WAMC 2024-2025 Cycle

[MusicalMuser]

Date of submission: June 2024
Overall GPA: 3.91
Science GPA: 3.93
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: 3.89
DAT score (include AA and all sections):
AA - 21
NatSci - 21
Bio - 23
GC - 19
OC - 22
PAT - 21
QR - 19
RC - 20

State of Residence: TN

Undergrad Attended: Lipscomb University
Major: Biochemistry
Minor: Music
Minority? no...but half asian and half white
Reapplicant? no
Nontrad? no

Shadowing Experience: 125 hours split among three different dentists' private practices
Volunteering Experience:
Dental Missions Trip/Volunteering (100 hours)- worked on a dental team in a remote village in Guatemala providing care to an underserved community.

Musician for several philanthropy events as a volunteer (60 hours)

Serving at a inner city church in the youth ministry (75 hours)

Serving on my churches worship team (75 hours)

Employment:
Session Musician (6000 hours)- Have been doing this since high school so that's why there are so many hours. Have worked as a musician in Nashville going on multiple tours tracking for artists, being in music videos for some bigger artists.

CNA in hospice and hospital (350 hours)

Pharmacy Technician (600 hours)

Research: 600 hours; studying triple negative breast cancer...performed many cell knockouts, RT-qPCR, western blots, invasion assays, immunoprecipitation, etc... Presented my labs research at a Biology conference and won an award for cell and microbiology poster presentations.

Other Extracurriculars:
- 100hr social coordinator for social club; Planned group events and organized events
-Captain of intermural volleyball team for 3 years.
- Very involved with music, having played violin s in places like Carnegie Hall and playing bass for some very famous artists including Cody Fry, CeCe Winans, etc...

Have you volunteered/shadowed/attended events at any dental schools? No

Relevant Honors or Awards:
- Provosts List for 3 years (essentially my schools honor roll)
- ASB conference poster presentation winner


LOR type and strength:
- Research professor: strong, have known her since freshman year and have built a strong relationship
- Academic advisor- medium-strong; has been my advisor since freshman year and knows me on a personal level
- Music Professor- Strong; have played in multiple ensembles for the professor and have had very good connection
-Dentist: Medium-strong, have known this dentist since my Guatemala missions trip and built a connection with him there.

School list: Looking to get accepted hopefully somewhere on the east coast!

My list is pretty long so any advice for narrowing it down would be great

School List
Boston University (Dream School)
UTHSC
Midwestern Arizona
Creighton University
UPenn (big reach school)
Nova
Temple
Tufts
UNE
University of Pittsburgh
Stony Brook
USC (debating this one)
Umich


Side Note: I am attempting to study abroad during the Fall semester. I've done some homework in calling the schools to make sure that for the majority I'm applying to they are virtual interviews but any more insight into this would be great. Thank you for taking the time to read my application!!

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[Mr.Smile12]

Could you explain why Boston is your dream school?

One thing I have noticed is that a lot of your nonclinical community service is connected with your music skills. That's not necessarily bad, but it would help you to have more traditional roles serving others in need (food distribution, shelter volunteer, job/tax preparation, transportation services, or housing rehabilitation) that does not leverage your music talents. You can also get involved with health service events in the US, such as Remote Area Medical opportunities near you in Tennessee.

I don't know why you are avoiding Louisville or Kentucky... maybe UAB. You have high metrics that you could break through as an OOS applicant, but there's no guarantee. Stony Brook prefers NY applicants (see their DSE profile) so I would avoid them. I don't understand USC, UNE, or Pittsburgh on your list. Michigan is one of the toughest schools to apply to, but it might be worth it with your stats... but I don't know your mission fit.

 

[macsak]

Date of submission: June 2024
Overall GPA: 3.91
Science GPA: 3.93
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: 3.89
DAT score (include AA and all sections):
AA - 21
NatSci - 21
Bio - 23
GC - 19
OC - 22
PAT - 21
QR - 19
RC - 20

State of Residence: TN

Undergrad Attended: Lipscomb University
Major: Biochemistry
Minor: Music
Minority? no...but half asian and half white
Reapplicant? no
Nontrad? no

Shadowing Experience: 125 hours split among three different dentists' private practices
Volunteering Experience:
Dental Missions Trip/Volunteering (100 hours)- worked on a dental team in a remote village in Guatemala providing care to an underserved community.

Musician for several philanthropy events as a volunteer (60 hours)

Serving at a inner city church in the youth ministry (75 hours)

Serving on my churches worship team (75 hours)

Employment:
Session Musician (6000 hours)- Have been doing this since high school so that's why there are so many hours. Have worked as a musician in Nashville going on multiple tours tracking for artists, being in music videos for some bigger artists.

CNA in hospice and hospital (350 hours)

Pharmacy Technician (600 hours)

Research: 600 hours; studying triple negative breast cancer...performed many cell knockouts, RT-qPCR, western blots, invasion assays, immunoprecipitation, etc... Presented my labs research at a Biology conference and won an award for cell and microbiology poster presentations.

Other Extracurriculars:
- 100hr social coordinator for social club; Planned group events and organized events
-Captain of intermural volleyball team for 3 years.
- Very involved with music, having played violin s in places like Carnegie Hall and playing bass for some very famous artists including Cody Fry, CeCe Winans, etc...

Have you volunteered/shadowed/attended events at any dental schools? No

Relevant Honors or Awards:
- Provosts List for 3 years (essentially my schools honor roll)
- ASB conference poster presentation winner


LOR type and strength:
- Research professor: strong, have known her since freshman year and have built a strong relationship
- Academic advisor- medium-strong; has been my advisor since freshman year and knows me on a personal level
- Music Professor- Strong; have played in multiple ensembles for the professor and have had very good connection
-Dentist: Medium-strong, have known this dentist since my Guatemala missions trip and built a connection with him there.

School list: Looking to get accepted hopefully somewhere on the east coast!

My list is pretty long so any advice for narrowing it down would be great

School List
Boston University (Dream School)
UTHSC
Midwestern Arizona
Creighton University
UPenn (big reach school)
Nova
Temple
Tufts
UNE
University of Pittsburgh
Stony Brook
USC (debating this one)
Umich


Side Note: I am attempting to study abroad during the Fall semester. I've done some homework in calling the schools to make sure that for the majority I'm applying to they are virtual interviews but any more insight into this would be great. Thank you for taking the time to read my application!!

you need mission fit to get interviews/acceptances, "east coast" is not mission fit
AND
your list is not indicative of someone who wants to get accepted on the east coast...

 

[MusicalMuser]

Could you explain why Boston is your dream school?

One thing I have noticed is that a lot of your nonclinical community service is connected with your music skills. That's not necessarily bad, but it would help you to have more traditional roles serving others in need (food distribution, shelter volunteer, job/tax preparation, transportation services, or housing rehabilitation) that does not leverage your music talents. You can also get involved with health service events in the US, such as Remote Area Medical opportunities near you in Tennessee.

I don't know why you are avoiding Louisville or Kentucky... maybe UAB. You have high metrics that you could break through as an OOS applicant, but there's no guarantee. Stony Brook prefers NY applicants (see their DSE profile) so I would avoid them. I don't understand USC, UNE, or Pittsburgh on your list. Michigan is one of the toughest schools to apply to, but it might be worth it with your stats... but I don't know your mission fit.

Firstly, thank you for taking the time to reply to my post. Boston is my dream school, because many of my mentors went there. They described it as an excellent place to do grad school. Additionally, they have an excellent reputation amongst dental schools, and the area itself is one of my favorites. I'm largely looking to apply to the east coast as I'm not a huge fan of the southern lifestyle. Hence, the application for UNE and Pittsburgh and also why I'm avoiding Kentucky and Alabama. I'm interested to apply to USC because I'm actually from California, my family moved with me when I came to Tennessee for college. Some of these choices may be somewhat trivial in nature, but the area I'm planning to go for dental school does matter to me quite a bit.

Thank you as well for the suggestions for other types of volunteer work. I will try to get plugged into those before the application cycle comes around!

 

[MusicalMuser]

you need mission fit to get interviews/acceptances, "east coast" is not mission fit
AND
your list is not indicative of someone who wants to get accepted on the east coast...

Thanks for the reply. My overall mission is to be able to perform dental work for underserved communities globally (global work), which was my initial reason for getting into dentistry. This motivation initially stemmed from a medical missions trip to Guatemala in which I had the opportunity to work with dentists who mentored me through what it looked like to do that and ever since that experience I had my heart set on being a dentist in order to help communities like the one we went to. I also plan to apply for the HPSP scholarship in order to be able to do this after I am done graduating.

Along with doing missions work, I am also interested in research opportunities, having done research for all 4 years of my undergrad. I feel as though many of the schools on the east coast reflect in some form that they are trying to continually improve the dental field.

Thank you again for taking the time to reply!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Any advice or suggestions from your prehealth advising office?

If you have that much support from your mentors about applying to BU, see if you can reach out to students there (ASDA chapter officers).

All the dental schools will have community dentistry, so you must cover that base (my advice on RAM or Missions of Mercy).

However, schools that have an emphasis on global dentistry include:
NYU (cost alert!)
Indiana
Michigan
Loma Linda (dig further about availability to dental students): how religious are you?

Maybe others have some emphasis, but Google can only do so much. Cross check these schools with their admissions stats and dig further about students' attitudes about their schools before you send out your money.

Application Tips: Showing a Global Health Focus - SDN

The Student Doctor Network provides free tools, resources, and advising services to help students become health professionals.

www.studentdoctor.net

 

[MusicalMuser]

Any advice or suggestions from your prehealth advising office?

If you have that much support from your mentors about applying to BU, see if you can reach out to students there (ASDA chapter officers).

All the dental schools will have community dentistry, so you must cover that base (my advice on RAM or Missions of Mercy).

However, schools that have an emphasis on global dentistry include:
NYU (cost alert!)
Indiana
Michigan
Loma Linda (dig further about availability to dental students): how religious are you?

Maybe others have some emphasis, but Google can only do so much. Cross check these schools with their admissions stats and dig further about students' attitudes about their schools before you send out your money.

Application Tips: Showing a Global Health Focus - SDN

The Student Doctor Network provides free tools, resources, and advising services to help students become health professionals.

www.studentdoctor.net

Got it. Thank you so much for offering some advice about this and helping me form a better school list! As it stands right now are there any urgent things on my application I may need to add to boost my chances of getting accepted? I know you had mentioned adding some more traditional roles in service.