WAMC, 4th round

[throwawayacc2]

Date of submission: the moment applications opened
Overall GPA:
with +/- 3.14
without +/- 3.14
Science GPA:
with +/- 2.98
without +/- 3.00
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA:
with +/- 3.14
without +/- 3.20

School	oGPA	credits
community/early college	2.78	64
undergrad	3.22	100
grad	3.6	32

DAT score:

Number	AA	PA	QR	RC	BIO	GC	OC	TS
1st	19	19	21	20	16	19	19	18
2nd	20	20	20	20	20	21	19	20

State of Residence: michigan

Undergrad Attended: UDM
Major: BIO
Grad Attended: OU
Masters: MA BIO
Minority? no, mixed race.
Reapplicant? Yes- 4th round
Nontrad? Yes(?) masters, early college student

Shadowing Experience:

• shadowed between two offices for 100 hours total

Volunteering Experience: Hours and type

• Volunteer dental assistant between 3 different NPO clinics (2 in Detroit) for ~300 hours total
• Food drive between 2 locations, 1 detroit church and 1 NPO, ~120 hours.

Employment (relative):

• 600+ hours working as a dental assistant

Research: none
Other Extracurriculars: temporally was part of a pre-dental club
Have you volunteered/shadowed/attended events at any dental schools? attended Temple's openhouse
Relevant Honors or Awards: handful of honors
LOR type and strength:

• undergrad advisor (UDM) - pretty old
• Dental director of volunteer group/dentist (UDM)
  • for some reason she didn't mention that she was a dentist, just a dental director, in her letter and MWU-ill notified me. Tried replacing her letter with my current employer's LOR to schools who'd accept it. (UDM)
• volunteer dental assistant director- brand new
  • not the same one above
• grad prof- brand new
  • What's super advantageous of this letter is that its somewhat poetic. Out of no where, the very first life science/biology professor I had from community college 7+ years ago was now teaching me my very last master's course at a different school.

Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags:

• first gen college student
• from immigrant family
• divorced family
• Early college student-
  • took community college classes from ages 16-19, while still in high school. So, although on my transcript I may've been taking one or two CC classes I was also taking 4-6 highschool classes. Graduated with 2 associates degrees before finishing highschool.
• no red flags
• CASPER was 2nd quartile

School list:
Midwest-ill (2nd)

• interviewed last cycle

New england (3rd time)

AT Ari- rejected (didnt like my PS and supps)

AT Miss (2nd)

Temple

• interviewed

Roseman (2nd)

Touro (2nd)

Colorado (2nd)- first time they liked me, liked my PS, just said I needed more volunteer hours- accomplished the quoted benchmark

• interview

Detroit (3rd time applying)-

• interviewed/waitlisted

Louisville (3rd time applying)

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[Mr.Smile12]

What type of grad program did you attend/finish?

I don't have a sense of your timeline. What was different between this application and your immediate last attempt?

 

[macsak]

first of all, this cycle is not yet over
B, what are you planning to do to show improvement over the next year?

Date of submission: the moment applications opened
Overall GPA:
with +/- 3.14
without +/- 3.14
Science GPA:
with +/- 2.98
without +/- 3.00
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA:
with +/- 3.14
without +/- 3.20

School	oGPA	credits
community/early college	2.78	64
undergrad	3.22	100
grad	3.6	32

DAT score:

Number	AA	PA	QR	RC	BIO	GC	OC	TS
1st	19	19	21	20	16	19	19	18
2nd	20	20	20	20	20	21	19	20

State of Residence: michigan

Undergrad Attended: UDM
Major: BIO
Grad Attended: OU
Masters: MA BIO
Minority? no, mixed race.
Reapplicant? Yes- 4th round
Nontrad? Yes(?) masters, early college student

Shadowing Experience:

• shadowed between two offices for 100 hours total

Volunteering Experience: Hours and type

• Volunteer dental assistant between 3 different NPO clinics (2 in Detroit) for ~300 hours total
• Food drive between 2 locations, 1 detroit church and 1 NPO, ~120 hours.

Employment (relative):

• 600+ hours working as a dental assistant

Research: none
Other Extracurriculars: temporally was part of a pre-dental club
Have you volunteered/shadowed/attended events at any dental schools? attended Temple's openhouse
Relevant Honors or Awards: handful of honors
LOR type and strength:

• undergrad advisor (UDM) - pretty old
• Dental director of volunteer group/dentist (UDM)
  • for some reason she didn't mention that she was a dentist, just a dental director, in her letter and MWU-ill notified me. Tried replacing her letter with my current employer's LOR to schools who'd accept it. (UDM)
• volunteer dental assistant director- brand new
  • not the same one above
• grad prof- brand new
  • What's super advantageous of this letter is that its somewhat poetic. Out of no where, the very first life science/biology professor I had from community college 7+ years ago was now teaching me my very last master's course at a different school.

Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags:

• first gen college student
• from immigrant family
• divorced family
• Early college student-
  • took community college classes from ages 16-19, while still in high school. So, although on my transcript I may've been taking one or two CC classes I was also taking 4-6 highschool classes. Graduated with 2 associates degrees before finishing highschool.
• no red flags
• CASPER was 2nd quartile

School list:
Midwest-ill (2nd)

• interviewed last cycle

New england (3rd time)

AT Ari- rejected (didnt like my PS and supps)

AT Miss (2nd)

Temple

• interviewed

Roseman (2nd)

Touro (2nd)

Colorado (2nd)- first time they liked me, liked my PS, just said I needed more volunteer hours- accomplished the quoted benchmark

• interview

Detroit (3rd time applying)-

• interviewed/waitlisted

Louisville (3rd time applying)

 

[throwawayacc2]

What type of grad program did you attend/finish?

I don't have a sense of your timeline. What was different between this application and your immediate last attempt?

Masters of arts in bio- felt like I needed to up my GPA so I just wanted to take a bunch of master courses. The difference is that the grad program is finished and I've acquired hundreds of hours working and volunteering with two brand new LORs

 

[throwawayacc2]

first of all, this cycle is not yet over
B, what are you planning to do to show improvement over the next year?

After this cycle I'll be 5 years out from my community college so I'll probably have to go back and take a few classes. Beyond that, maybe volunteer more in my community and retake the DAT.

After 3 attempts at a school, I just wish I can have the privilege of at least trying to plead my case.

 

[throwawayacc2]

Anything else? What are my chances?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

You said you followed advice from Colorado, so did they interview you after this meeting? (It's not clear you interviewed before the reapp consultation). Until I know for sure you're rejected there, it's not simple to gauge your chances. I don't know how you got the feedback from ATSU-Arizona... did you get that feedback specifically from them in a reapp conference?

In general, reapplicants need to show clear improvement over their initial application. As a 3x applicant, I would hope that there is someone who can give you specific feedback (especially UDM), but I also know that if you don't show enough improvement, you could be blacklisted.

Again, you interviewed at many places and have pending decisions. It's still possible you get picked up and given an offer.

 

[throwawayacc2]

You said you followed advice from Colorado, so did they interview you after this meeting? (It's not clear you interviewed before the reapp consultation). Until I know for sure you're rejected there, it's not simple to gauge your chances. I don't know how you got the feedback from ATSU-Arizona... did you get that feedback specifically from them in a reapp conference?

In general, reapplicants need to show clear improvement over their initial application. As a 3x applicant, I would hope that there is someone who can give you specific feedback (especially UDM), but I also know that if you don't show enough improvement, you could be blacklisted.

Again, you interviewed at many places and have pending decisions. It's still possible you get picked up and given an offer.

edit: grammar check

I apologize. Please feel free to ask any questions.

The advice I received was from last cycle when I asked why I was rejected. Yes, they interviewed me this cycle, God bless. ATSU just rejected me, so I called to ask about the issue. They sent me an email stating that my personal statement (PS) and supplemental essays were lackluster. I understood their perspective, but at the same time, Colorado said, 'We love your PS.' I guess you can't please everyone.

I talked to Dr. Chang, and his concerns were along the lines of 'needing more community engagement,' which I have since addressed. He was also a bit finicky about my GPA, but I managed to improve it.

I'm sorry if I'm coming across as ignorant—it's just very hard not to feel pessimistic. I've wanted to become a dentist since I was a child, but it feels like my own immature mistakes during my early college years are still holding me back. Some of those grades are over seven years old now. My overall GPA is just a 3.4 with both undergrad and grad school combined. A 3.4 GPA and a 20 DAT, along with my community service and office experience, seem like they should be enough.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I'm sorry if I'm coming across as ignorant—it's just very hard not to feel pessimistic. I've wanted to become a dentist since I was a child, but it feels like my own immature mistakes during my early college years are still holding me back. Some of those grades are over seven years old now. My overall GPA is just a 3.4 with both undergrad and grad school combined. A 3.4 GPA and a 20 DAT, along with my community service and office experience, seem like they should be enough.

Did the admissions advisors say how they viewed your past grades like you describe above? Again, an overall GPA of 3.4 is fine, but most of us focus on what you did most recently, especially in response to advice given you to improve your profile.

You didn't say you have been outright rejected by the schools where you interviewed this cycle, so I'm still left with "Trust the Process."

 

[throwawayacc2]

Did the admissions advisors say how they viewed your past grades like you describe above? Again, an overall GPA of 3.4 is fine, but most of us focus on what you did most recently, especially in response to advice given you to improve your profile.

You didn't say you have been outright rejected by the schools where you interviewed this cycle, so I'm still left with "Trust the Process."

They didn't make any strong statements regarding my past grades, at least that I remember. For Colorado they didn't seem to object to my grades at all. UDM's Dr. Chang was more wishy washy. I engaged and fixed all the problems that the advisors would inform me about (such as more work in the community and getting more exp).

Indeed, none of the schools that have interviewed me have rejected me.