Waitlist/reapplication question, Class of 2028 [Answered]

[Coffeeandacroissant]

Hello all, I have a 25 DAT (Bio 30, nothing below 22), with a 3.8 GPA, 3.7 sGPA, more than usual shadowing/volunteering hours, and was an officer in both my school's pre-dental and dental service clubs. I have been waitlisted everywhere, except for a school on the other side of the country with no direct flights. Because I would be unable to get home quickly, I will probably need to decline that offer due to personal circumstances that have come up. With my stats, am I likely to get off at least one of these waitlists? If not, and I have to reapply next year, will I need to report that I declined that offer this year? If so, will that hurt my chances on a reapplication? Has anyone been in this situation before?

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[Ryxndek]

Depends on how many schools you’re waitlisted at. Keep in mind nothing is guaranteed and if you have an offer, it might be better to at least take it and hold it so at least you have a school you could go to. You won’t be traveling home that often and layovers really aren’t that bad.

If you apply next year you’re going to be blacklisted at the school you were accepted at. But not the others. Keep in mind though that schools will place higher standards on your app compared to first time applicants and will want to see what you’ve improved upon in the reapplication. Schools won’t ask if you’ve been accepted but the app does ask if you’re reapplying and you will have to write another essay explaining why you are.

I’m sure there’s been applicants who’ve reapplied the next year and gotten in. Based on what you’ve told me, it probably has more to do with your interview skills than your application itself. You looked good on paper but maybe didn’t seal it in the interview. If you reapply plan to really focus on your interviewing and choosing schools where you align well with the schools mission.

Anything can happen however, but there’s also been applicants who turned down a spot and reapplied and didn’t get in the next time. So keep that in mind. If you have an offer that says something id strongly recommend you take it instead of wasting another year of applying and losing out on a year of dentist salary. You could get off the waitlist later on and drop the seat at the current school.

 

[macsak]

Hello all, I have a 25 DAT (Bio 30, nothing below 22), with a 3.8 GPA, 3.7 sGPA, more than usual shadowing/volunteering hours, and was an officer in both my school's pre-dental and dental service clubs. I have been waitlisted everywhere, except for a school on the other side of the country with no direct flights. Because I would be unable to get home quickly, I will probably need to decline that offer due to personal circumstances that have come up. With my stats, am I likely to get off at least one of these waitlists? If not, and I have to reapply next year, will I need to report that I declined that offer this year? If so, will that hurt my chances on a reapplication? Has anyone been in this situation before?

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How to format your WAMC thread: Suggested information to include when creating a WAMC thread are as follows: Date of submission: Overall GPA: Science GPA: Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: DAT score (include AA and all sections): It is very hard for people to give you feedback without a score. State of...

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fill out a template and it will make it easier for us to answer...

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Hello all, I have a 25 DAT (Bio 30, nothing below 22), with a 3.8 GPA, 3.7 sGPA, more than usual shadowing/volunteering hours, and was an officer in both my school's pre-dental and dental service clubs. I have been waitlisted everywhere, except for a school on the other side of the country with no direct flights. Because I would be unable to get home quickly, I will probably need to decline that offer due to personal circumstances that have come up. With my stats, am I likely to get off at least one of these waitlists? If not, and I have to reapply next year, will I need to report that I declined that offer this year? If so, will that hurt my chances on a reapplication? Has anyone been in this situation before?

It would help being more specific with "everywhere" you had been placed as an alternate vs. the school you got an acceptance to.

Would the school be open to deferring your start until the personal matter was resolved? Granted, if you do that, you would be buying time but have to place a deposit down anyway. I would always be thoughtful about turning down your only offer to dental school.

As noted, please fill out a template. Welcome to the forums. I would suspect you could be taken off a waitlist, but you obviously have to wait and see.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Thank you! After reading a lot of posts on this forum tonight, I think the problem is that my expectations were wrong. I didn't apply to enough mid-tier schools. I also didn't participate in research until this year, so it wasn't on my original application. My GPA could have been stronger, but it's very strong for the university I attended. I applied to 10 schools ranked in the top 20 and one middle-of-the-road school - this was my acceptance. I got 5 interviews, one acceptance, 3 waitlists (2 from schools in the top ten), and the rest are either on-holds or ghosted. The ranking of the dental school mattered to me more than it should have. I should have cast my net wider and further. Hard lesson learned. I won't make that mistake next time. Hoping something will come through for me in the coming months. I'm so grateful for your advice. And there is NO WAY I'm going to turn down that acceptance. I'll pay the deposit and just hope that something closer to home opens up.

Not that you have homework on New Years Eve for a forum, but we're still waiting for your WAMC template (at the time I'm writing this).

Ten schools is about right (we only have 60+ dental schools, not 140+ medical schools), and the fact you got five interviews is outstanding. In the med school forums, the anecdotal rule of thumb is "three interviews a doctor you will likely be"... but again, they're applying to at least 20 schools!

The usual way to play the game is going ahead, placing your deposit down at the one acceptance you have so you know you will go to dental school. If you really believe ranking isn't that important, you should take the offer you have.

Yes, I think you have a shot getting off a waitlist. Be prepared to lose your current deposit and place down more money for the other school(s) where you are an alternate. This happens, especially if the other option is LESS EXPENSIVE with your debt number.

 

[macsak]

Thank you! After reading a lot of posts on this forum tonight, I think the problem is that my expectations were wrong. I didn't apply to enough mid-tier schools. I also didn't participate in research until this year, so it wasn't on my original application. My GPA could have been stronger, but it's very strong for the university I attended. I applied to 10 schools ranked in the top 20 and one middle-of-the-road school - this was my acceptance. I got 5 interviews, one acceptance, 3 waitlists (2 from schools in the top ten), and the rest are either on-holds or ghosted. The ranking of the dental school mattered to me more than it should have. I should have cast my net wider and further. Hard lesson learned. I won't make that mistake next time. Hoping something will come through for me in the coming months. I'm so grateful for your advice. And there is NO WAY I'm going to turn down that acceptance. I'll pay the deposit and just hope that something closer to home opens up.

even less than 10 schools would have been ok with your stats, as long as you had a broad range
if you only applied to ranked schools (do you realize now that the ranking is based on research $$$ rather than any indication of how well they train dentists?), then you likely only applied to the most competitive schools
it would really be helpful to hear your school list, the invterview invites, and WL/acceptances along with your other stats to tell you more...

 

[macsak]

Hi all - follow up question,
After reading the replies, it sounds like the best course of action is to put down a deposit and hold my spot in case my situation resolves itself. That being said, if I ultimately need to reapply, what is the effect on that new application of having declined a previous offer? Is there a benefit to the reapplication in not having made a deposit? At this uncertain point, I feel I need to keep as many doors open as I can.
As asked, here is further information:
Date of submission: June 1st
Overall GPA: 3.8
Science GPA: 3.7
DAT score (include AA and all sections): 25 AA, 23 PAT, 30 Bio, 26, 26, 23, 22
Major: Biology
Minority? No
Shadowing/Volunteering: 150-200 each
Other Extracurriculars: 3 officer positions In pre-dental/volunteer clubs
School list:
Marquette, Boston, OHSU, OSU, UNC, Washington, Michigan, Pitt, VCU, UConn
Interviewed: Marquette, OSU, Washington, OHSU, Michigan

where did you get accepted?
that's not the whole template...

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Yes, please don't be "that person" in dental school who takes shortcuts or fails to follow instructions completely. We are missing your state of residence, your accepted school, and your circumstances that you would turn your only offer down.

... After reading the replies, it sounds like the best course of action is to put down a deposit and hold my spot in case my situation resolves itself. That being said, if I ultimately need to reapply, what is the effect on that new application of having declined a previous offer? Is there a benefit to the reapplication in not having made a deposit? At this uncertain point, I feel I need to keep as many doors open as I can. ...

The sounds and gasps of hundreds/thousands of predental students who would jump at the only offer they have to become a dentist.

Ultimately it boils down to this: do you want to be a dentist? If you do, put down the deposit and play the game as described earlier. If you have to reapply, the schools you sent applications to will expect more from you as a reapplicant. They could be sympathetic to your family situation, but they could also choose someone who has more passion for starting their career journey. I hate to convey a lack of sympathy on this, but if you have an offer, you need to weigh going to the school if you want a shot to be a dentist. You need to be critical as you can if you feel the school you have an offer to will not allow you to be there for your family, but you don't have much leverage with just one offer. I think you could get another offer down the line, but I don't have any magical thinking... you could wind up waiting for quite a while until the last moment before orientation. Or after.

If your family situation is that difficult, being at a closer dental school doesn't guarantee you will be able to handle it properly and still be able to remain in school. The other programs may not offer you a deferral so are you prepared to gut it out or ask for a LOA if your family situation gets more attention from you than doing well in D1 classes?

Clearly you have an endgame in mind. What exactly is it? The risk is you never get into dental school because you wasted the chance. and another round of application money instead of a salary that comes with a job 4 years from now. The other risk is that you fail out of dental school because you can't balance family and classes; and you leave owing 150K.

You can drop out entirely (including all your waitlists), not put down a deposit anywhere, and try to apply again when circumstances are better. Give your seat to people who are passionate about dentistry. Take the time to care for yourself before putting yourself under the pressure of dental school.