UPENN REJECTION

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

ftd987

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
May 27, 2014
Messages
28
Reaction score
10
So mad, i mean so so mad at being rejected at Upenn again this year! Part 1, 1 year of exp working with a oral radiologist in US, 1 year of research assistant exp at University of Texas School of Dentistry, 1 year of research assistant exp at rice university bioscience research collaborative in US, alot of CE courses, dental camps, volunteer experience, 4 months of shadowing with a oral pathologist and general dentist in US, this wazn enough for Upenn, worked extremely hard so that this year my stats are decent for Upenn but still rejected! though my toefl score was low 99, and i think this is the reason why i got rejected but still toefl shouldn be the only thing that should decide our fate! Hate this system! what bloody hell do they want more from us.
 
So mad, i mean so so mad at being rejected at Upenn again this year! Part 1, 1 year of exp working with a oral radiologist in US, 1 year of research assistant exp at University of Texas School of Dentistry, 1 year of research assistant exp at rice university bioscience research collaborative in US, alot of CE courses, dental camps, volunteer experience, 4 months of shadowing with a oral pathologist and general dentist in US, this wazn enough for Upenn, worked extremely hard so that this year my stats are decent for Upenn but still rejected! though my toefl score was low 99, and i think this is the reason why i got rejected but still toefl shouldn be the only thing that should decide our fate! Hate this system! what bloody hell do they want more from us.


Lower your expectations.
 
Higher TOEFL, NBDE 2, maybe less research and more of hands on work.
Do not put all your eggs in one basket, apply somewhere else
 
So mad, i mean so so mad at being rejected at Upenn again this year! Part 1, 1 year of exp working with a oral radiologist in US, 1 year of research assistant exp at University of Texas School of Dentistry, 1 year of research assistant exp at rice university bioscience research collaborative in US, alot of CE courses, dental camps, volunteer experience, 4 months of shadowing with a oral pathologist and general dentist in US, this wazn enough for Upenn, worked extremely hard so that this year my stats are decent for Upenn but still rejected! though my toefl score was low 99, and i think this is the reason why i got rejected but still toefl shouldn be the only thing that should decide our fate! Hate this system! what bloody hell do they want more from us.


I had a chance to talk to upenn's admission committee member. I had experience volunteering for dental camps in US and I am shadowing a dentist. He right away asked me what visa status are you in. I said H4 and he made this comment - so you don't really work experience here. He advised me do some master's program here or get a work visa and work here for some time and apply again. He also said 90% of the applications they receive are of same profile as mine and the admission committee does not believe in shadowing/dental camp experience.

Hope this will give you clear indication of what they are looking in applications.
 
So mad, i mean so so mad at being rejected at Upenn again this year! Part 1, 1 year of exp working with a oral radiologist in US, 1 year of research assistant exp at University of Texas School of Dentistry, 1 year of research assistant exp at rice university bioscience research collaborative in US, alot of CE courses, dental camps, volunteer experience, 4 months of shadowing with a oral pathologist and general dentist in US, this wazn enough for Upenn, worked extremely hard so that this year my stats are decent for Upenn but still rejected! though my toefl score was low 99, and i think this is the reason why i got rejected but still toefl shouldn be the only thing that should decide our fate! Hate this system! what bloody hell do they want more from us.

Sorry to hear that, ftd987. Your stats are impressive. These schools can be really unpredictable at times which makes this whole process even more psychologically draining. Don't lose hope 🙂
 
I had a chance to talk to upenn's admission committee member. I had experience volunteering for dental camps in US and I am shadowing a dentist. He right away asked me what visa status are you in. I said H4 and he made this comment - so you don't really work experience here. He advised me do some master's program here or get a work visa and work here for some time and apply again. He also said 90% of the applications they receive are of same profile as mine and the admission committee does not believe in shadowing/dental camp experience.

Hope this will give you clear indication of what they are looking in applications.
This is really unfair that schools expect us to spend more time and money doing some other course first and after all even after fulfilling all their demands there is no guarantee that we will get in!
 
So mad, i mean so so mad at being rejected at Upenn again this year! Part 1, 1 year of exp working with a oral radiologist in US, 1 year of research assistant exp at University of Texas School of Dentistry, 1 year of research assistant exp at rice university bioscience research collaborative in US, alot of CE courses, dental camps, volunteer experience, 4 months of shadowing with a oral pathologist and general dentist in US, this wazn enough for Upenn, worked extremely hard so that this year my stats are decent for Upenn but still rejected! though my toefl score was low 99, and i think this is the reason why i got rejected but still toefl shouldn be the only thing that should decide our fate! Hate this system! what bloody hell do they want more from us.
There will surely be some other very good school for you!
 
So mad, i mean so so mad at being rejected at Upenn again this year! Part 1, 1 year of exp working with a oral radiologist in US, 1 year of research assistant exp at University of Texas School of Dentistry, 1 year of research assistant exp at rice university bioscience research collaborative in US, alot of CE courses, dental camps, volunteer experience, 4 months of shadowing with a oral pathologist and general dentist in US, this wazn enough for Upenn, worked extremely hard so that this year my stats are decent for Upenn but still rejected! though my toefl score was low 99, and i think this is the reason why i got rejected but still toefl shouldn be the only thing that should decide our fate! Hate this system! what bloody hell do they want more from us.

Sorry to hear about your application. Your profile is REALLY impressive.Wish you good luck for other schools.

Could you please let us know what was date you received application completion email?
Thanks ahead
 
Thank you guys for your feedback! Id like to address @ kingofmedicine first: never have lower expectations, always aim high, so that to achieve your goal you work even harder, push yourself even more. I am not saying my stats are impressive, there is always room for improvement, but when you hear ppl who applied in june with just part 1, and a 100 toefl score with less than a year DA exp getting calls at UPENN, that makes me wonder that why cant I get a call then.
I am a permanent resident so whatever camps i attended i worked there, I am not saying attending camps should give someone edge, no, but I heard UPENN likes research experience and community services which I tried to have maximum exposure too but still a straight rejection. I know how important SOP is and there supplemental application which i did put alot of emphasis on, even took professional help but still couldn make it. That is sad.
Yes its true I hate Toefl but personally i dnt think toefl comprehends how good your speaking and communications skills are. Its just that test taking ability that I lack maybe.. Thank you @_K9_ @indiandentist87 @dent5
Its even more frustrating cuz I did not do internship so dnt have dental license back in my country which makes schools like minnesota, michigan, virginia out of my hands, and the school that i tried for which is UPENN beautifully rejects me
 
Last edited:
I've heard for re-applicants, schools also check what value you added in your resume since last application. Work on your nbde 2 for future applications, while aiming high its always good to have realistic expectations.
Btw, UPenn also sticks to diversity policy, if you are from a remote country, they'll most likely accept you even with much lower credentials than other candidates. Its all a mysterious random process no one knows about : )
 
Thank you guys for your feedback! Id like to address @ kingofmedicine first: never have lower expectations, always aim high, so that to achieve your goal you work even harder, push yourself even more. I am not saying my stats are impressive, there is always room for improvement, but when you hear ppl who applied in june with just part 1, and a 100 toefl score with less than a year DA exp getting calls at UPENN, that makes me wonder that why cant I get a call then.
I am a permanent resident so whatever camps i attended i worked there, I am not saying attending camps should give someone edge, no, but I heard UPENN likes research experience and community services which I tried to have maximum exposure too but still a straight rejection. I know how important SOP is and there supplemental application which i did put alot of emphasis on, even took professional help but still couldn make it. That is sad.
Yes its true I hate Toefl but personally i dnt think toefl comprehends how good your speaking and communications skills are. Its just that test taking ability that I lack maybe.. Thank you @_K9_ @indiandentist87 @dent5
Its even more frustrating cuz I did not do internship so dnt have dental license back in my country which makes schools like minnesota, michigan, virginia out of my hands, and the school that i tried for which is UPENN beautifully rejects me
Have you thought, that they saw a discrepancy between a 99 TOEFL and a "professional" secondary and SOP, which you suppose to do yourself?
 
@oralcare123 : I completely understand where you coming from, and I know that i am rejected cuz of my toefl scores, although my SOP was edited not rewritten and there was not much difference apart from few things here and there but yeah maybe you are right. But all I was saying was that they should look at the overall profile
 
None of us really know what they are looking for. I even heard, that perfect candidates get rejected just because they are too perfect and adcom thinks that they would not be a good fit with the average candidates, which make the majority of the group
I understand how you feel and sympathize for you. Your best bet would be to write to them and ask how you can improve your application next year, because you really want to study there. You should get an accurate response, because adcoms keep notes. They get such requests all the time and would not get annoyed
 
Top