Here is the story you have been waiting to hear from me!
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How did I manage to get into my top choice with 19AA and 3.00sGPA? It’s not a luck, but rather careful decisions throughout the process. To explain the details, I will first give you my short background. I am a single child raised by a working-class single parent. I experienced three cultures, learned three languages and lived in three countries (about 8 years each). I did not have any scientific knowledge prior to college, thus I had a rough time in my intro science courses. My interest in dentistry began when I moved to the U.S. and got a full dental treatment, compared to having to endure severe tooth pain that lasted for a month due to financial difficulties. Thus, I am passionate to help those in need of a dental care in order for them not to feel pain, but rather focus to achieve their own goals in life and maintain great overall health. This is how since high school I made my goal to pursue dentistry as my dream job.
I applied twice to dental schools and I will tell you most of the differences. During my first cycle, I applied to nine schools and received zero interviews (zero acceptances). I had the following metrics: 19AA, 19TS, 21PAT, 19QR, 15RC, 17BIO, 18GC, 26OC and 2.78bcpGPA, 2.98sGPA, 3.25oGPA. I have above 100hours of shadowing and volunteering. I have a rainbow of job experiences, such as working as a houseman at a hotel to being an organic chemistry tutor at my university. I involved for four years in pre-dental club and my chess club at my university. My personal statement I would give now a B, even though at the moment I thought it was the best paper I have written. I applied in early June, then took DAT late July and it was ready to review early August. It was a complete silence for me for all nine schools until February (some in June), which then rejected! It was the cycle that I learned what patience is. In April I spoke with “A” of dental school and this is what “A” told me: the red flags are 15RC, 17BIO, and 2.78bcpGPA. This was sufficient enough for the committee to not let my application to be considered for an interview. Thus, “A” suggested to retake DAT and apply for a master program to improve. Hmm, what did I do?
Before applying for the second cycle the following was made. I graduated my undergrad (took 4.5 years) in December and was looking to get a job. After asking my professors, I applied to become a researcher at my university in organic chemistry. A month later, I was hired! This is what I did instead of going to grad school, because it shows you still in school and learning as well as developing crucial hands-on skills which are related to dentistry. So, naturally next is to improve my DAT scores. I studied between March-June while having this full-time research position. I got the following: 19AA, 19TS, 28PAT, 19QR, 19RC, 18BIO, 18GC, 23OC and 2.83bcpGPA, 3.00sGPA, 3.28oGPA. Managing full-time job with DAT is actually a good lesson of time management too. I applied to 19 schools in late June and completed supplementals before 4th of July for most school. Starting in late July, I got four interviews and five rejections in total. The following are specific interview dates: UK invitation on 7/19th for 8/24th interview, which I got waitlisted on 12/3rd. UL invitation on 7/20th for 8/27th interview, which I got accepted on 12/3rd. IU invitation on 8/14th for 8/28th interview, which I got waitlisted on 12/3rd. All these schools invited me to their first interview dates. Later, UMN (In-State) invited me on 10/10th for 10/29th interview, which I got accepted on 12/3rd! Thus, I will be a part of the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry Class of 2023! The cycle is over for me and I don’t need to wait any longer. To me, this was a stress-free cycle compared to the previous one!
What is, in my opinion, have helped me to be accepted? Definitely, improvement in DAT subsections even though AA/TS are the same. Let me be clear, having one high score (26 OC or 28PAT) will not help you alone. I think having nothing below 18 was a huge deal. Another big factor was getting the research job. This is the best job I have in my life. To those who interested how I got it: first because I was a tutor for three semesters and made a huge impact to other students; second, I had summer research experience in biochemistry lab; and third, the recommendation letter from a chemistry faculty. Next improvement is writing an even better essay. I re-wrote 85% of it and include my story of resilience that my mother taught me. Professors, dental students, and friends who reviewed said this is a huge improvement. Lastly, getting strong recommendation letters. I definitely, don’t know what they have written, but this faculty mentor that I did research with was really trying her best to convince others that I am a “solid” applicant. I know this because of her strong desire to help me and the fact that she is an awesome writer since she does a lot of writing to convince to fund her research from NIH. This faculty did not write to me the first time because I did not start a research with her. These were defining aspects to be admitted, and the fact that I applied as a disadvantaged student or being Muslim is neutral to my application. Overall, the combination of my skills, knowledge, personality, unique experiences, being diverse, and being dedicated to pursuing dentistry are vital to my acceptance. The last thing I want to say is that someone with my stats is considered more serious applicant once they apply a second time.
If you have a good personality, good mindset, believing in yourself things will work out for you eventually; don’t give up and push through the “walls”. One thing I learned from interviews is that your stats still maters for your acceptance! I want to reveal, to my knowledge, I am the only Tajik who applied to U.S. dental schools. If there is any other Tajik, please let me know. If you want me to make any clarifications or have any questions please let me know. Thank you for reading my reflection essay. I am wishing you all the best in your journey to become a dentist!
