overqualified?

[hattrack04]

Do some dental schools actually decide to not send invites to people who they consider "overqualified" based on their credentials? What if someone with high stats had a genuine desire to go to a certain dental school that generally admits students with more avg. stats?? just curious about this topic.....

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[JMJRDH1]

That would seem counterintuitive if it were to happen, but I have no idea if it does occur.

If outstanding students wanted to attend schools with what you consider to be "average" students, the school would only benefit from admitting such a student. They would be highly likely to complete the program, their numbers would boost the stats of the school, and they may possibly cultivate a future faculty member. Seems like a win-win IMHO.

 

[2quik]

You can be overqualified/underqualified (depending how you look at it) for meharry and howard....other than that, i dont know!

 

[runrabbitrun]

Simple answer : YES!

Go onto predents and look at all the kids (myself included) who got rejected from Temple with 21, 22, 23s on the DAT. Temple thought they had no chance in hell in getting us to go there (whether we really wanted to go there for other specific reasons, such as family or whatnot) so they decided not to waste their time even interviewing us.

Im not sure about other schools who do this, but im sure it happens.

Along this same line of thinking, VCU will not even bother interviewing well qualified applicants (again 22, 23, 24 etc) who are residents of states with good state schools (read: North Carolina, Michigan, Washington, California). VCU might feel inferior to a "better" school( even though I personally think VCU is a good school...why they dont open a branch up at UVA in Charlottesville with the med school, I have no idea) and think that the out of state student will most likely get into their state school so theres no way theyd pay out of state tuition for a "worse" education. I know for a fact Im not alone in this phenomenom, Ive spoken with plenty of other competitive applicants this happened to.

 

[zoom12]

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[xdianaax]

Overqualified?? Ahhh yes, the down side of being brilliant, I knew there had to be one...lol This is actually really interesting to read, I suppose if you really wanted to go somewhere and you thought you were "overqualified" you got write them and tell them that they are you number one choice. Good luck.

 

[xtractime]

Simple answer : YES!

Go onto predents and look at all the kids (myself included) who got rejected from Temple with 21, 22, 23s on the DAT. Temple thought they had no chance in hell in getting us to go there (whether we really wanted to go there for other specific reasons, such as family or whatnot) so they decided not to waste their time even interviewing us.

Im not sure about other schools who do this, but im sure it happens.

Along this same line of thinking, VCU will not even bother interviewing well qualified applicants (again 22, 23, 24 etc) who are residents of states with good state schools (read: North Carolina, Michigan, Washington, California). VCU might feel inferior to a "better" school( even though I personally think VCU is a good school...why they dont open a branch up at UVA in Charlottesville with the med school, I have no idea) and think that the out of state student will most likely get into their state school so theres no way theyd pay out of state tuition for a "worse" education. I know for a fact Im not alone in this phenomenom, Ive spoken with plenty of other competitive applicants this happened to.

although some people may find this arrogant that, "hawt damn, i'm too good for certain schools"....i have had 2 friends that went through similar experiences. whether people choose to believe is up to them. i personally am not one of those over qualified ones. at least SOMETING levels the playing field. haha. my friends did end up getting into schools but were rejected at a few out of state schools which was surprising given their credentials.

 

[I'mFillingFine]

I find it very unlikely that a school wouldn't accept someone who met their criteria. I know it seems to make sense that a school may consider it a 'waste of time' if the person wouldn't accept anyway. However, having going through it myself and then seeing the next two years evolve, my experience has shown that it's MUCH more likely that there is some aspect of the applicant that was not an appropriate match for the school. In the case of the above suggestion about out-of-staters, they may prefer residents and that would be the reason (not because they know the student would withdraw.)

For instance, I interviewed at a school where both my interviewers said they would highly recommend me to the adcom. However, they both asked about research, of which I had none (my thesis was a literature search) and I knew that was a crucial aspect of that school. I have always assumed that caused my rejection, even though it was just one aspect. For people who have excellent stats, what about their personalities during their interview? Shadowing experience? (Only shadowing at a parent's office and one specialist versus someone who assisted at many offices for several years.) Types of activities they chose to do? Essay?

I'm just saying that it simply doesn't make sense for the adcom, and for most students, there is almost always another explanation. Call any school; they'd never say that someone is too good for them. (People only think they are 😉)

 

[thimsmits]

Simple answer : YES!

Go onto predents and look at all the kids (myself included) who got rejected from Temple with 21, 22, 23s on the DAT. Temple thought they had no chance in hell in getting us to go there (whether we really wanted to go there for other specific reasons, such as family or whatnot) so they decided not to waste their time even interviewing us.

Im not sure about other schools who do this, but im sure it happens.

Along this same line of thinking, VCU will not even bother interviewing well qualified applicants (again 22, 23, 24 etc) who are residents of states with good state schools (read: North Carolina, Michigan, Washington, California). VCU might feel inferior to a "better" school( even though I personally think VCU is a good school...why they dont open a branch up at UVA in Charlottesville with the med school, I have no idea) and think that the out of state student will most likely get into their state school so theres no way theyd pay out of state tuition for a "worse" education. I know for a fact Im not alone in this phenomenom, Ive spoken with plenty of other competitive applicants this happened to.

Has temple sent out rejections?

 

[SHC1984]

I totally agree with you. I still haven't heard from Temple yet and that is the least competive school that I applied to......🙄

Simple answer : YES!

Go onto predents and look at all the kids (myself included) who got rejected from Temple with 21, 22, 23s on the DAT. Temple thought they had no chance in hell in getting us to go there (whether we really wanted to go there for other specific reasons, such as family or whatnot) so they decided not to waste their time even interviewing us.

Im not sure about other schools who do this, but im sure it happens.

Along this same line of thinking, VCU will not even bother interviewing well qualified applicants (again 22, 23, 24 etc) who are residents of states with good state schools (read: North Carolina, Michigan, Washington, California). VCU might feel inferior to a "better" school( even though I personally think VCU is a good school...why they dont open a branch up at UVA in Charlottesville with the med school, I have no idea) and think that the out of state student will most likely get into their state school so theres no way theyd pay out of state tuition for a "worse" education. I know for a fact Im not alone in this phenomenom, Ive spoken with plenty of other competitive applicants this happened to.

 

[DINI]

I totally agree with you. I still haven't heard from Temple yet and that is the least competive school that I applied to......🙄

Good job on those high scores but there is more into dental school than good scores, btw, i am not bashing you for your scores.
How is you application, did you do volunteer work? and so on...there are a lot of students with good scores so how do you differentiate yourself?

anyways, if you have a decent score then you are in a good shape and you'll get in, maybe not your school of choice. Life doen't go by our plan sometimes...

 

[peRsEVERENCE]

Simple answer : YES!

Go onto predents and look at all the kids (myself included) who got rejected from Temple with 21, 22, 23s on the DAT. Temple thought they had no chance in hell in getting us to go there (whether we really wanted to go there for other specific reasons, such as family or whatnot) so they decided not to waste their time even interviewing us.

Im not sure about other schools who do this, but im sure it happens.

Along this same line of thinking, VCU will not even bother interviewing well qualified applicants (again 22, 23, 24 etc) who are residents of states with good state schools (read: North Carolina, Michigan, Washington, California). VCU might feel inferior to a "better" school( even though I personally think VCU is a good school...why they dont open a branch up at UVA in Charlottesville with the med school, I have no idea) and think that the out of state student will most likely get into their state school so theres no way theyd pay out of state tuition for a "worse" education. I know for a fact Im not alone in this phenomenom, Ive spoken with plenty of other competitive applicants this happened to.

I think this is very true. My friend (who went to same school as me) says that his friend (also at our school) got an interview invite to Marquette with a 16 on her DAT!!! (i think 16 AA). But neither of us has heard from marquette. So i don't know what the deal is....

 

[runrabbitrun]

I find it very unlikely that a school wouldn't accept someone who met their criteria. I know it seems to make sense that a school may consider it a 'waste of time' if the person wouldn't accept anyway. However, having going through it myself and then seeing the next two years evolve, my experience has shown that it's MUCH more likely that there is some aspect of the applicant that was not an appropriate match for the school. In the case of the above suggestion about out-of-staters, they may prefer residents and that would be the reason (not because they know the student would withdraw.)

For instance, I interviewed at a school where both my interviewers said they would highly recommend me to the adcom. However, they both asked about research, of which I had none (my thesis was a literature search) and I knew that was a crucial aspect of that school. I have always assumed that caused my rejection, even though it was just one aspect. For people who have excellent stats, what about their personalities during their interview? Shadowing experience? (Only shadowing at a parent's office and one specialist versus someone who assisted at many offices for several years.) Types of activities they chose to do? Essay?

I'm just saying that it simply doesn't make sense for the adcom, and for most students, there is almost always another explanation. Call any school; they'd never say that someone is too good for them. (People only think they are 😉)

I'd like to think that this were true, and it really should be every school's policy to accept the most qualified candidates, but lets face reality: this isn't undergrad where students get accepted by the thousands and they have some lee-way (sp?). Theres a specific number of seats at dental schools, usually around a hundred. They can't afford not to fill a few of those seats. I can understand the logic, dont waste the time, energy, and potential space on an applicant that isn't (historically) likely to come.

Not many MI residents or NC residents or WA residents with high stats (and therefore "likely" to get into their states' great school) will choose to go out of state to and pay more at a less reputable school. (again im not trying to knock VCU or Temple) Will some? Of course. But a place like VCU or Temple is probably just playing the odds. I know for a fact this happened to alot of people in my class, so I am confident theres some validity to this. And I'm not talking about we suck as people and are horrible interviewees, we didnt even get invited to interview! The schools were hedging their bets.

 

[StudentDentist]

Interesting. I have over a 22AA and am from a Top 15 private school. I have an interview at Temple. From what you guys are saying, I'm either not overqualified or should be getting a scholarship from them.

and I checked on predents. the guy who has a 21aa also has a 2.9gpa, and the guy with a 23 was rejected by UCSF, a top notch school. (if he were overqualified, I somehow doubt UCSF would reject him). All others have a 20aa or lower, so let's not let our egos get inflated on this being overqualification thing. Every person on this forum would be lucky to get accepted to a single school. No one applicant is above any single school.

 

[UNR.Grad]

Interesting. I have over a 22AA and am from a Top 15 private school. I have an interview at Temple. From what you guys are saying, I'm either not overqualified or should be getting a scholarship from them.

and I checked on predents. the guy who has a 21aa also has a 2.9gpa, and the guy with a 23 was rejected by UCSF, a top notch school. (if he were overqualified, I somehow doubt UCSF would reject him). All others have a 20aa or lower, so let's not let our egos get inflated on this being overqualification thing. Every person on this forum would be lucky to get accepted to a single school. No one applicant is above any single school.

Yeah, I don't think Temple is throwing out applications for the "over-qualified." There are plenty of good applicants getting interviews there. Also, you're making those of us who got an interview at Temple feel like we're weak applicants.

On a side note, did those of you who were invited see the stat on the interview invite that they place 90% of their graduates who apply into specialties? I have no idea what the normal rates for placement are, but that seems very high to me.

 

[wigglytooth]

Yeah, I don't think Temple is throwing out applications for the "over-qualified." There are plenty of good applicants getting interviews there. Also, you're making those of us who got an interview at Temple feel like we're weak applicants.

On a side note, did those of you who were invited see the stat on the interview invite that they place 90% of their graduates who apply into specialties? I have no idea what the normal rates for placement are, but that seems very high to me.

The letter is actually talking about post-grad programs, including GPRs and AEGDs, so it's not necessarily their specialization rate per-se. I'm willing to bet a large portion of that 90% are those getting into GPRs and AEGDs, just because the programs are more common and only 20% of all dentists are in a speciality.

 

[SanOnofre2002]

Yeah, I don't think Temple is throwing out applications for the "over-qualified." There are plenty of good applicants getting interviews there. Also, you're making those of us who got an interview at Temple feel like we're weak applicants.

On a side note, did those of you who were invited see the stat on the interview invite that they place 90% of their graduates who apply into specialties? I have no idea what the normal rates for placement are, but that seems very high to me.

Be carefull when reading stats d-schools advertise, b/c this is business for them. Temple says they have a 90% match rate for post-grad programs (not specialties). That 90% must include GPR and AEGD programs. And I'd bet those 2 areas make up the bulk of that 90%.
I got taken the first time a USC rep told me they have some outrageous percentage as well.

 

[SanOnofre2002]

I guess I'm a really slow typist.

 

[I'mFillingFine]

Interesting. I have over a 22AA and am from a Top 15 private school. I have an interview at Temple. From what you guys are saying, I'm either not overqualified or should be getting a scholarship from them.

and I checked on predents. the guy who has a 21aa also has a 2.9gpa, and the guy with a 23 was rejected by UCSF, a top notch school. (if he were overqualified, I somehow doubt UCSF would reject him). All others have a 20aa or lower, so let's not let our egos get inflated on this being overqualification thing. Every person on this forum would be lucky to get accepted to a single school. No one applicant is above any single school.

Thanks for checking; this makes a lot of sense. Again, schools will not reject a qualified student, as much as truly competitive applicants think so. It may be a stupid reason, but there is a reason indeed for all rejections. Thinking you're too good to lower yourself to their school is simply not one of them.

What an odd thought to have in the first place! Hopefully some of these egos will come down by the time school starts; though professors offer unending guidance and support, you will be HUMILIATED throughout dental school, simply because it is ALL new stuff and it takes so long to feel comfortable. It's kinda funny watching everyone in my class struggle so hard with not being excellent after only a few months of practice. (hey, I'm in the same boat...I've never had to work this hard on something just to get to mediocre 😀) It's probably good for all of us to be humbled for a few years. 👍

 

[Shunwei]

Thanks for checking; this makes a lot of sense. Again, schools will not reject a qualified student, as much as truly competitive applicants think so. It may be a stupid reason, but there is a reason indeed for all rejections. Thinking you're too good to lower yourself to their school is simply not one of them.

What an odd thought to have in the first place! Hopefully some of these egos will come down by the time school starts; though professors offer unending guidance and support, you will be HUMILIATED throughout dental school, simply because it is ALL new stuff and it takes so long to feel comfortable. It's kinda funny watching everyone in my class struggle so hard with not being excellent after only a few months of practice. (hey, I'm in the same boat...I've never had to work this hard on something just to get to mediocre 😀) It's probably good for all of us to be humbled for a few years. 👍

That is only if you go in there with a sizable ego in the first place. People with a good head between their shoulders know that dental school is not easy and that they are there to learn. With this in mind, what is the humiliation about? I have always held the belief that there is never any shame in asking legit questions when it comes to learning. After all, that's why we are paying the big bucks to learn.

 

[I'mFillingFine]

That is only if you go in there with a sizable ego in the first place. People with a good head between their shoulders know that dental school is not easy and that they are there to learn. With this in mind, what is the humiliation about? I have always held the belief that there is never any shame in asking legit questions when it comes to learning. After all, that's why we are paying the big bucks to learn.

Sorry; that did come out wrong...let me be more clear. I guess I meant humiliation in the more literal sense of having to do with humility. I have never seen a professor purposefully try to embarrass a student or offer distructive criticism (I heard some can be asses up in clinic, but I've only met great teachers so far.) Some might say, "woah, that ridge is way off!" but they usually offer points of advice, and you do it, and they say if it's better or not. Simple as that.

I'm more referring to the fact that the process of improving and learning as a dental student is a long one, and there is no one point where you've "got it." Some things may click and you get a lot more comfortable after that, but it's like studying music instead of biology. You practice a piece and play it for your professor who says "this part is nice...work on this for this other section." So you work on that other section, and when you play it again there's a whole new thing you have to do. You're always improving but never really have a POINT where anything is perfect. That can be difficult to adjust to, especially for many of the dental students who are used to being quite excellent at most things. At least, if they haven't been good right away, it was something they could study a bit harder and work on and improve immediately with.

Dental school is an introduction so that we can enter our careers as competant dentists and there start the learning process of improving and slowly becoming excellent clinicians. It's hard at first since everyone's pretty bad and improvement is so slow it looks like you're not getting anywhere. That part is humiliating for some. You are told over and over again on how you can improve and on what's wrong with your work so you know how to fix it. Professors won't compliment you for no reason, so feeling GOOD early on is hard to come by.

 

[johntara04]

Be carefull when reading stats d-schools advertise, b/c this is business for them. Temple says they have a 90% match rate for post-grad programs (not specialties). That 90% must include GPR and AEGD programs. And I'd bet those 2 areas make up the bulk of that 90%.
I got taken the first time a USC rep told me they have some outrageous percentage as well.

Though the 90% is maybe a little mis-quoted....it does include GPR and AEGD, but that still is a wonderful match rate. Lets say 100 students apply to post graduate programs. 90 get in somewhere. So, lets say all 80 that applied to a GPR and/or AEGD get in (which won't happen). That still means half of Temple's applicants get into specialty programs (ortho, endo, os, etc). Still pretty good. You could definitely do a lot worse than Temple.

 

[runrabbitrun]

Interesting. I have over a 22AA and am from a Top 15 private school. I have an interview at Temple. From what you guys are saying, I'm either not overqualified or should be getting a scholarship from them.

and I checked on predents. the guy who has a 21aa also has a 2.9gpa, and the guy with a 23 was rejected by UCSF, a top notch school. (if he were overqualified, I somehow doubt UCSF would reject him). All others have a 20aa or lower, so let's not let our egos get inflated on this being overqualification thing. Every person on this forum would be lucky to get accepted to a single school. No one applicant is above any single school.

I was actually referring to last year's cycle....check out the number of people who were rejected pre-interview from Temple (in October especially) with 22, 23, even 24s that also got interviews and accepted at schools like Columbia, UNC, Mighigan, Tufts, etc... Maybe they all are missing some random thing in their application that these other good schools werent looking for.

I didnt mean to sound like an ass, or put anyone down who goes there, got in there, or got an interview there. I just meant to say to the OP, that based on my experience, the experience of others in my class, and similar numbered applicants on predents that "yield protecting" does happen in dental school. It may not happen at every school or to every candidate with stats above X, but I think its a bit naive to beleive that it could never/does not ever happen.

Just my two cents

 

[StudentDentist]

I was actually referring to last year's cycle....check out the number of people who were rejected pre-interview from Temple (in October especially) with 22, 23, even 24s that also got interviews and accepted at schools like Columbia, UNC, Mighigan, Tufts, etc... Maybe they all are missing some random thing in their application that these other good schools werent looking for.

I didnt mean to sound like an ass, or put anyone down who goes there, got in there, or got an interview there. I just meant to say to the OP, that based on my experience, the experience of others in my class, and similar numbered applicants on predents that "yield protecting" does happen in dental school. It may not happen at every school or to every candidate with stats above X, but I think its a bit naive to beleive that it could never/does not ever happen.

Just my two cents

I was referring to SHC. From her past posts and her comment about Temple being the least competitive she's applied to, I think her ego's off the charts. Her 21's marginal for Columbia, and a 21 does not warrant badmouthing ANY school in America. Yet, her getting an interview there's made her feel like some goddess.

And I checked last year's predents. Of the 22-24AA that were rejected from Temple, virtually everyone of them applied late, as late as November. This may not be an overqualification thing. It may be that they question the students' eagerness for the field of dentistry.

 

[SHC1984]

Relax! I was simply agreeing with Runrabbitrun's post...everything that he has posted has made logical sense and what I said is true...If you compare all the other dental schools that I have interviewed at... Temple is the least competive one...That doesn't mean Temple is a bad school and I never said that it was...

I was referring to SHC. From her past posts and her comment about Temple being the least competitive she's applied to, I think her ego's off the charts. Her 21's marginal for Columbia, and a 21 does not warrant badmouthing ANY school in America. Yet, her getting an interview there's made her feel like some goddess.

And I checked last year's predents. Of the 22-24AA that were rejected from Temple, virtually everyone of them applied late, as late as November. This may not be an overqualification thing. It may be that they question the students' eagerness for the field of dentistry.