ohhh UDM

[Kneecoal]

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got a letter from UDM yesterday saying that they're still waiting on a LOR from a dentist for me that also attests to me spending time in an office. what the hey! i guess the dentist that wrote me a letter didn't mention that part?? my letters were all put into one committee letter. is anyone else experiencing this? what should i do? ask her to write me a whole new letter??

and they also want to know if i'm retaking the dat to make my qr more competitive.

i didn't know earlier that they wanted their own official copies of my transcripts until much later after i applied, so i overnighted those back in september. i feel like this school is becoming more trouble than it's worth!

 

[ERA8669]

Ahhh that's awful. That has been a big fear of mine about the LOR from the dentist too...but luckily so far it has not come up. Maybe the dentist can just write a quick supplementary letter stating how many hrs you shadowed and you can offer to overnight it or something. I don't think a whole new letter is necessary. Also, I don't understand why some schools care so much about QR and some don't care at all. At my Uconn interview they told us that basically everyone interviewing that day bombed their QR and that they normally don't even LOOK at that score. It would be nice if all schools were that way! Well, for those of us who bombed QR at least.

 

[UMpredent]

This happened to my friend as well, and I'm worried because we both got a letter of recommendation from the SAME dentist! I have not received that type of letter yet, but I'm just waiting. I have 100+ hours volunteering in a dental hospital at the University of Michigan... is this not sufficient exposure to the dental field!? I am also beginning to wonder if UDM is more trouble than it's worth.

 

[Lulu2809]

Hey Guys,

You ARE supposed to have a SEPERATE letter from a dentist in addition to the committee letter that was written.

If you haven't done so, I would make sure to get on this now instead of waiting for UDM to contact you. Luckily, UDM tends to interview later than other schools so if you take care of this quickly, you will not be far behind. Also make sure to check your monthly updates. That will tell you if all your letters are in.

I would hate to see you miss out over something so trivial.

 

[lums2]

UDM had an issue with one of my LOR as well... they said my LOR from a prof who taught speciation was "environmental" and didn't count. So now I'm running around trying to get a LOR from another prof. I really hope I get an interview though, UMD is my first choice.

 

[zsmilez14]

I am also beginning to wonder if UDM is more trouble than it's worth.

word.

 

[Jongho Yoon]

Same happened to me. I had my dentist's LOR on interfolio, so I requested them to send it to my dentist, who added that I job-shadowed certain amounts of hours and sent it back to interfolio. I requested the new letter to be sent to UDM again.

 

[lums2]

got a letter from UDM yesterday saying that they're still waiting on a LOR from a dentist for me that also attests to me spending time in an office. what the hey! i guess the dentist that wrote me a letter didn't mention that part?? my letters were all put into one committee letter. is anyone else experiencing this? what should i do? ask her to write me a whole new letter??

and they also want to know if i'm retaking the dat to make my qr more competitive.

i didn't know earlier that they wanted their own official copies of my transcripts until much later after i applied, so i overnighted those back in september. i feel like this school is becoming more trouble than it's worth!

Kneecoal, I noticed that you shadowed an orthodontist. Did you shadow a general dentist as well? At the open house, the lady in charge of admissions (Karin) said that they didn't want LOR from specialists...

 

[huk1985]

I had trouble with UDM throughout my application last year.. To be honest, I was a little put off by their disorganization. They were the only ones out of the schools I've applied, that lsot my DAT score. As well as my dentist LOR that was sent in August. As well as losing my check couple of times.. That big of a disorganization scares me and kind of says something about the school...

 

[Slacker24]

Just curious, what makes UDM an attractive school to go? I'm not from around that area and don't really know its reputation. Thanks

 

[Kneecoal]

Kneecoal, I noticed that you shadowed an orthodontist. Did you shadow a general dentist as well? At the open house, the lady in charge of admissions (Karin) said that they didn't want LOR from specialists...

muy interessante! well then, i guess i'm out of the running with them. i've shadowed a gp only twice for a grand total of 8 hours this summer, i doubt he'd even have anything to write about me.

 

[hellonurse]

muy interessante! well then, i guess i'm out of the running with them. i've shadowed a gp only twice for a grand total of 8 hours this summer, i doubt he'd even have anything to write about me.

Just a thought..do you feel like you got a good enough assessment of general dentistry in 8 hrs? Just in case you don't make it into ortho school. Not that you won't...but if I were on the admissions committee, I would grill you on this. Not that my application is perfect, it's definitely not.

 

[Kneecoal]

Just a thought..do you feel like you got a good enough assessment of general dentistry in 8 hrs? Just in case you don't make it into ortho school. Not that you won't...but if I were on the admissions committee, I would grill you on this. Not that my application is perfect, it's definitely not.

i've wanted this since i was a kid (think elementary school), and i've been involved in the field since i was 15. and i haven't been grilled yet, i've acknowledged it on my own before they would even have a chance to ask.

 

[hellonurse]

i've wanted this since i was a kid (think elementary school), and i've been involved in the field since i was 15. and i haven't been grilled yet, i've acknowledged it on my own before they would even have a chance to ask.

Like you said, you were involved since you were 15..so that's kind of like shadowing. It's exposure 🙂

 

[navneetdh]

UDM did this to me too. Except it was for my science LORs. Ecology and tropical biology don't count. Then they wrote a letter saying my fee wasnt received. I checked my bank and it shows the check has been cleared. So i decided to call them and told them I mailed the fee along with the picture. The lady checked and said yes I do have the fee. But then she says we need 2 more science LORS. this wasnt mentioned in the letter. And I was like why --- she said that the ones you sent are old -- i.e the same ones I used last yr when I applied. They want new science LORs. But I graduated and have not taken any new science classes and all my professors probably forgot abt me. So she says ask the professors who wrote the LORs to write them AGAIN. This sounded absurd to me but I emailed teh professors -- and its been 2 weeks and I have obviously heard back nothing from them. Professors at my univ. were too busy to write LORs and really made to work to get them.
So Now I will have to write a special letter to UDM telling them that I cannot provide new science LORs. And after all that trouble I hope they do not reject me. I mean I do have 2 science and 2 dentist LORs. 🙁

 

[huk1985]

so it wasn't just me....
How can a school be so disorganized???????
It's not like they get a lot more applicants than other schools..

 

[dmd87]

UDM did this to me too. Except it was for my science LORs. Ecology and tropical biology don't count. Then they wrote a letter saying my fee wasnt received. I checked my bank and it shows the check has been cleared. So i decided to call them and told them I mailed the fee along with the picture. The lady checked and said yes I do have the fee. But then she says we need 2 more science LORS. this wasnt mentioned in the letter. And I was like why --- she said that the ones you sent are old -- i.e the same ones I used last yr when I applied. They want new science LORs. But I graduated and have not taken any new science classes and all my professors probably forgot abt me. So she says ask the professors who wrote the LORs to write them AGAIN. This sounded absurd to me but I emailed teh professors -- and its been 2 weeks and I have obviously heard back nothing from them. Professors at my univ. were too busy to write LORs and really made to work to get them.
So Now I will have to write a special letter to UDM telling them that I cannot provide new science LORs. And after all that trouble I hope they do not reject me. I mean I do have 2 science and 2 dentist LORs. 🙁

Honestly, similar things have happened to me. This school is ridiculous. I've heard they send ppl mail telling them to retake the DAT and what not. This schools seems very riduclous/disorganized. They told me my dentist letter wasn't in. So I told them I sent it with AADSAS. So 5 minutes later she found it... It's making me doubt going there... if their administration for admissions is so disorganized, one can only imagine how disorganized the actual school is. It seems like they want people to jump through hoops, do they think they're an ivy league or something?

 

[yayitzdez]

I had the same issue. They contacted me to let me know that I was missing a LOR from a dentist. The only LOR I got from a dentist was from a dentist I researched under, which they did not accept. I had another letter from the Clinic Director of the Dental school I volunteered at. They put me on hold for about 5 minutes and said it was "acceptable", but if they needed a LOR from a dentist in the future, then I would have to provide one.

If you think you have a legit LOR, then call them and make your case. They are really nice about it.

 

[Lulu2809]

I hear your frustration, and clearly for good reason. Small (or big) inconveniences can be a turn-off, and it's unfortunate because I don't think it represents the school as an academic institution.

Despite this, for those who asked, why go to UDM?

-UDM was the only school in the country with a 100% board pass rate for this year.
-The new location was built three years ago, meaning top facilities in an urban location. You will NEVER fight for patients and you will see many cases that are once-in-a-lifetime.
-Almost all the specialties available.
-As a first year, they do an amazing job to make sure you adjust well. You work hard, but it's not overwhelming.
-People care. Not just professors, but other students. Many will go out of their way to help you with projects and what not in order to help you succeed.
-Fairly small class size (88) means you will know everyone by the end of orientation.


Hope this helps. If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message 🙂

 

[msavaya]

AMEN to that Lulu. The school is TOP-NOTCH and the faculty are all great! I interviewed there last week. All of these situations are definitely outweighed by all the positives the school has to offer.

 

[pinkpari27]

I got a big packet in the mail with random information..it doesn't look like an interview invition, says nothing about an interview..did anyone else get this?

 

[ozzie33]

I got the packet too. The school looks cool, but unfortunately I probably won't get an interview because it looks like they are never going to open up the aadsas mail from a month and a half ago that has my second science LOR.....

 

[Colos]

I got a big packet in the mail with random information..it doesn't look like an interview invition, says nothing about an interview..did anyone else get this?

I got that packet to, & just the day before i received it my aadsas status changed to invited for an interview...maybe there'll be another follow up mail soon

 

[UMpredent]

Got an interview today!

 

[maggot13]

I got the packet today, too, and also a letter. Three of my LORs are from science (non planets and non environmental) professors and one from a general dentist, i don't know why they keep asking for one more from science professors. I went to the open-house and the big packet i received is the same folder I got from the open-house.