Questions about Reapplying this cycle (Thread post/ Add your questions too if you have one)

[dontistwannabe]

Hi, I'm a fellow predental who applied the last cycle in 2017 but had no luck with the cycle, so I have been taking some classes and am going to retake DAT soon to prep for this upcoming 2018 cycle. I just have couple questions that I wanted to ask you guys who applied more than once to the dental school:
(feel free to add a list of questions you want to ask on this thread so that we can have a complete list of questions/ answers for the reapplicants. Thank you~)

1) For personal statement, would it have to be a completely new one from the scratch or can it be a modified/ similar version of my previous personal statement with an updated experience to show what I have learned from the experience? Little bit confused about this since everyone seems to have a differing opinion, but I personally think it is not possible to completely write a "new" p.s. since most of the important experience I have discussed will be overlapping anyway... any thought on this?

2) On a similar note from the previous question, would my activities description/ writing have to be in a completely "new" format or can I just reuse the same writing but just update with the new list of activities/ experiences with the previous list of activities? (I'm just asking this because I am curious whether the admission will care about how new the writing has to be from the previous application)

3) For letter of recommendation, can I reask some people I have used for the previous cycle with an updated paragraph and dates and 1 or 2 new LOR from new people? Or would the LOR completely have to be from new people?

4) This is a more school-specific question, but I was wondering how would some admission view when you indicate on AADSAS system that you are "reapplicant" but you have never applied to that school in the previous cycle? (meaning, would the school know that you are a "reapplicant" by AADSAS status but you have never applied to that school in the last cycle but you are applying for the first time in the upcoming cycle? I am a bit confused about how the AADSAS system works with their indication of first-time/ or re-applicant in the primaries application).

5) If I am taking classes in the summer as well, will the summer classes count toward my gpa or will it not? Even if it doesn't, should I take them so that I can give updates to dental school admissions for the positive trend?

I am pretty sure this is only a partial list of things I may need to know prior to reapplying in this June, but it would be much appreciated if I can know more info and your insights about some of these questions. Thanks~

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[dontistwannabe]

i'll number this based off of your question.i was a re-applicant for this 2017-2018 cycle, so free to ask me questions that you didn't think of before.

1) you don't HAVE to rewrite a new one....unless if you feel like the reason why you want to go into dentistry has changed within 12 months. personally, i kept 1/2 of my old personal statement and rewrote the other half.

2) i reused the same writing and description. unless if you had like a spelling error or something..then fix that this time lol.

3) yes, yes you can. i used committee letter this time vs last time i didn't. i asked my research professor again..he was happy to help out. but the others were different people. for the research professor, i did do like a "mock interview" to give him an update and stuff like that.

4) ummm...i don't think those schools care (the ones you applied to this time that you didn't apply to last time). they may ask you why didn't you get in last time and what have you done different this time that makes you deserve a spot at X dental school. ex: i didn't apply to PITT or UPENN last cycle but i did this time. I got asked at both of those schools, why didn't i get in last time and why am i better candidate this time. just be honest and tell them why and what improvements you've made.

5) idk about this one. but i would think it would. GPA should be added into ADDSAS after you finish taking those classes, and schools will get like a notification on their end from ADDSAS about your GPA update

icic wow thanks for your input. I'm just hoping this time, things work out better ;;; I'm in the process of editing my personal statement but it is just really hard to fix/ or write a newer personal statement since I tried to input every key things I felt it was important for ps in the previous cycle... but thnx for ur advice!