Reapplying to Dental School..Help!!

[SmileChild6]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hello everyone!

So, I applied this cycle and I have been silently creeping on all of these forums all day, every day since June 1. I wasn't planning on making an account but I finally gave in today and decided to make one because I think I need some advice. I haven't been accepted to any schools yet but I currently hold waitlist positions at 3 schools (University of Michigan, University of Detroit Mercy, and University of Louisville).

I'm slowly coming to the realization that I will more than likely need to reapply. What are some things those of you who have to reapply will be doing? Are you completely redoing your personal statement and letters of recommendation? Do you know if we can input our information from this application to the next application cycle, or do we need to rewrite everything?

I'll be doing a 9 month Masters of Biomedical Sciences program starting this September and working on that while I'm reapplying. I have already registered to take the DAT again so I can get a better score (got an 18 AA the 1st time). My GPA is around a 3.5 and I've got enough extra curricular activities, volunteer hours, and job shadowing experience to cover about 4 applicants.

I spoke with some counselors from different dental schools that I interviewed at within the last few weeks and they said not to be too worried about my GPA/DAT score (which I was slightly surprised to hear considering I didn't think I did that fantastic). They told me that if DAT/GPA were a huge concern to them, I wouldn't have received an interview. So, other than improving my GPA and DAT, I'm at a loss of what else I can do. Any ideas?! Please help a (hopeful) future dentist out!

 

[mrdocta]

No need for the masters with a 3.5 gpa. Retaking the DAT would be a better option in my opinion and way cheaper. Even if you increased your score by a point or two you will be in good shape.

Also, work on interviewing since you received 3 waitlists. Try doing mock interviews with people other than family and friends. In case you need to reapply you should feel confident with how you've improved and show adcoms how it's been a positive experience for you. Good luck!

 

[SmileChild6]

No need for the masters with a 3.5 gpa. Retaking the DAT would be a better option in my opinion and way cheaper. Even if you increased your score by a point or two you will be in good shape.

Also, work on interviewing since you received 3 waitlists. Try doing mock interviews with people other than family and friends. In case you need to reapply you should feel confident with how you've improved and show adcoms how it's been a positive experience for you. Good luck!

Thank you! The 3.5 is just my cumulative..my actual science GPA is around 3.1, which is why I thought I would try the Masters program. Plus I'm not really going to have anything to do during the next year since I'm graduating with my BS so I figured, why not.
I was fairly confident after all 3 of my interviews. I thought they all went really well so that's why I'm a little defeated by this whole process. But I will definitely retake the DAT and practice interviewing by doing some mock interviews. Thanks for the advice🙂

 

[mrdocta]

Thank you! The 3.5 is just my cumulative..my actual science GPA is around 3.1, which is why I thought I would try the Masters program. Plus I'm not really going to have anything to do during the next year since I'm graduating with my BS so I figured, why not.
I was fairly confident after all 3 of my interviews. I thought they all went really well so that's why I'm a little defeated by this whole process. But I will definitely retake the DAT and practice interviewing by doing some mock interviews. Thanks for the advice🙂

Oh gotcha! The masters is then a good option for your sgpa. Sounds like you're heading in the right direction for making improvements.

 

[kmpate03]

I'm on the wait list at Louisville too. And I had started my master's in August and they said that one of the main reasons I got Waitlisted was because of my grades from sems one not being in on time even tho they were in around Jan1. Also same DAT score and they said to def retake it after masters to show you can do better. Even you have enough shadowing and volunteer you should keep that going because they want to see you being active. Even if it's shadowing like two hours a week. If you're doing your master's at a school that has a dental school try shadowing in their clinics. It's completely different. I agree with the other person on interview skills. Are you doing your masters at Midwestern?

 

[SmileChild6]

I'm on the wait list at Louisville too. And I had started my master's in August and they said that one of the main reasons I got Waitlisted was because of my grades from sems one not being in on time even tho they were in around Jan1. Also same DAT score and they said to def retake it after masters to show you can do better. Even you have enough shadowing and volunteer you should keep that going because they want to see you being active. Even if it's shadowing like two hours a week. If you're doing your master's at a school that has a dental school try shadowing in their clinics. It's completely different. I agree with the other person on interview skills. Are you doing your masters at Midwestern?

Great advice! Unfortunately, I'll be retaking my DAT just after finishing my BS..not my masters. But yes; MA of Biomedical Sciences 9 month program at Midwestern is where I'll be headed if I don't get a spot from the waitlist. I'll definitely check to see if I can do some shadowing hours there🙂 Thank you!!

 

[tarheel616]

SmileChild6,

Can I ask if you are a Michigan resident? I am a Michigan resident (Grand Rapids area) as well and will be applying this next cycle to the 3 previous schools you listed.

Although I have not yet applied and I am not sure when your masters starts, I would recommend seeing you could do maybe a summer research position at any of the dental schools you applied to / are close to where you live.

 

[SmileChild6]

SmileChild6,

Can I ask if you are a Michigan resident? I am a Michigan resident (Grand Rapids area) as well and will be applying this next cycle to the 3 previous schools you listed.

Although I have not yet applied and I am not sure when your masters starts, I would recommend seeing you could do maybe a summer research position at any of the dental schools you applied to / are close to where you live.

Yes, I am a Michigan resident (somewhat close to GR as well--PS. How about that earthquake!?). My MA program will not start until September, so I'm planning on working as a Dental Assistant at the dentist office I have a majority of my shadowing hours. I have worked there every summer during college as a "sterilization technician", accumulating about 800 hours of experience and they have decided to FINALLY train me as an assistant. I also will be attending the Pre-Dental weekend at Marquette University and also at University of Louisville. I'm not really sure if there are any summer research programs aside from those, but I would definitely be interested in them! Have you heard of any?

 

[DentalDoge]

I feel like you have everything down pat. The masters and DAT (if improved) will definitely land you more interviews.

But you said you were waitlisted at 3 schools right? Would improving your interviewing skills help?

 

[SmileChild6]

I feel like you have everything down pat. The masters and DAT (if improved) will definitely land you more interviews.

But you said you were waitlisted at 3 schools right? Would improving your interviewing skills help?

Thank you! It's reassuring to know that I'm on the right track. As far as the interview goes, I thought they all went extremely well. I'm quite the social butterfly and I feel like I usually do very well with interviews because I love to tell my story and explain the experiences that have drawn me towards dentistry. But I suppose there is always room for improvement! Do you know if any dental schools offer mock interviews or if the schools we interviewed at can give us notes from the interviews?

 

[DentalDoge]

Thank you! It's reassuring to know that I'm on the right track. As far as the interview goes, I thought they all went extremely well. I'm quite the social butterfly and I feel like I usually do very well withe interviews because I love to tell my story and explain the experiences that have drawn me towards dentistry. But I suppose there is always room for inprovement! Do you know if any dental schools offer mock interviews or if the schools we interviewed at can give us notes from the interviews?

Hmm that's strange. But I won't really know how your interview skills are without actually talking to you.

You can actually call the schools you interviewed at and ask how your interview went, if you didnt end up getting in. Im sure some schools offer mock interviews for pre dents ... just not my school.

 

[demmahom]

.

 

[salvatore]

Hello everyone!

So, I applied this cycle and I have been silently creeping on all of these forums all day, every day since June 1. I wasn't planning on making an account but I finally gave in today and decided to make one because I think I need some advice. I haven't been accepted to any schools yet but I currently hold waitlist positions at 3 schools (University of Michigan, University of Detroit Mercy, and University of Louisville).

I'm slowly coming to the realization that I will more than likely need to reapply. What are some things those of you who have to reapply will be doing? Are you completely redoing your personal statement and letters of recommendation? Do you know if we can input our information from this application to the next application cycle, or do we need to rewrite everything?

I'll be doing a 9 month Masters of Biomedical Sciences program starting this September and working on that while I'm reapplying. I have already registered to take the DAT again so I can get a better score (got an 18 AA the 1st time). My GPA is around a 3.5 and I've got enough extra curricular activities, volunteer hours, and job shadowing experience to cover about 4 applicants.

I spoke with some counselors from different dental schools that I interviewed at within the last few weeks and they said not to be too worried about my GPA/DAT score (which I was slightly surprised to hear considering I didn't think I did that fantastic). They told me that if DAT/GPA were a huge concern to them, I wouldn't have received an interview. So, other than improving my GPA and DAT, I'm at a loss of what else I can do. Any ideas?! Please help a (hopeful) future dentist out!

I am glad that you post your situation here! I am on the same boat as you are.

Interviewed at Indiana, Michigan, UNE, LECOM, Roseman and I am on wait listing for all the schools that I interviewed. Ironic!

I did mock interviews before going to any interview with my advisers (school advisers) one of them was the ex Admission Committee and he gave me B+ on our First mock interview! I was told that his average first interviews were in the C range! Anyways, I felt that I killed the interviews but here I am still desperately checking my email/SDN/cell-phone to see if I get off these never ending waiting lists.

I also applied to MBS programs and admitted to Tufts, MWU-IL, and MWU-AZ. If you are going to Arizona I'll probably will meet you in Fall.

I am going to take the masters because it will increase my chance of admitting into MWU-AZ dental school at least since there MBS program is bridge with their dental school. Let's face it if we seat around and do nothing for returning applicants how would you going to improve your application? I think you'll definitely benefit from attending the MBS program.

As of re-writting your PS, if you have done so many new things as of previous cycle, then you might think that those experiences are worth more than your current PS then I highly recommend to re-write parts of it. For me personally I won't be changing much of it with exceptions of saying somewhere appropriate in PS that I am attending MBS program at MWU starting September.

BTW, my DAT is (19AA-19TS-22PAT); two years of post-bacc 3.9 GPA all sciences. Total Science GPA of 3.2

I hope You and I both get off this waiting list soon because I really really don't want to do masters. I'm burning out here :S

Let me know if you have more questions.