School list

[vlct0ria]

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So I have my list of 15 schools, and I am looking for some advice. This is sort of long, so I really really appreciate anyone who can bear with me!

I have a good GPA (3.75/3.66 sci) and decent ECs, but I will not have my DAT done until the first week in July...since I don't know my DAT scores, I feel like I should apply to more schools than I would otherwise.

After actually speaking to an adviser, I am now starting to question whether I should narrow it down (to save costs, time, effort). The main thing that bugged me was my adviser's question "Would you really want to move to any of these places and attend these schools if you were accepted to any one of them?" And I honestly don't know if I am excited/interested enough in some of them to justify spending the money to apply. Should I play it safe and keep this long list, or narrow it down and have some faith that I'll do well on the DAT? Thanks in advance!

Here's my list: (*** = very important/top choices, **= moderately important, *= unsure about these)

UF ***
Nova ***
Louisville ***
Kentucky **
UPenn **
Maryland **
Marquette **
UoP **
VCU **
UNC **
ASDOH *
Midwestern *
Case *
LSU *
Michigan *

 

[appleonius]

UNC & LSU will be a waste of $. very low out of state acceptances.
let me ask you this...if one of the * schools was your only acceptance, would you go?

 

[a1pha]

I was in your situation last year with fairly similar grades except I was making that decision in August rather than July. Your advisor is giving you good advice so it's up to you to decide what you want to do. I did a LOT of research in narrowing down my schools because I was applying so late and the first thing I did was cross off schools in places I really wouldn't want to attend. Your grades are good enough that you shouldn't be applying to places you would be hesitant to attend. You're definitely right about applying to more schools since your scores won't be in for a month, and I'd recommend anywhere between 10 and 15 schools. That said, the range of difficulty of schools you've chosen is pretty good so if anything just kick out a few places you don't like. Also, I'm not sure if you're even interested but it doesn't hurt to toss in some more selective schools like Harvard, Columba, UCLA, SB. Never know what happens on DAT day.

 

[4thMolar]

So I have my list of 15 schools, and I am looking for some advice. This is sort of long, so I really really appreciate anyone who can bear with me!

I have a good GPA (3.75/3.66 sci) and decent ECs, but I will not have my DAT done until the first week in July...since I don't know my DAT scores, I feel like I should apply to more schools than I would otherwise.

After actually speaking to an adviser, I am now starting to question whether I should narrow it down (to save costs, time, effort). The main thing that bugged me was my adviser's question "Would you really want to move to any of these places and attend these schools if you were accepted to any one of them?" And I honestly don't know if I am excited/interested enough in some of them to justify spending the money to apply. Should I play it safe and keep this long list, or narrow it down and have some faith that I'll do well on the DAT? Thanks in advance!

Here's my list: (*** = very important/top choices, **= moderately important, *= unsure about these)

UF ***
Nova ***
Louisville ***
Kentucky **
UPenn **
Maryland **
Marquette **
UoP **
VCU **
UNC **
ASDOH *
Midwestern *
Case *
LSU *
Michigan *

I would take out Kentucky, UNC, and LSU b/c they aren't very out of state friendly (I'm assuming you're from FL). ASDOH values volunteer work heavily, and you said you were decent on ECs, so that's another one I would consider leaving out.

 

[vlct0ria]

You can apply to X number of schools now, and add Y number of schools later after you have taken the DAT.

Let's say you start with a core number of 11 schools:

UF ***
Nova ***
Louisville ***
Kentucky **
UPenn **
Maryland **
Marquette **
UoP **
VCU **
Case *
Michigan *

And then you take the DAT.

Scenario 1: You get a 19-21 AA. Ok, your list looks good, keep it as is.

Scenario 2: You get a 22 AA. Let's throw an application out to UNC, and maybe Harvard/Columbia while we're at it.

Scenario 3: You get an 18 AA. Uh oh, a little low. Let's add a few more schools - Midwestern, Western, Temple, Tufts, Indiana.

This makes a lot of sense, I think I will take your advice! Thanks everyone for the input, it has really helped me narrow down my list and my expenses! 👍👍👍

 

[jlee1986]

This makes a lot of sense, I think I will take your advice! Thanks everyone for the input, it has really helped me narrow down my list and my expenses! 👍👍👍

i think you'll have a better idea once you get your DAT score. if your AA is 21+, then you should definitely check out schools that have higher mean gpa/dat scores. your gpa is pretty good, and schools like upenn really like high gpas and dats, so if you kick ass on the dat, you should be able to get into most of your schools on your list.

i know cost is definitely something that will influence your decision on how many schools you'll be applying to, and i was in a similar situation as you last year. i didn't want to spend a ton of money but i wanted to make sure i was going to the school that fit me the best and decided to apply to 15 schools. this was my thought process when i decided to apply to 15 schools: you're never going to regret getting into a lot of schools and being able to choose what school is best for you, but you're definitely going to regret not getting into any school and having to reapply the next year. i know these are two extremes, but i definitely helped me come up with my list of schools. lastly, visiting the schools helped me in deciding where i wanted to go in the end. some of the schools i thought i would love ended up not being my first choice at all after i interviewed and visited the school, and other schools i (almost) randomly picked to apply to ended up being my top choices. you never know what's going to happen in your application process, and when are you going to have the opportunity to check out dental schools? good luck with your applications!

 

[HowAboutDAT]

can you apply to more schools after you take your DAT?