WAMC 3.87 GPA, 17 AA, one waitlist no interviews!

[awkwarduser786]

Date of submission: AUG 31st
Overall GPA: 3.87
Science GPA: 3.9
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: 3.9
DAT score (include AA and all sections): 17 AA, 17 TS, 19 OC, 16 GC , 16 BIO, PAT 18 , QR 19
State of Residence: Illinois

Undergrad Attended: NA
Major: Health Science
Minor: NA
Minority? Yes, Palestinian
Reapplicant? NO
Nontrad? NO

Shadowing Experience: 350+ hrs at a dental clinic
Volunteering Experience: 500+ hrs teaching and leading prayers at my mosque, Volunteered to build a house for a week for Habitat for Humanity, and also helped with meal packing events.
Employment: 500+ hrs dental clinic as a D.A. and I worked as a dental sterilization tech at Midwestern University last summer.
Research: Research on Lidocaine no publication but presented at a conference.
Other Extracurriculars: - Event coordinator for Pre-dental club; Secretary for Muslim Student association
Relevant Honors or Awards: Deans list
LOR type and strength: 2 chem profs and 1 dentist and 1 doctor mentor
Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags: 16 GC and BIO
School list:
1-UIC

2-3MIDWESTERN Arizona and IL

4- Univ Of Kentucky

5- Univ of Louisville

6- Univ of the pacific

7- AT still Arizona

8- Southern Illinois University

9- West Virginia university

10- univ of Minnesota

11- Boston university

12- Detroit Mercy

13- Marquette

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[Mr.Smile12]

Clarify: 1 WL as in Interview Hold. You did not receive a WL after interview, correct? Which school?

Was this your first DAT attempt? How did you study?

 

[awkwarduser786]

Clarify: 1 WL as in Interview Hold. You did not receive a WL after interview, correct? Which school?

Was this your first DAT attempt? How did you study?

Yes midwestern Arizona waitlisted me with no interview, first DAT attempt and i studied using bootcamp for one month.

 

[Ryxndek]

Seems like you maybe didn’t study enough for the month that you did study for the DAT. I studied for ~3 months for ~10-14 hours a week. So 2 hours a day. But for a month, you have to cram a lot more material in a shorter amount of time.

Your GPA is solid, unfortunately your DAT falls well below average for matriculating to dental school. See how this cycle plays, but come around March or so, if you don’t have anything, start studying and I’d retake in May/june and be ready to reapply right away come June/july.

Unsure about your doctor LOR. I’m assuming medicine? I’d have recommended you get an LOR from your mentor at your Mosque or your supervisor at your job for sterilization tech. But regardless, if schools accepted it, it should be fine.

Hopefully you hear some good news later on, but if you don’t, you know what you gotta do. Good luck!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Yeah, the DAT takes a lot more time than 1 month. What were you scoring on practice exams? I have some confidence in Bootcamp but I thought the course of study was at least 2-3 months... At any rate, put your eggs in the basket and blow away the DAT to validate your GPA.

That DAT is well below the matriculation average. In fact I think 17 is still around the 50th percentile of DAT test-takers. Is there anything extraordinary about your personal circumstances (socioeconomically disadvantaged)? First-gen?

The doctor mentor may not have been useful compared to someone at your mosque supervising your community service for those programs where community service is important to the school's core values. But considering that you probably have friends who attend UIC for dental school through your predental club connections, you probably have had some students trying to mentor you and give you advice.

Other than that, I don't get a strong sense of what your purpose is as a dentist. Clearly your Muslim identity is important to you, and with that high GPA (and hopefully similarly high DAT in the future), you have a number of schools that cater to a significant Muslim population that you could choose from.