Waitlisted...

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Some schools don’t tell you why you were waitlisted. Some will tell you, some will be vague, it sorta depends on the school.

Maybe some main things: interview wasn’t as good as they would have liked, applied late so competing for less spots, OOS and far away regionally (maybe more likely to take someone off waitlist who’s closer to the school)

There’s definitely a lot of reasons why someone could be. Have you reached out to your waitlisted school and asked for feedback?
 
First, would you actually get feedback?

Second, every school manages alternates differently. Some will place you on the waitlist sorted by a metric (DAT AA, BCP GPA) or mission fit (SES, ZIP code, residency, demographics) or an overall holistic adcom priority score which could include interview feedback. We won't tell you how it is managed.

Third, we have our canned answers ready too. Always improve your application. The pool is competitive. Apply early. It's not just your DAT... mission fit and purpose as a dentist matter.
 
I was waitlisted at UNE but did not receive any feedback about my application. I applied late in the cycle (end of August 2022) so that definitely hurt my chances of getting in. My GPA wasn't very strong either so I am getting a master's to balance it out. I believe there is always room to improve your application - retake the DAT, do a master's or post-bacc program, or gain more experience working in the dental field! Since I applied to a lot of schools, I've also found many of them focus a lot on community service. For me it was easy to see where I needed to improve but for others it can be more challenging, so it can't hurt to contact the school and ask for some feedback!
 
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