Not feeling confident for some reason...

[xaznxcountx]

So I applied to 16 schools total

UCSF
UOP
Western
NOVA
MWU-AZ
MWU-IL
BU
USC
NYU
Temple
Howard
Louisville
ASDOH
Tufts
UNLV
USN

So far I received only two interviews. NOVA (early October) but was rejected.

I have an upcoming interview from MWU-IL in Jan.

Rejections: UCSF, NOVA, ASDOH, Western.

I know I should be feeling positive that I have one interview coming up from MWU-IL but I received two rejections within the same weekend and it really got me bummed. I'm from So Cal so I really wanted to go to Western too.

My stats are anything but stellar. 2.95 GPA/2.8 BCP. I have a 3.89 Grad GPA from my Masters in Biomedical Sciences from MWU-AZ. DAT 20/20/18 taken on August 3rd, 2010.

I'm very thankful I have an interview coming up but at the same time can't help but feel worried since its getting later in the cycle. I messed up really bad in early undergrad and have since been working hard to improve my application. This is my first time applying and I'm worried that schools don't think I'm qualified enough which is why I haven't gotten other interviews. What do you guys think?

I need to get my focus back for my interview coming up! Thanks for reading

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[molar3]

hmmm Maybe you still have hope, dont be too bummed.
when did you submit your aadsas app? What date/month? You shouldve applied early with your stats since theyre not too strong (theyre not terrible but theyre not amazing). Also taking the DAT late in august may have been a bad idea too since your scores werent recieved at schools for about a month after that (or like 3 weeks , w/e). Which really means your app wasnt "complete" till end of august/early september, if you submitted earlier in the summer.
You may just be in this predicament because you applied late and therefore were overlooked or maybe your undergrad gpa is too low even though you did a masters? I dont know if thats the case bc your masters work is very good (3.8 , good job buddy). Did you do a postbacc after you graduated at all? Or did you jump straight into a masters?
stay positive for your upcoming interview , also are you DONE your masters ? or do you have 1 more spring semester left (in 2011?) maybe this is what some schools are waiting for?-your gradeS? not sure, but......if you dont get in this cycle id apply really early next cycle and maybe even retake your DAT for the hell of it to try to do better because theres nothing else you can do since you already completed a masters, it wouldnt make sense to go back and do a postbacc to raise your undergrad gpa....or maybe it would?

Also for your own personal piece of mind, maybe you can call the schools you were rejected from (ie-western, that you really wanted to go to ) and just ask them if there was a specific reason you werent accepted or what you could do to strenghten your app, or what they want to see next time (i mean, there doesnt have to BE a next time but maybe this way theyll tell you their opinion).

 

[xaznxcountx]

hmmm Maybe you still have hope, dont be too bummed.
when did you submit your aadsas app? What date/month? You shouldve applied early with your stats since theyre not too strong (theyre not terrible but theyre not amazing). Also taking the DAT late in august may have been a bad idea too since your scores werent recieved at schools for about a month after that (or like 3 weeks , w/e). Which really means your app wasnt "complete" till end of august/early september, if you submitted earlier in the summer.
You may just be in this predicament because you applied late and therefore were overlooked or maybe your undergrad gpa is too low even though you did a masters? I dont know if thats the case bc your masters work is very good (3.8 , good job buddy). Did you do a postbacc after you graduated at all? Or did you jump straight into a masters?
stay positive for your upcoming interview , also are you DONE your masters ? or do you have 1 more spring semester left (in 2011?) maybe this is what some schools are waiting for?-your gradeS? not sure, but......if you dont get in this cycle id apply really early next cycle and maybe even retake your DAT for the hell of it to try to do better because theres nothing else you can do since you already completed a masters, it wouldnt make sense to go back and do a postbacc to raise your undergrad gpa....or maybe it would?

Also for your own personal piece of mind, maybe you can call the schools you were rejected from (ie-western, that you really wanted to go to ) and just ask them if there was a specific reason you werent accepted or what you could do to strenghten your app, or what they want to see next time (i mean, there doesnt have to BE a next time but maybe this way theyll tell you their opinion).

Hey thanks for the reply. I submitted my AADSAS application end of June but my DAT mailing date wasn't until end of August. So you're right essentially my file wasn't complete until early September. I am already done with my Masters since it was an SMP (one year). I went straight into my Masters program (no post bacc). My undergrad GPA was a 2.8 and with the one year Masters it brought it up to 2.95.

 

[dentalWorks]

So I applied to 16 schools total

UCSF
UOP
Western
NOVA
MWU-AZ
MWU-IL
BU
USC
NYU
Temple
Howard
Louisville
ASDOH
Tufts
UNLV
USN

So far I received only two interviews. NOVA (early October) but was rejected.

I have an upcoming interview from MWU-IL in Jan.

Rejections: UCSF, NOVA, ASDOH, Western.

I know I should be feeling positive that I have one interview coming up from MWU-IL but I received two rejections within the same weekend and it really got me bummed. I'm from So Cal so I really wanted to go to Western too.

My stats are anything but stellar. 2.95 GPA/2.8 BCP. I have a 3.89 Grad GPA from my Masters in Biomedical Sciences from MWU-AZ. DAT 20/20/18 taken on August 3rd, 2010.

I'm very thankful I have an interview coming up but at the same time can't help but feel worried since its getting later in the cycle. I messed up really bad in early undergrad and have since been working hard to improve my application. This is my first time applying and I'm worried that schools don't think I'm qualified enough which is why I haven't gotten other interviews. What do you guys think?

I need to get my focus back for my interview coming up! Thanks for reading

I hope I am wrong here.... but what are you going to do if you don't get in this cycle? I think its important to start thinking about worst-case scenario.

 

[xaznxcountx]

I hope I am wrong here.... but what are you going to do if you don't get in this cycle? I think its important to start thinking about worst-case scenario.

I'm thinking about applying to some linkage programs. Otherwise I really don't know . Any advice? I really wonder if my August 3rd DAT really hurt me that much!

 

[dentalWorks]

I'm thinking about applying to some linkage programs. Otherwise I really don't know . Any advice? I really wonder if my August 3rd DAT really hurt me that much!

When you say linkage programs... you mean like one of those formal post-baccs that guarantee you an interview if you keep a specific GPA right?

Do you have one of those programs in your state? I don't advice you to move out of your state (or even city) to go into one of those programs.

You really have 1 of 2 decisions to make (I HOPE it never comes down to either one)

#1) You can make yourself believe that your chances were hindered this cycle due to the semi-late DAT date.... And just apply again next cycle to 20+ schools. Plz include the 2 michigan schools, they are both good at looking at the "whole" applicant and not just pure numbers.

#2) You can make yourself believe that your undergrad GPA is low, and taking the next 1 year off to boost up your undergrad numbers in post-bacc (informal). I am usually a HUGE advocate of post-bacc, but I dunno how much benefit this is going to give you because, you've already gone through the masters options and rocked a 3.9 GPA, post-bacc at this point is like a step-backwards just to increase the GPA.... By time your done with this post-bacc and assuming both your science and overall GPAs will be above 3.0, you can apply in the summer of 2012.

Maybe you can call up some schools and ask for advice.... tell them to be frank with you.

 

[xaznxcountx]

Well at this point I'm just going to focus on the upcoming interview I have. The linkage programs guarantee you a spot for the dental school the following year. These programs are extremely competitive though.

 

[molar3]

umm you should probably just cry in your MWU-il interview in jan. and tell them dentistry is everything to you and start wailing about how badly you want to go to their school and how u messed up in undergrad and tried to prove u deserve dental school by getting ur masters, u know the whole shebang.....maybe theyll feel really bad for you and let you in. Im semi kidding....uhhh ok so CLEARLY if that doesnt work....id say

1) retake the dat just to try to aim for a higher score to set off a low gpa, bump up other parts of ur app to compensate.
2) even though youd be going backwards, do a postbac of undergrad courses like dentalworks said, i mean maybe it doesnt matter what order you do a masters/postbacc in, bc as everyone around here always says its a NUMBERS GAME. so who cares when your numbers came to be? as long as they meet the criteria.....i dunno though
3) get a job in the dental field maybe? being some sort of assistant? as i think you cant do much else w/out expirience. or just intern alot for a dentist and get a reccomendation
4) just dont freak out and dont worry, whatevers meant to be will be and whatevers meant to happen will happen. dont put urself down (ull just stress urself out and make yourself look old!!!) If youre meant to get in this year you will, if you arent, you wont and youll reapply (dont give up), youll figure something out. In the meantime, get PUMPED/AMPED for ur upcoming interview!! wakeup every morning and tell urself ur awesome and tell urself YOURE GETTING IN!!!! believe it !!!! also dont be awkward @ ur interview (duh), be confident and really portray that you want to go to their school.
gluckkkkkk!

 

[ALLDAYYY]

Wow we are in literally the SAME boat man.

my undergrad gpa is 3.07

i finished a masters in biochem and molecular bio from UCR wit a 3.81

my DAT is 20/20/20

We applied to mostly the same schools.ive only received one interview tho at IU and i was placed on the alternate list.
(i called them and they told me it was although the grad GPA is great and the interview went GREAT the undergrad GPA puts u at a lower rank relative to theo ther applicants)

I also called the schools that i was rejected from and they also told me that although the Grad GPA is great the pre reqs grades and cumalative GPA was not high enough.

i ve been rejected from Case UCSF UNLV Temple thus far and im already thinkin of reapplying too.

But i agree wit dental works about postbacc.... Masters is not a prerequisite for dental school.

ive been back at my undergrad institution since summer retakin the pre reqs BCP that i got lower than a B as well as TAing for general biochemistry courses and doing some research.

I recently academic updated 16 units of 4.33 GPA and im takin more classes winter and spring so i hope that helps but im also unsure of what to do at this point and im losin hope too =((( or what to do next year when i reapply so if anyone on this site can think of anything please let me know...

 

[Destiny11]

So I applied to 16 schools total

UCSF
UOP
Western
NOVA
MWU-AZ
MWU-IL
BU
USC
NYU
Temple
Howard
Louisville
ASDOH
Tufts
UNLV
USN

So far I received only two interviews. NOVA (early October) but was rejected.

I have an upcoming interview from MWU-IL in Jan.

Rejections: UCSF, NOVA, ASDOH, Western.

I know I should be feeling positive that I have one interview coming up from MWU-IL but I received two rejections within the same weekend and it really got me bummed. I'm from So Cal so I really wanted to go to Western too.

My stats are anything but stellar. 2.95 GPA/2.8 BCP. I have a 3.89 Grad GPA from my Masters in Biomedical Sciences from MWU-AZ. DAT 20/20/18 taken on August 3rd, 2010.

I'm very thankful I have an interview coming up but at the same time can't help but feel worried since its getting later in the cycle. I messed up really bad in early undergrad and have since been working hard to improve my application. This is my first time applying and I'm worried that schools don't think I'm qualified enough which is why I haven't gotten other interviews. What do you guys think?

I need to get my focus back for my interview coming up! Thanks for reading

Don't give up hope. You didn't get rejected by USC or UNLV. Are you taking any classes this fall to raise your GPA? What are you doing to improve your application? It's all a numbers game despite your high graduate GPA.

For now, just concentrate on your upcoming MWU-IL interview and rock it. Practice. Practice. Be confident. Practice.

 

[xaznxcountx]

Don't give up hope. You didn't get rejected by USC or UNLV. Are you taking any classes this fall to raise your GPA? What are you doing to improve your application? It's all a numbers game despite your high graduate GPA.

For now, just concentrate on your upcoming MWU-IL interview and rock it. Practice. Practice. Be confident. Practice.

Right now I volunteer for a nonprofit organization that provides dental care to underserved populations. I have not taken any classes since I thought my Masters degree was enough, but we'll have to see. For now I'm going to be focusing on my upcoming interview.