Should I contact a school?

[jwalke34]

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Hi all,

Last year, I applied to this school, got an interview in September, and was put on the waitlist. Subsequently, I didn't get accepted to said school. Afterwards, I talked to the admissions director and was told to re-take the DAT because the scores would be expiring before the next cycle. I re-took the DAT (with 60+ hr work weeks this time around 😱) and improved in the majority of sections, but nothing lower than the previous test. I applied again this year and I have not heard anything except "application complete".

Needless to say, I hope this wasn't all for naught, but I don't see the director just telling me to re-take the test for the heck of it. I honestly don't know why I didn't get in the first time because my interview went well, my GPA lies within the average range (more toward the higher end), and my DAT is also within the average range for the school. Should I contact this school 👍 👎? I don't know if this would be the appropriate action, but I'm kind of worried I haven't heard anything yet this year. Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[doc toothache]

Did the suggestion of a re-take come with a guarantee?

 

[peanutb123]

Hi all,

Last year, I applied to this school, got an interview in September, and was put on the waitlist. Subsequently, I didn't get accepted to said school. Afterwards, I talked to the admissions director and was told to re-take the DAT because the scores would be expiring before the next cycle. I re-took the DAT (with 60+ hr work weeks this time around 😱) and improved in the majority of sections, but nothing lower than the previous test. I applied again this year and I have not heard anything except "application complete".

Needless to say, I hope this wasn't all for naught, but I don't see the director just telling me to re-take the test for the heck of it. I honestly don't know why I didn't get in the first time because my interview went well, my GPA lies within the average range (more toward the higher end), and my DAT is also within the average range for the school. Should I contact this school 👍 👎? I don't know if this would be the appropriate action, but I'm kind of worried I haven't heard anything yet this year. Thanks for any suggestions!

I have talked to many admissions directors and they always find ways for you to improve and to point out what you are doing wrong. But i never heard a single adcom say that ohh get this dat and you are in. Some adcoms are even reluctant to say to retake the dat, instead they say ohh the people who apply this cycle has higher dats or the average of the dat for our schools is this so its your call...
So like doc said there is no guarantee.

regarding your second questions to contact them or not. You should def. contact them. Its not going to hurt you but when you contact them just ask the status of your application or any specific info about you that you want to update them etc... But do not say oh last year you guys said retake and i did so was happenin?

Not in your hands and there is nothing you can do.

 

[Jenna2010]

Hey jaywalke,

It seems like this year has been a really tough cycle. The Ohio State rejection letter cited some pretty high numbers for the people they interviewed and said it was the most competitive cycle for them and actually backed it up.

Just because you were competitive last year is not a sure guarantee that you are competitive this year. My DAT scores were on the high end (above almost every average of the 25 schools I applied to), however I have been rejected without an interview by many schools and still waiting on other.

I would call the office (if they allow calls) and ask about your status or just make sure they are not missing any parts of your application. It is a tough position to be in. I wouldn't mention anything about whoever told you to retake the DAT and why did you get an interview last year and not this year. It just isn't productive and it will not sound right to whoever is taking the call.

Best of luck to you. I hope you hear from them soon.

 

[dentalWorks]

Hi all,

Last year, I applied to this school, got an interview in September, and was put on the waitlist. Subsequently, I didn't get accepted to said school. Afterwards, I talked to the admissions director and was told to re-take the DAT because the scores would be expiring before the next cycle. I re-took the DAT (with 60+ hr work weeks this time around 😱) and improved in the majority of sections, but nothing lower than the previous test. I applied again this year and I have not heard anything except "application complete".

Needless to say, I hope this wasn't all for naught, but I don't see the director just telling me to re-take the test for the heck of it. I honestly don't know why I didn't get in the first time because my interview went well, my GPA lies within the average range (more toward the higher end), and my DAT is also within the average range for the school. Should I contact this school 👍 👎? I don't know if this would be the appropriate action, but I'm kind of worried I haven't heard anything yet this year. Thanks for any suggestions!

The answer to question above: I don't see a problem contacting the school. It ain't gonna help nor hurt you.

You need to understand that when adcoms/admission folks give people advice about improves their application, it does NOT mean "do this and your guaranteed another interview"..... Its just something they tell EVERYONE. If you have average-to-lower-than-average numbers, they suggest post-bacc (or in your case a DAT retake). Its just something they tell everyone.

Question for you: When did you submit your AADSAS? How many schools you applied to? Whats your old and new DAT? Whats your GPA (and sGPA) like?

 

[jwalke34]

Thanks for the replies, but I think a few of you misunderstood me about the DAT. I was not garunteed anything by re-taking it. The re-take was required because this school considers scores old after 2 years. The re-take was necessary for that reason.

To answer the other questions:
sGPA 3.4
oGPA 3.55
Old DAT (PA 17, TS 17, AA 18)
New DAT (PA 19, TS 19, AA 18)
AADSAS complete mid-September
7 schools

 

[peanutb123]

Thanks for the replies, but I think a few of you misunderstood me about the DAT. I was not garunteed anything by re-taking it. The re-take was required because this school considers scores old after 2 years. The re-take was necessary for that reason.

To answer the other questions:
sGPA 3.4
oGPA 3.55
Old DAT (PA 17, TS 17, AA 18)
New DAT (PA 19, TS 19, AA 18)
AADSAS complete mid-September
7 schools

Whats your RC.
you should have applied smartly by applying to more schools. (atleast 20)
You applied late.
your gpa is avg. you dat AA is little below avg or avg. unsure it depends on your individual scores.

 

[jwalke34]

RC was 19 both times