Need advice from those accepted to UW...

[onlyahobo]

So, made it as far as an interview but no luck on getting into UW this year . I was hoping to get some feedback on what might have gone wrong, but apparently they have a policy against advising students on where to improve their applications. My stats were solid enough to at least have a interview (albeit a late one on Dec. 21st) and I felt like my interview went really well... I'm just not sure what to do because if I knew what was wrong I would have addressed it before applying this cycle. I'd appreciate any advice, especially from those who have been in the same boat.

stats:
WA resident
GPA 3.94/ sGPA 3.5
19 AA/20 TS/20 PA
250 hours in dental offices
Demonstrated commitment to ECs (mostly non-science... perhaps this is it?)
Not too much in research, just senior capstone studies in oral bacteria

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[baseballjunkie]

Is this your first application? I don't know why it is, but for some reason A LOT of people don't get in on their first applications to UW. It took me two applications to get in. My stats are pretty similar to yours, but I spent a year and a half working in research. I know that UW is really big into research, so if you're going to reapply maybe try to find something in research?

 

[sassykat]

i didn't get in my first application either, although your gpa is way better than mine! are you reapplying next year? someone on sdn messaged me and told me you have to get 2 new LORs for UW the 2nd time

 

[onlyahobo]

Thanks guys, comforting to hear I'm not the only one. That's good to know about the LOR, I'm a little worried since I've been out of classes for a year and already have letters from professors I was really close with-something to look into!

 

[SeattleRDH]

Congrats on such great grades! A dentist I used to work with is part-time faculty at UW and he said they don't like DAT scores below 20 so you could work on that.

Are you interested in research? Because if you're not I wouldn't worry about making sure it's on your resume. Next year when they interview you again they will want to hear about what you spent your time on and if it's not something that you enjoyed they'll see right through that.

You know what would be really impressive? Organize a health fair. It's really not that hard and it's a great way to network. I would find a venue outside the school too. Try a neighborhood with a lot of young families. I know people who've done this on Redmond Ridge. The new developments on the eastside (Issaquah or Snoqualmie) would be good places to try. If you get organized before PNDC in June then you could approach the organizations who have booths at the convention and see if they want to be a part of your event.

Set yourself apart from the other candidates. Think outside the box.