Really Need Advice on Reapplying!! Help!

[Tabby06]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hi Everyone,

I was wondering if you guys could give me advice on my reapplication for 2007 admission.
Right now I am waitlisted at Buffalo and Boston. Needless to say, I'm pretty much losing hope of getting accepted for Fall 2006 since it's already mid July and I still haven't heard anything.
My stats:
Cum:3.56 Sci:3.3
DAT: AA:18 PAT:20
And to be honest, I don't have any type of research activity. However, I've been working as a dental assistant for endo and prostho for a year now.
Do you guys think that I would even have a shot at getting into dental school for the next cycle with lousy stats like that?? 🙁
Should I retake the DAT again? I'm not sure if I could shoot for the mid 20's as most people in this forum did, which is really awesome (and by the way, congrats to all of you who have been accepted!). And finally, to which schools do you think I should apply (that'd give me a greater chance of getting accepted)? I'm really confused!
I'd greatly appreciate any input from you all. Thanks a lot!!

 

[Notoriousjae]

Hi Everyone,

I was wondering if you guys could give me advice on my reapplication for 2007 admission.
Right now I am waitlisted at Buffalo and Boston. Needless to say, I'm pretty much losing hope of getting accepted for Fall 2006 since it's already mid July and I still haven't heard anything.
My stats:
Cum:3.56 Sci:3.3
DAT: AA:18 PAT:20
And to be honest, I don't have any type of research activity. However, I've been working as a dental assistant for endo and prostho for a year now.
Do you guys think that I would even have a shot at getting into dental school for the next cycle with lousy stats like that?? 🙁
Should I retake the DAT again? I'm not sure if I could shoot for the mid 20's as most people in this forum did, which is really awesome (and by the way, congrats to all of you who have been accepted!). And finally, to which schools do you think I should apply (that'd give me a greater chance of getting accepted)? I'm really confused!
I'd greatly appreciate any input from you all. Thanks a lot!!

your cgpa and sgpa arent bad at all but the DAT-AA seems a bit low and puts you at a disadvantage. The national average is a 17 so you may want to boost it up. If you can retake the DAT and score at least 20/20 for your AA/PAT, considering your dental assistant experience and LOR's etc you should have a pretty good chance IMO

 

[djeffreyt]

Your GPA looks good to me.

If you reapply, I would say retake the DAT and study long term for it so maybe the stuff becomes more second nature than the first time you took the test. If you can get that up, maybe you have a better chance.

I don't really know which schools to apply to, but information about average DAT and GPAs at schools can be found at www.predents.com You can also find out which schools have more open seats and fewer applicants.

I wouldn't just sit on my hands for a year without doing something more. I hear admissions people saying that the applicant pool gets more competitive year to year, so I take that as a sign to keep doing stuff to keep up. Also, you might consider calling schools you got interviews at and telling them you want to reapply and ask their admissions officers what they think you should do to boost your chances...most of these admissions people seem pretty nice about talking to reapplicants.

 

[Yeyyy]

your GPA and DAT both seem fine, as well as your dentistry experience. I'm kind of surprised you even had to reapply... did you submit your app late last year?

 

[ObviousGuy]

I'd go into podiatry at this point. 🙄

 

[mlle]

tabby, when did you apply last cycle?

 

[Tabby06]

Last year I submitted my application around July 25 or so.
I really didn't think that it was late, but probably I should have submitted it in May or June.
Right now, my pre-health advisor told me I should wait until I hear (good news or not) from Buffalo (the school starts on August 8, I think).
I personally don't want to follow this advice (and most likely will not) because it will put me at a disadvantage and honestly, I don't understand why she even suggested that. I wanted to take more advanced science classes in the Fall, but she said it'd be useless because the schools wouldn't consider those classes if they don't see the grades and by the time they do see the grades, it'd be too late.
Do you guys agree with her opinion??? 🙁

Thanks!

 

[benson_dds]

Hi Everyone,

I was wondering if you guys could give me advice on my reapplication for 2007 admission.
Right now I am waitlisted at Buffalo and Boston. Needless to say, I'm pretty much losing hope of getting accepted for Fall 2006 since it's already mid July and I still haven't heard anything.
My stats:
Cum:3.56 Sci:3.3
DAT: AA:18 PAT:20
And to be honest, I don't have any type of research activity. However, I've been working as a dental assistant for endo and prostho for a year now.
Do you guys think that I would even have a shot at getting into dental school for the next cycle with lousy stats like that?? 🙁
Should I retake the DAT again? I'm not sure if I could shoot for the mid 20's as most people in this forum did, which is really awesome (and by the way, congrats to all of you who have been accepted!). And finally, to which schools do you think I should apply (that'd give me a greater chance of getting accepted)? I'm really confused!
I'd greatly appreciate any input from you all. Thanks a lot!!

Your GPA and PAT are fine, just retake the DAT even 19 or 20 on AA is fine, u don't need to do 24 necessarily. Your dental experience is great but participate in a research too. When submitting ur application write down where u "plan" to do the research but it doesn't need to be VERY specific, it can be anywhere and anything just fill up the research area and FOR SURE DO IT later (start it before ur interviews) if u haven't done any research YET (just volunteer in a lab).
As far as schools definitely apply to ur state schools u have the best chance there, apply to Indiana and U Detroit mercy in midwest and then Temple, Upenn, NYU, Tufts and BU. I wouldn't apply to any school west coast bc they're packed and extremely competitive (unless u're from the area)!
DO give up your hopes, u can do it for sure and don't forget APPLY EARLY u should definitely send ur AADSAS before end of JULY and retake ur DAT ASAP
Good Luck

 

[benson_dds]

Last year I submitted my application around July 25 or so.
I really didn't think that it was late, but probably I should have submitted it in May or June.
Right now, my pre-health advisor told me I should wait until I hear (good news or not) from Buffalo (the school starts on August 8, I think).
I personally don't want to follow this advice (and most likely will not) because it will put me at a disadvantage and honestly, I don't understand why she even suggested that. I wanted to take more advanced science classes in the Fall, but she said it'd be useless because the schools wouldn't consider those classes if they don't see the grades and by the time they do see the grades, it'd be too late.
Do you guys agree with her opinion??? 🙁

Thanks!

I wouldn't wait for Buffalo, I'd apply ASAP and I'd write those courses in ur "planned section of ur course work" on AADSAS application but she is right the grade won't matter much bc most of ur interviews should be before December but if it happens to be after then AADSAS will ask u to update ur course work and send a new transcript.

 

[Tabby06]

Thanks for the advice on the research part, benson_dds. Greatly appreciate that!
Nevertheless, since I don't have any research experience whatsoever, could anyone give me any suggestions as to where I should start from?
I live in NY and I've been trying to find dental related volunteer programs or dental research for a while now and I still haven't found anything. (Perhaps I overlooked some of them???)
Does it matter if the research/volunteer program isn't dental related?

 

[benson_dds]

Thanks for the advice on the research part, benson_dds. Greatly appreciate that!
Nevertheless, since I don't have any research experience whatsoever, could anyone give me any suggestions as to where I should start from?
I live in NY and I've been trying to find dental related volunteer programs or dental research for a while now and I still haven't found anything. (Perhaps I overlooked some of them???)
Does it matter if the research/volunteer program isn't dental related?

You're welcome Tabby06, it doesn't have to be dental related at all. Research is research and the principle behind all the researches are the same.
Talk to your professors at school, ask them if you can "voluntarily" help one of the grad. students with their current research (it both helps you and the grad. student). You should be able to find something this way.
Good Luck

 

[KSDDS]

Don't lose hope. I was in the same boat as you and just got off the waitlist two days ago. You can always call the school and see where you are on their list and if there is any chance. That way you'll know where you're at and if something does open up you might get bumped up the list since they know you are still really interested in attending.

However, I would get your application in ASAP just in case for next year (although you'll wish you had that money back if you get in off the wait list). I would make sure you apply to a bunch of schools - 10 or more. How many did you apply to last year?

Also, your DAT scores seem fine to me and you have a really solid GPA. I would only retake the DAT if you have a section or two that is equal to or below 16. Again, you can always ask the schools you applied to what they suggest.

Good luck and hopefully you'll get a call in the next week or two.

 

[Tigerlili]

what dental school did you get off the waitlist KSDDS? If you don't mind me asking.

Thanks