WAMC 2025-2026 / Applied late 2024-2025 cycle

[12gallardo]

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I am a current applicant in this 2024-2025 cycle, however I applied quite late and have not heard back so I'm feeling less confident and am expecting a reapply. If I have to, my goal is to reapply as soon as the application opens. I want to strengthen my application before then, so if you guys have any tips / opinions on my chances pls lmk!

Date of submission: for this cycle, 9/24; for next cycle, asap
Overall GPA: 3.76
Science GPA: 3.62
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: 3.67
DAT score (include AA and all sections): 24AA, 23TS, 23PAT, 22QR, 22BIO, 24RC, 24OC, 26GC
State of Residence: California

Undergrad Attended: top25
Major: Human Biology
Minor: Finance
Minority? No
Reapplicant? Yes (potentially)
Nontrad? No

Shadowing Experience: 240 hours, 200 across 2 general dentists and 40 with an oral surgeon
Volunteering Experience: 50 hours w/ USC Dental school clinics, 50 hours as mentor in club, 70 hours external dental-related organization, 150 hours w/ service organization I created
Employment: (since applying) 100+ dental assisting hours, 100+ tutoring hours
Research: 130 hours; wet-lab research; 1 poster presentation
Other Extracurriculars:
Have you volunteered/shadowed/attended events at any dental schools? volunteered with USC dental school
Relevant Honors or Awards:
LOR type and strength: mid
Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags:
School list:
this cycle: USC, UCLA, UCSF (denied UCSF, still waiting on USC and UCLA [not sure how likely this is])
for next cycle: USC, UCLA, UCSF, Western, UNLV

 

[macsak]

I am a current applicant in this 2024-2025 cycle, however I applied quite late and have not heard back so I'm feeling less confident and am expecting a reapply. If I have to, my goal is to reapply as soon as the application opens. I want to strengthen my application before then, so if you guys have any tips / opinions on my chances pls lmk!

Date of submission: for this cycle, 9/24; for next cycle, asap
Overall GPA: 3.76
Science GPA: 3.62
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: 3.67
DAT score (include AA and all sections): 24AA, 23TS, 23PAT, 22QR, 22BIO, 24RC, 24OC, 26GC
State of Residence: California

Undergrad Attended: top25
Major: Human Biology
Minor: Finance
Minority? No
Reapplicant? Yes (potentially)
Nontrad? No

Shadowing Experience: 240 hours, 200 across 2 general dentists and 40 with an oral surgeon
Volunteering Experience: 50 hours w/ USC Dental school clinics, 50 hours as mentor in club, 70 hours external dental-related organization, 150 hours w/ service organization I created
Employment: (since applying) 100+ dental assisting hours, 100+ tutoring hours
Research: 130 hours; wet-lab research; 1 poster presentation
Other Extracurriculars:
Have you volunteered/shadowed/attended events at any dental schools? volunteered with USC dental school
Relevant Honors or Awards:
LOR type and strength: mid
Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags:
School list:
this cycle: USC, UCLA, UCSF (denied UCSF, still waiting on USC and UCLA [not sure how likely this is])
for next cycle: USC, UCLA, UCSF, Western, UNLV

when did you submit last cycle? oops, sorry, ignore
how many interviews did you get?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

130 hours of research with 1 poster? That's not a lot of hours, but then again, most dental schools don't put weight on research like medical schools.

You applied to only three schools: USC, UCLA, and UCSF. I'm guessing this is a result of submitting in late September. You must do homework to add 5 to 10 more schools to your list.

Where is your community service? I see a lot of dental-associated volunteering, but nothing focused on addressing community needs. I consider forming a club as leadership, but only spending 150 hours sounds very low.

If this accurately portrays your AADSAS application, nothing stands out to me. You have a ton of shadowing and not as much "doing" as a DA (100+??? means 101 hours at submission?). Just saying you did community service feels like you just checked boxes and have no sincere service orientation or community impact.

I suspect you rushed your AADSAS submission and hoped your metrics would be the ticket. If you have had no interviews, you may have rushed your essays and your school-specific responses that either made you cannon fodder or stand out in a bad way.

 

[12gallardo]

130 hours of research with 1 poster? That's not a lot of hours, but then again, most dental schools don't put weight on research like medical schools.

You applied to only three schools: USC, UCLA, and UCSF. I'm guessing this is a result of submitting in late September. You must do homework to add 5 to 10 more schools to your list.

Where is your community service? I see a lot of dental-associated volunteering, but nothing focused on addressing community needs. I consider forming a club as leadership, but only spending 150 hours sounds very low.

If this accurately portrays your AADSAS application, nothing stands out to me. You have a ton of shadowing and not as much "doing" as a DA (100+??? means 101 hours at submission?). Just saying you did community service feels like you just checked boxes and have no sincere service orientation or community impact.

I suspect you rushed your AADSAS submission and hoped your metrics would be the ticket. If you have had no interviews, you may have rushed your essays and your school-specific responses that either made you cannon fodder or stand out in a bad way.

This is pretty solid. For the community service, you're correct in that most of it was dental related. My service organization (non-dental) was a volunteer organization I created that served the immediate community in south central LA. I started it in my senior year, which is why there were only 150 hours. Although I only had 150 hours it was one of my most meaningful, but I did not delve into the specifics of that in this post. I also started working as a DA at the end of last December part-time (which is why I mentioned since applying), which is why I'm sitting at (just double checked) 133 hours. I believe that this number will be exceeding my shadowing hours by the time I reapply. Anyways, would it be your recommendation to focus this time (the time I have before a potential reapply) on volunteer work? And specifically on non-dental volunteer work? And also obviously to apply early as possible next cycle? Thanks.

 

[12gallardo]

when did you submit last cycle? oops, sorry, ignore
how many interviews did you get?

none so far

 

[macsak]

none so far

how come you applied so late?
and to only three schools?

 

[12gallardo]

how come you applied so late?
and to only three schools?

Sorry, should have clarified this in my post. I took my DAT in September, and only applied after that. I also only applied to three schools because I figured that because I applied so late I would just shoot my shot with the schools that I wanted to attend most. I understand how applying in late September only makes it more difficult, and so I'm planning on applying again this upcoming May/June with more schools. What would you recommend I do in that mean time to strengthen my application?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Creating your own service organization is leadership, so you're left with no community service and are at risk of getting screened out. Having no clinical experience, especially as a DA until after you applied also hurt your chances. I'm not sure whether having only 100 hours as a DA will help you in an applicant pool where others will have more experience. Shadowing only gets you so far; we want to see that you are comfortable working in a private practice (as many as you can), and I'm unsure your profile gives me confidence you know what it's like.

 

[12gallardo]

Creating your own service organization is leadership, so you're left with no community service and are at risk of getting screened out. Having no clinical experience, especially as a DA until after you applied also hurt your chances. I'm not sure whether having only 100 hours as a DA will help you in an applicant pool where others will have more experience. Shadowing only gets you so far; we want to see that you are comfortable working in a private practice (as many as you can), and I'm unsure your profile gives me confidence you know what it's like.

With that service organization I was not only founder and managed the club but worked alongside the volunteers, interacting with the south central community. That was also not my only community service. Also, my work with the USC Dental school was clinical and community work (community clinics), although it was not too many hours. I still work as a DA in a private practice, patient-facing and it should grow to be 300+ by the time I reapply. I apologize if I didn't clarify earlier. Is there something specific that I should do in the meantime to strengthen my application?

 

[macsak]

Sorry, should have clarified this in my post. I took my DAT in September, and only applied after that. I also only applied to three schools because I figured that because I applied so late I would just shoot my shot with the schools that I wanted to attend most. I understand how applying in late September only makes it more difficult, and so I'm planning on applying again this upcoming May/June with more schools. What would you recommend I do in that mean time to strengthen my application?

the problem is your list
even if you apply early, you have 2 extremely difficult schools to get into (UCLA/UCSF) even with your stats people get rejected all the time
and 2 schools that you are likely to experience yield management
and only 1 in range OOS public...

 

[12gallardo]

the problem is your list
even if you apply early, you have 2 extremely difficult schools to get into (UCLA/UCSF) even with your stats people get rejected all the time
and 2 schools that you are likely to experience yield management
and only 1 in range OOS public...

By yield management you mean to say USC and Western could potentially preemptively reject me because they anticipate I don't go there? If so, what would be a recommended in state? UOP? And any recommended out of states with my stats? Thanks so much for your help.

 

[macsak]

By yield management you mean to say USC and Western could potentially preemptively reject me because they anticipate I don't go there? If so, what would be a recommended in state? UOP? And any recommended out of states with my stats? Thanks so much for your help.

i recommend you spend more time looking at school stats, both in state and out of state
then look for mission fit...

 

[Mr.Smile12]

With that service organization I was not only founder and managed the club but worked alongside the volunteers, interacting with the south central community. That was also not my only community service. Also, my work with the USC Dental school was clinical and community work (community clinics), although it was not too many hours. I still work as a DA in a private practice, patient-facing and it should grow to be 300+ by the time I reapply. I apologize if I didn't clarify earlier. Is there something specific that I should do in the meantime to strengthen my application?

Thank you for clarifying. It's curious that if you describe your service with USC-affiliated clinics that you didn't get picked up by USC. They know you best, right? You would think that taking advantage of opportunities at your university would be appealing (and it is). Having no interviews suggests we have to look at your writing and how you promote yourself as a future dentist. Maybe your last application didn't have enough hours to convey credibility about your interest in pursuing dentistry to serve the communities in that part of Los Angeles.

Did you apply to HPSP or NHSC? If your goal is to help marginalized communities, you must find financial options to keep your debt extremely low. USC ain't cheap as you know. Maybe it is in your lack of other service opportunities outside the dental or health-adjacent ones that you must address.

 

[12gallardo]

Thank you for clarifying. It's curious that if you describe your service with USC-affiliated clinics that you didn't get picked up by USC. They know you best, right? You would think that taking advantage of opportunities at your university would be appealing (and it is). Having no interviews suggests we have to look at your writing and how you promote yourself as a future dentist. Maybe your last application didn't have enough hours to convey credibility about your interest in pursuing dentistry to serve the communities in that part of Los Angeles.

Did you apply to HPSP or NHSC? If your goal is to help marginalized communities, you must find financial options to keep your debt extremely low. USC ain't cheap as you know. Maybe it is in your lack of other service opportunities outside the dental or health-adjacent ones that you must address.

I haven't applied HPSP but am thinking about it. This is good advice, will implement in my next cycle. Thanks for your help.