Reapplying this cycle. WAMC?

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wowburritos

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Hi guys, I applied to several schools this past year with the assumption that I would get into somewhere I wanted to go to because I thought my stats were pretty decent. Unfortunately, I got waitlisted at my top two choices, which were UCLA and USC. It doesn't look like I will be getting off the waitlist so I am considering reapplying this upcoming cycle. The issue is, I have not really done anything this past school year after I applied because I genuinely thought I wouldn't have to reapply again... Would the lack of experiences in this recent year greatly affect my chances? Pretty much the only thing I've started doing this year was research, which was also really recent (I started two weeks ago, and will be continuing for a month and a half).


Overall GPA: 3.74
Science GPA: 3.64
DAT score (include AA and all sections): AA 25, TS 23, PAT 22, Bio 26, GC 23, OC 21, QR 27, RC 27.
State of Residence: California

Undergrad Attended: UCSB
Major: Biology
Minority? No, Asian descent.
Reapplicant? Yes
Nontrad? No

Shadowing Experience: 200 hours General Dentist, 16 hours Dental Surgeon. These hours were all from my last cycle, 2019 -2021 summer.
Volunteering Experience: 9 hours of Dental volunteering (2021) and 70 hours of volunteering at a food bank (2019)
Employment: Dental assisting 580 hours (feb - sept 2021).
Research: No publications. Expecting around 88 hours (now till my graduation).
Other Extracurriculars: Marketing chair of pre dental club one year, and currently Vice President of pre dental club this year. Performing at restaurants as background music and performing my own shows with original music.
Relevant Honors or Awards: Dean's lists and honors program
LOR type and strength: My letters last year were from the general dentist I worked for, the general dentist I shadowed and two science professors. They were super strong last year, but I didn't think I would have to reapply so I'm not really sure who I would be asking LORs from this year... I was thinking of just asking the same dentists and possibly new science professors... but it surely won't be nearly as strong as my LORs from last year.
Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags:
- Major red flag is just not really having done anything dental related this past year except being VP of dental club at school and starting research recently.
- Also having low volunteer hours
School list:
If I reapply this cycle, I will only be applying to UCLA, USC, UOP, and Western. People have told me it doesn't matter where you go, but because I really want to also do music on the side during my years at dental school, I really want to stay in Southern California where all my music connections are. I was interviewed at UCLA and USC this past cycle but I got waitlisted at both. I could be wrong, but I don't think I said anything wrong during my interviews as both of my interviewers at UCLA told me they hoped to see me at the school next year and that I came off well. I didn't receive interviews from UOP or Western.

Edit: I forgot to mention I sent a LOI to USC in the end of January.

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How do you know you will not get an offer? What feedback have you received from staff or students at the schools?
I am in pretty much the same boat as the poster, I applied to my in state schools assuming I would get into one of them considering my stats were above average. I am also still on a waitlist. I feel like all of the seats for any given school would be filled at this point and chances of movement are slim. Is this pretty accurate or is there still hope for some movement in the summer? I've not really been able to find any good information on how schools treat this process.
 
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Either way, the hard truth right now is unfortunately that I have not been given any offers at any of the schools I want to go to. I don't feel good just waiting around hoping that I will get off of one of the waitlists considering I have been hearing that both classes are full. It would make more sense for me to think about how I want to proceed assuming I don't get off any of the waitlists as it is already April. Obviously I'd love to get off of the waitlists but I'd rather come up with a backup plan for when the new cycle opens up than just wait around.
 
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you both should be formulating your plans for next cycle
there is a chance that you guys will get off the waitlists before classes start (there have been cases where people don't show up for orientation), but you have to prepare for the worst
 
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to the OP, when did you submit your application?
and to how many schools?
 
Agreed... how have you been continuing to improve your application or position during the application year? If you have not, you need to think about what the obvious areas of weakness you had before applying have been addressed or are being addressed.
 
to the OP, when did you submit your application?
and to how many schools?
I had applied to 11 schools in July last year. I got interviews from USC, UCLA, Maryland and Touro. I only got an offer from Touro
 
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I had applied to 11 schools in July last year. I got interviews from USC, UCLA, Maryland and Touro. I only got an offer from Touro
Get in touch with the schools to check on the status. If you already got rejected from the schools that you interviewed, figure out what went wrong. Work on your confidence and stay positive. You have very good stats and I know people who got accepted with stats much lower than yours! Im pretty sure you'll get accepted to USC and UCLA sooner or later.
 
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