- Joined
- Jun 24, 2022
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Date of submission: June/2022
Overall GPA: 3.7
Science GPA: 3.6
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: 3.6
DAT score (include AA and all sections): 22AA, 21TS, 23OC, 22GC, 19Bio, 23RC, 22QR, 22PAT
Casper Score: 4th Quartile (only needed for Case Western)
State of Residence: Minnesota
Undergrad Attended: Midwest Public School (Top 25)
Major: Biochemistry
Minor: N/A
Minority? No
Reapplicant? No
Nontrad? No
Shadowing Experience: ~100 hours with a general dentist, but also shadowed other dentists briefly in the clinic, dentist also moved clinics during the experience so I got to see two separate clinic styles.
Volunteering Experience: Roughly 60 hours at a food shelter, then approximately 72 hours volunteering for my club, and 100 hours of research
Employment: Over 1000 hours of employment for a grocery store during college, and another 900+ for paid research
Research: Over 1000 hours of molecular pharmacology research(volunteer+paid), +1 poster (2nd author) at a conference, +5 abstracts accepted (2nd author), no publications yet, but in the works, and possibly 2-3 publications by the time I graduate or start dental school as 2nd author.
Other Extracurriculars: Just part of my science clubs
Relevant Honors or Awards: deans list recipient for my college, academic scholarship
LOR type and strength: 3 Letters from my science faculty, probably moderate strength, 1 letter from my research mentor (very strong)
School list: no particular order except for Top Choice
University of Minnesota (top choice) - Invited for interview (September) - Accepted Offer (12/15)
Marquette - Rejected w/o interview, placed on alternate list (12/15), rejected (4/5/23)
Tufts - Rejected w/o Interview (5/23/23)
UPenn - Rejected w/o Interview (6/1/23)
Creighton - Invited for interview in August (Interviewed in September) - Accepted (12/15) - declined offer (12/30)
Case Western Reserve University - Invited for interview (September & October) - Accepted - declined offer (12/15)
New York University - Invited for interview (September) - Accepted - declined offer (12/15)
Touro College of Dental Medicine - Invited for interview in July (Interviewed in September) - Waitlisted - declined waitlist (12/15)
State University of New York, Buffalo - Rejected w/o Interview (2/17/23)
*updated with school offers as of 6/1/23
My advice to future dental school applicants: the sooner you apply the better your chances are because Dental schools have rolling admissions! The application on AADSAS opens before June 1st, usually sometime in mid-May, is when you can start filling the application out. It takes a little while to fill in all the details, so getting a head start on it is a good idea if you plan on applying to schools right away. That's what I did, though I had to wait on my last LOR so I wasn't able to submit it right away on June 1st. Check out my post on common AADSAS questions to help get you started.
I didn't receive my first interview until July, most schools will start sending invites around July, though some send invites as early as June. But most will go out sometime from August to October (maybe November) for first-round December 15th acceptances, and then most will be sent usually in late January after the first round of deposits are due for acceptances. Please note: schools cannot accept more students than they have seats for. Each school accepts students differently, some may try to fill their class right away while others may only fill portions of their class, saving seats for post-December interviews!
Pay attention to when schools like to send invites. Iowa likes applicants to apply very early, Creighton usually conducts interviews only in the fall before acceptance day, and NYU will interview all the way into April. Each school is different, use the Interview invites tracker to get a general idea of what to expect and when! There are past years you can see too, though more recent years will give you a general idea, nothing is set in stone so don't panic if schools take longer than usual. Covid seemed to affect schools differently, and some are still recovering so don't stress.
Use SDN's interview feedback page for the school interviews. There are a ton of questions that have been posted, and many of them are accurate to what you would see in your interview! PLEASE know how a school conducts its interviews, doing research beforehand will save you a ton of stress and make you look much more prepared and your interviewer will notice. I asked a lot of questions; ask questions that you can't find online through a quick Google search, those aren't good questions to ask.
Try to find a connection with your interviewer, RELAX, and be yourself. Practice talking and answering various questions in front of a mirror but don't memorize and spit out anything that sounds extremely rehearsed, you'll sound like a robot. I had practiced talking about my application, I knew it like the back of my hand. I had memorized a bunch of different scenarios and could talk about them but make it sound like I was telling a story and not a memorized speech. Know your application front and backward. You will be asked to explain an experience or talk about something mentioned on your app. Take a second, breathe, and ask the question to be repeated if you have to, IT'S OKAY. Interviewers know you will be nervous. They want you to succeed. You are there because admissions saw something in you, now PROVE IT. Everyone is on a level playing field once you've been invited to interview. So if you're a low-stat or a high-stat applicant, it doesn't matter now. You're all even players in the interview, so don't slack on not prepping. Show admissions why dentistry is the right fit, show them the passion, and show them your great communications skills. Dentistry is a very people-oriented field, and being able to talk to patients is a critical skill to have. Talk to the folks in your interview, people are nervous and this is a great time to get to know others who want to pursue the same career as you. Some may even be your colleagues at the school!
If I had to apply again, I 100% would, but I would have applied to different schools. My one word of advice, apply to schools that you would attend if it was the only school that accepted you. If NYU was your only acceptance, or USC, or WesternU/Cal Northstate, are you comfortable taking 600-700K in loans, maybe private loans only (Cal Northstate)? If you answered no, then don't apply to those schools. Apply to well-targeted schools. Filling out a WAMC thread like mine, we will give you feedback on your list, what stands out, what could be flushed out more, and what schools would be a better fit. We are here to help you because we don't want you to make the same mistakes we've made! I was naive too, but if you get into a cheaper school, take it. The loans are insane, and it's like staring down a barrel of a loaded gun. So save yourself the trouble and take as little out as you can. Prestige doesn't matter so much in dentistry compared to medicine. If you're smart enough to get into an Ivy, you're smart enough to be top of your class. You can specialize at any dental school.
Good luck to all applicants, kick butt this 2023 cycle!
If you have questions about the application cycle, my interviews, or just how to get started in applying, please feel free to reach out and ask me!
Overall GPA: 3.7
Science GPA: 3.6
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: 3.6
DAT score (include AA and all sections): 22AA, 21TS, 23OC, 22GC, 19Bio, 23RC, 22QR, 22PAT
Casper Score: 4th Quartile (only needed for Case Western)
State of Residence: Minnesota
Undergrad Attended: Midwest Public School (Top 25)
Major: Biochemistry
Minor: N/A
Minority? No
Reapplicant? No
Nontrad? No
Shadowing Experience: ~100 hours with a general dentist, but also shadowed other dentists briefly in the clinic, dentist also moved clinics during the experience so I got to see two separate clinic styles.
Volunteering Experience: Roughly 60 hours at a food shelter, then approximately 72 hours volunteering for my club, and 100 hours of research
Employment: Over 1000 hours of employment for a grocery store during college, and another 900+ for paid research
Research: Over 1000 hours of molecular pharmacology research(volunteer+paid), +1 poster (2nd author) at a conference, +5 abstracts accepted (2nd author), no publications yet, but in the works, and possibly 2-3 publications by the time I graduate or start dental school as 2nd author.
Other Extracurriculars: Just part of my science clubs
Relevant Honors or Awards: deans list recipient for my college, academic scholarship
LOR type and strength: 3 Letters from my science faculty, probably moderate strength, 1 letter from my research mentor (very strong)
School list: no particular order except for Top Choice
University of Minnesota (top choice) - Invited for interview (September) - Accepted Offer (12/15)
Marquette - Rejected w/o interview, placed on alternate list (12/15), rejected (4/5/23)
Tufts - Rejected w/o Interview (5/23/23)
UPenn - Rejected w/o Interview (6/1/23)
Creighton - Invited for interview in August (Interviewed in September) - Accepted (12/15) - declined offer (12/30)
Case Western Reserve University - Invited for interview (September & October) - Accepted - declined offer (12/15)
New York University - Invited for interview (September) - Accepted - declined offer (12/15)
Touro College of Dental Medicine - Invited for interview in July (Interviewed in September) - Waitlisted - declined waitlist (12/15)
State University of New York, Buffalo - Rejected w/o Interview (2/17/23)
*updated with school offers as of 6/1/23
My advice to future dental school applicants: the sooner you apply the better your chances are because Dental schools have rolling admissions! The application on AADSAS opens before June 1st, usually sometime in mid-May, is when you can start filling the application out. It takes a little while to fill in all the details, so getting a head start on it is a good idea if you plan on applying to schools right away. That's what I did, though I had to wait on my last LOR so I wasn't able to submit it right away on June 1st. Check out my post on common AADSAS questions to help get you started.
I didn't receive my first interview until July, most schools will start sending invites around July, though some send invites as early as June. But most will go out sometime from August to October (maybe November) for first-round December 15th acceptances, and then most will be sent usually in late January after the first round of deposits are due for acceptances. Please note: schools cannot accept more students than they have seats for. Each school accepts students differently, some may try to fill their class right away while others may only fill portions of their class, saving seats for post-December interviews!
Pay attention to when schools like to send invites. Iowa likes applicants to apply very early, Creighton usually conducts interviews only in the fall before acceptance day, and NYU will interview all the way into April. Each school is different, use the Interview invites tracker to get a general idea of what to expect and when! There are past years you can see too, though more recent years will give you a general idea, nothing is set in stone so don't panic if schools take longer than usual. Covid seemed to affect schools differently, and some are still recovering so don't stress.
Use SDN's interview feedback page for the school interviews. There are a ton of questions that have been posted, and many of them are accurate to what you would see in your interview! PLEASE know how a school conducts its interviews, doing research beforehand will save you a ton of stress and make you look much more prepared and your interviewer will notice. I asked a lot of questions; ask questions that you can't find online through a quick Google search, those aren't good questions to ask.
Try to find a connection with your interviewer, RELAX, and be yourself. Practice talking and answering various questions in front of a mirror but don't memorize and spit out anything that sounds extremely rehearsed, you'll sound like a robot. I had practiced talking about my application, I knew it like the back of my hand. I had memorized a bunch of different scenarios and could talk about them but make it sound like I was telling a story and not a memorized speech. Know your application front and backward. You will be asked to explain an experience or talk about something mentioned on your app. Take a second, breathe, and ask the question to be repeated if you have to, IT'S OKAY. Interviewers know you will be nervous. They want you to succeed. You are there because admissions saw something in you, now PROVE IT. Everyone is on a level playing field once you've been invited to interview. So if you're a low-stat or a high-stat applicant, it doesn't matter now. You're all even players in the interview, so don't slack on not prepping. Show admissions why dentistry is the right fit, show them the passion, and show them your great communications skills. Dentistry is a very people-oriented field, and being able to talk to patients is a critical skill to have. Talk to the folks in your interview, people are nervous and this is a great time to get to know others who want to pursue the same career as you. Some may even be your colleagues at the school!
If I had to apply again, I 100% would, but I would have applied to different schools. My one word of advice, apply to schools that you would attend if it was the only school that accepted you. If NYU was your only acceptance, or USC, or WesternU/Cal Northstate, are you comfortable taking 600-700K in loans, maybe private loans only (Cal Northstate)? If you answered no, then don't apply to those schools. Apply to well-targeted schools. Filling out a WAMC thread like mine, we will give you feedback on your list, what stands out, what could be flushed out more, and what schools would be a better fit. We are here to help you because we don't want you to make the same mistakes we've made! I was naive too, but if you get into a cheaper school, take it. The loans are insane, and it's like staring down a barrel of a loaded gun. So save yourself the trouble and take as little out as you can. Prestige doesn't matter so much in dentistry compared to medicine. If you're smart enough to get into an Ivy, you're smart enough to be top of your class. You can specialize at any dental school.
Good luck to all applicants, kick butt this 2023 cycle!
If you have questions about the application cycle, my interviews, or just how to get started in applying, please feel free to reach out and ask me!
