Question for those applying for 3rd+ time

[that guy]

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hey everyone. i just found out about this site and found it helpful throughout this depressing application process..

It is my second year applying and again while i havent been rejected to any of the 6 schools i applied, ive only interviewed with Case and was put on the "Hold" list.🙄

While my stats were competitive last year (3.4/21AA) it seems every year GPA heavy-weights show up to take my spots! Being the pessimist i am Ive already looked forward to next year.

Question to those applying their 3rd time or more:
How do you improve your stats besides retaking the DATs (especially GPA as most are graduated from school and applying for another year would be useless as the application must be complete by June of the year before entrance)?

and where do you get the required letter of rec from professors?
Ive already used up 5 of my professors...😕

thanks for the advise

 

[purplemonkey]

This year is my 3rd year applying and I thankfully got in! (Yay, Temple!)

The easiest thing you can do is apply early! Get all your lors, transcripts, everything ready to get sent out in the first batch. I didn't realize how important this was the first 2 cycles.

Also, apply to enough schools. The first year, I only applied to 1, and the second year, 8. This year, I applied to 15. Spend a lot of time researching the schools you're going to apply to and make sure the schools match what you're looking for and you match what they're looking for. Pay attention to the average GPA, DAT score, # of out of state slots, research vs. clinical, etc. I didn't do that the first two years and 4 out of the 5 interviews I got this year were to schools I hadn't previously applied to.

I, too, had a hard time with taking more classes because of the weird timeline. I was always really hopeful I'd get in and then when I'd accepted that I wouldn't, it was too late to apply for any masters programs or anything. So, in the end, I decided to enroll as a special student at my local university. What's nice about it is that virtually everyone who applies gets in, and you can do it last minute. There's still time to enroll for the Spring semester. What sucks is that you are last to enroll, so it's sometimes hard to get into classes.

Additionally, I did a ton of volunteering and dental assisting, etc. Then I found the schools that like that sort of thing and applied there.

I used the same professors all 3 years and just had them write new letters. Each year I gave them a copy of my new personal statement and sat down with them and talked about what I had done to improve my application.

Good Luck!

 

[jdoc04]

hey everyone. i just found out about this site and found it helpful throughout this depressing application process..

It is my second year applying and again while i havent been rejected to any of the 6 schools i applied, ive only interviewed with Case and was put on the "Hold" list.🙄

While my stats were competitive last year (3.4/21AA) it seems every year GPA heavy-weights show up to take my spots! Being the pessimist i am Ive already looked forward to next year.

Question to those applying their 3rd time or more:
How do you improve your stats besides retaking the DATs (especially GPA as most are graduated from school and applying for another year would be useless as the application must be complete by June of the year before entrance)?

and where do you get the required letter of rec from professors?
Ive already used up 5 of my professors...😕

thanks for the advise

This is my 4th time applying and I got accepted last Friday to my #1. My stats are a bit lower than yours. I'm more than happy to try and give you some advice concerning your situation. I think the important thing is stats are not everything!

In your case you have decent stats so the question is "What is holding you back?"
1. Where did you apply? Did you choose schools that are routinely more competitive?
2. How do you interview?
Since you only had one interview this year so far
3. How are your personal essay and extracurriculars?
4. When did you get your application submitted to AADSAS and when was it sent out to the schools?

PM me back if you want to chat about it.

 

[tamkhan]

i think applying early is MOST important. this is my second time applying (with slightly improved gpa), and i have had less luck than i had last year. why? because my application wasnt complete at schools until mid-late october. last year, the app was complete much earlier.

 

[Acci-Dental]

This is my 3rd year applying to school and I finally got accepted. The others have given you some really great advice!

I agree, APPLY EARLY. Apply to lots of schools (I applied to 15). Do you have an LOR from a dentist? If not, get one. Also, if you have trouble interviewing see if you can find a local employment specialist to help improve your interviewing technique--this helped me tons.

 

[that guy]

what really hurt me was my applying timeline.. Even though it killed me last year (completed application didn't reach schools until September.. thanks Professor Wilson..) I still applied relatively late this year as well (July, completed)

However with my early interview with Case and the awesome interview I was confident to get more than a "hold" on Dec 1.

Now I await their new process of admitting later next year..👎
but id rather prepare for the bad news now rather than screw myself later.


Did you guys go back to school or just keep the same scores? (is it just me or does it seem like GPA and DATs are all Case cares about..)?

 

[that guy]

as for LOR...


if you dont go back to school, where did you get your letters? Im back home already and schools a good distance away. even if i were to go back, how awkward would it be to just show up with the news that i didnt get in and need another one!

 

[ChaseitHall]

Regarding the LOR, I've hit my former bio professor up 3 times for a recommendation letter. He actually saved a copy of the first one, so he could build on it with whatever positive additions I've accumulated during the year.

 

[dreamerofdmd]

A masters is always an option if you want the schools to have something to look at that shows you're willing to keep working towards that DDS/DMD. I'm at UMDNJ right now working on my MS in biomedical sciences... can be done in a year if you push yourself... nothing admissions committees like better than knowing you can handle a whole lot of graduate level hardcore science classes.

just a thought. and it's a whole new set of professors for LORs.