Rejection = No more chance at the particular school?

[nismoz]

Hello fellow SDNers, I searched the forums but was not able to find any specific answers to my questions.

Just a brief description of myself: Canadian who graduated already from undergrad with 3.55 sgpa and 3.52 cgpa. (first year of Cs and Bs and 4 continuous years of mostly A+ and A), 21AA 22TS 21PAT 18RC, have research experiences, enough volunteer and shadowing hours.

I applied kind of late this cycle, (Mailed at October 5th) and got only 1 interview offer with 2 rejections before the interview.

The interview I got was pre-dec interview, which I bombed because I was so nervous (first interview of any sort in my life). Around January, I got rejection letter from this school.

Other 2 schools have sent me rejection letters before offering interview on early February.

These raises me 2 questions:

1. Do I still have a chance of getting an interview at the schools that rejected me if I apply as a first batcher? As I have graduated already, I cannot significantly improve my application for the next cycle except continuing to shadow and volunteer.

2. Is the fact that I got rejected in previous cycle have negative effect on next cycle? For example, can the school don't bother looking at my app again because I was rejected after an interview in previous cycle?

Any opinions or ideas will be greatly appreciated.

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[nikond600]

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[NDPitch]

When they rejected you the first time (without any interview), they didn't like your application. So, if you haven't done anything "new", your chance at that particular school will not be very bright.

No, not really. Mailing in October is late. The chance of a rejection when you mail in October is higher than when you mail in the first batch, hands down. Some schools are WELL into their interview process by October (truth be told, the ad coms probably didn't look at the app until mid october).

OP, do what you can to improve, but I don't think you need to go crazy on improvements. You rocked the DAT, and your GPAs are right there. Re-write your personal statement, tie up some loose ends here and there, and apply on day 1 next cycle. I think you'll get in somewhere.

 

[Toothshucker]

Do whatever you can to improve your application, then reapply on day 1. Your major problem was mailing in October. Your other problem was applying to only 3 schools. You've already applied once, so try to apply to many more; you don't want to have a few interviews and come away empty handed; sometimes people just get unlucky...apply to more schools. However, I'm not really that familiar with Canadian students applying to US or Canadian schools. I would apply to both, imo.

Good luck.

 

[nismoz]

Thanks guys for your inputs.

I can see that mailing date of october was the major problem. Would this mean, the schools that rejected me will still review my apps next cycle? I was scared that they will not even bother to look at my apps or consider my app as unattractive because I was rejected last cycle.

 

[Teeths]

I had this same question a little while back and from what I've learned.... no they won't automatically count you out or just throw your app away when they see your name. Think of how many applicants they get, so no one remembers names first of all, and then also since you're a re-applicant they'll be looking for what's changed on your application since you've last applied. If nothing's changed, they won't give it a second look and let it fall to the wayside like the previous cycle.

Just vamp up your app a little bit, and like someone else said rewrite your personal statement, and apply AS SOON AS THE CYCLE OPENS! Good luck

 

[nismoz]

Since I have graduated already, the only way for me to change my app is to continue doing volunteering.

I am planning to goto Africa to volunteer there for 3 months. Since there is literally nothing to do on my free time (No internet, no TV), I will be able to look back on my life and think of life is. Hopefully, this is considered as an application improvement.

 

[iDentastic]

Since I have graduated already, the only way for me to change my app is to continue doing volunteering.

I am planning to goto Africa to volunteer there for 3 months. Since there is literally nothing to do on my free time (No internet, no TV), I will be able to look back on my life and think of life is. Hopefully, this is considered as an application improvement.

Of course there are ways to improve your application besides gpa and DAT scores. Yes, volunteering is one of them. However, you could also look into doing research. It doesn't necessarily have to be dental related... maybe do a clinical research study if there's a university near you (and chances are, there probably are). Maybe ask another PI if you could help in a lab. You could also ask multiple dental offices and see if they would be willing to hire a dental assistant or offer to volunteer at a dental office for free which are options several of my friends have done. Dental schools will love that you still continued to be involved in dentistry even after being rejected. Also, it'll only be a plus for you and the adcoms if you get all that experience/knowledge of just BEING in a dental office and maybe doing some logistical work and understanding the variety of dental equipment, etc. Those things would definitely help with your application.

Most importantly, apply early!!!!!