Reapplying: new LORs, personal statement?

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Hi guys! I just applied this cycle and haven't heard anything back aside from an interview. I'm not losing all hope but I want to know what to do if I don't get accepted this time around. I haven't been rejected anywhere but not accepted either.

What are the new things I should be getting together if I don't get in this time? Particularly, I'm asking about letters of recommendation. My school does the committee letter and that's what I submitted this cycle, as well as one from my dentist that I shadowed.

Should they all be new letters? Should I start asking around for new ones for everything? And what could I be adding to my personal statement?

Numbers wise, I don't have much room for improvement, I think my GPA was pretty good and my DAT score isn't re-take worthy (3.7 GPA, 22 DAT, lowest was 19 in orgo and gen chem). I have around 200 hours of shadowing and volunteering at dental clinics, and lots of extracurriculars and some research experience. I really don't know where I went wrong aside from my interview, which I think I'm just nitpicking.

And it sucks because I haven't done any shadowing or volunteering since August because I was optimistic, so I'm thinking about adding some more hours over the summer.

And I'll be working more on my personal statement this go around as well. I really want to be a dentist but I suck at putting it in words.

I'm just so stressed and lost and feeling overwhelmed by the limbo I'm in right now. So I'm preparing for the worst case scenario to keep myself distracted haha!

Thanks guys!

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Hi guys! I just applied this cycle and haven't heard anything back aside from an interview. I'm not losing all hope but I want to know what to do if I don't get accepted this time around. I haven't been rejected anywhere but not accepted either.

What are the new things I should be getting together if I don't get in this time? Particularly, I'm asking about letters of recommendation. My school does the committee letter and that's what I submitted this cycle, as well as one from my dentist that I shadowed.

Should they all be new letters? Should I start asking around for new ones for everything? And what could I be adding to my personal statement?

Numbers wise, I don't have much room for improvement, I think my GPA was pretty good and my DAT score isn't re-take worthy (3.6 GPA, 22 DAT). I have around 200 hours of shadowing and volunteering at dental clinics, and lots of extracurriculars and some research experience. I really don't know where I went wrong aside from my interview, which I think I'm just nitpicking.

And it sucks because I haven't done any shadowing or volunteering since August because I was optimistic, so I'm thinking about adding some more hours over the summer.

And I'll be working more on my personal statement this go around as well. I really want to be a dentist but I suck at putting it in words.

I'm just so stressed and lost and feeling overwhelmed by the limbo I'm in right now. So I'm preparing for the worst case scenario to keep myself distracted haha!

Thanks guys!
when did you turn in your application?
do you have any sections on the DAT that are less than 17?
 
Hi guys! I just applied this cycle and haven't heard anything back aside from an interview. I'm not losing all hope but I want to know what to do if I don't get accepted this time around. I haven't been rejected anywhere but not accepted either.

What are the new things I should be getting together if I don't get in this time? Particularly, I'm asking about letters of recommendation. My school does the committee letter and that's what I submitted this cycle, as well as one from my dentist that I shadowed.

Should they all be new letters? Should I start asking around for new ones for everything? And what could I be adding to my personal statement?

Numbers wise, I don't have much room for improvement, I think my GPA was pretty good and my DAT score isn't re-take worthy (3.6 GPA, 22 DAT). I have around 200 hours of shadowing and volunteering at dental clinics, and lots of extracurriculars and some research experience. I really don't know where I went wrong aside from my interview, which I think I'm just nitpicking.

And it sucks because I haven't done any shadowing or volunteering since August because I was optimistic, so I'm thinking about adding some more hours over the summer.

And I'll be working more on my personal statement this go around as well. I really want to be a dentist but I suck at putting it in words.

I'm just so stressed and lost and feeling overwhelmed by the limbo I'm in right now. So I'm preparing for the worst case scenario to keep myself distracted haha!

Thanks guys!

I kept all of my letters the same when I reapplied, I did however get 2 new letters from my master's program professors but I sent those directly to schools I was communicating with instead of AADSAS. As for your PS, again I kept mine the same but altered it slightly and said I am in my masters, etc. Any change that you have performed from the time you applied to now is what you want to highlight. Just my two cents.
 
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Agree with what @macsak said^^ For applying, apply early, like before June ends. For LOR's, ask the committee to refresh/strengthen your letter OR get individual recommenders that can write you strong LOR's. Continue to shadow, volunteer; maybe get X-ray/CPR certified showing that you are making forward progress. For Personal Statement, objectively look at it and see if it is strong. Have others read it, see what they think and see what you can improve on. I applied second round this cycle and did all of this, and it worked! Good luck!
 
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Where did you apply? It's strange you didn't get in anywhere...
 
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when did you turn in your application?
do you have any sections on the DAT that are less than 17?
Nope my lowest was a 19 in chemistry and I had a perfect 30 in reading comp so I feel pretty okay with my score
Edit to add I submitted everything in August, interviewed in November. But my pre Heath advisor who was supposed to write my committee letter didn’t submit everything until October. I kinda feel like she screwed me over :(
 
I kept all of my letters the same when I reapplied, I did however get 2 new letters from my master's program professors but I sent those directly to schools I was communicating with instead of AADSAS. As for your PS, again I kept mine the same but altered it slightly and said I am in my masters, etc. Any change that you have performed from the time you applied to now is what you want to highlight. Just my two cents.
Okay thank you! I’m still finishing up school so I’m gonna see if I can add new professors to vouch for me, I know of 2 who I could ask bc I started TAing for their labs. I’ll start to Frankenstein my PS in the meantime to add new things that I’m gonna start in a month, thank you!!
 
Agree with what @macsak said^^ For applying, apply early, like before June ends. For LOR's, ask the committee to refresh/strengthen your letter OR get individual recommenders that can write you strong LOR's. Continue to shadow, volunteer; maybe get X-ray/CPR certified showing that you are making forward progress. For Personal Statement, objectively look at it and see if it is strong. Have others read it, see what they think and see what you can improve on. I applied second round this cycle and did all of this, and it worked! Good luck!
Yes omg I’m gonna get everything in that month bc last cycle I took my DAT in early August and maybe I put myself in a bad place by doing that. I’ll look into some certifications! I’m already CPR certified but how much of an extra workload is X-ray certification?
 
Nope my lowest was a 19 in chemistry and I had a perfect 30 in reading comp so I feel pretty okay with my score
Edit to add I submitted everything in August, interviewed in November. But my pre Heath advisor who was supposed to write my committee letter didn’t submit everything until October. I kinda feel like she screwed me over :(

I think if you apply earlier, and broadly, you will have a MUCH better chance
 
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I think your only mistake is that you applied to one school. Everything else looks great. Did you send a letter of interest to Brian Hahn yet?
 
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I think you need to apply to a few more schools. One is not reasonable. Your PS should be looked at by someone who is familiar with the process and can give you some constructive feedback. 30RC is awesome, and is also considered by some the benchmark for DS success. I would retool this app, apply early, and accumulate rewards points in the meantime to defray the cost of traveling to interviews.
 
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I think your only mistake is that you applied to one school. Everything else looks great. Did you send a letter of interest to Brian Hahn yet?
I did. I’m actually in an accelerated program with them and I had a guaranteed interview and everything, and I’m still a junior, so I get it, but it hurts being the first one in this program to not get accepted. Others have successfully been accepted through this program in the past.
also, my letter to brian was pretty long lol, do you think that reflected badly on me? i just didn't know what to say so i might have rambled on about how much i love temple and philly and how I think he's a really nice guy.
 
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I think you need to apply to a few more schools. One is not reasonable. Your PS should be looked at by someone who is familiar with the process and can give you some constructive feedback. 30RC is awesome, and is also considered by some the benchmark for DS success. I would retool this app, apply early, and accumulate rewards points in the meantime to defray the cost of traveling to interviews.
Haha that’s a pretty good idea! I luckily have lots of family across the country that will let me stay with them if I need to fly out next year to interview at other schools. The only reason I only applied to Temple was because I’m in a 7 year accelerated program with them
 
All the more reason to apply broadly. I was in a combined degree program, but we were guaranteed admission with a minimum GPA and DAT. You were not.
 
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For those who don't know, if OP did get into Temple through the 3+4 program, about ~30 credits from D1 courses are used towards bachelors degree. So in the case that OP did apply to other
Even if you did apply to other schools other than Temple, you're at a huge disadvantage. From what I know, a bachelors degree is usually a must upon matriculation although there are exceptions. Usually never a requirement but like 99% of dental students have at least a bachelors

For the 2019-2020 cycle, you'll have your bachelor upon matriculation. You'll definitely get an acceptance with those stats.
Your mistake was not just applying to one school nor you having your application sent in late.
Also, I would just use the same PS and letters since you only applied to Temple anyway

If I were you, I'd speak to the school about this. Just make sure this program is supposed to be a guaranteed interview + acceptance upon completion and meeting certain requirements.
 
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