no interviews yet!!! Going crazy!!! Help!!!!!

[shemshad6682]

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Here is the thing- Waiting sucks!!!!!!!
My application was mailed in the second batch. but other than a rejection letter from UMDNJ i have nothing so far.
I have a 4.00 sGPA and 3.89 overall. My dat score was 20 aa-2o-18 PAT. i know that my dat is not that good but i think it is good enough to get me into somewhere.
now lets get to the negative side of my app. i am technically a juniour, but going to graduate next semester. when i filled the application in June, i had about 67 credits counted toward my major, gen biology, but i already had all prereqrusites at that time. i took 16 credits during the summer, and taking 21 right now, which leaves me 18 more credits to take in spring to graduate. although i listed the courses i was going to take in planned courses section in AADSAS and told them that i am going to graduate on time, i am assuming one of the reasons they have not given my any interviews yet is that they are not sure that i can graduate this year. Am i right? should i be worried about that? i mean i applied early and have not heard anything yet!!! is there anybody who is in the same shoe than i am. do schools care a lot about the number of credits you have taken when you applied? i am starting to freak out and already lost my concentration on the courses i am taking this semester. the schools i applied to have started sending out interview invites for a while now. i have applied to maryland, nyu, vcu, columbia, pittsburgh, penn, howard ( not a URM though) and temple. i am a maryland resident and my first choice is maryland. i called marylad a couple days ago and the lady said that my app has been under review by adcom. do you think i would have a chance of gettig into Marylnad? i have good LOR's also, but not a lot of EC activities yet.
I read the posts in which people saying they got interviews with lower stats than me and feel something has gone really wrong in my case, but i have no clue what that might be other than my " inadequate undergraduate and academic experience" which was what my advisor was telling me last week. but i thought it's a good thing if you can get your bachlor in 3 years instead of 4 years. well, apparently i was wrong!!! so i thought maybe you would have a better idea.
any response will be appreciated
i wish everybody can reach their dreams.
thanks in advance and good luck!!!

 

[THINKOFMYFUTURE]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say it might be your essay.

 

[doc3232]

You applied to 8 schools and you only had 67 units when you applied.
That's your problem. Lots of schools have minimum requirements for units even if your school will let you graduate with only 90.

edit: typo

 

[FutureDent020]

You obviously have good scores and grades, but it has to be either your curriculum or experience that's hindering the process. Where as all schools require the general pre-requisites they also focus on other science classes, which can shed light on your ability to comprehend some of the more difficult subjects. Also taking a lot of summer school classes may red flag some admission officers. From my experience summer classes are easier and you don't learn as much. Instead of freaking out, relax and see what happens. If you don't get in, you still have great numbers to try with next cycle. Take the year off to really buff up on experience and EC's.

 

[lazybummy]

I think there can a lot of issues involved.. i met applicants where were Jr's at my interview.. so i doubt it has something to do with your amount of credits. I think it's prob something to do with your EC. Do you think you have anything to make you stay out? Anything to show that u're a well rounded applicant where they believe would contribute to the school? GPA isn't everything.

 

[shemshad6682]

You applied to 8 schools and you only had 67 units when you applied.
That's your problem. Lots of schools have minimum requirements for units even if your school will let you graduate with only 90.

edit: typo

My school wont let me graduate with 90 units. I wish i could graduate with only 90 though. I have never heard of any school that let you graduate with having to take only 90 credits!!!! As i said, i will have 120 units needed for graduation by spring 2010. Any other ideas????

 

[FutureDent020]

Just wait on hearing back. Try and set up an internship or look for clinical experience in the meantime. Sitting and panicking won't help. Work to better your application in case you don't get in this cycle. What's a year in the big picture??? It will only make you look like a stronger applicant

 

[shemshad6682]

I think there can a lot of issues involved.. i met applicants where were Jr's at my interview.. so i doubt it has something to do with your amount of credits. I think it's prob something to do with your EC. Do you think you have anything to make you stay out? Anything to show that u're a well rounded applicant where they believe would contribute to the school? GPA isn't everything.

Thanks for the input. I did a research project last year. i was also a volunteer in an hospital emergency room for 7 months. i started shadowing in a dental clinic last month, planning to have at least 150 hours of experience before going to dental school. i wrote a letter to all schools that i applied letting them know that i am shadowing in a dental clinic right now. but you are right, at the time that i applied, i did not have any dental related experience. but do you think it is so important that it would hold me from geting into any of those schools this cycle?
can i get a little bit hope here????? come on!!!!!

 

[ashlander]

Thanks for the input. I did a research project last year. i was also a volunteer in an hospital emergency room for 7 months. i started shadowing in a dental clinic last month, planning to have at least 150 hours of experience before going to dental school. i wrote a letter to all schools that i applied letting them know that i am shadowing in a dental clinic right now. but you are right, at the time that i applied, i did not have any dental related experience. but do you think it is so important that it would hold me from geting into any of those schools this cycle?
can i get a little bit hope here????? come on!!!!!

my first guess is your essay and app in general.
w/o shadowing, how do you know dentistry is def. for you?
i personally believe that one needs shadowing to know for sure and say why you wanna do dentistry in your essay.
that's just my opinion but who know each school is looking for..
GL.

 

[KitKat09]

yeah, lack of dental experience/dental related EC will hurt you. It looks even worse that you have medical experience- as ER volunteering.... they might question your dedication and desire to be a dentist
and your additional letter about current dental shadowing might be somewhere in unopened mail boxes for all you know if it was not submitted with your application....

 

[FutureDent020]

150 hours of dental experience sounds like enough, especially if you are busy with classes and other things. You are a qualified dental school applicant from what you've written. However, no one here knows exactly what admission committees look for, like, or dislike. If you have good LOR's you should get some interviews in my opinion. The only thing holding you back (at this moment) appears to be your prior experience. I know you are working on it. Wish I could give you better advice, but i'm not too familiar with students graduating early. Except i'm a little confused if you are anymore... Anyways good luck

 

[Vicviper]

I think it could be the shadowing to some extent - I thought some schools had a minimum (Isn't Pitt like 20 or something? Maybe that's recommended.) But you're worrying way too much. Looking at Pitt in particular, they only just gave out their first wave of interview invites. I didn't have a single interview until February, and I got in just fine.

How was your personal statement? Some schools actually take that to heart if you don't make it seem like dentistry is really for you.

And I do get a laugh when people say a 20AA is low, haha. Damn! I only got a 20AA! hehe

Anyways, don't worry, and call the schools, if they say you're under review, they mean just that, you're under review, so go and enjoy your undergrad while you're still there and don't worry about something that's out of your hands.

 

[FutureDent020]

Yea some schools do have a minimum, but won't necessarily tell you. I know TN has a minimum of 100. It just reflects your desire and knowledge of the profession

 

[lazybummy]

I heard NYU also has a 100 minimum. It's not on their website.. but i read it somewhere that it is.

 

[shemshad6682]

I think it could be the shadowing to some extent - I thought some schools had a minimum (Isn't Pitt like 20 or something? Maybe that's recommended.) But you're worrying way too much. Looking at Pitt in particular, they only just gave out their first wave of interview invites. I didn't have a single interview until February, and I got in just fine.

How was your personal statement? Some schools actually take that to heart if you don't make it seem like dentistry is really for you.

And I do get a laugh when people say a 20AA is low, haha. Damn! I only got a 20AA! hehe

Anyways, don't worry, and call the schools, if they say you're under review, they mean just that, you're under review, so go and enjoy your undergrad while you're still there and don't worry about something that's out of your hands.

thanks for the comfort. Seriously???? you did not get any interveiw until feb. wowww!!!! I will die if i have to wait that much. just kidding🙂

 

[shemshad6682]

I heard NYU also has a 100 minimum. It's not on their website.. but i read it somewhere that it is.

really? i did not know that at all !!! thanks for letting me know 😍

 

[doc toothache]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=424914

 

[nze82]

Some schools do in fact care about the number of credits you've completed by the time you apply and the number of credits you still have to complete in order to graduate.
Couple of questions...
1-Is all your course work completed in US institutions? Sometimes, when you're an international/transfer students, majority of your units are either completed at a school in a foreign country or at a community college, which means number-wise you're doing OK, but some dental schools would like to see you complete more units at a US institution. For example, last year I applied at UNLV, and I got rejected. After calling them, they told me that the reason was that by the time I applied, I didn't have sufficient units completed at a 4 year school (I was a transfer student). So, this might be one reason you're not getting many interviews.

2-Are you a med student switching to dentistry? If so, you need to effectively convince them that you know what you're doing and you're making an informed decision about dentistry. This all goes back to your essay, and if you haven't done a good job doing so, your application will probably suffer.

3-Have you received an email confirming that your application is complete from the schools you applied to? Sometimes you submit everything, and things get lost somewhere in the process. So, make sure you call them and confirm that they have all they need. For example, this year, there were some complications regarding processing my check at UoP. So despite the fact that I sent them the check, my status was still showing that my application fee hasn't been paid, and they never started reviewing my application until I called them and resolved the issue concerning the check.

Good Luck👍👍

 

[shemshad6682]

Some schools do in fact care about the number of credits you've completed by the time you apply and the number of credits you still have to complete in order to graduate.
Couple of questions...
1-Is all your course work completed in US institutions? Sometimes, when you're an international/transfer students, majority of your units are either completed at a school in a foreign country or at a community college, which means number-wise you're doing OK, but some dental schools would like to see you complete more units at a US institution. For example, last year I applied at UNLV, and I got rejected. After calling them, they told me that the reason was that by the time I applied, I didn't have sufficient units completed at a 4 year school (I was a transfer student). So, this might be one reason you're not getting many interviews.

2-Are you a med student switching to dentistry? If so, you need to effectively convince them that you know what you're doing and you're making an informed decision about dentistry. This all goes back to your essay, and if you haven't done a good job doing so, your application will probably suffer.

3-Have you received an email confirming that your application is complete from the schools you applied to? Sometimes you submit everything, and things get lost somewhere in the process. So, make sure you call them and confirm that they have all they need. For example, this year, there were some complications regarding processing my check at UoP. So despite the fact that I sent them the check, my status was still showing that my application fee hasn't been paid, and they never started reviewing my application until I called them and resolved the issue concerning the check.

Good Luck👍👍

Thanks for your input. a couple points:
1-yes, i was a med student out of U.S for two years, and decided to switch to dentistry when I came to U.S. I could'nt transfer any of the med credits i took to U.S universities, so i had to start all over again from the zero point when i came here by retaking courses even some of which I had taken in high school!!!! I think my prior knowledge as a med student well reflects in my 4.00 science gpa so far, and i am confident i can keep it high until i get my bachelor. I really want to switch to dentistry!!!! i think most people switch to dentistry because they find it harder to get into med school than dental school, but i think the situation is reverse for me. for me, it is HARDER to go to dental school than to med school!!! i believe it is reasonable to say that it would be easier for me to go to medical school here than to switch to dental school. i saw sample MCAT questions and i know i can do well enough on MCAT by a little bit studying and also, my two year experience as a medical student would have greatly helped me if i wanted to go to med school here, but i figured out being a med student not only going to help me in anyway, but it is going to HURT me if i wanna go to dental school for the reasons you mentioned. live has changed for me since i came to U.S. i talked about this issue of switching into dentistry in my PS and wrote my reasons. i went to med school when i was 18, after graduating from high school. that time, being a 18 year old boy, i was not mature enough to make such a big decission and went to med school without having a clue about what being a doctor means!!! now, 5 years later, i guess i am mature enough to decide what path i want to go into, and i have no doubt it is dentisty, even if it would be harder and more challenging than medicine. you know, sometimes as you grow up, you just change and look back into your past and wish you could change your decission. 🙁 Ok, that's enough!!!! so given my circumstances, do you think there is hope of getting into a dental school?

 

[americanpierg]

it is definately about how many credits you have under your belt. you had 67 credits when you applied, so that's where you're severely hurting. schools hold applicants with only that many applicants to a MUCH higher standard, i believe pitt wanted near a 4.0 and 24DAT to even apply early. if you said you were going to be taking those 53 credits this year and earn a BS, then I don't know. Maybe they want to wait to see how many of those 53 credits you've done and how well you've done in them during the december grade upgrade period before inviting you for interview. With only 67 credits of low level classes done, and 53 more credits of high level courses left to go, you're GPA has plenty of time to sink below 3.5, and schools know that.

 

[shemshad6682]

Thanks for your input. a couple points:
1-yes, i was a med student out of U.S for two years, and decided to switch to dentistry when I came to U.S. I could'nt transfer any of the med credits i took to U.S universities, so i had to start all over again from the zero point when i came here by retaking courses even some of which I had taken in high school!!!! I think my prior knowledge as a med student well reflects in my 4.00 science gpa so far, and i am confident i can keep it high until i get my bachelor. I really want to switch to dentistry!!!! i think most people switch to dentistry because they find it harder to get into med school than dental school, but i think the situation is reverse for me. for me, it is HARDER to go to dental school than to med school!!! i believe it is reasonable to say that it would be easier for me to go to medical school here than to switch to dental school. i saw sample MCAT questions and i know i can do well enough on MCAT by a little bit studying and also, my two year experience as a medical student would have greatly helped me if i wanted to go to med school here, but i figured out being a med student not only going to help me in anyway, but it is going to HURT me if i wanna go to dental school for the reasons you mentioned. live has changed for me since i came to U.S. i talked about this issue of switching into dentistry in my PS and wrote my reasons. i went to med school when i was 18, after graduating from high school. that time, being a 18 year old boy, i was not mature enough to make such a big decission and went to med school without having a clue about what being a doctor means!!! now, 5 years later, i guess i am mature enough to decide what path i want to go into, and i have no doubt it is dentisty, even if it would be harder and more challenging than medicine. you know, sometimes as you grow up, you just change and look back into your past and wish you could change your decission. 🙁 Ok, that's enough!!!! so given my circumstances, do you think there is hope of getting into a dental school?

sorry, i forgot to say that YES, all schools that i applied to has received my application and i have an application complete or under review status for all of them for about a month now. so, should i assume that they already made their decission and not going to give me interviews?
one more question: when we submit our fall transcript to aadsas sometimes in jan, do the schools go back and review all of thier applications? i am asking because i wanted to know if i can increase my chances by geting all A's for this semster as well or it doesnt matter since they might have made thier decission by the time i submit my transcript for the fall semester.
thanks

 

[peerless218]

As long as you haven't received rejection letters....you're still in the game!!!!! You SHOULD be worried if this is Jan or Feb. Keep play the waiting game!! Something good might happen to you REAL soon.

 

[shemshad6682]

As long as you haven't received rejection letters....you're still in the game!!!!! You SHOULD be worried if this is Jan or Feb. Keep play the waiting game!! Something good might happen to you REAL soon.

thanks man. by the way, I'm afraid this waiting game will get me into a psych hospital istead of dental school.😱

 

[peerless218]

thanks man. by the way, I'm afraid this waiting game will get me into a psych hospital istead of dental school.😱

haha I love this game and I am playing it for the 2nd time straight!!!

 

[nze82]

Thanks for your input. a couple points:
1-yes, i was a med student out of U.S for two years, and decided to switch to dentistry when I came to U.S. I could'nt transfer any of the med credits i took to U.S universities, so i had to start all over again from the zero point when i came here by retaking courses even some of which I had taken in high school!!!! I think my prior knowledge as a med student well reflects in my 4.00 science gpa so far, and i am confident i can keep it high until i get my bachelor. I really want to switch to dentistry!!!! i think most people switch to dentistry because they find it harder to get into med school than dental school, but i think the situation is reverse for me. for me, it is HARDER to go to dental school than to med school!!! i believe it is reasonable to say that it would be easier for me to go to medical school here than to switch to dental school. i saw sample MCAT questions and i know i can do well enough on MCAT by a little bit studying and also, my two year experience as a medical student would have greatly helped me if i wanted to go to med school here, but i figured out being a med student not only going to help me in anyway, but it is going to HURT me if i wanna go to dental school for the reasons you mentioned. live has changed for me since i came to U.S. i talked about this issue of switching into dentistry in my PS and wrote my reasons. i went to med school when i was 18, after graduating from high school. that time, being a 18 year old boy, i was not mature enough to make such a big decission and went to med school without having a clue about what being a doctor means!!! now, 5 years later, i guess i am mature enough to decide what path i want to go into, and i have no doubt it is dentisty, even if it would be harder and more challenging than medicine. you know, sometimes as you grow up, you just change and look back into your past and wish you could change your decission. 🙁 Ok, that's enough!!!! so given my circumstances, do you think there is hope of getting into a dental school?

Of course! There's always hope, and like another poster mentioned, it's only Oct, which means you have Nov, Dec, Jan, and Feb to hear from schools.