jaerob said:
Well, the talk of both high GPA and DAT score of course is true. I mean, who wouldn't pick a candidate with high scores across the board? But, my experience with UPenn leaves me unsure of what they're really looking for in a prospective student. UPenn rejected me a while ago without even granting me an interview, but my GPA and DAT are both probably in the top 2-5% of all dental school applicants. (AADSAS calculated GPA of 3.87 and DAT score of 23/22 AA/PAT). I know people here have been rejected with great DAT scores, but then people pointed out that it's probably b/c their GPA wasn't the greatest. Well, I guess my post somewhat disproves that theory. Of course I understand that there are people out there with better stats than me, but I thought mine was good enough to at least be granted an interview at any school. The intention of this post is not so much to brag, but moreso to first express a bit of built of frustration/confusion with UPenn that I've been holding in for a while and second to suggest that maybe UPenn isn't only looking for high GPA and high DAT. If I remember correctly, LadyxJC also has both a high GPA and DAT score, and she has yet to hear back from UPenn... So, what is UPenn looking for to extend INTERVIEW invitations? I really have no clue, which is what is so frustrating. Ivy Leagues just hate me for some strange reason. You'll just have to trust me on that one, haha. 😳
LadyxJC -- as a word of encouragement, you haven't heard from UPenn yet, so don't just assume you're rejected. You still have hope. I know what you're going through because it took UPenn about 3 months to finally get back to me with the shocking news that they weren't even going to grant me an interview, and it sucks hardcore sitting there waiting, but hopefully your outcome will be a better one than mine. Should they deny you an interview, you'll get a nice thin letter in the mail praising your amazing stats but saying they unfortunately are unable to grant you an interview for only God knows what reason. Until keep your chin up; you never know what can happen, and I wish you better luck than I had with them 🙂 If the worst does happen, know that it's UPenn's loss and you have my empathy.
Moral of this ridiculously long post: Screw UPenn. 😀
Hey, Jaerob
I don't know whether this is going to help you or not. I just hope that it helps you to understand admission processes. I have a uncle who is in an admission committee member in one of Ivy League schools. He explained admission processes at his institution. However, it's for college, not for dental school.
1. Schools randomly distribute your application to two committee members. Two members will decide whether they want you or not.
2. Most schools have 25-40 admission committee members from various backgrounds. They are not neccessarily faculty members at its institution. They will decide whether you are good enough for their schools based on your paper application and an interview report from your interviewer.
3. Finally, admission office decideds the final cut. When they decide the final decisions, they look at diversity of classes, etc.
The last step is kinda tricky. He told me that each school has brackets for different levels of applicants. For example, they decide to draw 25% of their applicants from SAT score range of 1540-1600. Then, 25% from 1400-1530, etc. Each school has its own brackets. Let's suppose you have 1590 on your SAT. If the school has already filled their 25% 1540-1600 bracket, you won't get in because your bracket is already filled not because you are not a qualified applicant. Schools wants to have a diversified class. That's why they are doing it. For example, for Harvard college, usually around 20,000 or a little more students apply, and a quarter of their applicants have 1600 on their SAT. The Harvad college class size is around 1100. If Harvard college accepts applicants based on their GPAs and SATs, their SAT score average should be 1600. Because 5000 out of 20,000 have 1600 on their SATs and their class size is only 1100. However, when you look at USNEWS, SAT average for Harvard college is 1490. In some sense, it's UNFAIR for highly qualified applicants. On the other hand, schools want to have a diversified class. When I am talking about numbers, I am ignoring applicants having connections and extraordinary extracurricular activities.
I'm not bragging, but when I was applying for colleges, I had 1530 SATs, and 3.99 GPA, a number of APs with 5, Student Government, Varsity sports, etc. However, I didn't get accepted at top 10 schools. Back then, my uncle wasn't on the committee (
😡 ). However, he told me that if I had gotten 1470-1490, I might had a better chance. He said, 1530 is high, but not good enough for a upper bracket. If I had gotten a little below 1500, I would have been placed in a mid-bracket, which I would have a better chance. It's PAST. WHO CARES~~@@!!!
So, I assume that UPenn has already filled their high-upper bracket with 23+ applicants. That's my guess. What do you think guys?
😱
