# of Interviews WITHOUT an Acceptance???

[kdawg]

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I tried to search for this topic but did not have any success.

What is the highest number of interviews you've heard an applicant getting without being accepted?

It would be preferable to hear directly from reapplicants, but feel free to post others' experiences as long as it's not hearsay.

 

[sonylarkhi]

I tried to search for this topic but did not have any success.

What is the highest number of interviews you've heard an applicant getting without being accepted?

It would be preferable to hear directly from reapplicants, but feel free to post others' experiences as long as it's not hearsay.

Good thread....I'm really interested in this too....also, if you know if it was before or after december 1st that would be insightful too...

 

[CaliGirl15]

Reapplicant here...I had 4 interviews, but I did have one acceptance and 3 waitlists. All interviews post December 1st. Feel free to PM if you want to know more.

 

[DentalKitty]

Reapplicant here...I had 4 interviews, but I did have one acceptance and 3 waitlists. All interviews post December 1st. Feel free to PM if you want to know more.

Did you decide not to go where you were accepted last year? How did you explain that to schools this year?

 

[BigDentoncAMPus]

I'm interested in this 2....its important to remember that a lot of ppl are just not sociable. I have 5 so far... I'd be suprized if I didn't get into either of the schools but there are so many good applicants that you can't tell if you will. The weird thing is that I don't know anyone that has gotten interviews and didn't get accepted. I did read somewhere on hear that someone has heard of ppl getting 5 interviews and 5 wait lists or something.

 

[CaliGirl15]

Well I haven't had to explain it yet because I have no interviews as of yet sadly🙁, but I am not worried about explaining it. It was for completely personal reasons and I know the schools would not look down on it. I would be very comfortable explaining the reasons to the schools if they asked.

 

[kdawg]

Let's get some feedback on this! Even if it is only 2 or 3 interviews without an acceptance, please post the experience.

And, like sonylarkhi said, it would be very important to note whether interviews were pre- or post-December 1st. It would also be helpful to know if acceptance was off of a waitlist as well.

 

[Smills91]

Let's get some feedback on this! Even if it is only 2 or 3 interviews without an acceptance, please post the experience.

And, like sonylarkhi said, it would be very important to note whether interviews were pre- or post-December 1st. It would also be helpful to know if acceptance was off of a waitlist as well.

The past two years, I've interviewed at Louisville on Dec. 5th and then on Dec. 1st. I was waitlisted both times. The first interview in 2005 cycle I wan denied in late May. The 2006 cycle(this past year) I was denied on the 2nd day of classes(July 6th). I actually went down during orientation to see what was up.


This year I've had two interviews Louisville(Aug. 31st) and Midwestern (Sept. 17th).

 

[blasterx]

I've got 6 interview offers but only attending 3. I'll let you know how it works out after Dec 1.

 

[kdawg]

I'm seeing that this thread is getting a very large number of views, but very few replies.

I guess that means that while most people are interested in this topic, you do NOT know of applicants getting interviews without acceptance?

 

[kdawg]

Just had a thought...

PDizzle, if you happen to read this: is there a way to search predents about this topic??? I've tried to manually do it by looking at several profiles and soon realized how ineffective that method was. Let me know if I can do it somehow, or if you would be willing to do it as Mr. Predents Administrator. Thanks for any input.

 

[DentistsRSuper]

I know someone last year that got only 1 interview (February) & got accepted.

 

[dynein]

I know someone last year that got only 1 interview (February) & got accepted.

I think you just sparked hope for many of us. Thank you!

 

[coachman5]

I'm a reapplicant. Last year, I applied to two schools (Tufts, BU), got two interviews, and then ultimately two rejections.

This year, I am going to work hard to prepare myself for the interviews by rehearsing many practice questions. I get nervous in high pressure interviews, so this preparation is critical and necessary for me.

I very much hope to get into dental school this year!!

 

[PDizzle]

Just had a thought...

PDizzle, if you happen to read this: is there a way to search predents about this topic??? I've tried to manually do it by looking at several profiles and soon realized how ineffective that method was. Let me know if I can do it somehow, or if you would be willing to do it as Mr. Predents Administrator. Thanks for any input.

I of course could program this but is there enough people that want to know this? Is it worth the time? You guys tell me.

 

[jigabodo]

I think its safe to assume that if you have 3 or more interviews, you are going to have a pretty high chance of being accepted to at least one of those dental schools.

For example, NYU has 232 seats, but they interviewed 600 something applicants last year, but it does not mean that you have a 33% chance of being accepted once you are granted an interview. Not everyone accepted will choose to attend. In fact, if I remember correctly the chance of gaining acceptance after receiving an interview is around 60% or so.

Same thing goes with other schools as well.

 

[blasterx]

I of course could program this but is there enough people that want to know this? Is it worth the time? You guys tell me.

A search feature in general would be very useful. Maybe just be able to search by basic things such as state of residence, GPA ranges, DAT score ranges, etc. Similar to the search feature at mdapps 👍

 

[electron]

I agree, a search on predents would be nice

 

[Resonance]

I think it would be well worth the effort.

 

[sonylarkhi]

I'm a reapplicant. Last year, I applied to two schools (Tufts, BU), got two interviews, and then ultimately two rejections.

This year, I am going to work hard to prepare myself for the interviews by rehearsing many practice questions. I get nervous in high pressure interviews, so this preparation is critical and necessary for me.

I very much hope to get into dental school this year!!

When did you interview at the schools??

 

[dentstd]

and it'd be awesome to not have to press "Refresh" after clicking "Back"

 

[kdawg]

It sounds like a fair amount of us are strongly for some search tools in predents, PDizzle. Hopefully you can incorporate one that allows to search for # interviews without acceptance.

Which brings us back to my original question and intent of this thread. What is the most number of interviews you've heard of someone getting (or gotten yourself) without getting any acceptances?

Or, since we're not getting a ton of response with this question, please also respond with most interviews received while getting only one acceptance??

I think a lot of us have heard of the "3 interviews for 1 acceptance" theory that jigabodo spoke about. But, there are so many different circumstances for each applicant that I don't think a generalization can be made. Factors such as interviewing pre- or post-December 1st, performance at the interview, extracurriculars, etc. all factor in, so there are no guarantees.

That is why I introduced the topic and wanted to hear the extreme worst case scenario. There are applicants I found on predents from last year's cycle that had 5+ interviews and barely snuck into school on a waitlist. We always hear about the extreme best case scenarios of people getting one late cycle interview and ending up getting into their first choice. While that is all warm and fuzzy, I'd rather err on the side of caution and reality.

 

[harjay]

you'd better make sure you get at least 5 interviews, just to be on the safe side.

 

[Resonance]

You could just use the law of addition to calculate the probability.

ie P(a or b) = P(a) + P(b)
if a = getting accepted at tufts after interview 288/415
b= getting into howard after interview 143/231
P(a or b) = 288/415 + 143/231 = 1.313

aka you are getting in some where.

 

[dackmonkey]

You could just use the law of addition to calculate the probability.

ie P(a or b) = P(a) + P(b)
if a = getting accepted at tufts after interview 288/415
b= getting into howard after interview 143/231
P(a or b) = 288/415 + 143/231 = 1.313

aka you are getting in some where.

i don't think that's how it works haha.

 

[soyungil]

3 interviews last year, no acceptance
8 interviews this year, hoping for 2-3 so that i can have some choices this time... but I would be happy with just one

 

[sonylarkhi]

3 interviews last year, no acceptance
8 interviews this year, hoping for 2-3 so that i can have some choices this time... but I would be happy with just one

When and where did you interview last year?

 

[burgler09]

i saw a guy on predents.com who got accepted to UCLA with a GPAc 3.0 and a GPAs of a 2.7 and had actually gotten accpted somewhere else and rejected another interview. This was without a postbacc and a 19 on the dat. How's that for some hope 🙂

 

[ice4804]

You could just use the law of addition to calculate the probability.

ie P(a or b) = P(a) + P(b)
if a = getting accepted at tufts after interview 288/415
b= getting into howard after interview 143/231
P(a or b) = 288/415 + 143/231 = 1.313

aka you are getting in some where.

I really hope you're joking...😀

 

[Smills91]

i saw a guy on predents.com who got accepted to UCLA with a GPAc 3.0 and a GPAs of a 2.7 and had actually gotten accpted somewhere else and rejected another interview. This was without a postbacc and a 19 on the dat. How's that for some hope 🙂

He probably black-mailed the dean. ;-)

 

[doubledizzle13]

my buddy got 3 interviews last year, all texas schools, but only went to san antonio and baylor, didn't want to live in houston, and got rejected from both, he is pretty much the total package-(i.e 22 dat 25, (16pat was only weakness), super friendly ex football QB, 3.7 sci gpa at BYU),..i think his major problem was applying in august and being picky about schools

 

[Resonance]

i don't think that's how it works haha.

I really hope you're joking...😀

Hey what can I say I only got a B+ in upper-division statistics and that was two years ago. Its got to be close. At least, Right? Where did I go wrong.

 

[mantraman1010]

my buddy got 3 interviews last year, all texas schools, but only went to san antonio and baylor, didn't want to live in houston, and got rejected from both, he is pretty much the total package-(i.e 22 dat 25, (16pat was only weakness), super friendly ex football QB, 3.7 sci gpa at BYU),..i think his major problem was applying in august and being picky about schools

was he a texas resident? if not, that could have played a role.

 

[dackmonkey]

Hey what can I say I only got a B+ in upper-division statistics and that was two years ago. Its got to be close. At least, Right? Where did I go wrong.

your reasoning makes sense if you attribute acceptance to probability/luck. what if you bomb both interviews? does the reasoning still apply? there are a million what ifs that could influence the outcome, thus we can't attribute the acceptance rate to a mathematical probability.

 

[ice4804]

your reasoning makes sense if you attribute acceptance to probability/luck. what if you bomb both interviews? does the reasoning still apply? there are a million what ifs that could influence the outcome, thus we can't attribute the acceptance rate to a mathematical probability.

This is technically right I guess, but still not why the logic is flawed. Even if you take out any outside factors like how well you do, the probability of any event with more than one possible outcome being guaranteed is impossible.

Just as a simple example, take a coin and flip it three times. What are the odds that one of the flips will be tails? Well, since the probability of any single flip landing on tails is 1/2, does that mean that the probability of getting 1 tails in 3 flips is 1/2 + 1/2 +1/2 = 1.5? Obviously not.

 

[GatorDDS]

his logic is correct with the numbers. its the P (A OR B) not P (A and B) which is what your coinflip example is referring too.

P(A and B) is the probabilities multiplied by each other so (.5 x .5 x .5) is the probability you will get heads 3 times in a row.

but getting accepted is obviously more than just numbers.

 

[Cymbidium]

Last year I got 4 interviews (Temple, NYU, Penn and Tufts) and one acceptance. 2 were pre Dec 1 and the other 2 were in Feb.

 

[CCDD12]

cymbidium? do u mind telling me what 2 schools ur interviewed at before dec1? and where did u get the acceptance from?

 

[Cymbidium]

NYU and Temple.
NYU acceptance.

 

[dr bojangles]

cymbidium, i see on predents that you did postbac. did you try applying with just your undergrad stats or only after postbac (or both)?

 

[samurai361]

I think you guys are just worrying about this way too much. Take personal experiences with a grain of salt. It's been proven time and time again that there is no 'formula' for acceptances & each applicant's case is so highly different. Because 1 guy got in with a 19 DAT/3.0 GPA, well who knows what his story was, maybe he came from a very poor background and demonstrated this during the interview or personal statement or whatever. it really just depends on each person's profile.

 

[tekstyle]

I know someone last year that got only 1 interview (February) & got accepted.

thank you thank you. you are my second god. first would be u know...

 

[OhNoImmaPreDent]

I heard recently of someone who got all 3 texas interviews and didnt get accepted into any program. tx resident too...OUCH!

 

[denticus]

I heard recently of someone who got all 3 texas interviews and didnt get accepted into any program. tx resident too...OUCH!

Surely he/she acted like a pinhead at his/her interviews...yikes!

 

[OhNoImmaPreDent]

hahha I can't imagine how you would completely mess that up bc you've taken the time to prepare to even get that far...but to bomb all 3? yeah foot in mouth syndrome maybe?

 

[kdawg]

The original question of this thread hasn't had too much response. Maybe the reapplicants who had interviews and weren't accepted just don't feel like posting. Maybe I should post the question in the dental student forum.

So, I'll adjust the topic for a bit more discussion:

Of the applicants who have had 3 or more interviews so far this cycle, how confident are you that you will be offered an acceptance on 01 December? How confident are you that you will be accepted at some point?

Now, of course we do not absolutely know our chances and can't rely on formulas (sorry Resonance). The touchy-feely, extreme-best-case scenarios don't really inspire me personally, so please leave those out of this thread. I want to hear from those who have had several interviews and have some kind of feeling about their likelihood of getting in. Please explain why you feel you are either confident or not confident. Are your stats good enough to compensate for your bad interview experience? Do you think you nailed your interview and compensated for your poor stats? Have you just plain interviewed at so many schools that you're bound to get in somewhere? Did your daddy drop a fat donation to the school of your choice?

If you'd still like to respond to the original question, feel free. Otherwise, I'll kick off this new topic with my own interpretation in the next post.

 

[kdawg]

I'm a reapplicant who applied way too late last cycle to give myself a fair shot at getting in. While I did receive 2 interviews (both post-01 Dec) and made 2 waitlists, I obviously didn't get in anywhere. This cycle I applied to ~20 schools, have had 6 interviews thus far, 2 more to go (all pre-01 Dec), and have been rejected by 4.

I honestly have felt quite comfortable at interviews this year. Though a cliche, I really have tried to "be myself". I think I'm a personable guy and that my answers have been confident and good enough to at least not hurt my chances of getting in.

My stats are alright. I have a 3.6 (CUM, SCI & BCP) and 19/20/20 DAT (but, with 17 RC). Some credits, including core science classes, were taken at a community college because of convenience only (I've worked full-time throughout undergrad & com. college is 5 min away). Plenty of shadowing, community service, and worked in a dental lab for 3 yrs. Not much research and only a few Biology classes beyond bare minimum recommendations. I'm also a bit older than average at 27.

I'm not super confident right now. Maybe I'm skittish because I'm a reapplicant. I think interviews have gone great, but nothing that has given me any kind of feeling of certainty. To me, I kind of feel like my stats were just good enough to land me some interviews and that I'm "bottom of the pile" no matter how my interviews go. I get the impression from adcoms that they like me but are limited to how many middle-groupers, like myself, that they can take. It wouldn't surprise me to hear nothing on 01 Dec, although I would be shocked to not sneak in somewhere by the end of the cycle. If I don't get in I'll be screwed by my crappy grades this semester during interviews!! I tend to be on the pessimistic, although realistic, side...therefore I never count my chickens before they've hatched. While I believe that the more interviews you get the greater your chances are (obviously), there is no certain number that makes you a shoo-in.

Anyone out there in the same boat? Let me hear about your situation and your gut instinct.

 

[kdawg]

his logic is correct with the numbers. its the P (A OR B) not P (A and B) which is what your coinflip example is referring too.

P(A and B) is the probabilities multiplied by each other so (.5 x .5 x .5) is the probability you will get heads 3 times in a row.

but getting accepted is obviously more than just numbers.

I don't want to restart a discussion about this, so let me just put it to rest. After brushing up on my statistics, I found the following:

Take a coin flip. The chance of flipping tails just once out of two attempts is given by the "alternative occurrence" formula:

P(A or B) = P(A + B) - P(A x B) , thus, 1/2 + 1/2 - 1/4 = 3/4 (75%)

In the example that ice4804 brought up, the chance of flipping tails just once out of three attempts is a modification of the previous formula:

P(A or B or C) = P(A + B + C) - P(A x B) - P(A x C) - P(B x C) + P(A x B x C), thus, (1/2 + 1/2 + 1/2) - 1/4 - 1/4 - 1/4 + (1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2) = 7/8 (87.5%)

As far as trying to calculate acceptances after interviews, I think that technically the above formula applies. But we all know that there are an incalculable number of variables that go into acceptances. Use Excel & tell me what you end up calculating for your odds of acceptance! Otherwise, I hope that this particular topic ends with this post.

 

[harjay]

I don't want to restart a discussion about this, so let me just put it to rest. After brushing up on my statistics, I found the following:
.........

By the way, the whole statistics thing is kind of a joke. It is not just a calculatable statistic of whether or not you will get in. Think for example how the high stats people will get in everywhere they apply, and the low-stats will get in no where. Where does that fit in your probabilities?

 

[t man]

The original question of this thread hasn't had too much response. Maybe the reapplicants who had interviews and weren't accepted just don't feel like posting. Maybe I should post the question in the dental student forum.

So, I'll adjust the topic for a bit more discussion:

Of the applicants who have had 3 or more interviews so far this cycle, how confident are you that you will be offered an acceptance on 01 December? How confident are you that you will be accepted at some point?

Now, of course we do not absolutely know our chances and can't rely on formulas (sorry Resonance). The touchy-feely, extreme-best-case scenarios don't really inspire me personally, so please leave those out of this thread. I want to hear from those who have had several interviews and have some kind of feeling about their likelihood of getting in. Please explain why you feel you are either confident or not confident. Are your stats good enough to compensate for your bad interview experience? Do you think you nailed your interview and compensated for your poor stats? Have you just plain interviewed at so many schools that you're bound to get in somewhere? Did your daddy drop a fat donation to the school of your choice?

If you'd still like to respond to the original question, feel free. Otherwise, I'll kick off this new topic with my own interpretation in the next post.

Despite the 1/3 "rule" and being told at each interview that "if you have an interview this early, it's a very good thing" or "if you're worried about getting in somewhere, then stop worrying" and being told by current students that "if you have that many interviews this early, you're going to get in" and "i got into most of the schools i interviewed at event hought I was really nervous" I'm still not confident that I'll get in, and think that if I ever become confident that I'll get in, it'll blow up in my face, and I'll be branded a jackass for the rest of my life.

Does that clear things up?