WAMC 26-27, TX resident

Started by helenad432
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helenad432

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Date of submission: Planning to submit June 27th

Overall GPA: 3.6

Science GPA: 3.43

DAT scores:

Second attempt:
AA: 410
TS: 410
PAT: 470
QR: 430
RC: 390
Biology: 400
General Chemistry: 410
Organic Chemistry: 420

First attempt:
AA: 410
TS/SNS: 390
PAT: 440
QR: 410
RC: 440
Biology: 380
General Chemistry: 410
Organic Chemistry: 390

State of Residence: Texas

Undergrad Attended: University of Texas at Austin

Major: Psychology, B.S., with a Pre-Health Certificate

Minority?: Latina/white

Reapplicant?: No

Nontrad?: No

Shadowing Experience: 109 total hours across general dentistry, pediatric dentistry, orthodontics, periodontics, and prosthodontics. This includes 103 in-person hours and 6 virtual hours.
  • General dentistry: 52 hours
  • Pediatric dentistry: 32 hours
  • Orthodontics: 21 hours
  • Periodontics: 2 virtual hours
  • Prosthodontics: 2 virtual hours
Observed consultations, preventive care, treatment planning, restorative and cosmetic procedures, orthodontic follow-up, pediatric behavior guidance, periodontal treatment concepts, and prosthodontic rehabilitation. I plan to continue shadowing during my gap year.

Volunteering Experience: Approximately 160+ hours of community service through Alpha Phi philanthropy, Greek Meds, TPS, blood donation, and campus service.

Examples include:
  • Food box preparation and distribution through Metrocrest Services
  • Outreach supporting people experiencing homelessness through The Stewpot
  • Care packages for service members and first responders through Operation Gratitude
  • Children’s comfort and donation initiatives
  • American Heart Association fundraising and community events
  • Alpha Phi philanthropy events and blood-drive support
  • Healthcare-focused service through Greek Meds
  • Volunteer note-taking for students receiving academic accommodations
Planned:
  • Two day Texas Mission of Mercy clinic in College Station as a chair-side volunteer in February
  • Continued community service through my home town's volunteers program or at a food bank
  • Continued shadowing
Employment: Worked consistently throughout college while managing a full academic course load and extracurricular involvement.
  • Account Manager: began part-time and currently working full-time; manage client communication, scheduling, intake, follow-up, and coordination across multiple locations
  • Forma Treatment Technician/intern: performed noninvasive treatments using medical-grade technology under supervision and helped support patient comfort and safety
  • Receptionist at a medspa: approximately 18 hours/week from January 2024 through May 2025; managed scheduling, intake, check-in/check-out, and client communication
  • Lifeguard and swim instructor: worked during summers and winter breaks, generally 20–30 hours/week; monitored swimmer safety, responded to emergencies, and taught swim lessons
  • Smoothie King barista: approximately 12 hours/week during freshman year
These roles developed my communication, organization, time management, safety awareness, teamwork, and patient-facing skills.

Other Extracurriculars:
  • Greek Meds Secretary (leadership position) and member, August 2023–May 2026
  • Alpha Phi member and philanthropy participant, August 2023–May 2026
  • Texas Pre-Dental Society member, Spring 2026
  • Volunteer note taker for students receiving accessibility accommodations in my genetics class
  • Nail art, including gel manicures and nail extensions, using drills/tools
  • Learning Portuguese to connect more closely with my Brazilian heritage and strengthen cross-cultural communication
  • Completed an RDA course; certification/licensure process in progress
  • Long term fitness and strength training
  • Recreational reading
  • Crochet
  • Pipe-cleaner floral arrangements and crafts
  • Cooking and healthy meal preparation
Have you volunteered/shadowed/attended events at any dental schools?: I have not yet volunteered or shadowed in a dental-school clinic. Through Texas Pre-Dental Society and independent outreach, I have attended presentations and communicated with faculty and admissions representatives from Texas dental schools and other programs to learn more about dental education, admissions, clinical training, and service opportunities.

Relevant Honors or Awards:
  • Dean’s Honor List, multiple semesters
  • University Co-op Course Material Scholarship
  • University Tuition Grant
  • Partial Tuition Grant
  • Texas Public Education Grant
LOR type and strength:
  • Two science professors
  • Two dentists I shadowed
Expected strengths discussed in the letters include academic growth, reliability, patient communication, empathy, attention to detail, leadership, and commitment to dentistry.

Misc. Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags:
  • Retook the DAT and earned the same 410 AA. However, I improved in Biology, Organic Chemistry, Quantitative Reasoning, Total Science, and PAT. My Reading Comprehension score decreased from 440 to 390 and offset those gains in the overall AA.
  • Second-attempt PAT was 470 and Total Science improved from 390 to 410.
  • Diagnosed with ADHD at age 21 and developed more structured study, organization, and time-management strategies afterward.
  • Worked throughout college while balancing academics, leadership, shadowing, extracurricular involvement, and dental school preparation.
  • My father experienced multiple periods of unemployment. He is currently unemployed and has been without work for several months, creating ongoing financial uncertainty for my family.
  • No research experience.
  • Dental shadowing began later in college, but I now have 109 hours across five areas of dentistry and plan to continue during my gap year.
  • My application theme focuses on two sides of my personality: empathy and understanding of patient behavior, along with satisfaction from detailed, hands on work that creates tangible outcomes.
  • Psychology major rather than a traditional hard-science major.
School list:
Texas:
  • Texas A&M College of Dentistry
  • UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry
  • UT Health San Antonio School of Dentistry
  • Texas Tech Woody L. Hunt School of Dental Medicine
Out of state:
  • Midwestern University College of Dental Medicine–Arizona
  • Midwestern University College of Dental Medicine–Illinois
  • Western University of Health Sciences College of Dental Medicine
  • Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine
  • Tufts University School of Dental Medicine
  • NYU College of Dentistry
  • Touro College of Dental Medicine
  • University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine
I am open to suggestions about schools to add, remove, or replace, particularly programs that are friendly to out-of-state applicants and realistic with my DAT profile.
 
Last edited:
helenad432 said:
Date of submission: Planning to submit June 27th

Overall GPA: 3.6

Science GPA: 3.33

DAT scores:

Second attempt:
AA: 410
TS: 410
PAT: 470
QR: 430
RC: 390
Biology: 400
General Chemistry: 410
Organic Chemistry: 420

First attempt:
AA: 410
TS/SNS: 390
PAT: 440
QR: 410
RC: 440
Biology: 380
General Chemistry: 410
Organic Chemistry: 390

State of Residence: Texas

Undergrad Attended: University of Texas at Austin

Major: Psychology, B.S., with a Pre-Health Certificate

Minority?: Latina/white

Reapplicant?: No

Nontrad?: No

Shadowing Experience: 109 total hours across general dentistry, pediatric dentistry, orthodontics, periodontics, and prosthodontics. This includes 103 in-person hours and 6 virtual hours.
  • General dentistry: 52 hours
  • Pediatric dentistry: 32 hours
  • Orthodontics: 21 hours
  • Periodontics: 2 virtual hours
  • Prosthodontics: 2 virtual hours
Observed consultations, preventive care, treatment planning, restorative and cosmetic procedures, orthodontic follow-up, pediatric behavior guidance, periodontal treatment concepts, and prosthodontic rehabilitation. I plan to continue shadowing during my gap year.

Volunteering Experience: Approximately 160+ hours of community service through Alpha Phi philanthropy, Greek Meds, TPS, blood donation, and campus service.

Examples include:
  • Food box preparation and distribution through Metrocrest Services
  • Outreach supporting people experiencing homelessness through The Stewpot
  • Care packages for service members and first responders through Operation Gratitude
  • Children’s comfort and donation initiatives
  • American Heart Association fundraising and community events
  • Alpha Phi philanthropy events and blood-drive support
  • Healthcare-focused service through Greek Meds
  • Volunteer note-taking for students receiving academic accommodations
Planned:
  • Two day Texas Mission of Mercy clinic in College Station as a chair-side volunteer in February
  • Continued community service through my home town's volunteers program or at a food bank
  • Continued shadowing
Employment: Worked consistently throughout college while managing a full academic course load and extracurricular involvement.
  • Account Manager: began part-time and currently working full-time; manage client communication, scheduling, intake, follow-up, and coordination across multiple locations
  • Forma Treatment Technician/intern: performed noninvasive treatments using medical-grade technology under supervision and helped support patient comfort and safety
  • Receptionist at a medspa: approximately 18 hours/week from January 2024 through May 2025; managed scheduling, intake, check-in/check-out, and client communication
  • Lifeguard and swim instructor: worked during summers and winter breaks, generally 20–30 hours/week; monitored swimmer safety, responded to emergencies, and taught swim lessons
  • Smoothie King barista: approximately 12 hours/week during freshman year
These roles developed my communication, organization, time management, safety awareness, teamwork, and patient-facing skills.

Other Extracurriculars:
  • Greek Meds Secretary (leadership position) and member, August 2023–May 2026
  • Alpha Phi member and philanthropy participant, August 2023–May 2026
  • Texas Pre-Dental Society member, Spring 2026
  • Volunteer note taker for students receiving accessibility accommodations in my genetics class
  • Nail art, including gel manicures and nail extensions, using drills/tools
  • Learning Portuguese to connect more closely with my Brazilian heritage and strengthen cross-cultural communication
  • Completed an RDA course; certification/licensure process in progress
  • Long term fitness and strength training
  • Recreational reading
  • Crochet
  • Pipe-cleaner floral arrangements and crafts
  • Cooking and healthy meal preparation
Have you volunteered/shadowed/attended events at any dental schools?: I have not yet volunteered or shadowed in a dental-school clinic. Through Texas Pre-Dental Society and independent outreach, I have attended presentations and communicated with faculty and admissions representatives from Texas dental schools and other programs to learn more about dental education, admissions, clinical training, and service opportunities.

Relevant Honors or Awards:
  • Dean’s Honor List, multiple semesters
  • University Co-op Course Material Scholarship
  • University Tuition Grant
  • Partial Tuition Grant
  • Texas Public Education Grant
LOR type and strength:
  • Two science professors
  • Two dentists I shadowed
Expected strengths discussed in the letters include academic growth, reliability, patient communication, empathy, attention to detail, leadership, and commitment to dentistry.

Misc. Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags:
  • Retook the DAT and earned the same 410 AA. However, I improved in Biology, Organic Chemistry, Quantitative Reasoning, Total Science, and PAT. My Reading Comprehension score decreased from 440 to 390 and offset those gains in the overall AA.
  • Second-attempt PAT was 470 and Total Science improved from 390 to 410.
  • Diagnosed with ADHD at age 21 and developed more structured study, organization, and time-management strategies afterward.
  • Worked throughout college while balancing academics, leadership, shadowing, extracurricular involvement, and dental school preparation.
  • My father experienced multiple periods of unemployment. He is currently unemployed and has been without work for several months, creating ongoing financial uncertainty for my family.
  • No research experience.
  • Dental shadowing began later in college, but I now have 109 hours across five areas of dentistry and plan to continue during my gap year.
  • My application theme focuses on two sides of my personality: empathy and understanding of patient behavior, along with satisfaction from detailed, hands on work that creates tangible outcomes.
  • Psychology major rather than a traditional hard-science major.
School list:
Texas:
  • Texas A&M College of Dentistry
  • UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry
  • UT Health San Antonio School of Dentistry
  • Texas Tech Woody L. Hunt School of Dental Medicine
Out of state:
  • Midwestern University College of Dental Medicine–Arizona
  • Western University of Health Sciences College of Dental Medicine
  • Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine
  • Tufts University School of Dental Medicine
  • NYU College of Dentistry
  • Touro College of Dental Medicine
I am open to suggestions about schools to add, remove, or replace, particularly programs that are friendly to out-of-state applicants and realistic with my DAT profile.
Click to expand...
how many schools can you afford to apply to?
 
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helenad432 said:
I've been saving up specifically for applications, so I can do all 4 texas schools and am planning on about 6-8 OOS schools.
Click to expand...
i would recommend more schools than that with your stats

there are numerous online resources that have GPA/DAT means and 5th-95th percentiles plus oos stats and ethnicity stats
i recommend you search them out and refine your school list...
 
macsak said:
i would recommend more schools than that with your stats

there are numerous online resources that have GPA/DAT means and 5th-95th percentiles plus oos stats and ethnicity stats
i recommend you search them out and refine your school list...
Click to expand...
How many schools would you think would be smart?
 
macsak said:
as many as you can afford

how come you only were a member of the texas predental society for 1 semester?
when did you decide on dental?
Click to expand...
So I was in another pre-health organization for 3 years where I was on exec for one year. I had extra free time my last semester of college so decided to add on TPS. I also originally was pre-med and switched to pre-dent beginning of Junior year
 
helenad432 said:
So I was in another pre-health organization for 3 years where I was on exec for one year. I had extra free time my last semester of college so decided to add on TPS. I also originally was pre-med and switched to pre-dent beginning of Junior year
Click to expand...
ok, thanks
how did you come up with your school list (outside of the texas schools, of course)?
 
macsak said:
ok, thanks
how did you come up with your school list (outside of the texas schools, of course)?
Click to expand...
I tried to make it a majority of schools that are friendly to OOS, are in locations I'd like living in/or be fine living in, I'd say more than half of my list have minimum stats that are lower than my own stats, with a few medium reach, and one or two real reach. I wanted to apply pretty broad. I also added a few schools that seem to like higher PAT scores even if their AA isn't assss high. I've also been looking at disco dent using their "chance me" calculator. I'd prefer to get into a school that wouldn't put me into the craziest amount of debt ever (I know I'll have a lot either way, would just prefer less over more lol) but I mean if even one school takes me even if I'll have way more debt, I'll go. I added a few more schools to the OOS list as shown in the image I added.
1782403380749.png
 
helenad432 said:
I tried to make it a majority of schools that are friendly to OOS, are in locations I'd like living in/or be fine living in, I'd say more than half of my list have minimum stats that are lower than my own stats, with a few medium reach, and one or two real reach. I wanted to apply pretty broad. I also added a few schools that seem to like higher PAT scores even if their AA isn't assss high. I've also been looking at disco dent using their "chance me" calculator. I'd prefer to get into a school that wouldn't put me into the craziest amount of debt ever (I know I'll have a lot either way, would just prefer less over more lol) but I mean if even one school takes me even if I'll have way more debt, I'll go. I added a few more schools to the OOS list as shown in the image I added. View attachment 421255
Click to expand...
you get interview invites and acceptances by having mission fit with a program
"friendly to OOS" "locations i'd like living in" and "minimum stats lower" are not mission fit

to a lesser extent, geography matters too...
 
helenad432 said:
I tried to make it a majority of schools that are friendly to OOS, are in locations I'd like living in/or be fine living in, I'd say more than half of my list have minimum stats that are lower than my own stats, with a few medium reach, and one or two real reach. I wanted to apply pretty broad. I also added a few schools that seem to like higher PAT scores even if their AA isn't assss high. I've also been looking at disco dent using their "chance me" calculator. I'd prefer to get into a school that wouldn't put me into the craziest amount of debt ever (I know I'll have a lot either way, would just prefer less over more lol) but I mean if even one school takes me even if I'll have way more debt, I'll go. I added a few more schools to the OOS list as shown in the image I added. View attachment 421255
Click to expand...
UOP is a REALLY huge reach...
 
macsak said:
you get interview invites and acceptances by having mission fit with a program
"friendly to OOS" "locations i'd like living in" and "minimum stats lower" are not mission fit

to a lesser extent, geography matters too...
Click to expand...
I absolutely agree, these were just broad reasons as to why that was my list. I could go into specifics with each school but I was just explaining overall.
 
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helenad432 said:
I applied to the texas schools. Or are you asking how often specific OOS schools takes TX residents?
Click to expand...
correct
you need to see which OOS schools have a higher tendency to take TX residents since your stats are low compared to IS schools
in addition, certain schools have higher percentages of hispanic students
have you considered applying to the HBCUs since you are URM?
 
macsak said:
correct
you need to see which OOS schools have a higher tendency to take TX residents since your stats are low compared to IS schools
in addition, certain schools have higher percentages of hispanic students
have you considered applying to the HBCUs since you are URM?
Click to expand...
I know NYU, Touro, Tufts, and BostonU are pretty reliable when it comes to Texas residents, both Midwestern locations, Howard, and WesternU regularly take Texas residents, and Colorado, Rutgers, and Maryland have taken Texas residents, but it's a slightly higher reach. Tufts seems to have a pretty high rate of latino students, same with the texas schools. I also know that NYU, Touro, Tufts, BostonU, both Midwestern locations, Howard, and WesternU have been known to look at applications more holistically. I am debating on dropping Colorado, Rutgers, and Maryland from my list and adding Howard.
 
helenad432 said:
I know NYU, Touro, Tufts, and BostonU are pretty reliable when it comes to Texas residents, both Midwestern locations, Howard, and WesternU regularly take Texas residents, and Colorado, Rutgers, and Maryland have taken Texas residents, but it's a slightly higher reach. Tufts seems to have a pretty high rate of latino students, same with the texas schools. I also know that NYU, Touro, Tufts, BostonU, both Midwestern locations, Howard, and WesternU have been known to look at applications more holistically. I am debating on dropping Colorado, Rutgers, and Maryland from my list and adding Howard.
Click to expand...
any school that gives IS tuition after the first year is going to be extremely difficult to get into as OOS wtihout high stats
rutgers for sure does this, not sure about maryland
 
macsak said:
any school that gives IS tuition after the first year is going to be extremely difficult to get into as OOS wtihout high stats
rutgers for sure does this, not sure about maryland
Click to expand...
Ok so would you say this is a reasonable OOS list?
Midwestern Illinois
Midwestern Arizona
WesternU
Howard
Tufts
Boston University
Touro
NYU
 
macsak said:
any school that gives IS tuition after the first year is going to be extremely difficult to get into as OOS wtihout high stats
rutgers for sure does this, not sure about maryland
Click to expand...
Also just realized TMDSAS calculated my science gpa as 3.43 so its higher than I was thinking!
 
helenad432 said:
Ok so would you say this is a reasonable OOS list?
Midwestern Illinois
Midwestern Arizona
WesternU
Howard
Tufts
Boston University
Touro
NYU
Click to expand...
well, it's the best list so far
and there are no reaches, so if this is all you can afford

have you considered meharry or creighton?
 
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