third time applying to dental school 2019--need your advice

[gooz26]

Hello,

The first time I applied to dental schools i applied with DAT 17 and 2.8 science GPA. overal gpa 3.55 didnt get an interview from any of the 12 schools.

The second time (last cycle) i applied with a DAT of 20, 22 on each science, 16 on math, 3.2 science gpa..overal gpa 3.55. yet no interviews

now I am deciding to reapply without retaking the dat for the third time.. I am just confused why i didnt recieve a single interview on the second time i applied. any advice would help!!

thank you

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[smile matters]

Hello,

The first time I applied to dental schools i applied with DAT 17 and 2.8 science GPA. overal gpa 3.55 didnt get an interview from any of the 12 schools.

The second time (last cycle) i applied with a DAT of 20, 22 on each science, 16 on math, 3.2 science gpa..overal gpa 3.55. yet no interviews

now I am deciding to reapply without retaking the dat for the third time.. I am just confused why i didnt recieve a single interview on the second time i applied. any advice would help!!

thank you

I would've thought you were a decent candidate the second time as you improved your science GPA and DAT. That's weird. Did you ever call the schools and ask? What/how many schools did you apply to?

 

[Daniel Schruth]

One issue may be that some schools have cutoff minimums for each subsection of the DAT of 17. The 16 you got on QR could have been a problem, though that's unlikely. Your science GPA also may cause schools to feel that you are not best prepared to handle the rigorous science courses in dental school. Perhaps taking some upper level science courses at a four-year university and scoring well in those could help you boost your science GPA.

Other factors you should consider are when you applied (Was your application complete by the end of July?), your extracurriculars (Does your application show involvement in college/university activities?), leadership experience (Have you taken on leadership roles?), shadowing hours (How many hours did you spend shadowing a general dentist?), letters of recommendation (Are you confident they are strong letters?), and your personal statement (Did you have others proofread it?).

If none of these factors seem to be raising a red flag, you can try contacting the dental schools you applied to and speaking with admissions specifically on what they recommend you do to improve your application. See if they suggest you retake your DAT or improve your GPA, since stats tend to be very important when getting interviews. Make sure you apply to at least 10-12 schools. Good luck in this application cycle!

 

[gooz26]

I would've thought you were a decent candidate the second time as you improved your science GPA and DAT. That's weird. Did you ever call the schools and ask? What/how many schools did you apply to?

yes they would tell me the same competitive speech haha

 

[BeDen]

One issue may be that some schools have cutoff minimums for each subsection of the DAT of 17. The 16 you got on QR could have been a problem, though that's unlikely. Your science GPA also may cause schools to feel that you are not best prepared to handle the rigorous science courses in dental school. Perhaps taking some upper level science courses at a four-year university and scoring well in those could help you boost your science GPA.

Other factors you should consider are when you applied (Was your application complete by the end of July?), your extracurriculars (Does your application show involvement in college/university activities?), leadership experience (Have you taken on leadership roles?), shadowing hours (How many hours did you spend shadowing a general dentist?), letters of recommendation (Are you confident they are strong letters?), and your personal statement (Did you have others proofread it?).

If none of these factors seem to be raising a red flag, you can try contacting the dental schools you applied to and speaking with admissions specifically on what they recommend you do to improve your application. See if they suggest you retake your DAT or improve your GPA, since stats tend to be very important when getting interviews. Make sure you apply to at least 10-12 schools. Good luck in this application cycle!

Hi Daniel, will it be okay if I had leadership experience in college back to ten years ago but don't have any leadership experience since when I've been worked on my advanced degree?