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Hi everyone,
I am writing this to share my experience about applying and reapplying to dental school. I am doing this because I was a rather peculiar applicant and feel my experience may be helpful and informative to some of you sharing similar circumstances.
Last year (2018), I applied to 9 dental schools across the country. I submitted my application in September, after taking my DAT in August. My general stats were: ~3.45 cGPA, ~2.95 sGPA/BCP, 23 AA DAT and 24 TS DAT. I didn’t have many shadowing hours when I submitted (~35), volunteer hours, paid work experience hours, or extracurricular activity engagement from university. I interviewed at 3 schools, all post December 1st, and they were: the U of MN (my state school), NYU, and Touro. Ultimately, I was only accepted to NYU. The schools that I did not hear back from were: UPENN (not surprised), Columbia (not surprised), Temple, BU, Marquette, USC.
I have heard that NYU weighs DAT over GPA, and I suspect that is why I was offered admission. My poor chemistry and calc grades didn’t seem to scare them away. Anyway, with only one option and the initial deadline for the first deposit of $1500 rapidly nearing, I ended up submitting that initial deposit to NYU while still hoping to hear from my (significantly less expensive) state school. I contacted my state school with a letter of intent, but was basically told by admissions that since I had one option already at NYU (which I disclosed, for reasons unimportant) that I should accept it if I wanted to secure my future in dentistry.
During this time, I was slowly beginning to realize the sheer magnitude of the debt that NYU would land me in. Yes, all dental schools are expensive, but I don’t believe I have to go into great detail about the outrageousness of NYU’s costs when compounded with costs of living in New York City. When I applied to NYU (and a number of other schools) I didn’t really think too much about the debt load that I would take on by attending it. However, it soon became clear to me that attending NYU would be a huge financial mistake for me. I did not believe I would be able to make the monthly payments on a debt load of roughly $600,000 in federal loans after several years of added interest accumulation during dental school. So, after consulting my family, friends, and advisors I decided to follow nearly everyone’s advice and ultimately chose not to attend NYU. I should note quickly that I considered the prospect of applying for HPSP after my first year at NYU but felt the risk of not getting a 3 year scholarship was too great to gamble on. Instead, I chose to focus my energy on bettering my application for the next cycle with the goal of getting into my state school, U of MN.
After declining NYU’s offer, I met with one of the high-ups in admissions at U of MN to discuss what I needed to do to improve my application. I suspected and confirmed that my lower science GPA (below a 3.00) and lack of dental experience put me at a disadvantage. My good DAT scores helped, but just not enough. I also learned that my personal statement did not emphasize my goals strongly enough and focused too much on the past and too little on my plans for the future. I took notes of all of this, and devised a plan to better my application.
In no particular order (i.e. not chronological order), here’s what I did to improve my application:
To improve my academics, I took additional science coursework at a local college during the summer. I took Human Anatomy and another biology class on Human Sex and Diversity. I received A’s in both, and pushed up my science GPA above a 3.00. I was lucky enough to be working in the public school system during this time, so I had my summer available to take those classes without worrying about work. I increased my dental experience by shadowing at various offices and volunteering at a community dental clinic. I also began working a part-time job in a dental office several hours each week doing secretarial work. I worked on my personal statement and made sure to emphasize my interest in service and community involvement as a practitioner. I increased my work experience through continuing to work in the school system, in a position that showed leadership and the ability to work well with people. I also secured a number of strong letters of recommendation from various professors and dentists.
I reapplied to dental school in August of 2019, after completing my summer coursework and ensuring that I had received A’s in my classes. After a while, I was surprised to receive an interview invitation for early October at the U of MN. I felt that my interview went quite well, as I did the previous cycle (I don’t mind interviews and generally do well in them), and went home. Earlier today, I received notice of my acceptance at U of MN.
I should note that I also applied to 5 back-up schools the second time around. As of today, Dec 2., I have not heard from any of them positively. Which is fine, really, because the U of MN was my top choice and my primary reason for reapplying. However, it might indicate that they viewed me as having several red flags. After all, when a person chooses to reapply on AADSAS, you have to indicate the schools that you had previously applied to. I don’t know whether schools investigate to see whether you had been accepted at any of those previously applied to places. But naturally, if they did see that I had gained acceptance somewhere and declined the offer, without any context from me explaining the situation it would be reasonable for them to be concerned about viewing me as a candidate. Some of the schools that I applied to are also very expensive, just like NYU. However, I am applying for a Navy HPSP scholarship this time around and if I am awarded a scholarship, costs would no longer be an issue. U of MN would still be my top choice though, because it’s a phenomenal school.
Here are several take-aways from my dental school application experience.
I hope that this provides the reader with useful information and insight into the dental school application process. Best of luck to you! If you want it, you can get it.
I am writing this to share my experience about applying and reapplying to dental school. I am doing this because I was a rather peculiar applicant and feel my experience may be helpful and informative to some of you sharing similar circumstances.
Last year (2018), I applied to 9 dental schools across the country. I submitted my application in September, after taking my DAT in August. My general stats were: ~3.45 cGPA, ~2.95 sGPA/BCP, 23 AA DAT and 24 TS DAT. I didn’t have many shadowing hours when I submitted (~35), volunteer hours, paid work experience hours, or extracurricular activity engagement from university. I interviewed at 3 schools, all post December 1st, and they were: the U of MN (my state school), NYU, and Touro. Ultimately, I was only accepted to NYU. The schools that I did not hear back from were: UPENN (not surprised), Columbia (not surprised), Temple, BU, Marquette, USC.
I have heard that NYU weighs DAT over GPA, and I suspect that is why I was offered admission. My poor chemistry and calc grades didn’t seem to scare them away. Anyway, with only one option and the initial deadline for the first deposit of $1500 rapidly nearing, I ended up submitting that initial deposit to NYU while still hoping to hear from my (significantly less expensive) state school. I contacted my state school with a letter of intent, but was basically told by admissions that since I had one option already at NYU (which I disclosed, for reasons unimportant) that I should accept it if I wanted to secure my future in dentistry.
During this time, I was slowly beginning to realize the sheer magnitude of the debt that NYU would land me in. Yes, all dental schools are expensive, but I don’t believe I have to go into great detail about the outrageousness of NYU’s costs when compounded with costs of living in New York City. When I applied to NYU (and a number of other schools) I didn’t really think too much about the debt load that I would take on by attending it. However, it soon became clear to me that attending NYU would be a huge financial mistake for me. I did not believe I would be able to make the monthly payments on a debt load of roughly $600,000 in federal loans after several years of added interest accumulation during dental school. So, after consulting my family, friends, and advisors I decided to follow nearly everyone’s advice and ultimately chose not to attend NYU. I should note quickly that I considered the prospect of applying for HPSP after my first year at NYU but felt the risk of not getting a 3 year scholarship was too great to gamble on. Instead, I chose to focus my energy on bettering my application for the next cycle with the goal of getting into my state school, U of MN.
After declining NYU’s offer, I met with one of the high-ups in admissions at U of MN to discuss what I needed to do to improve my application. I suspected and confirmed that my lower science GPA (below a 3.00) and lack of dental experience put me at a disadvantage. My good DAT scores helped, but just not enough. I also learned that my personal statement did not emphasize my goals strongly enough and focused too much on the past and too little on my plans for the future. I took notes of all of this, and devised a plan to better my application.
In no particular order (i.e. not chronological order), here’s what I did to improve my application:
To improve my academics, I took additional science coursework at a local college during the summer. I took Human Anatomy and another biology class on Human Sex and Diversity. I received A’s in both, and pushed up my science GPA above a 3.00. I was lucky enough to be working in the public school system during this time, so I had my summer available to take those classes without worrying about work. I increased my dental experience by shadowing at various offices and volunteering at a community dental clinic. I also began working a part-time job in a dental office several hours each week doing secretarial work. I worked on my personal statement and made sure to emphasize my interest in service and community involvement as a practitioner. I increased my work experience through continuing to work in the school system, in a position that showed leadership and the ability to work well with people. I also secured a number of strong letters of recommendation from various professors and dentists.
I reapplied to dental school in August of 2019, after completing my summer coursework and ensuring that I had received A’s in my classes. After a while, I was surprised to receive an interview invitation for early October at the U of MN. I felt that my interview went quite well, as I did the previous cycle (I don’t mind interviews and generally do well in them), and went home. Earlier today, I received notice of my acceptance at U of MN.
I should note that I also applied to 5 back-up schools the second time around. As of today, Dec 2., I have not heard from any of them positively. Which is fine, really, because the U of MN was my top choice and my primary reason for reapplying. However, it might indicate that they viewed me as having several red flags. After all, when a person chooses to reapply on AADSAS, you have to indicate the schools that you had previously applied to. I don’t know whether schools investigate to see whether you had been accepted at any of those previously applied to places. But naturally, if they did see that I had gained acceptance somewhere and declined the offer, without any context from me explaining the situation it would be reasonable for them to be concerned about viewing me as a candidate. Some of the schools that I applied to are also very expensive, just like NYU. However, I am applying for a Navy HPSP scholarship this time around and if I am awarded a scholarship, costs would no longer be an issue. U of MN would still be my top choice though, because it’s a phenomenal school.
Here are several take-aways from my dental school application experience.
- You can get into NYU with a poor science GPA
- Just because you decline an offer of admission (in my case, my sole offer) and choose to reapply doesn’t mean you can’t get in somewhere. You aren’t blacklisted from all dental schools. However….
- Be sure to contact the schools you plan on applying to the second time around to emphasize why you want to attend their school specifically. I only did this with the U of Minnesota. Had I done this with other schools, maybe I’d have had other interviews.
- Make a reapplication plan by consulting your school(s) of choice and follow it.
- You don’t necessarily have to do an expensive post-bacc or graduate school program to correct a poor science GPA. (though try to do well on your DAT)
- RESEARCH THE SCHOOLS THAT YOU APPLY TO & THEIR COSTS THE FIRST TIME AROUND. Seriously consider whether $500,000 of debt it reasonable for you given your own unique circumstances.
- Putting off applying for a year to focus on bettering weak points in your application that you know will likely prevent you from gaining acceptance isn’t the end of the world. It’s better than wasting money applying to schools you have good reason to believe you will not get into.
- Go with your gut (if it’s backed up by your mind). Attending NYU would have been an awesome experience, but I knew it wouldn’t be wise for me to do.
I hope that this provides the reader with useful information and insight into the dental school application process. Best of luck to you! If you want it, you can get it.
