person's opinion without doing some research...

 

[somethinpositiv]

I'd toss out NYU (don't know why anyone in their right mind, with a choice, would ever want to pay an astronomical tuition to be in a class of 250+ people)

I'd respectfully disagree with that. NYU is a sick school, and doesn't deserve most of the crap it gets on SDN. Some of the things said were true at one point in time in the past, but are no longer true. Unless you've actually interviewed at NYU, you don't know what you're talking about. NYU is an amazing school. The tuition itself isn't much higher than other private schools, but adding the cost of living in Manhattan, it becomes the 2nd most expensive next to USC. Some would say that the cost is worth it for the education, facilities, faculty, and four years in NYC. Visit first and talk to students there, then form your own judgements. It's a great school and I would go there over some of the cheaper schools I got into. Then again, I am not "in their right mind" since I am choosing Tufts over instate UIC lol

 

[PSU SHC 414]

I'd respectfully disagree with that. NYU is a sick school, and doesn't deserve most of the crap it gets on SDN. Some of the things said were true at one point in time in the past, but are no longer true. Unless you've actually interviewed at NYU, you don't know what you're talking about. NYU is an amazing school. The tuition itself isn't much higher than other private schools, but adding the cost of living in Manhattan, it becomes the 2nd most expensive next to USC. Some would say that the cost is worth it for the education, facilities, faculty, and four years in NYC. Visit first and talk to students there, then form your own judgements. It's a great school and I would go there over some of the cheaper schools I got into. Then again, I am not "in their right mind" since I am choosing Tufts over instate UIC lol

I highly doubt that people on SDN have naively put a bulls-eye on NYU for no reason, but to be fair, you're right, I haven't visited the school or done any research into NYU's dental program. OP - My intention wasn't to significantly bias you one way or another before you're able to do your own research, but as an FYI, I was personally turned off by NYU's insanely large class size.

And somethinpositiv... why do you say that the OP has "little chance" to get into the schools I recommended?? His stats are competitive (I think they're enough to at least get him/her an interview)... once you get your foot through that door, it's virtually an equal playing field. My stats aren't that different than the OP's.

Sajjy's point about UConn is a good one, but it's the same with any of the other prestigious state programs (UNC's OOS stats are similar... only 15 out of 80 spots. UT-SA only has ~5 OOS, UW only ~10). Bottom line - make sure you do your research before applying. However, just because the OOS acceptance % seems daunting doesn't mean that you shouldn't give it a shot if you really like the program. Sajjy, didn't you say yourself that you thought Harvard was a shot in the dark? And look what happened 😉.

 

[somethinpositiv]

I highly doubt that people on SDN have naively put a bulls-eye on NYU for no reason, but to be fair, you're right, I haven't visited the school or done any research into NYU's dental program. OP - My intention wasn't to significantly bias you one way or another before you're able to do your own research, but as an FYI, I was personally turned off by NYU's insanely large class size.

And somethinpositiv... why do you say that the OP has "little chance" to get into the schools I recommended?? His stats are competitive (I think they're enough to at least get him/her an interview)... once you get your foot through that door, it's virtually an equal playing field. My stats aren't that different than the OP's.

Sajjy's point about UConn is a good one, but it's the same with any of the other prestigious state programs (UNC's OOS stats are similar... only 15 out of 80 spots. UT-SA only has ~5 OOS, UW only ~10). Bottom line - make sure you do your research before applying. However, just because the OOS acceptance % seems daunting doesn't mean that you shouldn't give it a shot if you really like the program. Sajjy, didn't you say yourself that you thought Harvard was a shot in the dark? And look what happened 😉.

I'm sure Sajjy had extraordinary stats and was overly worrisome during his cycle; he had 8 out of 10 interviews, that was no accident. And Harvard has no In-State Bias, in fact it accepts the highest percentage OOS than any other school lol. UNC and the Texas schools have some of the lowest.

The stats posted for UNC are misleading; the stats needed to get in from OOS are significantly higher than their posted averages. The OP has great scores, don't get me wrong, but has great scores for schools that don't have this In-State Bias. OPs stats are not extraordinary enough to break that barrier, in my opinion, and probably has a better chance to get into Harvard than into UNC because of this.

Applying is about being smart and applying to the best schools that you have good chances of getting into. Granted, I applied to UW when I had no chance haha, but I was well aware of this and chose to throw in one dream school into the mix, the OP would be doing the same with Harvard. However, you shouldn't have multiple schools like this, for the OP to apply to UNC, Harvard, UConn, AND Texas schools would not be applying intelligently. If you have unlimited monetary funds than go ahead and apply to 20-30 schools, apply to UNC because it is a great school, same for UConn.

But if your chances are slim, why not apply to equally great schools that you'd have a better chance at getting into. I'd consider Maryland and Pitt as being similarly great schools and comparable to UNC and UConn, but as OOS you have a much better chance at getting into the former two than the latter two. So hypothetically if you only had money to apply to two of those schools, Maryland and Pittsburgh would be smarter choices than UNC and UConn from OOS. If you've got deep pockets, than go ahead and apply to all of them. But you said two contradictory things PSU: add dream schools AND slim down the number of schools OP is applying to lol.

Bottom line - make sure you do your research before applying. However, just because the OOS acceptance % seems daunting doesn't mean that you shouldn't give it a shot if you really like the program. Sajjy, didn't you say yourself that you thought Harvard was a shot in the dark? And look what happened 😉.

True, it's fun to have one, maybe two reach-for-the-stars dream schools, I had one with UW. But who said the OP was particularly interested in and "really liked" any of the schools you listed? And if the OP wasn't particularly interested in those schools, and has little chance to get in, while a really high chance to get into the schools he actually wants to go to, what's the sense of the OP applying to PSU's favorite schools...?

 

[water88]

Thanks everyone for all your responses, you've all be a great help. I realize I am borderline/have little chances at many of these schools, but finances aren't really an issue so I am just going to apply to every school I am remotely interested in and just hope for the best.

 

[somethinpositiv]

Thanks everyone for all your responses, you've all be a great help. I realize I am borderline/have little chances at many of these schools, but finances aren't really an issue so I am just going to apply to every school I am remotely interested in and just hope for the best.

Do it. 👍

Finances are a concern for most applicants, but consider yourself lucky. Just make sure that you won't draw too many eyebrows when the admissions committee asks "So... how many schools did you apply to?" and they will certainly feel differently if you answered "19" versus "30" lol

 

[Doctor McLovin]

I was wondering if you guys could just look at this list of schools and see if I should add any others.

Stats:
GPA: 3.62
DAT: 21/22
Top 25 school (although that probably makes no difference)
weak EC's except for a few years of research (no pubs) and shadowing
decent LOR's (received solid A's in their classes, although I didn't know the professors very well)

Schools: BU, Case, Columbia, Harvard, NYU, Temple, Tufts, Buffalo, UCLA, UCSF, UMD, Michigan, Penn, USC, UofP.

I'm Out of state for the Cali schools, so should I even bother?

You're a shoe-in at everywhere except Columbia, Harvard, and UCLA. Out of those three, I will bet money that you'll get into at least one.

 

[PSU SHC 414]

I'm sure Sajjy had extraordinary stats and was overly worrisome during his cycle; he had 8 out of 10 interviews, that was no accident. And Harvard has no In-State Bias, in fact it accepts the highest percentage OOS than any other school lol. UNC and the Texas schools have some of the lowest.

The stats posted for UNC are misleading; the stats needed to get in from OOS are significantly higher than their posted averages. The OP has great scores, don't get me wrong, but has great scores for schools that don't have this In-State Bias. OPs stats are not extraordinary enough to break that barrier, in my opinion, and probably has a better chance to get into Harvard than into UNC because of this.

Applying is about being smart and applying to the best schools that you have good chances of getting into.

You make some very good points in this post, and I def understand where you're coming from, but I still think that the OP (even if he/she was limited on choices due to finances) could afford (no pun intended) to give more "reach" schools a shot.

I agree that you have to be smart when applying, but when you have good numbers (i.e. numbers that stand you a good chance of getting at least an interview at these schools.... which I believe the OP has), I think that taking a calculated risk (i.e. making sure to do your research on avg admissions stats/criteria, in addition to looking into the program itself) to get into the best schools possible, by decreasing the number of "safety" schools, is well worth it. This is all assuming the the OP has a solid BCP GPA too.

In the OP's case, I'm arguing that he/she could afford to be a little more "top-heavy" and drop 2-3 of the schools in the "safety" pool (USC, Tufts, Temple, BU, or NYU... I'm basing this list on what I see on Predents) and substitute a couple more reach schools like Harvard, UNC, UT-SA, or UW. Even by doing this, the OP still has 1-2 "safety" schools, a good mix of "likely" schools in UMD, Case/Pitt, Buffalo, Michigan, and UoP, and a healthy number of "reach" schools (Penn, Columbia, Harvard, UCSF, UNC/UT-SA/UW). This still results in approximately the same total number of schools the OP started out with, +/- 1-2.

I'm recommending all this based on the likelihood of the OP getting to the interview based on numbers. The OP still needs to determine how confident he/she is with: 1) the rest of his/her application, and 2) his/her interview and personal interaction skills, before going through with adding more "reach" schools, b/c the first will be an important/deciding factor for the OP to get to the interview stage and both are crucial to subsequently get ACCEPTED to those programs.

Maybe I just have a more cavalier mindset than you do, somethinpositiv, or I was just really confident in my interviewing ability, but I still stand by the advise I'm giving. Great things usually don't come without some level of risk, right? I def understand/appreciate and respect your viewpoint, though.


And your point about Harvard...
Harvard doesn't have in-state preference, but if you look at the numbers, wouldn't you agree that your chances of filling one of 35 spots there is about the same (ok, maybe less since it is Haaaaavard 😉), when you look at total applications vs interviews/acceptances granted, as your chances for getting in OOS at UNC, the UTs, UW, UCSF, etc?

 

[a1pha]

You're a shoe-in at everywhere except Columbia, Harvard, and UCLA. Out of those three, I will bet money that you'll get into at least one.

Shoe-in? lol no. Give realistic advice please. I agree with the post above. Make your school list a little more top heavy, especially if you're applying to 10+ schools.

 

[somethinpositiv]

Maybe I just have a more cavalier mindset than you do, somethinpositiv, or I was just really confident in my interviewing ability

I was really confident in interviewing too, what has that got to do with anything? lol. I knew I'd get in everywhere I had an interview, and that's what happened hehe.

but I still stand by the advise I'm giving. Great things usually don't come without some level of risk, right? I def understand/appreciate and respect your viewpoint, though.

I understand where you're coming from too. And for the OP, who apparently has deep pockets, your advice is absolutely the correct advice. For many that aren't so fortunate to be in OP's financial position, that may not be the best advice.

 

[PSU SHC 414]

I was really confident in interviewing too, what has that got to do with anything? lol. I knew I'd get in everywhere I had an interview, and that's what happened hehe.

I didn't mean for that to be a direct (or indirect) jab at you, so apologies if it came across like that. Basically, I was insinuating that someone with the OP's numbers shouldn't be afraid to gun for the top if they're confident in their interview skills (and the rest of their app).

Deep pockets or not, I still think that the OP should really take the time to research each school on his/her list (and all the schools we've collectively recommended) and narrow it down to ~10-12 at most. A waste of money is a waste of money regardless of how much you have; it can always be put to better use (like tuition payments, food, or rent, haha).

Congrats on all your acceptances, btw, and best of luck in the Fall.

 

[somethinpositiv]

I didn't mean for that to be a direct (or indirect) jab at you, so apologies if it came across like that. Basically, I was insinuating that someone with the OP's numbers shouldn't be afraid to gun for the top if they're confident in their interview skills (and the rest of their app).

Deep pockets or not, I still think that the OP should really take the time to research each school on his/her list (and all the schools we've collectively recommended) and narrow it down to ~10-12 at most. A waste of money is a waste of money regardless of how much you have; it can always be put to better use (like tuition payments, food, or rent, haha).

Congrats on all your acceptances, btw, and best of luck in the Fall.

True that 👍

Thanks, and congrats to you too! UNC is an amazing school, and you get to say that you turned down two Ivies to go there haha 😉

 

[cpc728]

I highly doubt that people on SDN have naively put a bulls-eye on NYU for no reason, but to be fair, you're right, I haven't visited the school or done any research into NYU's dental program. OP - My intention wasn't to significantly bias you one way or another before you're able to do your own research, but as an FYI, I was personally turned off by NYU's insanely large class size.

And somethinpositiv... why do you say that the OP has "little chance" to get into the schools I recommended?? His stats are competitive (I think they're enough to at least get him/her an interview)... once you get your foot through that door, it's virtually an equal playing field. My stats aren't that different than the OP's.

Sajjy's point about UConn is a good one, but it's the same with any of the other prestigious state programs (UNC's OOS stats are similar... only 15 out of 80 spots. UT-SA only has ~5 OOS, UW only ~10). Bottom line - make sure you do your research before applying. However, just because the OOS acceptance % seems daunting doesn't mean that you shouldn't give it a shot if you really like the program. Sajjy, didn't you say yourself that you thought Harvard was a shot in the dark? And look what happened 😉.

It's just funny to see a pre dent....rambling about schools he/she has never visited....just to show you how bias feeds on ignorance....