Need help with my school list

[Dental-pal]

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Date of submission: Planning mid June
Overall GPA: 3.92
Science GPA: 3.98
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: 3.98
DAT score (include AA and all sections): AA 24 | TS 26| GC 26 | OC 29 | BIO 23 | QR 22 | PAT 19| RC 21
State of Residence: NY

Undergrad Attended: CUNY
Major: BioChem
Minor: N/A
Minority? No
Reapplicant? No
Nontrad? No

Shadowing Experience:

• 150 hours shadowing 2 general dentists
• 100 hours shadowing an oral surgeon

Volunteering Experience:

• Helping students Retaking GenChem 1 (100 hours)
• Volunteering at the mosque (150 hours)
• Soup Kitchens (50 hours)
• Misc, club event organizer (100 hours)
• Tutored a 2nd grader with ADHD (2 hours a week for the school year)
• Mentoring underclassmen (~150 hours)

Employment:

• TA for the Chemistry Department ( 3 Years ~ 400 hours)
• Tutor at a science learning center: CHE/BIO/PHY (800 hours)
• Private Tutor, self employed (100 hours)
• Research Assistant (~540 hours)
• Furniture Store and at Subway (~200 hours)

Research:

• Chemistry Meta Cognition no PUB/Poster (200 hours)
• Intersectionality Research, presented findings at the AHSIE 2025 (~400 Hours)

Other Extracurriculars:

• Swimming, hiking, soccer
• Member of the Chemistry Club, Pre-Dental Club, and Pre-Health Club

Have you volunteered/shadowed/attended events at any dental schools?

• Columbia Impressions Day

Relevant Honors or Awards:

• Dean’s List (all semesters)
• Presidential Scholar (4x)
• Summa Cum Laude
• Department Honors in Biochemistry
• American Chemical Society Award: Outstanding Organic Chemistry Student

LOR type and strength:

• General Chemistry professor & research mentor – Strong
• Organic Chemistry professor – Strong
• Supervising dentist – Decent
• Physics professor – Decent

Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags: unsure if school list is reach-heavy
School list:

Boston
Columbia
Harvard
NYU
Rutgers
Stony Brook
Temple University
Touro
Buffalo
University of Connecticut
University of Maryland
UPenn
University of Pittsburgh

 

[macsak]

Date of submission: Planning mid June
Overall GPA: 3.92
Science GPA: 3.98
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: 3.98
DAT score (include AA and all sections): AA 24 | TS 25| GC 26 | OC 25 | BIO 25 | QR 25 | PAT 21| RC 21
State of Residence: NY

Undergrad Attended: CUNY
Major: BioChem
Minor: N/A
Minority? No
Reapplicant? No
Nontrad? No

Shadowing Experience:

• 150 hours shadowing 2 general dentists
• 100 hours shadowing an oral surgeon

Volunteering Experience:

• Helping students Retaking GenChem 1 (100 hours)
• Volunteering at the mosque (150 hours)
• Soup Kitchens (50 hours)
• Misc, club event organizer (100 hours)
• Tutored a 2nd grader with ADHD (2 hours a week for the school year)
• Mentoring underclassmen (~150 hours)

Employment:

• TA for the Chemistry Department ( 3 Years ~ 400 hours)
• Tutor at a science learning center: CHE/BIO/PHY (800 hours)
• Private Tutor, self employed (100 hours)
• Research Assistant (~540 hours)
• Furniture Store and at Subway (~200 hours)

Research:

• Chemistry Meta Cognition no PUB/Poster (200 hours)
• Intersectionality Research, presented findings at the AHSIE 2025 (~400 Hours)

Other Extracurriculars:

• Swimming, hiking, soccer
• Member of the Chemistry Club, Pre-Dental Club, and Pre-Health Club

Have you volunteered/shadowed/attended events at any dental schools?

• Columbia Impressions Day

Relevant Honors or Awards:

• Dean’s List (all semesters)
• Presidential Scholar (4x)
• Summa Cum Laude
• Department Honors in Biochemistry
• American Chemical Society Award: Outstanding Organic Chemistry Student

LOR type and strength:

• General Chemistry professor & research mentor – Strong
• Organic Chemistry professor – Strong
• Supervising dentist – Decent
• Physics professor – Decent

Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags: unsure if school list is reach-heavy
School list:

Boston
Columbia
Harvard
NYU
Rutgers
Stony Brook
Temple University
Touro
Buffalo
University of Connecticut
University of Maryland
UPenn
University of Pittsburgh

it's ok to have that many reaches because your list is long...

 

[Dental-pal]

it's ok to have that many reaches because your list is long...

any suggestions?

 

[macsak]

any suggestions?

take off NYU?
but there's a tiny chance they offer you a scholly...

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Frankly, you can call your shot. You can dream big.

Do your homework on student culture and clinic policies. I presume you value your Muslim faith identity, so check how each school supports students, faculty, and patients. Find out who throws scholarship money out (I agree NYU has). Figure out how much scholarship will convince you to pick a school over any other.

I suspect Rutgers, Maryland, Pittsburgh, Connecticut, and Stony may concede due to yield protection unless you have a real strong affinity to pick them over an Ivy or other huge brand-name school.